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The 6 Meal-Planning Apps That’ll Take All the Brainwork Outta Making Dinner

My post-work mental capacity belongs to the Real Housewives, tyvm, not finding recipes.

Headshot of Melanie CurryBy Melanie Curry
woman eating meal planning apps
Khadija Horton/Ron Lach/Pexels

Listen, I get it. Sometimes having (another) bag of crunchy Cheetos for dinner is the easiest thing to do after a draining day of work, especially if you have no extra coins left for take-out. Using your brain to creatively concoct some recipe with...actual ingredients? Who has the energy and mental capacity?!

But, sorry to say, those college eating habits aren't gonna cut it. So, allow me to introduce meal planning. You've probably heard of it—if not from your mom trying her damnedest to make you a Fully Functional Adult by (constantly) suggesting you cook more, then, at the very least, by the way it's been completely buzzing around all of our social feeds. If you're like me and don't wanna use what little post-work brain power you have to come up with dinner ideas, a meal planning app will get you alllll the way together. Trust.

There are a bunch of meal planning apps out there—some good, some bad, and others that are downright atrocious, but don't cost a thing. Just so you don't have to sift through your app store and skim the review sections, I went ahead and curated this tip-top meal planning app guide. Below you'll find the six best meal-planning apps, from the most budget-friendly option to the one designed for picky eaters (I see you, chicken tender girlies) to everything in between. You’re welcome.

Best Overall: Paprika

paprika app
Paprika

Get this: Paprika's free version comes with the same flexibility as its paid version. The app doesn’t have a built-in recipe guide, but it does allow you to save and enter recipes from the internet, and you can add up to 50 (!!) before a paywall comes in. Plus, if you add the app as a browser extension, you can save recipes directly from your favorite sites, like The New York Times or Serious Eats.

Pros:

  • Has download and sync capabilities, so you can easily save all your recipes across all devices
  • Can create grocery lists

Cons:

  • Does not have a built-in recipe guide

Sign up here

Best App for Quick Recipes: Mealime

mealime app
Mealime

Who has two hours to cook? Do I look like Ina Garten? And neither do you. Enter: Mealime. All recipes on the app are made in 30 minutes or less, and the app can curate specific recipes just for you. It'll ask about your dietary restrictions and eating habits before creating a personalized list of recipes—all for free, yes!—then once you select your meals for the week, you can generate a grocery list and upload it to Amazon Fresh or Instacart.

Oh, and did I mention that you can change your serving size from two to four, and vice versa? And if you want the nutritional info of each recipe or to substitute items, you’ll have to pay for the pro version, which is only $3/month (truly, a steal if ya ask me). On the paid version, you can upload your own recipes, plus other perks.

Pros:

  • All recipes are under 30 minutes or less
  • Offers a free version

Cons:

  • Recipe customization is limited without a subscription

Sign up here

Best Budget: Whisk

whisk
Whisk

Whisk is truly the best budget pick outta this bunch simply because you get all of its perks for zero cost. I mean, this bb is free with a capital F and comes with customizable recipes, how-to tutorials from food influencers like The Korean Vegan, and custom shopping lists! Every week, Whisk provides a calendar where you’ll add your recipes for each day. Then, you can request a shopping list, which it will automatically make for you, complete with any dietary preferences you put in. Oh, and you can send your grocery list straight to your preferred shopping service too.

If you’re not feeling the app’s recipe collection (which, fair), you can take meal ideas from literally anywhere else and upload them to the Whisk collection. Win-win.

Pros:

  • App is free
  • Has customizable recipes
  • Each recipe comes with basic nutritional facts

Cons:

  • Does not offer extensive nutritional information for its meal plans

Sign up here

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Best App for Customized Meals: Eat This Much

eat this much
Eat This Much

Eat This Much creates your meal plans based on your dietary preferences and calorie needs. All you gotta do is sign up and enter your personal info, like height and weight, and the app does the rest. You can make your own meal plan or let the app do it for you. And thanks to its extensive database of popular restaurant menu items and everyday dishes, you can easily search for and add your meal if you're having take-out.

Pros:

  • Personalizes your meal plans based on your dietary preferences and calorie goals
  • Has a bar code feature that allows you to scan ingredients
  • Can manually add online recipes to the app

Cons:

    • You can only access the shopping list feature through a paid subscription

    Sign up here

    Best App for Meal Prepping: MealPrepPro

    mealpreppro logo
    MealPrepPro

    This app ranks top for meal prepping and provides easy-to-make recipes that can last a few days. Simply sign up and enter a bunch of intel, like your preferred prep level, how many meals you want to make a week, allergies, likes and dislikes, the works. Then, the app creates ideas for lunch and dinner, which include original recipes and nutritional info. MealPrepPro will also spit out all the groceries you'll need too, so you’ll know exactly what to grab next time you hit those aisles.

    Pros:

    • Creates customized meal plans based on your preferences
    • Offers different diet options including keto, paleo, and plant-based
    • Breakfast and snack options can be added too

    Cons:

    • The app is not available for Android users

    Sign up here

      Best App for Limiting Food Waste: Cooklist

      cooklist logo
      Cooklist

      If you've never thrown out a plastic container of rotten mixed greens, I can't trust you. But! I have felt bad lately about all my food waste and one of my tricks to cutting back is this handy dandy tool, Cooklist, which lets you know when your food is nearing its expiration date. Freezer, pantry, and fridge? It tracks e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. You can either manually add your groceries in the system or load your shopping list straight into the app. It also has meal ideas for you too! So it's working overtime so you can chill. Praises.

      Pros:

      • Keeps track of the expiration date for your groceries
      • Creates menus with your recipes or from its collection
      • Has an expansive database of recipes
      • Generates grocery list for each recipe

      Cons:

      • Some testers say the app is buggy

      Sign up here

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      What are the benefits of meal-planning apps?

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      The benefits of meal planning apps range from cutting down on food costs to helping you fuel your body with foods that you like *and* that make you feel good. Because both can happen! And just when you don't have the mental capacity to think through what to make for a wholesome meal, meal planning apps take all the tiresome thought-work away.

      Are meal-planning apps worth it?

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      Whatever your reasons for meal-planning, these apps will be a good tool on that journey. They’ll save you both time and money, especially since they create a daily, weekly, or monthly meal plan. You won’t have to stress about making a different plate of food each night, nor will you have to worry if your pantry has the right ingredients because—thanks to the grocery list features—you’ll have all the items for each recipe right in your kitchen.

      How to choose the best meal-planning app:

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      From saving money, to reducing food waste, to sheer convenience, there are tons of reasons to choose a meal planning app. And whatever that reason is for you, will be your deciding factor. Ask yourself, "What do I want this app for?" before you start downloading, and you'll find the right pick. But trial and error is okay too! So feel free to play around a bit. You don't always strike on the first try.

      Headshot of Melanie Curry
      Melanie Curry

      Mel Curry (she/her) is the current assistant editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers everything from lifestyle to politics. You can often find her watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta or discovering local coffee roasters. Before joining Cosmo, she was an editorial assistant at Hearst Magazines, writing for Women’s Health, Elle, and more. Follow her on Instagram and the bird app aka Twitter.  

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