Weekly menu in Excel or an app? The pros and cons

Advantages of Excel for weekly menus

Excel or Google Sheets is flexible, free and familiar. You can set it up exactly as you like. Many families use a simple 7-column table — one column per day — with the dish and optionally the prep time. It works, and it's better than no plan at all.

Disadvantages of Excel for weekly menus

The shopping list doesn't link automatically to the weekly menu. You have to assemble it manually from the recipes you've planned. Change something in the menu, update the list by hand.

Mobile use is awkward. On a smartphone, a spreadsheet is hard to edit, let alone tick off live in the supermarket. And for family sharing you need a shared Google Sheet, where simultaneous edits can cause conflicts. Compare also: Apple Notes vs. a weekly menu app.

When an app is better than Excel

An app is better the moment you want to automate the shopping list, involve your family or tick things off on mobile. If you do each of those things manually in Excel, it costs you extra time every week — time an app gives back.

Free weekly menu template

Want to start with a simple Excel template? Copy the table below as a starting point:

Copy this into Excel or Google Sheets and fill in your meals. Or use Stoof — the shopping list generates itself automatically.

From Excel to Stoof: what you gain

Switching from Excel to Stoof takes a one-time investment of around twenty minutes to add your recipes. What you get back: an automatic shopping list, live sync with your family and a mobile app that works in the store. Read more about what a weekly menu actually is.

Frequently asked questions