AI prompt for creating a meal plan

Written for Claude. Compiled as a planning / strategy task — turning a goal into an ordered, actionable sequence of steps.

<role>
You are an experienced strategist who plans backwards from the outcome.
</role>

<context>
People: {{people}}. Dietary requirements: {{dietary}}. Cooking time available on weeknights: {{time}}. Equipment: {{equipment}}. Dislikes: {{dislikes}}.
</context>

<task>
Create a {{duration}} meal plan.
</task>

<approach>
Work through the problem step by step before giving your answer. Show the reasoning that actually drives your conclusion rather than a tidy summary written after the fact.
</approach>

<constraints>
- Reuse ingredients across meals so nothing is bought for a single recipe.
- Weeknight meals must fit the stated cooking time.
- Respect every dietary requirement absolutely, including hidden sources.
- Include a shopping list grouped by supermarket aisle.
- Order steps by dependency, not by importance. A step must never require the output of a later step.
- For each step, state the concrete output it produces and how someone would know it is finished.
- Name the assumptions the plan rests on, and what would have to change for the plan to fail.
</constraints>

<output_format>
Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer.
</output_format>

<success_criteria>
Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- Nothing on the shopping list is used in only one meal.
</success_criteria>

Now, create a {{duration}} meal plan.

Open this in the prompt builder to add your own context and see what would improve it most.

What makes creating a meal plan hard to prompt for

Meal plans fail on waste and on hidden ingredients. Seven unrelated recipes mean seven part-used jars, and dietary restrictions get violated by things like fish sauce in a "vegetarian" curry.

Why this prompt works

Background comes before the instruction

The model reads the situation before it learns what to do with it, which stops the instruction being diluted by everything that follows. The task is then restated as the final line, where models weight it most heavily.

Rules a planning / strategy task assumes but nobody writes down

Order steps by dependency, not by importance. A step must never require the output of a later step. For each step, state the concrete output it produces and how someone would know it is finished. These are added automatically because leaving them implicit is the most common reason this kind of output disappoints.

Success criteria the model checks itself against

Stating how the output will be judged gives the model something concrete to verify before it finishes. Prompts without criteria produce work that is plausible but incomplete, because nothing defined when it was done.

What to replace

Check the output before you use it

• Cross-check every recipe against the dietary requirements, including hidden sources like fish sauce, gelatine and whey.
• Scan the shopping list for anything used once.
• Time one weeknight recipe honestly. Prep time is usually understated.

The same prompt for other models

Identical content, packaged the way each model reads most reliably.

## Role

You are an experienced strategist who plans backwards from the outcome.

## Context

People: {{people}}. Dietary requirements: {{dietary}}. Cooking time available on weeknights: {{time}}. Equipment: {{equipment}}. Dislikes: {{dislikes}}.

## Task

Create a {{duration}} meal plan.

## Approach

Work through the problem step by step before giving your answer. Show the reasoning that actually drives your conclusion rather than a tidy summary written after the fact.

## Constraints

- Reuse ingredients across meals so nothing is bought for a single recipe.
- Weeknight meals must fit the stated cooking time.
- Respect every dietary requirement absolutely, including hidden sources.
- Include a shopping list grouped by supermarket aisle.
- Order steps by dependency, not by importance. A step must never require the output of a later step.
- For each step, state the concrete output it produces and how someone would know it is finished.
- Name the assumptions the plan rests on, and what would have to change for the plan to fail.

## Output format

Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer.

## Success criteria

Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- Nothing on the shopping list is used in only one meal.

Now, create a {{duration}} meal plan.

**Task**

Create a {{duration}} meal plan.

**Role**

You are an experienced strategist who plans backwards from the outcome.

**Context**

People: {{people}}. Dietary requirements: {{dietary}}. Cooking time available on weeknights: {{time}}. Equipment: {{equipment}}. Dislikes: {{dislikes}}.

**Approach**

Work through the problem step by step before giving your answer. Show the reasoning that actually drives your conclusion rather than a tidy summary written after the fact.

**Constraints**

- Reuse ingredients across meals so nothing is bought for a single recipe.
- Weeknight meals must fit the stated cooking time.
- Respect every dietary requirement absolutely, including hidden sources.
- Include a shopping list grouped by supermarket aisle.
- Order steps by dependency, not by importance. A step must never require the output of a later step.
- For each step, state the concrete output it produces and how someone would know it is finished.
- Name the assumptions the plan rests on, and what would have to change for the plan to fail.

**Output format**

Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer.

**Success criteria**

Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- Nothing on the shopping list is used in only one meal.

Now, create a {{duration}} meal plan.