PopotamMenu barometer
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every Monday, the menus of 1,984 households

The menu barometer

What households really plan, week after week: the budget they set, the time they give to cooking, the dishes and ingredients that keep coming back, the diets they follow. Calculated every Monday from meal plans built with Popotam. Totals only, never a single household.

Edition for the week of October 5, 2026 · 1,984 households · 22,428 meals

$28target budget per person per week
≈ $2.20estimated cost of one meal, per personFor comparison: the target budget, $28 a week, works out to $2.01 per meal (over 14 meals).
25 minto make a lunch (median)
30 minto make a dinner (median)

On the plate

calculated with the Ciqual table
585 kcalper serving, for a planned meal (median)
28 gof protein per serving (median)
49%of meals are vegetarian, while 4% of households are
56%of planned meals are dinners

The trend lines will show up with the second edition, next Monday.

The dishes people keep

over four weeks

Saved in the cookbook or marked "made": a real choice, not a suggestion.

  1. Riz cantonais aux œufs et petits pois28 households
  2. Risotto aux champignons et parmesan17 households
  3. Wrap léger poulet-curry et carottes râpées12 households
  4. Curry de poulet et patate douce au lait de coco11 households
  5. Poulet basquaise aux poivrons et tomates, riz pilaf10 households
  6. Poulet rôti aux pommes de terre et carottes10 households
  7. Curry de patate douce et haricots verts à la coriandre fraîche10 households
  8. Gratin de courgettes, pommes de terre et lardons fumés10 households
  9. Tacos maison à la viande hachée et fromage fondu9 households
  10. Tarte aux poireaux et lardons, salade verte9 households

The most planned dishes

this week

This ranking also counts the dishes Popotam suggests itself in first meal plans.

  1. Riz cantonais aux œufs et petits pois12%
  2. Taboulé libanais et falafels maison11%
  3. Polenta crémeuse aux courgettes et parmesan9%
  4. Poêlée de nouilles sautées aux légumes croquants et œuf poché9%
  5. Tartines de houmous et crudités7%
  6. Soupe de tomates maison et tartines au fromage frais6%
  7. Chili sin carne aux haricots rouges et patate douce6%
  8. Chili sin carne aux haricots rouges et maïs6%
  9. Poêlée de semoule, merguez de bœuf et poivrons6%
  10. Pizza maison aux légumes grillés et mozzarella5%

The star ingredients

share of meals

Not counting salt, pepper, oil and the other pantry basics.

  1. Oignon39%
  2. Ail29%
  3. Carotte23%
  4. Œuf21%
  5. Pommes de terre16%
  6. Beurre15%
  7. Crème fraîche épaisse11%
  8. Courgette10%
  9. Riz Basmati9%
  10. Sauce soja9%
  11. Tomate8%
  12. Oignon rouge8%

The households

who's at the table

3% of households made a meal prep plan for the week.

  1. 1 person20%
  2. 2 people33%
  3. 3 or 4 people38%
  4. 5 people or more9%

Declared diets

share of households

A household can declare more than one.

  1. No seafood19%
  2. No pork11%
  3. No fish7%
  4. Vegetarian4%
  5. Lactose-free4%
  6. Gluten-free3%
  7. No beef3%
  8. Vegan1%

The method

to read it right
  • Who's measured. Households that plan their meals with Popotam, not the whole of France. A week is only published once it reaches 50 households. This week, 73% of the households measured had turned on automatic generation: their week was built by Popotam, from their own settings.
  • The budget is the one each household sets in its settings, divided by the number of people: a target budget, not actual spending.
  • The estimated cost adds up the price of the ingredients to buy, not counting pantry basics, divided by the number of people. Prices come from Popotam's database, adjusted every week to average in-store prices (Open Prices) for everyday products: it's an estimate, not a receipt.
  • Calories and protein are calculated ingredient by ingredient with ANSES's Ciqual table, never estimated by an AI, and only for dishes where the math is reliable (94% of meals this week).
  • A vegetarian meal has no meat or fish, based on reading its ingredients: the same diet check Popotam runs on every dish it suggests.
  • Times are those of the planned dishes, prep and cooking included, as a median: half the meals are quicker.
  • The rankings only list a dish or an ingredient if it shows up in at least 10 different households (5 for kept dishes, counted over four weeks).
  • Privacy. The calculation only keeps totals: no household, no meal plan and no typed text is ever published. See the privacy policy.

To quote these numbers: "Popotam Menu Barometer, week of October 5, 2026, popotam.fr/en/barometre".

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