MyPlate Meal Planner — Free Personalized Weekly Plan (2026)
Plan your MyPlate meals free: get personalized daily food-group targets, pick a calorie-level plan from 1,200–2,500 calories, and cook from 1,072 USDA recipes. No account needed.
Build your week, a meal at a time
Add any of 1,072 USDA recipes to any day. You finish with a week of meals that already fit your targets.
The board
Every day totals itself as you build
Each card is a real USDA recipe, so the day's calories and five food groups add up as you drop them in, and the whole week saves itself.
Add recipes and your own meals
Search all 1,072 MyPlate Kitchen recipes or your saved cookbook, add a dish to any meal, and open any card's full USDA recipe in a tap. Meals you named in the tracker sit there too, one card each.
Start from a ready-made week
Seed the board with a full calorie-level week, then swap in whatever you'd rather cook.
Every day, balanced
Each day shows a calorie ring and a MyPlate plate filling toward your targets, with a bar for every food group.
Log a planned day
One tap copies a day's meals into your tracker's food log. The plan becomes the record.
Your week, your way
Start on Monday or Sunday, drag to rearrange, swap or clear a meal, and every change saves as you make it.
Print it or save a PDF
Print your planned week, or save it as a PDF, straight from the board, with each day's recipes and calorie totals.
One thing to know
No account needed
Or start from a ready-made week
Not ready to sign up? Six calorie-level plans are already built, pick your level and see a real day from it.
Choose a calorie level
SampleOne day on this plan
2,000 cal/day
Every meal links to its full USDA recipe.
Personalized, not one-size
A plan built around your number
Most meal plans hand everyone the same 2,000-calorie week. The MyPlate Plan calculator estimates your daily target from your age, height, weight, and activity, then points you to the calorie-level plan that matches.
How it fits together
- 6
- Calorie levels
- 1,200-2,500
- Daily calorie range
- 1,072
- USDA recipes
Prefer to plan your own?
Free weekly meal planner template
Print this blank weekly meal planner template: a seven-day grid with a row for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | |||||||
| Lunch | |||||||
| Dinner | |||||||
| Snacks |
Side by side
A printable PDF plan vs a MyPlate plan
Calorie level
Generic PDF plan
One fixed numberMyPlate plan
Six levels, 1,200-2,500The recipes
Generic PDF plan
Generic or stock photosMyPlate plan
Real USDA recipes, full nutritionFood-group balance
Generic PDF plan
Rarely shownMyPlate plan
Every day across all five groupsFits your needs
Generic PDF plan
Same plan for everyoneMyPlate plan
Matched to your calculator numberPrice
Generic PDF plan
Often paywalledMyPlate plan
FreeRearrange & save
Generic PDF plan
Not possibleMyPlate plan
Drag-and-drop planner, free with an account| Generic PDF plan | MyPlate plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Calorie level | One fixed number | Six levels, 1,200-2,500 |
| The recipes | Generic or stock photos | Real USDA recipes, full nutrition |
| Food-group balance | Rarely shown | Every day across all five groups |
| Fits your needs | Same plan for everyone | Matched to your calculator number |
| Price | Often paywalled | Free |
| Rearrange & save | Not possible | Drag-and-drop planner, free with an account |
How to plan your MyPlate meals
Get your MyPlate Plan targets
Use the free MyPlate Plan calculator to find your daily calorie goal and the cups and ounces you need from each of the five food groups.
Open the calculator2Pick a calorie-level plan
Choose a ready-made daily meal plan at your calorie level, from 1,200 to 2,500 calories a day.
Browse meal plans3Pick recipes you'll actually cook
Every meal links to its full USDA recipe, and if one doesn't appeal, the MyPlate Kitchen library has 1,072 to choose from within the same food groups.
Browse recipesMyPlate meal planning, FAQ
Is there a free MyPlate meal planner?
Yes, several planning tools, all free. The MyPlate Plan calculator, six ready-made calorie-level plans, and a printable weekly template need no account. The interactive drag-and-drop planner, where you build your week on a board and log a day to your tracker, is a free feature of a free MyPlan account.
Is there a drag-and-drop meal planner?
Yes. Build your week on an interactive board: add recipes from the 1,072-recipe MyPlate Kitchen library to any day, and drag the cards to rearrange them. Or start from a ready-made week and swap dishes in. Each day tallies its calories and five food groups against your MyPlate targets, and you can send any planned day to your tracker's food log. It's a free feature of a free MyPlan account.
How do I plan meals with MyPlate?
Three steps: (1) get your daily targets, calories and cups/ounces for each of the five food groups, from the free MyPlate Plan calculator; (2) choose a ready-made daily plan at your calorie level; (3) cook from each meal's linked USDA recipe, and if one doesn't appeal, pick a comparable recipe from the same food groups in the MyPlate Kitchen library. Every day stays balanced across fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, and dairy.
What happened to the USDA MyPlate meal planning tools?
The USDA retired the MyPlate.gov website, including its plan and daily-checklist tools, in January 2026. MyPlate.food is an independent project that preserves the MyPlate-format calculator and meal plans, grounded in the public-domain USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2020-2025). It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USDA.
How many calories should my meal plan be?
It depends on your age, sex, height, weight, and activity level. The MyPlate Plan calculator estimates your daily calorie target using the National Academies' Estimated Energy Requirement equations, then maps it to food-group amounts. Ready-made plans are available from 1,200 to 2,500 calories a day.
Can I plan vegetarian or Mediterranean-style meals?
Yes. The MyPlate Plan calculator supports the USDA's three healthy eating patterns, US-Style, Mediterranean-Style, and Vegetarian, so your food-group targets match the pattern you choose.
Do I need an account to use the meal planner?
It depends which tool. The MyPlate Plan calculator, the ready-made calorie-level plans, and the printable weekly template are free and need no account. The interactive drag-and-drop planner, which saves your week and logs to your tracker, is free with a MyPlan account, since it needs somewhere to keep your board.
Can I print my meal plan or save it as a PDF?
Yes, two ways. For a blank grid to fill in by hand, print the free weekly template, no account needed. Once you've built a week on the interactive board (free with a MyPlan account), use "Print week" to print the filled plan, each day's recipes, servings, and calorie totals, or choose "Save as PDF" in your browser's print dialog.