Mealime breakfast and lunch.

Mealime is not documented as dinner-only.

The official meal-type article, updated 5 July 2019, says breakfast options arrived in mobile version 3.8.0. At that date it described no dedicated lunch option, suggesting two servings for one person or four for two people to cover dinner and the following lunch. Its discussion of future snacks and desserts is historical, not evidence that those categories subsequently launched.

Use that article to understand the documented approach, then choose from the recipes actually available in your installed app. A recipe’s category does not determine when you must eat it. Save a breakfast favourite with the same care as a dinner: title, serving count, measured ingredients and full method.

The current closure notice says Mealime will discontinue on 21 October 2026 and makes former Pro recipes and features free during the wind-down. Its catalogue continues in free Meals Hub through Albertsons Companies apps and websites. The notice does not provide a new meal-type inventory for the closing app.

Count the meals you need before choosing recipes.

Start with who will eat at home or take food from home on each day. A lunch already provided at work needs no packed portion. A breakfast eaten while travelling may need a portable choice. Count those slots before buying ingredients for a familiar-looking week.

1. Mark meals already covered. Include eating out and food you already have a specific plan to use.
2. Choose the ordinary breakfasts and lunches. Toast, porridge or a sandwich can belong in the plan without becoming a saved recipe.
3. Assign each leftover lunch to a cooking session. Write the dinner name and how many portions you will reserve.
4. Set the recipe yield before shopping. Count dinner portions plus the lunch portions that depend on them.
5. Add the remaining groceries. Check breakfast ingredients, sandwich fillings, drinks and household extras against your cupboards.

For a household with different schedules, count people at each meal rather than multiplying every recipe by the household size. Two people at dinner and one taking lunch need a different allocation from two people eating both meals. If your chosen recipe yield leaves an extra portion, give it a destination instead of assuming it will disappear.

A three-day worksheet for two people.

This sample uses three dinner recipes, two simple breakfast choices and one separately assembled lunch. “Recipe A”, “Recipe B” and “Recipe C” stand for dishes you choose; the table is a planning worksheet, not a list of Mealime recipe titles. Both people eat every meal shown.

The three dinners require 4 + 4 + 2 = 10 cooked recipe portions: six eaten at dinner and four at lunch. Monday’s two sandwiches bring the lunch count to six. Breakfast needs four bowls of porridge and two toast breakfasts. This is a count of planned servings, not a recommendation for portion size.

Record Recipe A once at four portions in the cooking list. Tuesday lunch is a reminder to use part of that batch; adding another four-portion copy of the recipe would buy it twice. The same distinction applies to Recipe B and Wednesday lunch.

If Monday dinner changes, Tuesday lunch changes with it. Replace the dependent lunch, move both entries or plan a separate lunch before shopping. If someone takes only one reserved portion, name a destination for the other. A small note beside the dinner is easier to act on than a vague “leftovers” entry.

Reserve the portions and plan their storage.

A recipe marked for two does not automatically supply two dinners and two lunches. Choose the larger yield where appropriate, then put the intended lunch portions into suitable containers. Check access to refrigeration and reheating at the place where lunch will be eaten before relying on this plan.

For safe cooling, USDA guidance says to divide leftovers into shallow containers and refrigerate promptly at 40°F or below (about 4°C). Do so within two hours, or one hour above 90°F (about 32°C). Do not leave a large batch on the counter until bedtime.

For transport, USDA’s lunch guidance, updated 7 March 2025, recommends at least two cold sources around perishable food. Its packed-lunch guide advises refrigerating perishables on arrival where possible and reheating leftovers to 165°F (about 74°C), checked with a food thermometer.

The worksheet uses next-day lunches. For longer plans, use the FoodSafety.gov storage chart: its limits vary by food; cooked meat or poultry leftovers and soups or stews are listed at three to four refrigerated days. A plan covering five weekdays does not make every cooked dish suitable for five days in the fridge.

Turn the worksheet into a complete grocery list.

First account for the selected recipes at their intended yields. Then add foods that have no recipe attached. Mealime’s 29 July 2019 grocery help documents Add something… on mobile, with Next for additional entries. On the web, use the plus button; the form supports an amount and category.

For a worked shopping calculation, suppose this household uses 40g oats and 150ml milk per bowl, two slices per toast breakfast and two slices per sandwich. The worksheet then needs 160g oats, 600ml milk and eight slices of bread, plus the chosen sandwich fillings and toast toppings. Those are illustrative household quantities; substitute your own usual amounts. Any milk or bread used by the dinner recipes must be counted as well.

Now subtract usable stock. If 100g of the needed oats is already in the cupboard, the additional requirement is 60g—not another 160g. Compare the remaining amount with the available pack size and keep the surplus visible. The pack-size guide explains how to give those remainders a practical use.

Ingredient overlap can help when it has an actual destination: bread for both toast and sandwiches, or a vegetable used in a dinner and lunch filling. Similar recipe names alone do not establish useful overlap. Check amounts and product storage instructions before buying a larger pack.

Finish by checking the list after any recipe changes. Mealime’s meal-plan editing guide, updated 29 July 2019, says edits regenerate the recipe ingredients while carrying over added items. Recheck pantry marks and revised quantities; see the grocery-list guide for the distinction between manual additions and edits to recipe rows.

Keep the routine as well as the recipes.

When changing planners, preserve the breakfast favourites you use and the dinner recipes that work for lunch. Also keep the simple worksheet: a recipe collection alone does not record that Tuesday’s lunch comes from Monday’s cooking.

Meals Hub offers free recipes, plans and lists even without a nearby Albertsons Companies store. If you prefer to keep individual recipes in MealPot, its Pro import route is Recipes → + → Import Recipe → review → save to My Recipes. Check the ingredients and serving count, then account for breakfast staples and other extras in your shopping routine.

The free website backup is a separate TXT/JSON download route for supported links or recipe text. It does not transfer a complete private plan. Keep a readable note of the meal allocations alongside your recipes. The meal-plan guide and shopping-list example help connect those records to the next shop.

Common questions