Grocery list: a printable template, a basic essentials list and a sample week

The short answer: a grocery list template is a reusable list organized by store section, like produce, meat, dairy, pantry, frozen and household, with room for quantities and a check-off box.

• Plan your meals, then list every ingredient
• Check what you have and add staples you're low on
• Add quantities and estimate prices
• Sample week, basic essentials, healthy and budget lists
• Next step: Plan it with the Meal Planner & Grocery List ($3.99).

A grocery list template is a reusable list organized by store section, like produce, meat, dairy, pantry, frozen and household, with room for quantities and a check-off box. Filling the same layout every week makes the list faster to write and faster to shop, because you move through the store once instead of doubling back. The best templates also connect to a meal plan and a pantry check, so you only buy what you'll actually use.

Want the printable version? Our Meal Planner & Grocery List pairs weekly meals with a grocery list sorted by aisle, plus pantry and freezer inventories.

Below is a layout that works, how to fill it in 15 minutes, a sample list and the printable we make.

Grocery list template: the store sections that work

Arrange your sections in the order you walk your store. Most stores put produce near the entrance and frozen food near the end.

For a starting number, see the grocery budget for family of 4 breakdown with USDA cost levels. Then trim it with couponing basics for beginners.

How to fill out a grocery list template in 15 minutes

The list goes faster when the week's dinners are already chosen; our family meal planning routine shows how.

Planning to batch cook? Our meal prep ideas guide lists what to buy for a simple weekly prep.

1. Plan your meals. Write down dinners for the week, plus breakfasts and lunches if you shop for them.
2. List every ingredient each meal needs under the right section.
3. Check what you have. Look through the pantry, fridge and freezer and cross off anything already there.
4. Add staples you're low on from your master staples list.
5. Add quantities, so you don't buy two pounds when you need one.
6. Estimate prices for the big items and total the list. If it's over budget, swap a meal before you shop, not at the register.
7. Keep the list where everyone can add to it until you leave.

Sample weekly grocery list (family of four)

Here's how a filled-in list looks for five dinners: sheet-pan chicken, tacos, pasta with meat sauce, salmon with rice and breakfast-for-dinner. For a fast salmon night, try our air fryer salmon.

FoodSafety.gov's cold food storage chart lists raw ground meat and poultry at 1 to 2 days in the refrigerator, so plan those meals for the first nights after you shop, or freeze them when you get home.

Basic grocery list: essentials for a stocked kitchen

If you're starting from scratch, such as after a move or when setting up a first apartment, these are the staples most households keep on hand. You won't need all of them every week; restock them as they run low. Our first apartment checklist covers the rest of the kitchen and home basics.

Keep this list on the back of your printable so you can scan it before each trip. A current pantry inventory list tells you what's actually running low.

Healthy grocery list

A healthy list is mostly about proportions. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend filling meals with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, a variety of proteins and low-fat or fat-free dairy, while limiting added sugars, saturated fat and sodium. Turned into a shopping list, that looks like this:

• Vegetables and fruit: several colors each week, plus frozen and canned (no-salt-added, packed in juice) for the end of the week.
• Whole grains: oats, brown rice, whole-wheat bread or pasta, corn tortillas.
• Proteins: beans, lentils, eggs, fish, chicken, lean ground meat, nuts and seeds. A Mediterranean diet meal plan builds a full week around these same foods. Plain baked chicken breast is the easiest weeknight use for the chicken.
• Dairy or fortified alternatives: milk, plain yogurt, cheese.
• Fewer of: sugary drinks, packaged sweets and highly salted snacks. Writing them on the list only when you plan to buy them makes impulse picks easier to skip.

Cheap grocery list for a tight week

When money is tight, build the list around low-cost staples that stretch into several meals: rice, pasta, oats, dried or canned beans, lentils, eggs, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions, bananas, frozen vegetables, canned tomatoes, peanut butter and chicken thighs or a whole chicken. Plan meals that share ingredients, such as a pot of beans used for tacos, soup and rice bowls, so nothing goes to waste. Potatoes alone make a cheap dinner: a baked potato in the oven with beans and cheese.

To set a realistic total, compare your spending to the USDA's monthly food plan costs, which estimate what a nutritious diet costs at home for different household sizes. Then put the number into your budget calculator to see how it fits with everything else.

Grocery list for one person or a college student

Shopping for one is easier with a short list and a freezer:

• Buy versatile ingredients you'll use in more than one meal, such as a bag of spinach for eggs, pasta and smoothies.
• Choose frozen vegetables, fruit and proteins so you can cook one portion at a time.
• Buy bread, tortillas and meat in packs you can split and freeze.
• Keep a few no-cook meals on the list for busy days: yogurt and granola, peanut butter sandwiches, bagged salad and a rotisserie chicken. On a slower night, a home roast chicken costs less and gives you leftovers.
• Cook once and eat twice: plan a dinner that becomes the next day's lunch.

How to use your list to stick to a grocery budget

• Set a number before you write the list. The USDA's monthly cost of food reports estimate costs for four food plans, Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost and Liberal, and they're a useful benchmark for your household size.
• Write prices next to items you buy often. After a few weeks you'll know your store's regular prices. Our grocery price book guide shows how to track them.
• Shop your pantry first. A current pantry inventory list and freezer inventory list stop duplicate buys. Planning a whole month of dinners first? Start with a monthly meal planner.
• Leave a little room for one sale item or a staple restock, so a good deal doesn't blow up the plan.

For a deeper walk-through, see how to grocery shop on a budget and meal planning on a budget.

Our printable grocery list template

The Meal Planner & Grocery List ($3.99) is a 12-page printable PDF in US Letter and A4. It includes a Weekly Meal Planner, Dinner Plan & Prep, a Grocery List, a Monthly Menu, Family Favorites, Recipe Cards, Pantry Inventory, Freezer Inventory and a Meal Prep Checklist. Plan the week, check the pantry and write the list on pages that are built to work together.

If you want the grocery list to live with the rest of the family schedule, the Household Binder ($6.99) includes a Grocery List and Meal Planner alongside family information, an emergency plan, a monthly calendar, a weekly planner, weekly cleaning, a bill tracker and birthdays.

Feeding a family and keeping recipes too? The Family Life Admin Bundle ($15.99) includes the Meal Planner & Grocery List and the Family Recipe Binder, plus the Newborn Baby Tracker, Kids Chore Chart and Pet Health Records.

Grocery list tips that actually stick

• Use the same template every week. Familiar sections make the list almost write itself.
• Keep a running list on the fridge and write items down the moment something runs out.
• Shop with the list facing up and check items off as they go in the cart.
• Save your best weeks. A list that worked is a list you can reuse.

Plan the meals first, then shop: a weekly menu template makes the grocery list almost write itself. Want a digital planner instead? Compare options in best meal planning apps.

Why I plan this way

I'm the oldest of three from a working family in Detroit, and I was the one my family leaned on for coordination. Most of coordination is writing things down so no one has to remember them, and that is the habit our pages are built around.