How to meal plan

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Planning ahead is the best thing you can do if you’re trying to eat more healthily during the week. That way it’s easy to make healthy food choices and you won’t be tempted by unhealthy options because you haven’t got anything else prepared.

You can save time and help yourself stock up with healthy options by cooking a larger dish on one or two days of the week, so that you can have leftovers the next day.

We’ve included plenty of simple healthy recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

This isn’t a strict list of meals, more a framework with tips for how to plan ahead and get a balanced diet over the course of a week. So feel free to mix and match the ideas to suit you.

Healthy lunches and dinners

Sunday (plan and make the week ahead)

Set yourself up for success by doing some preparation at the weekend so that you have some interesting, healthy lunches for the next few days.

Soup, frittata and substantial salads are all good options to make ahead. To avoid waste, be realistic about how many lunches you’ll need, when you’ll be able to make lunch from scratch on the day or when you’ll need something that is ready quickly, and when you’ll need a packed lunch that you can take out with you.

Try making our healthy fish pie, chicken leek and mushroom pie, or a vegetarian shepherd’s pie with polenta topping as your main meal on Sunday and make enough for double portions, so that you get off to a good start to the week and you’ve got leftovers for Monday.

Whatever you go for, pair it with some cooked fresh or frozen vegetables like peas, spinach and carrots.

Monday

Home-made soups with wholegrain bread are a good lunch option at this time of year.

This pea and mint soup can be made with frozen peas, while this Moroccan spiced carrot soup will make the most of the root veg that are in season at the moment. Both can easily be doubled so that you have extra portions to eat later in the week or freeze for another day.

If you made one of our healthy pies on Sunday, eat the leftovers with some more vegetables. Or if you had a roast, use up leftover meat by adding it to a home-made tomato sauce made with tinned tomatoes, onion and garlic to serve with wholewheat pasta and a salad or some cooked vegetables.

Tuesday

For lunch, you might have another portion of soup left. Or try a frittata and make a couple of salads to go with it like a roasted vegetable and chick pea salad or jewelled cous cous salad. 

Make Tuesday night fish night – fish is nutritious and quick to cook. Simple fish dishes are baked salmon fillets with home-made potato wedges and peas, baked white fish with jacket sweet potatoes and roasted cherry tomatoes, or try this fish with fennel and orange traybake which is all cooked in one pan.

You can also cook extra fish at the same time while the oven is on, and this will be handy for lunch the following day.

Wednesday

Hopefully you’ve made baked fish dish the evening before (see our suggestions for Tuesday dinner), and have cooked extra so you have leftovers for Wednesday lunch. Baked white or oily fish will be delicious either in a sandwich with some wholegrain bread, lettuce and cucumber, or as a salad with some couscous and veg.

Having at least one meat-free day is a good way to reduce the amount of red meat you eat, as well as introducing a wider variety of plant-based foods into your diet which has benefits for your gut health. So for Wednesday’s dinner, go for a dish based on beans and pulses like this hearty baked butternut squash with lentils or roast vegetable and chickpea tagine, which will be filling and nutritious as well as helping to increase the amount of fibre in your diet.

If you think you might miss the meat, you could also try a plant-based alternative to minced meat like Quorn or soya mince or tofu in these beef and bean burritos.

Thursday

If you’d prefer to make something fresh for lunch each day, or for towards the end of the week, then have some ideas to hand for quick and easy lunches like a jacket potato with beans.

By Thursday you’re nearly through your first week of healthy meals. To help you finish the week well, make something tonight that you can have again tomorrow in a different way. You could try this recipe for potato curry that you can accompany with raitha.

Friday

With the weekend in sight, you might want to try another quick and tasty lunch like poached egg or sardines and tomato on wholegrain toast.

Try these turkey and butternut squash fajitas with the leftover butternut squash that you cooked on Thursday. Alternatively, this chicken and vegetable traybake serves 4 and is one of the most popular dishes on our recipe finder.

Saturday

For lunch, try these healthy and easy to make chicken and pepper pitta pizzas.

Or if you are going to be out and about and need to buy lunch, check labels on pre-packaged sandwiches and salads. There can be big differences and it’s not always obvious which is the better option. If there are front of pack food labels, look for the one with as many green traffic lights as possible.

Don’t let your hard work go to waste just because it is the weekend. On Saturday, instead of ordering a pizza or curry, feast on one of our healthy versions of your favourite takeaways. Whether that’s curry, Thai or Chinese, we’ve got something for everyone. While it’s cooking, get planning for next week so you can keep it up!

Healthy breakfasts

Prep the night before for breakfast on the go

If you are new to breakfast or find your intentions are ruined by a lack of time in the morning then try our Bircher muesli, which can be made in advance so it’s ready to go when you are. It can be packed up in a box to take with you in the morning, if you need to, and contains a good mix of wholegrain cereal, protein from the yoghurt, and fresh fruit.

Quick and easy healthy breakfast ideas

Breakfast is a meal where fruit and vegetables can get forgotten. If this is you, then make an effort this week to chop a banana onto your cereal or stir a handful of frozen berries into hot porridge.

Most of us aren’t eating enough fibre, so if you’re having cereals without much fibre, like cornflakes or rice crispies, try no-added-sugar muesli or porridge instead.

Most of us eat more protein than we need, but including a good source of protein at breakfast can help you to stay satisfied with your meal and is particularly useful if you are trying to lose some weight. You can add some extra nuts and seeds to porridge or muesli. Or switch from low-fat natural yoghurt to low fat Greek yoghurt. These switches will all help to increase the protein content of your breakfast.

Cooked breakfasts

Eggs are a good source of protein, and a boiled or poached egg is a healthier choice than a sweet spread like jam, honey or chocolate spread. Choose wholegrain bread for your toast, and add some tomatoes and spinach on the side. If you’re pushed for time, tomatoes can be cooked quickly in a microwave, and you can wilt spinach in moments in a microwave or in a pan with the lid on.

If you want to try something new or like to have a fancier breakfast when there is more time, then you can still do so and eat healthily. If you like a sweeter breakfast then try our oat pancakes with fruit compote. For a more savoury option our baked beans with poached eggs or avocado and poached egg on toast both make a good alternative to a standard fry up.

Healthy snacks

When you’re planning your food shop, don’t forget healthy snacks. Fruit and vegetables make the best snacks if you’re hungry between meals, so make sure your fridge and fruit bowl are well stocked.

Make fruit and veg snacks more appealing – and more filling – by adding dips and spreads that contain some protein. Enjoy apple slices with half a tablespoon of no added salt or sugar peanut butter, blueberries with a small pot of low-fat natural yoghurt, and vegetable crudites such as cherry tomatoes or carrot sticks with houmous or our broad bean dip.

A small handful of dried fruit, such as raisins or dried apricots, or unsalted nuts (especially ones that contain mostly unsaturated fats, such as almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts) is another good option.

Whether you prefer sweet or savoury snacks, pay attention to portion sizes. With a little prep in the morning, or the night before, you can have just the right amount of a healthy snack ready for you when the hunger hits. This is especially helpful if you’re heading to the office or planning on being out for the day – having a plastic box or a jar ready with healthy snacks can help you resist the temptation to buy crisps or chocolate bars.

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