If you live in the UK, work full time and have people to feed every night, you probably know the 5pm feeling. You open the fridge, stare at some random ingredients and end up grabbing a takeaway or the same three dinners on repeat.
This guide walks through a simple, realistic weekly meal planning system built for busy UK family life. You can do it with a notebook and calendar if you want, or let Juna run the whole thing for you automatically. If you’d like to see Juna build a week of dinners in under a minute, watch our quick demo.
Why weekly meal planning is worth the effort
The real cost of “winging it”
When you do dinners on the fly, you pay for it in three ways:
- Money: extra top-up shops, impulse buying, wasted food in the bin.
- Time: multiple supermarket trips, standing in the kitchen wondering what to cook.
- Mental load: constantly thinking “what are we having tonight?” on top of everything else.
Most UK families are already spending enough on food. The problem isn't usually how much you spend, but how you spend it.
The benefits of having a plan
A simple weekly meal plan gives you :
- A clear view of the week ahead.
- One main supermarket shop instead of several.
- Less stress after work.
- More variety and better nutrition without having to think about it every night.
Step 1 – Start with your real week, not an imaginary one
Before you even think about recipes, look at your week. Which nights are late finishes or activities? Do you need a leftovers night?
Assign each night a “dinner type” such as Super quick (20 minutes), Hands off (traybakes), or one decent cook night. Juna uses this exact thinking; we bias busy days toward 20-minute dinners and give you more interesting recipes when you actually have time to cook.
Step 2 – Pick categories, not random recipes
Instead of scrolling endless recipes, choose categories that fit your goals: Family favourites, High protein, Low calorie, 20-minute, Vegetarian, Toddler-friendly.
Juna is built around this approach. You choose your categories inside the app and we build a full week of dinners that match, with no repeated dishes.
Step 3 – Build a realistic shopping list
For UK families, this means ingredients grouped by aisle with real-world pack sizes. This is where Juna does the heavy lifting by turning chosen recipes into a grouped shopping list and combining duplicate ingredients so you buy once, not three times.
Step 4 – Make room for real life (and leftovers)
Meal planning only works if it bends around reality. Plan at least one flexible night for leftovers and keep a list of back-up cupboard dinners like pasta or frozen veg. Juna always includes recipes that make sensible leftovers and avoids overly fiddly dishes on your busiest nights.
Step 5 – Put the plan where everyone can see it
Once your week is sorted, put it on the fridge or a notes app and tell the household what's coming up to reduce complaints. Juna members see their weekly plan clearly laid out, with recipe cards and cooking times, so the 5pm panic becomes “Right, it’s the chicken traybake tonight”.
Let Juna run this system for you
Join Juna for 99p for your first month, then £4.99 per month. Cancel anytime.