# How to use AI to plan a week of dinners Tell a free AI app like ChatGPT or Gemini who you're feeding, what's already in your kitchen and what you can spend, and it writes back a plan for five dinners and one shopping list, so you shop once for the week. Guide · Cooking & Food · 5 min read · By ChoreHacks · Published 2026-10-23 · Updated 2026-10-23 "What's for dinner?" comes back every single day. If you plan the whole week in one sitting, you answer it once, shop once and throw out less food. A free AI app like ChatGPT or Gemini is good at this job. You tell it who you're feeding, what's already in the kitchen and what you can spend. It writes back a plan and a shopping list. You don't need any tech skills. If you can send a text message, you can do this. This guide takes you through it one step at a time. Each step has a ready-made prompt you can copy. A prompt is the message you type into the AI app. ## What you need before you start - A free AI app. ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Grok all work. Never used one? [Our start-here page](https://chorehacks.com/start) shows you how to get one on your phone. - A rough idea of what's in your fridge and cupboards. You don't need an exact count. - A number for your food budget this week, if you have one. ## 1. Start with what's already in your kitchen The cheapest dinner is made from food you already bought, so start in your kitchen, not at the store. Open the fridge, the freezer and the cupboards and jot down what you see. Rough is fine, like "half a bag of rice, 4 eggs, frozen peas, a can of chickpeas, one soft pepper." Then copy this prompt and swap your list in for the part in brackets. **Prompt: [Plan a week of meals from what's already in your kitchen](https://chorehacks.com/e/plan-a-week-of-meals-from-whats-already-in-your-kitchen.md)** Uses up food you already paid for and cuts the grocery bill. ```text Here is everything in my fridge, freezer, and pantry: [list]. I'm feeding [number] people and want to spend as little as possible this week. Make a 5-dinner meal plan that uses what I have first, then give me the shortest possible shopping list of what I still need to buy. ``` The AI uses your food first and puts only the missing items on the shopping list. Read the list before you go. It only knows what you typed, so if you forgot the chicken in the freezer, it will tell you to buy chicken. ## 2. Too tired to type? Take a photo Most free AI apps can look at a photo, so you can skip the list. Open the fridge, take a picture and attach it to this prompt. **Prompt: [Snap your fridge and get dinner ideas](https://chorehacks.com/e/snap-your-fridge-and-get-dinner-ideas.md)** Gives you dinner ideas from one photo of your fridge. ```text [Attach a photo of your open fridge] Look at this photo and list the ingredients you can see. I also have [proteins/spices not visible]. I don't want [foods to avoid]. Suggest 3 simple dinners I can make tonight in under 30 minutes, with short steps. ``` That one gives you ideas for tonight. For the rest of the week, take a second photo of your pantry shelves. **Prompt: [Turn a pantry photo into easy recipes](https://chorehacks.com/e/turn-a-pantry-photo-into-easy-recipes.md)** Turns the cans, jars and dry goods you already have into simple meals. ```text [Attach a photo of your pantry or cupboard shelves] Here are my shelf staples and canned goods. Suggest 3-5 easy meals I can make mostly from these, for [number] people, using [any tools: microwave, one pot, oven]. For each meal, give the cook time, short steps, and the 1-2 fresh items I'd need to buy. Skip anything with [allergies or foods to avoid]. ``` Photos have blind spots. The yogurt behind the milk won't show up, and the AI can mistake one jar for another. Look over the list of what it says it can see, and add anything it missed. ## 3. Set a budget and get one shopping list If money is tight this week, give the AI a number. This prompt plans five days of meals for your household and builds one combined grocery list to match. **Prompt: [Make a weekly meal plan and grocery list on a budget](https://chorehacks.com/e/make-a-weekly-meal-plan-and-grocery-list-on-a-budget.md)** Plans the week's meals and builds the grocery list in about 2 minutes. ```text Create breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack recipes for Monday to Friday for [number] people. Budget is $[amount]. Do not include [foods]. Keep it fairly healthy. Then give one combined grocery list, and double-check that every item on the list is used in a recipe and every recipe ingredient is on the list. ``` Two extra details make the answer much better. - Say who's eating. "2 adults and 2 kids who won't touch mushrooms" gets a better plan than "4 people." - Say how much time you have. Add "Every dinner takes 30 minutes or less" if your weeknights are rushed. The prices it gives are guesses. It doesn't know what your store charges, so treat the total as a rough number and check prices in your store's app or website. ## 4. Use up the one thing that's about to go off Every week