If you’re cooking for a family of four, it can be tricky to please everyone and eat healthily.
We’ve developed this simple family meal plan to make it much easier for you and your family to eat a healthy, balanced diet. It's both calorie and carb counted for your convenience, and contains at least five portions of fruit and veg per day.
We’ve included the values for fibre and protein too to help you make sure you are meeting your nutritional requirements. We know lots of people in the UK aren’t eating enough fibre, so it’s important to try and include good sources in your diet every day.
Before you begin this meal plan
Before starting any healthy eating programme, please read how to choose your meal plan to make sure you follow the plan that's right for you.
Please speak to your diabetes health care team before making significant changes to your diet.
This is especially important if you treat your diabetes with insulin or other diabetes medications that increase the risk of hypos. Reducing your carbohydrate intake and changes to your body weight may mean your medication needs to be adjusted.
Important points about this meal plan
- This meal plan has taken nutritional information from our recipes and the sixth edition of Carbs and Cals, unless otherwise stated.
- A mix of whole milk and semi skimmed has been used, but please use whichever you prefer. Any dairy alternative should be unsweetened and fortified with calcium.
- These meal plans meet your recommended amount of fibre across the week. It's important to note that children under 16 years of age need less fibre than adults.
- These meal plans outline daily food intake for four people, but it’s still important to remember to drink regular fluids. This includes plain water, plain milk, and tea or coffee without added sugar.
Disclaimer: every effort has been taken to make these meal plans as accurate as possible, but there will be some variation in nutritional values. Speak to a dietitian or your diabetes healthcare team if you have questions about your individual dietary needs.
Your weekly family meal plan
Please note that the full nutritional information and exact specifications for all meals and snacks is available in the Family of four meal plan (PDF, 84KB) only, and not listed below.
Monday
Breakfast: Very berry porridge
Lunch: Scrambled eggs – two eggs and milk on two slices of wholemeal toast with vegetable oil-based spread and sliced tomato
Dinner: Chicken and lentil curry
Pudding: Apple strudel
Snacks: Greek yogurt, two satsumas (weigh these with the skin on), one slice of malt loaf with vegetable oil-based spread, wholemeal fruit bar
Milk: 225ml semi-skimmed milk
Tuesday
Breakfast: Two wheat biscuits with 150ml semi-skimmed milk and one tablespoon of pumpkin seeds
Lunch: Stuffed pitta with houmous, cherry tomatoes, rocket and coleslaw
Dinner: Speedy salmon pasta served with mangetout
Pudding: Tinned pears in juice
Snacks: Two oatcakes with peanut butter, cherry tomatoes, one slice of toast with peanut butter, one orange
Milk: 225ml semi-skimmed milk
Wednesday
Breakfast: Two Shredded wheat pillows with 200ml semi-skimmed milk, Greek yogurt and blueberries
Lunch: Tortillas stuffed with chicken and salad
Dinner: Beef chop suey
Pudding: Honeydew melon
Snacks: One apple, one pear, 30g portion of plain almonds, wholemeal fruit bar
Milk: 225ml whole milk
Thursday
Breakfast: Summerberry smoothie
Lunch: Chickpea and tuna salad
Dinner: Jollof rice and chicken
Pudding: Tinned peaches in juice
Snacks: Greek yogurt, two satsumas (weight these with the skin on), one orange, a portion of almonds, two oatcakes topped with peanut butter
Milk: 225ml semi-skimmed milk
Friday
Breakfast: Almond, apricot and pumpkin seed granola
Lunch: Two slices of wholemeal bread with grated cheddar cheese, vegetable oil-based spread, tomato and cucumber
Dinner: Chicken and spinach burritos
Pudding: Vermicelli pudding
Snacks: One pear, one apple, wholemeal fruit bar, portion of almonds
Milk: 225ml semi-skimmed milk
Saturday
Breakfast: Welsh leek rarebit
Lunch: Two slices of wholemeal bread with half a can of salmon, paired with sweetcorn and light mayo
Dinner: Vegan stack burger
Pudding: Small pear
Snacks: One apple, one small pear, Greek yogurt, portion of almonds, one slice of malt loaf with vegetable oil-based spread
Milk: 225ml semi-skimmed milk
Sunday
Breakfast: Omelette made with two eggs and milk, along with 80g spinach, 25g cheddar and 80g mushrooms, cooked with 1tsp vegetable oil. Pair with a slice of rye bread and margarine
Lunch: Cauliflower and leek soup
Dinner: Grilled chicken with baked sweet potato, paired with boiled cabbage and broccoli
Pudding: Chocolate orange soufflé topped with crème fraiche
Snacks: Greek yogurt and almonds, one apple, spicy roasted chickpeas
Milk: 225ml semi-skimmed milk
Adapting this meal plan to suit you
Unless stated otherwise, each meal included in this plan is given per person. We have purposefully selected meals and snacks which are easy to scale up to four people.
Our family of four meal plan should be adjusted according to your needs. Remember, we don't all need to eat the same number of calories.
Men, who are generally heavier and have more muscle compared to women, need more calories.
Young children also need fewer calories than adults. But children’s nutritional requirements change as they get older. Boys older than 11 and girls aged 15 and above are likely to need more calories. So, adjust portion sizes accordingly to meet your needs.
