Canada's food guide

Meal planning from start to finish in 4 steps

Estimated reading time: 1 minutes

Making healthy meals is easier than you think. It’s all about being prepared.

Use these 4 steps to help you plan your meals.

1Decide what to eat

Decide what to eat

Write down your meal and snack ideas:

  • Get recipe ideas
  • Plan to use the foods you have before they go to waste
2Make your grocery list

Make your grocery list

Write down the foods you need for your meal plan:

  • Scan grocery flyers for healthy foods on sale
  • Keep a grocery list handy and write down items as you run out of them
3Go shopping

Go shopping

Stick to your grocery list to help:

  • Reduce food waste
  • Save money and time
4Start cooking

Start cooking

Refer to your plan:

  • Post your meal plan where everyone can refer to it
  • Give everyone a job to help with the meal plan

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2026-03-31