there's one item in the fridge that needs using, like a bag of spinach or half a tub of ricotta. Give it a job before it ends up in the bin. **Prompt: [Get recipe ideas from one ingredient you need to use up](https://chorehacks.com/e/get-recipe-ideas-from-one-ingredient-you-need-to-use-up.md)** Stops forgotten ingredients from going to waste. ```text Suggest three healthy weeknight vegetarian meals using the [ingredient, e.g. lentils] I have. Keep each under 40 minutes and add a short shopping list for anything else needed. ``` This prompt asks for vegetarian meals. If you eat meat, change "vegetarian" to whatever you like before you send it. You can change any word in any prompt. It's your message. ## 5. Talk back until the plan fits Treat the first answer as a draft. Reply the way you'd talk to a friend who's helping you plan. - "Swap Thursday for something with no oven. Ours is broken." - "Make Monday's dinner big enough for lunch on Tuesday." - "My son won't eat anything spicy. Change the plan." - "Sort the shopping list by the aisles in a grocery store." - "Which of these can I cook ahead on Sunday?" The AI remembers the whole chat, so you never need to start over. ## When dinner goes wrong mid-week Halfway through a recipe you find you're out of eggs, or the sauce is far too salty. These two prompts help on the spot. **Prompt: [Find a substitute for a missing ingredient](https://chorehacks.com/e/find-a-substitute-for-a-missing-ingredient.md)** You can finish dinner without another trip to the store. ```text I am making [dish] and I am out of [ingredient]. Give me three substitutes using things like [what you have], with the swap amount and how each changes the taste. Tell me if the swap could ruin this kind of recipe. ``` **Prompt: [Rescue a cooking mistake](https://chorehacks.com/e/rescue-a-cooking-mistake.md)** Saves dinner instead of starting over. ```text I'm making [dish] and I [what went wrong, e.g. added too much salt / it's too runny]. What can I do right now to fix it with normal kitchen ingredients? ``` Baking is fussier than cooking, so be careful with swaps in cakes and bread. The AI usually warns you when a swap is risky, so read what it says before you pour anything in. ## Special diets and big days If someone at home can't have dairy, use the prompt to [build a menu around lactose intolerance](https://chorehacks.com/e/build-a-menu-around-lactose-intolerance.md). It plans dairy-free dinners and tells you what to check on food labels. For a holiday or a big family meal, the prompt to [plan a holiday dinner for a crowd](https://chorehacks.com/e/plan-a-holiday-dinner-for-a-crowd.md) gives you a menu, amounts and a timeline for the day. For allergies and health conditions, treat the AI as a starting point only. Read labels yourself, and ask your doctor or a dietitian about anything medical. ## Habits that keep it going - Plan on the same day each week, ideally the day before you shop. - Save the plan. Take a screenshot or copy it into your notes app so you have it at the store. - Keep a short list of dinners everyone liked. Next week, paste it in and say "Include two of these." - Leave private details out. The AI doesn't need your name, address or card number to plan dinner. ## Quick answers ### Is it free? Yes. Every prompt in this guide works on the free version of ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Grok. Free plans can have daily limits. ### Do I need to sign up for anything on ChoreHacks? No. Copy a prompt and go. The email signup below is optional. ### Can the AI get things wrong? Yes. It can guess a price wrong, miss something in a photo or suggest a swap that doesn't suit the recipe. Check anything that matters, and always check allergies yourself. ### What if I don't like the plan? Tell it what to change. "Make it cheaper," "fewer pans to wash" and "no fish" all work. ## Every prompt in this guide - [Plan a week of meals from what's already in your kitchen](https://chorehacks.com/e/plan-a-week-of-meals-from-whats-already-in-your-kitchen.md) - [Snap your fridge and get dinner ideas](https://chorehacks.com/e/snap-your-fridge-and-get-dinner-ideas.md) - [Turn a pantry photo into easy recipes](https://chorehacks.com/e/turn-a-pantry-photo-into-easy-recipes.md) - [Make a weekly meal plan and grocery list on a budget](https://chorehacks.com/e/make-a-weekly-meal-plan-and-grocery-list-on-a-budget.md) - [Get recipe ideas from one ingredient you need to use up](https://chorehacks.com/e/get-recipe-ideas-from-one-ingredient-you-need-to-use-up.md) - [Find a substitute for a missing ingredient](https://chorehacks.com/e/find-a-substitute-for-a-missing-ingredient.md) - [Rescue a cooking mistake](https://chorehacks.com/e/rescue-a-cooking-mistake.md) - [Build a menu around lactose intolerance](https://chorehacks.com/e/build-a-menu-around-lactose-intolerance.md) - [Plan a holiday dinner for a crowd](https://chorehacks.com/e/plan-a-holiday-dinner-for-a-crowd.md) ## The one-page version A one-page cheat sheet for this guide: https://chorehacks.com/pins/plan-a-week-of-dinners-with-ai.png