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automate · ~20 min

Build a meal plan and grocery list from the pantry, allergies, budget, and time you actually have.

Last verified: 2026-09-07

Not medical advice and not medical nutrition therapy. Not advice for allergies, disease, or disordered eating. You still check labels. Do not invent food already in the fridge.

Top picks

Best Overall

Claude

Stays inside the ingredients you listed.

Open Claude

Best Free

ChatGPT Free

Enough for one careful paste-and-review session.

Open ChatGPT

Best Power-User

ChatGPT + a notes app

Keep a standing pantry list; regenerate the week from it.

Open ChatGPT

Protocol

  1. Inventory what is actually there (4 min).

    List pantry, fridge, and freezer items you can see. Add allergies/intolerances, household size, budget cap, cook-time cap, and equipment (one pot, oven, none). If you did not open the crisper, do not list produce you hope is there.

  2. Lock “do not invent the fridge.”

    Paste the rules before the inventory so the model cannot add chicken, milk, or spices you did not name.

    Copy-paste prompt

    Build a meal plan from my pantry and constraints.
    
    Not medical nutrition advice. Not for diagnosing or treating allergies or disease.
    
    Hard rules:
    - Use only ingredients I list as ON HAND. Do not invent fridge/freezer items.
    - Grocery list = only extras I must buy to complete the plan. Keep it inside my budget if I gave one.
    - Honor allergies and “never serve” items exactly. If a recipe needs a banned item, skip it.
    - If time per night is missing, ask. Do not assume 60-minute cooks.
    - No supplement or calorie-target medical claims.
    
    Output:
    1) 3–7 day plan (meal · minutes · ON HAND vs BUY)
    2) Grocery list with rough quantities from my household size
    3) Leftover reuse notes
    4) UNKNOWN / unsafe-to-guess items
    
    Confirm the rules, then wait.
  3. Paste constraints and generate the week.

    Drop the inventory and rules of the house. If two dinners share a buy, that is fine—say so. Then send:

    Generate command

    Here is my inventory and constraints. Build the plan. If a meal needs an item I did not list as ON HAND, put it on BUY or skip the meal. Do not assume I have oil, onions, or salt unless I listed them.
  4. Check labels, then shop.

    You still read allergy labels. If you want a prep-order for one shopping trip, use the block below. Cross off anything already in the cart.

    Prep-order pass

    Reorder the grocery list by store section (produce, dairy, shelf, frozen). Keep quantities. Do not add items. Flag any BUY item that conflicts with my allergy list.

When not to

  • This is not medical advice and not medical nutrition therapy. Do not use it for elimination diets, disease, or eating-disorder treatment.
  • Do not let the model assume staples you did not list. Missing olive oil stays missing until you add it.
  • Do not paste another person’s medical diet sheet with their name attached.
  • Skip this recipe if you need a clinician-designed plan (renal, diabetes, pediatric allergy).

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