Weekly meal plan · one person
Meal plan for one person on $40 a week
Five dinners (dinners only, no breakfast or lunch), a grocery list by aisle, and what it costs at the stores near you. Dated October 28, 2026.
The five dinners
Each dinner feeds one. The badge is the cost of one serving.
$3.55/servingskinnytaste.comDinner 1Cilantro Lime Shrimp
$4.42/servingpressurecookrecipes.com
$5.20/servingkitchenswagger.comDinner 3Pan-Seared Scallops
$5.24/servingnatashaskitchen.comDinner 4Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon
- $5.63/servingpressurecookrecipes.comDinner 5
Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry
$4.81 a serving · about 24 min a dinner
Whole packs; $13.12 of leftovers carry to next week. Dinners only, no breakfast or lunch.
Prices: Salefork's typical US price estimates, not a specific store or sale, dated October 28, 2026. See below for this plan priced from a real store ad near you.
Which store is cheapest for this plan
The same five dinners priced with each store's ad this week.
Price Chopper / Market 32 is cheapest in New York at $20.56, $5.72 less than Weis Markets.
The same five dinners at each store. Items in the store's ad cost the ad price, sale or regular; items it does not list cost the typical price. At typical prices alone the plan is $24.05, so a store can come out above that. Stores with fewer than 2 sale items in this plan are left out.
More cities: cheapest grocery store by city.
Grocery list by aisle
Tick items as you shop. Prices are for whole packs, so the trip is $37.17. The dinners use $24.05 of it; about $13.12 of food stays for other meals.
One person meal plan, $40: grocery list (October 28, 2026)
Dinners: Cilantro Lime Shrimp, Instant Pot Soy Sauce Chicken and Rice, Pan-Seared Scallops, Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon, Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry. Typical US prices, not a specific store.
Produce5 items
Dairy & Eggs1 item
Meat & Poultry2 items
Seafood3 items
Canned & Dry1 item
Check your pantry (not priced): shaoxing wine, cooking spray, cornstarch, star anise, mustard, olive and cooking oil, salt and pepper, soy sauce, sugar and brown sugar, brown sugar.
How this plan was made
We pick familiar dinners with a real photo whose cost is close to a fifth of the budget, one per main protein, and no two grid plans share the same five. Cost is the price of the amounts the recipes use. Typical prices are Salefork's estimate of everyday US shelf prices; store prices come from weekly ads. Dated October 28, 2026.
Common questions
Can one person eat on $40 a week?
For dinners, yes. The five dinners use $24.05 ($4.81 a serving) and the shop at the register is $37.17 in whole packs. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are not in it.
Are the store prices real?
Yes. They come from each store's weekly ad, read October 28, 2026. Ad items cost the ad price and everything else the typical price.
Why is the shopping trip higher than the plan total?
The plan total counts only what the five dinners use, $24.05. At the register you buy whole packs, about $37.17 here, and the leftovers cover other meals.
Make it yours
Pick your store and city and we rebuild the five dinners around this week's sales.
Build my week