Planning · 3 min read
Meal planning with ADHD: a low-decision approach
Simon Coker, founder of Foray
Updated
Quick answer
Keep decisions small and few. Rotate a short list of meals you already like, plan three or four dinners rather than seven, keep easy backup meals in the cupboard, and let your shopping list do the remembering. A plan that bends when life gets busy is more useful than a perfect plan you abandon.
Why meal planning can feel harder
Many adults with ADHD describe the same pattern: too many choices at once, forgetting what is already in the fridge, underestimating how long cooking takes, and losing interest in a plan by the third week. None of that is a character flaw. It just means the usual advice, plan seven new dinners every Sunday, is built for a different brain.
This guide shares practical planning ideas. It is not medical advice. If you would like support with ADHD, speak to your GP.
1. Build a list of safe meals
Write down eight to ten dinners you like, can cook without thinking and would happily eat again. This becomes your menu. Planning is now choosing from ten options, not from the entire internet.
2. Plan fewer nights
Plan three or four dinners and leave the rest open. Unplanned nights become leftovers, a freezer meal or beans on toast, and nothing in the fridge goes off waiting for a night that never came.
3. Use themes to skip decisions
Give some nights a fixed theme: tacos on Tuesday, pasta on Wednesday, eggs on Friday. You still get variety inside the theme, but the first decision is already made.
4. Let the list remember for you
Treat your plan and shopping list as external memory. Keep them in one place you always check, tick things off in the shop, and set timers while cooking rather than relying on keeping track.
5. Lower the effort bar
Pre-chopped onions, frozen vegetables, tinned beans and microwave rice are tools, not cheating. Favour one-pan and one-tin meals with forgiving timings, such as a chicken traybake, shakshuka or black bean tacos.
6. Keep backup meals in
Have two or three meals that need almost no effort: pasta and a jar of sauce, eggs on toast, a frozen pizza and a bag of salad. Low-energy evenings are planned for, not failed.
7. Drop the guilt
Missed a week? Start again with next week's plan. Moving a meal to another day is the system working, not breaking.
Frequently asked questions
What are easy dinners to plan with ADHD?
Meals with few steps and forgiving timings: traybakes, one-pot rice, pasta, tacos and egg dishes. Pick ones you already enjoy, since familiarity removes decisions.
How do I stop forgetting what food I have?
Check the fridge and cupboards before you write the shopping list, keep the list in your phone, and put food that needs using first at the front of the fridge.
How do I stick to a meal plan?
Make it smaller and more flexible: plan three or four dinners from meals you already like, keep backup meals in, and let yourself swap nights. A plan you can bend is easier to keep than a rigid one.
Plan your week with Foray
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