Category Archives: 10 Best Meal Planning Apps

8 Best Meal Planning Apps in 2024

We tested the top 5 apps in 2025 to find which ones deliver real results. William understands that the topic of wellness is still not well understood, so his goal is to enlighten and teach people how to live healthier and happier in their bodies. https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/weight-loss-foods/ Finding the right meal plan isn’t just about following rules but exploring, enjoying, and welcoming your culinary curiosities. Choose fresh and seasonal produce if possible, as they are often tastier and more nutritious. Don’t forget to explore the international aisle; you might find exotic treasures that become your new favorite ingredients. Family meals are at the heart of domestic harmony, and Prepear seeks to be the digital seasoning that enhances this vital family experience.

Food is Love

Prepear has a free option with limited features or you can pay $119 for an annual Prepear Gold membership which allows for unlimited access to meal plans, cook mode, and offers an ad-free experience. The meal planning feature includes the option to choose your preferred prep level and number of meals per week. You also have the option to add a partner to your plan with customized calorie needs. The biggest drawback to PlateJoy is that it’s somewhat costly compared to other meal planning apps.

Smart Meal Planning

Users can also select the specific areas of their body they want to tone, their body type and their preferred style of workout (if any). Fitbit also has a community component to help you stay motivated; it offers an informative blog, sleep meditations, fitness groups and chats. You can also achieve badges and trophies for your achievements that you can share with others in your community. Consuming protein helps increase feelings of fullness and satisfaction at meals. Choosing lean proteins like chicken, fish, turkey eggs, soy and yogurt can help you feel more full on fewer total calories compared to fattier sources of protein, such as red meat.

Best Workout And Fitness Apps of 2025

Not only is MyFitnessPal the No. 1 nutrition and food tracker, Palinski-Wade says it’s a great meal-planning tool. Similar to Noom, Ate Food Journal knows that food choices can stem from behavioral and emotional patterns. While users can set weight loss goals, the app strives to help people feel like more than just numbers. Instead, you can track how food makes you feel and whether your meals allow you to show up as the best version of yourself.

Are Weight Loss Apps Effective?

There’s a food database, and the app notes your most-consumed food notice patterns (and favorites). Meal planning offers numerous benefits, such as enhancing diet quality, encouraging culinary exploration, and facilitating weight loss. Moreover, it proves advantageous for your finances, as it minimizes excessive grocery purchases and food waste, while also reducing the need for takeout orders by having a well-prepared weekly menu. However, meal planning can be time-consuming and overwhelming, especially for beginners.

good meal plan app

Pantry Check

So, no need to worry about overcooking the pasta while sautéing the chicken. In a round up of top meal prep apps, I had to feature Meal Planner Pro for all of the busy moms and dads out there. This planner stands out by offering users the ability to create profiles for every family member. Not only does BigOven offer half a million recipes for users to search through, it spotlights recipes in unique and helpful ways. Eat This Much then generates a weekly meal schedule for you based on those numbers.

Integrated into its best diet app capabilities, it empowers me to stay focused on my fitness goals with minimal fuss. As a registered dietitian, Amy Fischer has worked with thousands of patients to improve their overall health through a whole foods and nutritious diet. Amy believes that food is to be enjoyed even on a weight loss journey and that while calories count, the focus should be on health, eating and living better and not just losing weight.

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food – Hippocrates

Any exercise is better than no exercise when it comes to losing weight, and ultimately, you should go when you know you can stay consistent because it fits in your schedule. For some people, that’s first thing in the morning, and for others, that’s in the evening after work. You can customize popular eating styles like vegan and paleo to match your needs and preferences. Eat This Much, more than a directive, is a promise of a culinary journey tailored to your nutritional needs. It’s a versatile tool, blending the world of nutrition with a touch of digital elegance.

While the free version is robust, the Food+ subscription is necessary for users who want in-depth nutrition tracking and a completely ad-free interface. The Smart Cook Mode is a game-changer if you’re within the Samsung ecosystem. Most people always want to eat healthy, but time constraints and preferences make it very difficult to prepare full-course, home-cooked meals constantly.

MyNetDiary Calorie Counter

MyFitnessPal is an excellent tool for anyone trying to better their diet and overall health. MyFitnessPal’s extensive nutrition tracking and personalized meal recommendations make it simple to stay on track with your health objectives. Automated Shopping Lists-  Whether you handwrite your grocery list or keep track of items in a notes app, the process of making an organized and consolidates list is tedious.

