Plan your MyPlate meals free: get personalized daily food-group targets, pick a calorie-level plan from 1,200–2,500 calories, and swap in 1,072 USDA recipes. No account needed.
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 calculator
Choose a ready-made daily meal plan at your calorie level, from 1,200 to 2,500 calories a day. Browse meal plans
Replace any meal with a USDA recipe that fills the same food-group slots, so your week stays balanced across all five groups. Browse recipes
Yes. MyPlate.food's meal planner is completely free and needs no account. Start with the MyPlate Plan calculator to get your personalized daily food-group targets, pick a ready-made calorie-level plan, then swap in any of 1,072 USDA recipes to build your week.
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) swap any meal for a recipe that fits the same food-group slots. Every meal stays balanced across fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, and dairy.
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.
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.
Yes. The MyPlate Plan calculator supports the USDA's three healthy eating patterns — US-Style, Mediterranean-Style, and Vegetarian — so your food-group targets and recipe suggestions match the pattern you choose.