As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly plan family meals that everyone will eat.

What to actually do

1. Use a tool built for this

   The route this page recommends

2. Do it yourself

   Second choice

   A chat interface, no skill needed, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open a chatbot or ChefGPT and gather the family's current allergies, dietary restrictions, dislikes, reliable foods, ages, cooking equipment, available time, budget and ingredients already in the cupboard.
   2. Paste the full family information into the prompt, using "none" where a category does not apply and naming restrictions separately for each person.
   3. Ask the tool for a seven-day plan with shared meals, separate adaptations, recipes, portions, leftovers and a grouped shopping list.
   4. Copy the proposed meals and shopping list into a note, then remove any meal that conflicts with a known allergy, restriction, refusal, texture issue, available equipment or cooking-time limit.
   5. Check every packaged ingredient against its current UK allergen label and check cross-contamination guidance where an allergy is involved; replace any item the plan has not verified.
   6. Cook one proposed meal as a trial, ask each family member what they would change, and use that feedback to request a revised plan before buying the full shop.

   Prompt

   Plan a practical seven-day family meal plan for [number of adults] adults and [number of children and ages] children in the UK.
   
   Family information:
   - Allergies: [list, or none]
   - Medical or religious dietary restrictions: [list, or none]
   - Foods each person refuses: [list by person]
   - Foods each person reliably eats: [list by person]
   - Texture, spice and smell sensitivities: [details]
   - Cooking equipment: [details]
   - Available cooking time on weekdays and weekends: [details]
   - Weekly food budget: [amount]
   - Ingredients already available: [list]
   - Preferred shops or products: [details]
   
   Create meals that share a common base where possible, with clearly marked adaptations for individual preferences. Do not promise that everyone will eat every meal. Avoid making medical claims or treating a health condition. For every meal, give the dish, ingredients, preparation steps, approximate portions, and the reason it fits the information provided. Add safe leftovers guidance, a grouped shopping list, and substitutions for dislikes that do not introduce a listed allergen.
   
   Before presenting the plan, list any missing information that could materially change it. Flag every ingredient or packaged food that must be checked against the current UK label for allergens. Do not assume that a product is safe because it was safe before. Keep recipes realistic for the stated time, equipment and budget, and state where you are uncertain.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

3. Hand it to a person

   The distant third

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.