Wild Ginger Wellness

If you’re anything like me, you dread meal planning. Trying to find recipes that are not only diverse and tasty, but also acceptable to your family can be tough. It used to be one of the most stressful tasks of the week for me! Fortunately, I discovered Mealime several years ago and my life was forever changed!

Many of my clients want to meal plan but are overwhelmed by it. Mealime is my #1 recommended solution for them because of all the great features and ease of use.

Mealime At A Glance

mealime screenshot

Pros

  • Created by dietitians so recipes emphasize inclusion of vegetables
  • Ability to customize eating preferences (vegetarian, paleo, low-carb, etc.), dislikes, allergies, and restrictions
  • Create your own plan from available recipes or have the app create it for you
  • Meal plans specifically designed to prevent food waste
  • Tons of recipes in various categories
  • Streamlined shopping list
  • Ability to enter ingredients you already have on hand
  • Hands-Free cooking mode
  • Shopping list shows you what recipe an ingredient is for, how sizes (small, medium, etc.) are defined, and substitutions
  • Add your own recipes manually or import them from the web
  • It’s designed to reduce food waste and keeps track of how many pounds of you’ve saved
  • Easily order groceries directly through the app with supported grocery stores
  • All the ingredients are real foods that can easily be found in any grocery store

Cons

  • Some features are hard to find within the app
  • Cooking mode “hover to proceed” seems to be impaired slightly (this could be phone model specific though)
  • Some of the specialty eating style recipes could use more variety

Key Takeaway

This is the app I’ve stuck with for the last 5+ years because it offers literally everything I want! It offers something for everyone regardless of eating preferences. It’s the app that I recommend to all of my clients because you can plan your meals and have a shopping list of whole, clean ingredients, ready to go in less than 5 minutes!

Get Mealime Now!

Why should you listen to me?

As a Registered Dietitian, helping people learn about what foods and meals will help them the most is part of every day. Navigating the challenges of restrictions and recommendations can be difficult and time consuming. I’ve tried all the meal planning apps out there but found most to make the process even more frustrating. Mealime solved my problems. It’s created by fellow dietitians, so I trust it and have been using it since 2018.

With a few simple preference selections, I’ve been able to take my meal planning times from a whole morning to just a few minutes! It’s been such a life saver! When I moved from Ohio to Montana, my husband and son were left to fend for themselves until they came out. That meant pizza, pasta, and Chicago dogs! When I gave my husband my account info, he immediately realized how much money, headache, and calories he’d be saving. He had never considered using meal planning apps until then. Not only did it help them eat healthy dinners, but it helped get my son into the kitchen to improve his culinary skills.

Dietary Preferences

  • Choose your eating style (Vegetarian, Flexitarian, Paleo, Keto, etc.)
  • Add restrictions for types of foods (Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Nightshade Free, etc.)
  • Automatically eliminate recipes that contain individual ingredients added to the ‘allergies & dislikes’ list
Mealime diet preferences
Mealime allergies

Personalized Meal Plans

  • All you do is select how many meals you need and the app will create a plan based on your preferences
  • Individual recipes can be swapped within the plan
  • You also have the ability to choose individual recipes within the app to make your own plan or upload them from the internet

Mealime Pricing

  • Free option with full functionality!
  • Pro: $2.99 per month gets you nutrition info, pro recipes, and advanced filters

Mealime Competitors

There are quite a few other meal planning apps out there. I discussed my top 3 here if you haven’t seen it.

  • Eat This Much is a great tool for those concerned with specific goals like calories and macronutrients. The downside is that the UI is a little clunkier and the recipe options are not as refined. It’s also not family friendly as it creates a full day’s plan for a single person with very specific needs
  • Emeals can be really useful for those who like to ‘set it and forget it’ and don’t mind having less control over the recipes provided each week. I used Emeals for a long time but the biggest reason I left was due to the high levels of food waste I was generating each week.

Who is Mealime right for?

  • Those who are tired of wasting time searching for recipes for specific dietary preferences
  • Busy people who need a way to quickly assemble an entire week’s worth of meal recipes
  • Those who enjoy trying new recipes and cooking meals from scratch
  • Parents who want to avoid chicken nuggets for dinner every night by preparing kid-friendly recipes that actually include vegetables!

Who should avoid Mealime?

  • Those who have very specific nutrient goals each day and need meals based on those needs
  • Those who don’t have the ability to cook with a full kitchen

Conclusion

Mealime removes so many barriers associated with meal planning. Not only are there options for all palates and lifestyles, but the recipes are easy to prepare. The app streamlines your shopping list and reduces or even eliminates food waste! This means saving money in the end since you won’t be throwing away unused ingredients. Simply download the app to start creating menus. There’s no obligation to upgrade to pro, but at only $2.99 per month, it’s hard to say no.

Have you tried Mealime yet? Still have questions? Let me know below!