Finally, you can pick your serving size (2 or 4) and the number of meals you’d like to make for the week (2, 4, 5, or 6) on your plan. Finally, we have a detailed review of the $5 meal plan if you’d like to learn more about this service. I’m a mom trying to eat (somewhat) healthy, and I also have young kids who can eat whatever they want. Keeping your grocery list at hand while you shop has never been easier. Long-time users (the app’s been around for 10 years!) are loyal to this app and their subscriptions and for good reason. Paprika is a recipe manager with downloads available for Mac, PC, Android, and iOS.

What is the overall best fitness app?

You can plan a week in advance and share the recipes with any family members who have the app to help with grocery shopping or just to keep them in the know. You’ll also be able to access previous meal plans so you can refer to them again later instead of recreating them from scratch. Whisk is truly the best budget pick outta this bunch simply because you get all of its perks for zero cost. I reddit mean, this bb is free with a capital F and comes with customizable recipes, how-to tutorials from food influencers like The Korean Vegan, and custom shopping lists! Every week, Whisk provides a calendar where you’ll add your recipes for each day.

  • We’re all pressed for time, so an app should serve as a culinary shortcut and not a prolonged pit stop.
  • Features 5+ printable lists for any diet and tips to make healthy eating easy.
  • You can also upload your own recipes and set up your food preferences so you’re only shown recipes that are relevant.
  • It automatically refreshes your menu weekly to prevent recipe fatigue and adapts based on your feedback, ensuring the plan evolves with you.
  • Owned by Livestrong, Myplate claims to use the world’s largest food database to help users track calories and activity to achieve their weight and fitness goals.
  • This isn’t just about knowing what to buy; it’s about understanding quantity and portion control.

Preference-Based Meal Plans

A smart shopping list is generated and auto-populates as you select your weekly meals. Meal planning is the best way to avoid the inevitable wilted bag of spinach and sour milk in the back of the fridge. But with the temptations of take-out and kitchen chaos, it can be hard to stick with the menu, even if you’ve tried all the tips for simplifying your weekly meal planning. Prepping and scheduling meals isn’t just for busy parents or those following a strict diet.

The 8 Best Meal-Planning Apps

Mealime transforms meal planning with personalized menus that cater to your unique dietary needs. And what meal planning app would be complete if it didn’t offer an automatically generated shopping list based on your meal plan? The shopping list can be directly integrated with Instacart and other grocery delivery services so you kill 2 birds with 1 stone. For example, you can opt for half-size servings if you just want a meal for yourself, or you can double servings to feed a family, meal prep or batch cook.

From cutting down meal prep time to ensuring that every nutrient is accounted for, the ideal app is the one that fits seamlessly into my daily routine. For me and many others, smart eating has never been more accessible and enjoyable. Cronometer is unique in that it provides an app for individual use as well as a pro version for healthcare professionals that can link to clients’ food diaries. This app is inherently customizable; you can create personalized diet settings, set timers for intermittent https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-food-combos-weight-loss fasting and sync with multiple apps and devices including Fitbit, Apple Health and Oura.

But, lots of folks believe in myths that mess up their time management. Powered by technology, coaches and psychology, Noom teaches you tips and tricks to develop a positive relationship with food so you can enjoy the foods you love without guilt or shame. She is the chair of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist Member Interest Group. She is active in the local Greater New York Dietetic Association and Long Island Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, too. We’ve reviewed dozens of apps, emphasizing user satisfaction, effectiveness, and expert guidance to round up the best in each category. Join as a member today and close the year by strengthening independent reporting for all.

good meal plan app

Best virtual recipe box

I have personally explored numerous apps in search of the ones that can truly claim the title of top meal planner. Along the way, I’ve pinpointed certain key functions that elevate a meal prep app from good to great—or even to the level of the best diet app. Below, let’s dive into the specifics that should be on your checklist when selecting your digital kitchen companion.

GO – Meal & Fitness Tracker

With these apps, I find that I can cater to my cravings, whether that’s indulging in vegan delights or comforting pastas, while still maintaining a balanced diet. Customization is at the heart of these platforms, offering an extensive variety of creative recipes that align with my lifestyle and nutritional objectives. MyNetDiary scores high points for having a free version that includes food, water and exercise tracking, “gentle” meal and weigh-in reminders, shopping lists and diet and nutrition blogs. Its premium version ($8.99 a month or $59.99 a year) includes “daily feedback and advice,” macros tracking and “premium” diets created by registered dietitians, among other features. Delve into the rich features of Paprika, one of the premier meal planning apps available.

