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It's been a bit since I've published a free printable meal planner...so I created a vibrant and happy new one for you in six color options. This meal planner's layout is always a winning design that readers seem to really enjoy. It's simple but effective for planning out your weekly meals. Grab your free printable meal planner download below.

My latest reader survey indicated that y'all wanted more organization printables (I love those, too!). Printable Menu Planners were at the top of the request list. Since gingham is so fun and simple to incorporate into all kinds of decor, it was the winner for this design. This weekly menu is available in six fun color options, too, including a nice black and white one. You can also find the matching grocery list printable here. Download your favorite below.

Free Printable Meal Planner

I have religiously used a meal planner for over ten years (I'm old-school and prefer a pen-to-paper method). I cook a lot, but I often forget what on earth I bought all of the ingredients that are sitting in the fridge for. I only grocery shop once a week (or even once every ten days, except for produce), so I tend to buy a lot of items in one big trip to the store and keep a large inventory on hand (especially pantry staples). And when my grocery trip involves shopping for 6-8ish recipes, it can get confusing by the time things make it into the freezer or pantry. That's where a meal planner really saves my bacon (literally, y'all).

Another benefit of a weekly menu planner? My kids can glance and see all of the (obviously) delicious meals I've planned for the entire week. No more "what's for dinner?" from the kiddos on a daily basis. A visual reminder of the planned menu is a must-have on our list.

If you've been here before, you may be aware that I've created other meal planners in the past. Today's layout, in particular, is always a heavily downloaded one when I publish one of these types of meal planners. I really think it's the simplicity of the design. I've listed a blank to indicate which week your meal planner will be used. And then I just have the days of the week with ample space to fill in your meal ideas (and even room to really expand on those, should you need to include notes).

Ready-Made Meal Planner Journals

If you prefer a pre-made journal for your weekly meal plan organization, I have the (above pictured), ready-made weekly menu planners available on Amazon. I designed these with all of the favorite aspects of the printable ones I've created over the years. These include:

54 weeks of planning pages to jot down all menu ideas
lined spaces for each days' meals

Each individual day has three lines which can be divided into breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Or, you can use the lines to expand on the main meal of each day.

All of the planning pages are on the righthand pages, while the lefthand pages contains lines for notes for each week (recipe ideas, events, etc.).
There are plenty of lined pages in the back of the book to write down favorite recipes, too.
Each of these journals is $7.99 on Amazon:

Please note that the interiors of these books are actually the exact same, but the book names are different since Amazon doesn't allow me to have two books with the same name listed.

How to Use a Printable Meal Planner:

Download your favorite planner color below.
These are all Sunday-start planners.
Print your planner onto regular paper. If you're using the black and white gingham option, you can even print in black and white or grayscale to save ink.
If you'd like to use the same print week after week, you may want to laminate it. I laminate prints like this at home with self-laminating sheets (no special machines or anything like that are required). Then just use your meal planner with a dry erase marker.

Grab self-laminating sheets like the ones I often use here on Amazon.
Grab fine-tipped dry erase markers here on Amazon.
You can even attach magnets on the back to keep your laminated meal planner on the refrigerator. I'll hot glue four of these types of magnets to the back of a meal planner.

If you don't want to laminate, this printable meal planner is purposely sized at 8x10" for framing. Just print onto letter sized paper, trim, and frame.

Again, just use fine-tipped dry erase markers on the glass to fill in your meal planner week after week.

Download Your Printable Menu Planner:

This 8x10" planner is available in the following gingham designs:

pink
aqua
blue
green
red
black

Download one or all of the options. And guess what? Coordinating grocery list printables are already designed for next week. Pop back in to grab yours then.

Printable Menu and Grocery List Combo

UPDATE: After I originally posted these free meal planner printables, a few of you emailed and asked me to create a combined grocery list and weekly dinner planner printable in one. I went ahead and did that, as well, in all of the same six colors of gingham cuteness, with the list option on the right-hand side. This way your menu plans and shopping lists are all in one spot.

Since this set was a bit more involved (design-wise), I've made it into an add-on item that you can grab in my shop for $1.99 here or through the direct purchase button below. You can download one or all of the color options...they're all included and all sized at 8x10" sizes.

Buy These Six Menu & Grocery List Combined Printables

Not sure how to Download or Print a Printable?

Be sure to check out my complete video tutorial below which covers how your can download and print your printables from both a Mac and a PC. The video includes tips for printing on your home printer, or even uploading your printables to local print shops. Still have questions? I created an entire post for you here to help a bit further.

Looking for More Meal Planning Systems?

My colorful floral printable meal planner from 2018 has the same layout as today's designs.
Today's Meal Planner has a matching Grocery List Printable here.
These printable meal planner designs from 2014 are still a reader favorite.
This printable Weekly Meal Planner from Whisky N Sunshine has boxes for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks, too.
And this Index Card Meal Planning System from My Home Matters is really smart and keeps family favorites at the ready.
Anika's DIY Life has a great DIY Dry Erase Menu Board created from a cutting board.
This Family Meal Planner Printable from Hello Bee is another box-style planner.
I really like how functional this DIY Weekly Menu Board from Play Party Plan is. All of the colors make me happy, too!

How do you plan your weekly meals?