Zero technique

Easy weekly menu

14 meals with five ingredients, no special gear, no fancy chopping and no recipe you have to reread three times. If you can cook pasta, you can cook this week.

5 ingredients max14 meals2 people
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This menu at a glance

7
days covered
14
meals (lunch + dinner)
5
ingredients per dish
≈ $61
estimated budget
22 min
average prep time
7 days, 14 meals

Lunch and dinner for seven days. The longer recipes land in the evenings and on weekends, and lunches stay short.

Mondayday 1
Lunch
Rice salad, tuna & corn
10 min
Dinner
Oven chicken, potatoes & lemon, all in one dish
45 min
Tuesdayday 2
Lunch
Croque-monsieur & green salad
12 min
Dinner
Pesto pasta & cherry tomatoes
15 min
Wednesdayday 3
Lunch
Cheese omelet & toast
10 min
Dinner
Zucchini & goat cheese gratin
40 min
Thursdayday 4
Lunch
Chickpea salad, feta & cucumber
10 min
Dinner
Sausages, homemade mashed potatoes & green beans
25 min
Fridayday 5
Lunch
Ham, butter & pickle toasts
8 min
Dinner
Veggie curry rice, just one pot
25 min
Saturdayday 6
Lunch
Scrambled eggs & toasted country bread
10 min
Dinner
Homemade four-cheese pizza treat
35 min
Sundayday 7
Lunch
Pumpkin soup & croutons
25 min
Dinner
Ham pasta bake
30 min

This menu doesn't quite fit your household? Popotam writes you one just like it, with your tastes, your crew at the table and your budget.

Fit this menu to my weekfree, no account, about two minutes
The real bonus

The grocery list

Already grouped by aisle, so you get through the store without doubling back.

Everything you need to buy≈ $6134 items

Produce

  • Potatoes 1.5 kg
  • Zucchini ×3
  • Pumpkin 800 g
  • Cherry tomatoes 500 g
  • Cucumber ×1
  • Lemons ×2
  • Onions ×4
  • Garlic 1 head
  • Green salad

Meat & protein

  • Chicken thighs ×4
  • Sausages ×4
  • Ham ×8 slices
  • Eggs ×12
  • Canned tuna ×2
  • Chickpeas ×2 cans

Dairy & fresh

  • Shredded Emmental 300 g
  • Goat cheese log
  • Feta 200 g
  • Mozzarella 125 g
  • Crème fraîche 20 cl
  • Butter 250 g
  • Milk 1 L

Pantry

  • Pesto 1 jar
  • Corn 1 can
  • Coconut milk 40 cl
  • Curry powder
  • Cornichons
  • Vegetable broth
  • Olive oil

Starches

  • Rice 1 kg
  • Pasta 500 g
  • Sandwich bread
  • Country bread
  • Pizza dough

With Popotam, you check this list off as you go and see the budget you have left.

Create my grocery list

What makes this week easy

Five ingredients, not twelve

Every dish fits on one line. No spice you buy for a single pinch, no ingredient you wouldn't know how to swap.

One dish, one container

The oven chicken, the gratin, the curry rice: everything cooks in one dish or one pot. The dishwashing follows the same diet.

No technique to learn

No dough to knead, no sauce to whip up, no cooking to time to the second. The oven and the pot do the work.

Dishes you recognize

Croque-monsieur, gratin, pizza, sausages and mash: nobody asks what it is, and everyone cleans their plate.

Our tips for this week

Tip #1

The oven cooks while you do something else

Chicken, gratin and pizza take three minutes of prep and forty minutes when you're off doing something else. That's the opposite of a long recipe.

Tip #2

Keep pesto on hand

A jar in the cupboard is a backup dinner, always ready: pasta, toast, or a spoonful in a soup to give it some flavor.

Tip #3

Buy chicken thighs

Thighs forgive everything: ten minutes too long in the oven and they stay juicy, where a breast dries out. Perfect when you're starting out.

Like this menu?

Make your own, in two minutes.

Pick your tastes, your constraints and your budget. Popotam builds your meal plan and your grocery list, either generating it itself or with your own ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini account.

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Looking for a different kind of menu?

All our menus follow the same format: 14 meals, a grocery list, an estimated budget.

See all menus

Frequently asked questions

What dishes should you pick if you can't cook?

The ones where the cooking does the work for you: anything that goes into the oven in one dish, gratins, soups and one-pot dishes. The hard recipes are the ones that need timing, several things cooking at once or a precise texture. None of them are in this menu.

How do you make a weekly menu?

First pick a format (number of people, budget, time you have), then lay out 14 meals, lunch and dinner over 7 days, reusing the same ingredients from one dish to the next. Finish with the grocery list grouped by aisle: that's what makes sure the week holds up.

How do I get the grocery list?

Every menu on this site comes with one, already sorted by aisle. With Popotam, you can also generate your own from your own meals: you check it off as you go and it shows the budget you have left.

Is Popotam really free?

Yes, and with no subscription. Two ways to generate, your pick: Popotam handles it itself, which costs it less than a cent, or you use your own ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini account, which costs it nothing. No ads, no selling your data, no commission on your groceries.

Do I need to create an account?

Nope. No sign-up, no email, no ads. Your meal plan lives online, behind a secret link only you know.