Feed the family. Stay on budget.
Build a practical UK dinner plan around your family size, budget and cooking preference. The planner prioritises meals that fit the selected budget and produces a consolidated shopping list.
Your plan
Combined shopping list
Estimated pack-size shopping basket
The planner pools ingredients across the full week, then estimates full packs using the limited reference catalogue. Some products have provisional prices; this is not a live Tesco checkout quote.
Pricing notes · reference figures checked 25 Sep 2026
Reference prices: Tesco chicken breast 320g £2.44, 650g £4.90, 1kg £6.69 and 1.6kg £10.65 regular price; chicken thighs 1kg £2.99; basmati rice 1kg £1.79; fusilli 500g £0.75; chopped tomatoes 400g £0.47; chickpeas 400g £0.41; brown onions 1kg £0.95. Temporary Clubcard prices are not used as the baseline. Regular shelf prices are preferred over temporary Clubcard offers. Other ingredient figures are provisional estimates. Basket totals exclude any unlisted ingredients and are not live prices; check current prices, pack availability and dietary suitability before shopping.
Free UK Family Meal Planner
Use this planner to build a practical week of family dinners before you shop. The calculator combines ingredients across the week, estimates the packs needed, and shows how much of your selected budget is left.
How to use it
Choose the number of people, your dinner budget, 5 or 7 days, a food preference and your preferred cooking method. You can also exclude ingredients your family does not eat. Generate another plan whenever you want a different combination.
Why the shopping basket is different
Recipes often price ingredients by the amount used, but at the supermarket you normally pay for the whole pack. MynRecipes estimates the basket using pack sizes and carries shared ingredients across several dinners, so rice, pasta, onions and other staples are not treated as a new purchase for every meal.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Tesco prices exact?
No. They are reference prices and can change by date, product, store, availability and promotion. Always check the retailer before purchasing.
Does the budget include breakfast and lunch?
No. The current planner is designed around family dinners. This keeps the budget comparison clear.
Can I use another supermarket?
The current basket uses Tesco as the reference retailer. Support for additional UK supermarkets can be added later.
What does “cupboard basics” mean?
Common cooking basics such as oil, salt, pepper and dried seasonings. Untick the option if you want the planner to allow more budget for those items.