"As a writer, I am firmly against using AI tools like ChatGPT to make my job easier. As a busy woman with a full-time job, side hustle, social life, and marriage to balance, I love the occasional ChatGPT hack. I don’t know about you, but my husband and I often spend way too long deciding what to make for dinner. Don’t even get me started on the “I don’t know, what do you want to eat?” endless loop. It’s like a game of Tetris trying to fit our preferences, cravings, nutritional needs, and grocery budget into one perfect meal plan. Ultimately, I needed a way to stress less about meal planning, ensure we are eating well, change up our meals, reduce food waste, and, of course, save some money. All written out, it seems like an impossible feat, but ChatGPT solves every one of these problems.
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I swear, when I first learned about using ChatGPT for meal planning, I felt years of meal-prep anxiety melt away. I took this hack even further, having ChatGPT plan our meals, provide all the recipes and modifications, and create a weekly grocery list within our budget. Keep scrolling to learn how this ChatGPT meal plan hack works and how you can try it, too.
How I Use ChatGPT to My Plan Meals
For the most part, we follow a high-protein, low-calorie diet. There are some ingredients I avoid due to chronic migraines, and some my husband avoids because he just doesn’t like them. We’re also big snackers, and I find it hard to deny myself a sweet treat at the end of the day. We also have a history of meal prepping, getting sick of the food, and throwing away our leftovers. With all that in mind, I turned to ChatGPT to help me create a meal plan and corresponding grocery list. These are the exact steps I took:
1. Get specific with your meal plan request
When requesting a meal plan from ChatGPT, start with as much detail as possible. This gives you the best chance of getting a realistic meal plan that will only need minor adjustments. Before typing into ChatGPT, ask yourself these questions:
- How many days worth of meals do you want?
- Are you OK with repeating meals or having leftovers?
- How many people are eating the meals?
- Do you have any dietary restrictions, allergies, or dislikes?
- What are your nutritional goals? (high protein, low carb, etc.)
- Are there any specific dishes or cuisines you prefer?
- How many snacks do you want to have per day?
- Do you want to have any sweet treats? (The answer to this one is yes, of course.)
- Are you only shopping at one store for the week?
2. Make any adjustments to the meals
Although ChatGPT is essentially a genius, it’s far from perfect. Sometimes, user error is to blame, like last week when I forgot to include that my husband hates mushrooms, and the ingredient popped up in the meal plan multiple times. To quickly adjust this, I asked ChatGPT for replacements and received a list of equally nutritious yet more palatable side options.
Sometimes, ChatGPT also offers unrealistic suggestions, like one protein bar for a two-person snack. We didn’t need to ask for an adjustment from ChatGPT—we just bought a multi-pack of our favorite protein bars instead.
3. Request the recipes
Once you get your meal plan and tweak it to your preferences, ask ChatGPT to give you the recipes for each meal. You can request the meal plan and recipes in one prompt, but I find it’s easier to do this separately so you can review the meals and ingredients beforehand. Although I am pretty good in the kitchen, I still need a recipe to follow 90 percent of the time. Plus, when ChatGPT provides the recipes, I can double-check that I have enough ingredients after I complete the next step, which is making the grocery list.
4. Turn it into a grocery list
Now it’s time to ask ChatGPT to turn it all into a grocery list. This is my favorite part because it quickly combines everything and sorts it by category, which is a dream for a type-A girl like me. I always include a budget when I send this part of the prompt. This week, we wanted to stay under $150, knowing that we could make adjustments at the store. When ChatGPT comes back with the grocery list, every item has an approximate price next to it. Keep in mind that these prices are just estimates, so they could change based on where you’re located, the store you shop at, and the quantity or brand you choose. I take the pricing intel with a grain of salt, but it’s helpful to have a ballpark for your budget.
5. Cross reference with your pantry
My final step was to quickly look in my pantry before heading to the store. Many of the recipes we got from ChatGPT called for pantry staples like oats, rice, canned tuna, or chickpeas. Others called for salmon or cod filets, which we always have in our freezer. Taking a moment to double-check what we already have helps us reduce food waste and ensure we’re sticking to our budget.
My Thoughts After Trying It
I won’t lie: This is not yet a flawless algorithm. However, I will say that the recipes ChatGPT provided were easy to make, nutritious, balanced, and filling. We’re not likely to buy a singular protein bar for two people or only one ounce of seasoning as ChatGPT suggested, but I know we can buy these ingredients to use in future weeks, especially if we use these same recipes on repeat.
Letting ChatGPT plan my meals and build my grocery list saved a lot of time, eased any meal-planning anxieties, and is now my go-to grocery hack. After ChatGPT worked its magic, I took my personalized grocery list to my favorite store, and my total was just under $150 for a week’s worth of meals.
Emily Wise, Contributing Writer
Emily Wise is a Virginia-based content creator with over five years of experience creating content strategies for SaaS companies. Although she spends her days in the tech world, she has spent many years as a lifestyle writer for her personal site, as well as for several publications across the web.
Feature graphic images credited to: Natalia Blauth | Unsplash