How to Create a Cheap Meal Prep Grocery List (With Printable Template)

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As food costs continue to rise, more people are turning to meal prep as a way to save money on their groceries each week. But if you’ve never meal prepped before, you might find yourself overwhelmed by the idea of planning and shopping for budget meal prep. In this beginner-friendly guide, we’ll teach you how to create a cheap meal prep grocery list, plus share a grocery list template that you can follow for your next prep session.

Jump To:

• Take note of what you already have
• Sketch out your weekly meal plan
• Choose how you’ll create your list
• Organize your list to save time
• Remain flexible when you’re shopping
• Meal prep grocery list template

Most of us probably have experience with the whole “scribbling down a few quick lines on a sticky note” type of grocery list. But crafting a well thought-out shopping list for meal prep that actually saves you money takes a little more effort — especially if you’re a meal prep beginner.

If you’re planning on creating your first budget-friendly grocery list, these five steps will teach you how to craft a shopping list that’s quick, easy, and cost-effective.

1. Take note of what you already have

When you’re meal prepping on a budget, one of the best ways to keep it cheap is to meal plan using what you have on hand first.

Most people already have some sort of basic pantry, fridge, and freezer staples at home — grains, canned foods, seasonings, and oils, for example. Generally, these staples serve as the basis for many of the recipes that people meal prep throughout the week.

So, before you even dive into your meal planning session, check your pantry, fridge, and freezer to see if you have the basics on hand. By taking note of the ingredients that you already have at home, you can more easily build a budget-friendly meal plan that doesn’t involve spending a ton of money at the store.

2. Sketch out your weekly meal plan

After taking note of what you have at home, the next step towards building your grocery list is to actually create your weekly meal plan. And when it comes to sketching out a meal plan, you’ll save more money if you can incorporate some of those ingredients you already have on hand.

When you’re brainstorming recipes for your menu, another way to keep your grocery list as cheap as possible is by planning your meals using on-sale and seasonal ingredients. Many grocery stores offer weekly sales on meat, vegetables, and other ingredients, which you can use to plan out your meals for that week.

By the way, if you’re looking to save even more money on meal prep costs, consider batch cooking and freezing some of your recipes. Choosing batch-friendly recipes using cost-friendly ingredients can also help limit how much you spend at the grocery store.

3. Choose how you’ll create your list

Once you’ve planned out your menu for the week, it’s time to draft up your grocery list. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, carefully planning out your grocery list is the key to keeping your meal prep cheap and easy.

Depending on your preference, there are two different approaches you can use to plan out your grocery list.

Physical grocery planning

One of the benefits of creating physical grocery lists is that you have more space to brainstorm and scribble down your ideas. However, it’s not as easy to make changes to a physical shopping list as it is a digital one.

Most people write out their physical lists using whatever they have on hand — a whiteboard, a notepad, even a few sticky notes. But just because you’re writing out your list by hand, that doesn’t mean that you can’t take advantage of some of the tailored products available for grocery planning.

In fact, there are plenty of grocery planners on the market that include not just shopping lists, but also meal plans, budget sheets, and more. One of my favorites is the Sweetzer & Orange’s Magnetic Weekly Meal Planner and Grocery List, which features both a monthly calendar and a shopping list for quick and easy meal planning.

Digital grocery planning

Digital grocery lists are great because you can easily make changes and add notes to your list without wasting paper. Of course, one downside is that you’ll need to have access to your digital list or a printed version of it before you go shopping.

Digital planning tools can include everything from word documents and excel sheets, to meal planning apps, and more. One of the easiest free ways to digitally plan out your shopping list, however, is by using a note-taking app on your phone.

Just like paper lists and planners, there are plenty of apps that you can download that allow you to create grocery lists. Some of these apps even offer recipes and meal planning calendars. (If you’re trying to keep your meal prep cheap, though, just make sure you’re using the free versions.)

4. Organize your list to save time

If you want to reduce the amount of time you spend shopping, you’ll want to make sure to organize your shopping list. For most people, this organization is either by department or by aisle:

• Organizing ingredients by department is typically the best way to organize a grocery list, especially if you’re visiting a store that you don’t normally shop at. Almost all grocery stores feature different departments for each type of product, like produce, meat, and frozen foods, for example.
• Organizing ingredients by aisle is useful if you’re already familiar with where everything is at your grocery store. If you already know the aisle where a specific ingredient is, you can easily grab what you need without having to waste time looking for ingredients all over the store.

Creating the list itself a fairly easy process! Simply write down each ingredient and the quantity needed, one recipe at a time. If an ingredient appears more than once in your recipes, don’t forget to increase the quantity accordingly. (A digital shopping list can be especially helpful during this step if you have a lot of different recipes.)

And after you’ve written up your list, be sure to mark off any ingredients that you already have so that you don’t spend money on things you don’t need.

5. Remain flexible when you’re shopping

Even with the most detailed meal plan and a cheap meal prep grocery list in hand, life happens — and you’ll occasionally need to make changes while you’re at the grocery store.

For example, sometimes there’s a cheaper ingredient that you can exchange to save yourself money. Other times, you might notice that an ingredient you had planned to cook is no longer available and you need to find a substitution. Either way, when these situations happen, it can be helpful to be flexible about your planning, shopping, and cooking.

Meal prep grocery list template

If you’re looking for a quick and easy template to use when shopping, this grocery list template features four different categories (plus a notes area) for easy shopping. Simply download and print a new copy each week to fill out — or better yet, laminate a copy so that you can use it over and over again!

Now that you have all the tools you need to create a budget-friendly grocery list, your next meal planning and prepping session should be a breeze. And if you’re looking for more beginner-friendly tips on how to plan and prep for the week, don’t forget to check out these 10 meal prep tips for beginners!