  • The app also allows you to organize food by type (vegetables, meats, and cheeses), which makes it easier to find all the items needed for cooking.
  • The RitFit team engineered this machine to move like your body does to engage stabilizing muscles, reduce shoulder and wrist strain presses, and allow for deeper, more natural squats.
  • This application will ensure you’re able to organize all the grocery or meal preparations to keep track of the intake of calories for you.
  • The platform’s unique recipe clipper tool allows you to save your recipes with just one click, so you can access them anytime, anywhere.
  • Customizable shopping lists are also available upon completion of your meal plan.
  • My buddy Joel started an awesome meal planning service called Ultimate Meal Plans (free trial!).

New!Cassie Best’s five-ingredient meal plan. This is a premium piece of content available to registered users.

When you sign up, you enter personal data, including height, weight, and health goals. You also provide information about your food preferences (paleo, vegetarian, vegan, Mediterranean, etc.), how much money you want to spend, and your schedule. The app then generates a meal plan for you, along with a list of ingredients that can be purchased from online grocery sites. There are breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack recipes that are categorized by type—like soups, salads and sides—for easy browsing. When you see one you want to try, you can add it to your recipe box and/or build your own meal plan.

How much does Paprika cost?

Top10.com is designed to help users make confident decisions online, this website contains information about a wide range of products and services. Certain details, including but not limited to prices and special offers, are provided to us directly from our partners and are dynamic and subject to change at any time without prior notice. Though based on meticulous research, the information we share does not constitute legal or professional advice or forecast, and should not be treated as such. MyNetDiary Calorie Counter is similar to MyFitnessPal, but some users find this one easier to navigate. Expect a food database to help you determine calories and nutrients and spots to track calories, meals, and activity.

You can save money on groceries while still enjoying a variety of tasty meals each week by using eMeals. EMeals simplify and make convenient grocery shopping with a grocery list function that can be transferred to a mobile device. With a large recipe collection and nutritional information for each recipe, Prepear is your daily planner for always having a tasty and nutritious supper alternative on hand. Supercook has the tools and information you need to succeed, whether you’re a busy professional, a busy parent, or simply want to eat healthier. So, why not give Supercook a shot and see how it may improve your life? Supercook is sure to become an essential resource in your kitchen thanks to its user-friendly interface and huge recipe collection.

Health Extra

Import a few favorite recipes, generate a weekly plan, build a shopping list, and see how it feels to use the app in your own kitchen. This practical implementation is the ultimate test, revealing how seamlessly the tool integrates into your daily routine and whether it truly reduces friction or adds complexity. The right app will feel like an intuitive and indispensable partner, empowering you to reclaim your time, reduce food waste, and achieve your health objectives with confidence.

PlateJoy: Best Free Customizable Meal Planning Solution

So if you’re trying to lose weight, it will suggest lower-calorie dishes than if you’re trying to gain weight. Simply choose them from the dropdown menu at the top of the screen when creating a new meal plan. These are 18 of the best meal planning apps to keep you on track with your weekly meal planning. Set up your preferences according to your diet (keto, paleo, plant-based, etc.) and either let the app determine your macro goals based on your health stats or you can set them manually. The app will create a weekly plan of lunch and dinner (plus breakfast and snacks if you want them) from its collection of recipes.

What are the benefits of using a diet or weight loss app?

If someone in your family has allergy restrictions, this is the best of all the meal prep apps to try. You can sort by everything from sulfite-free and dairy-free to peanut-free and gluten-free meal prep recipes. This caught my eye because it was the first meal prep app I saw to feature recipes for Low FODMAP diets. Additionally, you can add your own favorite recipes and save ideas from the Internet as well. If you find yourself doing a little tweaking, you can also edit and customize your recipes right from the app.

Carnivore Diet: Meat Recipes

While it excels at automation, it provides less detailed nutritional information on some plans compared to more health-focused apps. Plan to Eat’s user experience is built around its robust recipe clipper and planning calendar. You can plan meals for a week or a month, drag recipes to different days, and even account for leftovers.

Just the Recipe

This app is an exceptional choice for anyone seeking a structured yet flexible approach to nutrition without the manual effort. You can explore the plans and features on the AI Meal Planner website. Recipes can be automatically loaded onto theapp with its web browser feature. You can use the search feature to search websitesfor recipes to import, or even upload your own. Once that is done, Build a Menu turns meal planning into a simplistic 3-step process. This app is ideal for people who already have a decently sized recipe collection or for those who love to look around on the internet for new recipes.

This ensures you have everything you need to create healthful and delicious meals without buying anything additional. When you add or remove items from your list, PlateJoy immediately refreshes it. This grocery list is customized based on your eating plan, allowing you to require saving your time and reducing effort. reddit.com PlateJoy is your personal planner for meal planning and offers expert guidance to help you accomplish your health goals through in-app chat support with a certified dietician.