Meals · Health & Body · Free
Plan the week’s meals once, and shop from the list they make.
Plan breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the week, keep a list of dishes you make again, and build a grocery list from what you planned.
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The week on one cardSeven days by breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a count of what is planned, so the gaps show before Thursday evening does.
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Dishes you make againSave a dish once with its ingredients and prep time, and it comes back as a one-tap chip the next time you plan.
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A list from the planOne tap gathers every planned dish’s ingredients into a list by aisle, with the dishes each item is for.
Your first week with Meals
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Plan a meal
On the "Week" tab, tap an empty "+" on a day. Type a name, pick a prep time, list the ingredients one per line and tap "Save". "Save as dish" keeps it for next time.
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Reuse a dish
For the next meal, pick it from the "Saved dishes" chips, or open "Dishes" and tap "Plan" on it. Each time you plan a dish it moves up those lists.
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Shop from the plan
Open "Grocery" and tap "Add ingredients from plan". Tap items as they go in the basket, and tap the button again whenever the plan changes.
Every step, in detail
- 1 Open Meals on the "Week" tab and tap an empty "+" under Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner on any day. The "+" at the top opens on today and on your "Quick add (+) default slot", Dinner unless you change it.
- 2 Type a name such as "Chicken Tacos", pick a "Prep time", list the ingredients one per line, and tap "Save". Leave "Save as dish" on so the meal joins your Dishes.
- 3 Next time, pick it from the "Saved dishes" chips, or tap "Plan" on it in "Dishes" and choose a day and meal.
- 4 Open "Grocery" and tap "Add ingredients from plan" to turn the week's planned dishes into a shopping list.
The week, and the list it makes
Pick a dish, then tap a meal to plan it there; tap it again to clear it. The line over the week counts as you go. The shopping list does not: it changes only when you tap “Add ingredients from plan”, as in the app, and keeps what you have ticked.
Sample · the week of Oct 19, seen on Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026 · try it
THIS WEEK
Oct 19 – 25, 2026 12 of 21 meals planned · 0 of 37 boughtMON19
TUE20
WED21
THU22
FRI23
SAT24
SUN25
Shopping list
The plan has changed since this list was made. The list waits for this button.
Produce
Protein
Dairy
Pantry
Spices
Today · Tonight
Ringed items are for the dish you have picked. “Lentil soup” is a one-off and “Thai takeaway” an order-in: both count as planned, and neither adds to the list. The app moves a bought item under “BOUGHT”; here it stays put, struck through.
One item from three meals
The list gathers ingredients by name. The first dish to ask for one sets its quantity and its aisle, and every dish that needs it is named on the line. Quantities are not added up: three breakfasts that each use a cup of Greek yogurt make one line that says “1 cup”.
Greek yogurt, this week
The same goes for Olive Oil, which the salmon and the tofu each want 2 tbsp of. When a line names two dishes, buy for both.
Tapping “Add ingredients from plan” again
- Taken offItems no planned dish needs
Swap Thursday’s Veggie Chili for something else and its beans, tomatoes, onion and chili powder leave the list, bought or not.
- Brought up to dateItems still needed
Their quantity, aisle and dishes are refreshed from the plan. A tick stays ticked.
- Left aloneItems you added yourself
Whatever you typed into “Add item to buy...” stays until you delete it.
Each week has its own list. On another week the label reads “SHOPPING LIST · NEXT WEEK”, and the button gathers that week’s dishes.
How an ingredient finds its aisle
When you type a dish’s ingredients, one per line, Meals guesses each one’s aisle from the words in it. It checks six word lists in order and stops at the first hit. A line with no hit goes under Other. Type one to see where it lands.
- Proteinchicken, beef, pork, turkey, salmon, fish, shrimp, tofu, egg
- Dairymilk, cheese, butter, cream, yogurt
- Producetomato, lettuce, onion, garlic, apple, lemon, ginger, pepper, cucumber, potato, carrot
- Spicessalt, pepper, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, oregano, basil
- Pantrypasta, rice, noodle, soba, beans, sauce, oil, miso, bread, flour, sugar
- Frozenfrozen, ice cream
- Otheranything else
“tortillas / ground beef / salsa / cheese” is the hint in the ingredients box, and half of it lands in Other. The lists match parts of words too, so “eggplant” finds “egg” and “peanut butter” finds “butter”. “pepper” is on two lists, and Produce is checked first.
A line is kept as you type it, so “2 chicken breasts” is an item of its own and will not merge with another dish’s “chicken breast”. Items typed into “Add item to buy...” always go under Other; the “Add Grocery Item” sheet lets you choose.
Dishes, by effort and by habit
Every saved dish carries a prep time, and the filters on Dishes put its six prep times into three groups. The list itself is ordered by two settings, then by how often you have planned each dish, then by name. Flip the settings to reorder the sample.
Filters
Quick, Medium and Long cook
“Order in” counts as quick. The sample’s eight dishes fall like this.
