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Using the Meal Plan Grocery List

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Every meal plan has its own grocery list, built from the recipes in it and grouped by store section. Check off items as you review them, add your own custom items, and share the list with your client along with their nutrition plan.

Before You Begin

  • The steps in this article require the Nutrition Planning add-on in your subscription. Find the full steps in Getting Started With Nutrition Planning →
     
  • The grocery list fills in as you add recipes to a meal plan. See Adding Recipes to a Client's Meal Plan →
     
  • Measurement units: Grocery amounts follow your practice's measurement system setting: Imperial shows US units, such as cups and pounds, and Metric shows grams and liters. See Adjusting your Measurement System Preferences →
     
  • Sharing: The grocery list is shared with your client automatically when you share their nutrition plan. There's no separate step to share it. See Sharing a Nutrition Plan With a Client →
     
  • That Clean Life integration: If you build plans in That Clean Life through the integration, those plans have their own grocery list in That Clean Life. It's separate from the grocery lists in Nutrition Planning.

Opening a Meal Plan's Grocery List

  1. Open a client record and go to their Nutrition Plan section.
     
  2. Click on a meal plan to open it.
     
  3. Select the Grocery List tab under the meal plan title.

📍 Note: Each meal plan has its own grocery list. To see the list for a different week, open that meal plan.

If the meal plan has no recipes yet, you'll see a message that ingredients show up as you add meals, with a Go to planner button.

Reading the Grocery List

The top of the grocery list shows the Total ingredients and Total recipes in the meal plan.

Below that, items are grouped into sections by category, such as produce or dairy. Click a section to expand or collapse it. Each section shows how many items it holds, or how many are checked off.

Each item shows:

  • The ingredient name.
  • How many recipes use it, such as "Used in 3 recipes."
  • The total quantity to buy for the whole meal plan.

To find an item quickly, type in the search bar. Click Clear search to see the full list again.

📍 Note: The same ingredient can appear on two lines when recipes measure it differently, such as flour in cups and flour in grams.

How Quantities Are Calculated

  • Quantities are based on each recipe's Servings to cook, not Portions to eat, and Side recipes are included.
  • Recipes marked as leftover aren't counted again, so their ingredients aren't doubled.
  • The list updates right away when you add, swap, or remove a recipe, or change its servings.

Viewing the Recipes Behind an Item

  1. Click View next to an item.
     
  2. Review the recipes that use the ingredient. Each one shows its day, its meal, whether it's a main or a side, and the amount it uses.

     
  3. Click the Recipe details icon on a recipe to open its full details.

Checking Off Grocery Items

Click the checkbox next to an item to check it off. The section's count updates to show how many items are checked.

When the nutrition plan is shared, your client sees the items you've checked off. Clients can't check items off themselves.

📍 Note: If you encounter any obstacles, it’s likely your role doesn't allow you to edit nutrition plans. Contact your account owner to update your permissions.

Adding a Custom Item

Add items that don't come from a recipe, such as pantry staples or a brand your client prefers. Use a custom unit for items that aren't measured by weight or volume. For example, add celery with a quantity of 1 and the unit "bunch."

  1. Open the meal plan's Grocery List tab.
     
  2. Click Add item.

     
  3. Enter the Item name and a Quantity.

     
  4. Optionally, choose a Unit. Start typing to pick from the suggested units, or type your own, such as "bunch."

     
  5. Choose a Category. The category sets which section the item appears in.
     
  6. Click Save.

Your item appears in its section in the list with a Custom tag.

Editing or Deleting a Custom Item

Only custom items can be edited or deleted. Items calculated from recipes change when you change the recipes in the meal plan.

Editing a Custom Item

  1. Click Edit next to the custom item.
     
  2. Update the item's details.
     
  3. Click Save.

Deleting a Custom Item

Deleting a custom grocery list item is permanent.

  1. Click the trash icon next to the custom item.
  2. In the Delete Ingredient pop-up, confirm that you want to delete the item.

📍 Note: Duplicating a meal plan doesn't copy its custom grocery list items or checked-off items. The new meal plan's grocery list starts fresh. See Managing a Client's Meal Plans →

What Your Client Sees

When you share a nutrition plan, your client can open each meal plan's grocery list from their Client Portal. 

They see:

  • Every item, grouped by store section, including your custom items.
  • The items you've checked off.
  • Which recipes use each item, using View.

Clients can't add, edit, delete, or check off items.

⚠️ Important: Print and export aren't available for grocery lists.

Next Steps

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