Quick 4
- < 20 min
- Order in
Overnight Oats Bowl, Turkey Avocado Wrap, Grilled Salmon & Asparagus, Yogurt Parfait
Medium 3
- 20-40 min
Chicken Stir-Fry, Mediterranean Quinoa Salad, Sheet Pan Tofu & Veg
Long cook 1
- 40-90 min
- 90+ min
- Slow cooker
Veggie Chili
The order of Dishes
Favourites, then quick, then most planned
Ties go to the name. “used N×” counts the times a dish was planned.
- 1★ Overnight Oats Bowlused 10×< 20 minBreakfast
- 2★ Chicken Stir-Fryused 6×20-40 minDinner
- 3★ Veggie Chiliused 2×Slow cookerDinner
- 4Turkey Avocado Wrapused 7×< 20 minLunch
- 5Grilled Salmon & Asparagusused 5×< 20 minDinner
- 6Yogurt Parfaitused 4×< 20 minBreakfast
- 7Mediterranean Quinoa Saladused 3×20-40 minLunch
- 8Sheet Pan Tofu & Vegused 1×20-40 minDinner
Your rotation in Insights
“Insights” in the ⋯ menu looks at the dishes you keep and today’s three meals. Its “cooked” is a count of plans: Meals has no button for cooking, so every time a dish is planned counts once.
Sample · the eight dishes on Tuesday, Oct 20
You’ve cooked 38 times across your rotation.
4 quick, 3 favourites.
Prep-time mix
How much effort your rotation asks for.
Biggest bar first. A prep time no dish uses is left out.
Today
Your daily plan at a glance.
Tuesday: Overnight Oats Bowl (< 20 min), Turkey Avocado Wrap (< 20 min), Chicken Stir-Fry (20-40 min).
Most cooked
Overnight Oats Bowl is your go-to.
The meals you reach for again and again.
- Overnight Oats Bowl10×
- Turkey Avocado Wrap7×
- Chicken Stir-Fry6×
- Grilled Salmon & Asparagus5×
- Yogurt Parfait4×
- Mediterranean Quinoa Salad3×
Favourites
The ones you starred.
Quick to pull into a plan when you’re deciding.
- Overnight Oats Bowl10×
- Chicken Stir-Fry6×
- Veggie Chili2×
Tips
- In "Settings", set "Quick add (+) default slot" to the meal you plan most, so the "+" at the top opens straight to it.
- Turn on "Hide bought items by default" if you open the list mostly while shopping.
- The list does not follow the plan by itself. After changing the plan, tap "Add ingredients from plan" again; it keeps your ticks and the items you added by hand.
- Quantities are not added up across dishes. When an item names two dishes, buy enough for both.
- Name ingredients plainly, such as "chicken breast" rather than "2 chicken breasts". The line becomes the item's name, which is how two dishes share one item and how its aisle is guessed.
- "Show quick dishes first" in Settings puts your fastest dishes at the top of Dishes for busy weeks.
Questions
About Meals day to day.
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Does the list add up quantities when two dishes need the same thing?
No. Items are merged by name, and the first dish to ask for one sets its quantity. The item names every dish that needs it, so when a line names two dishes, buy enough for both.
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I changed the plan. Why didn't the list change?
The list is built when you tap "Add ingredients from plan", and only then. Tap it again after changing the plan. Items no planned dish needs are taken off, the rest are refreshed and keep their ticks, and items you added yourself stay.
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How does Meals know which aisle an ingredient goes in?
It looks for words in the ingredient's name, checking Protein, Dairy, Produce, Spices, Pantry and Frozen in that order, and anything else goes under Other. Items typed into "Add item to buy..." always go under Other; the "Add Grocery Item" sheet lets you choose.
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What does "Most cooked" in Insights count?
The times you planned each dish. Meals has no button for marking a meal cooked, so planning a dish is what counts, and "You've cooked N times" is the total of those plans.
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Can I plan next week, or a week further ahead?
Yes. Swipe the week card or use the arrows; "This week" brings you back. Each week has its own shopping list. The "Plan" button in Dishes offers only this week's days, so plan other weeks from their grid.
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Is Meals free, and does it sync?
Meals is free. Your dishes, plans and shopping lists sync between your devices through iCloud.
Works with
Where Meals hands off to the rest of HourLife.
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Today
The "Meals" card on Today shows tonight's dinner with its prep time, and whether its ingredients are "✓ bought", still "N to buy", or not on the list ("check ingredients").
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Calendar
Each planned meal appears as a line such as "Dinner · Chicken Stir-Fry" in "Day by day", which you open from the Calendar "⋯" menu.
Read and try
Books from the library that Meals puts into practice, and something to try on paper or in the browser.
Already have HourLife?
Meals is under Health in the module list. The ⋯ menu on the Meals page holds "Insights", "Favorite Dishes", "Archived Dishes" and "Settings".
Meals is in the Library, under Health & Body. If it isn’t there, turn it on in Settings → Look & Feel → Modules.
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