Weekly meal plan for children (ages 3–12): 7 days and a shopping list

Who is this meal plan for?

For healthy children aged 3–12 who eat with their families. If your child is already at primary school, you may also find our guide to eating well at school age helpful. See “High cholesterol in children”.

It is not intended for children under 3, whose diets need to suit their stage of development (see our guides to baby-led weaning and feeding children aged 18 months to 3 years). It is also unsuitable for children with coeliac disease, diagnosed food allergies, type 1 diabetes or kidney disease, who need individual dietary advice.

The full week: breakfasts, lunches and dinners

Every day includes vegetables at lunch and dinner, wholegrains or potatoes, and a protein source that varies throughout the week. Across the week, there are pulses on four days, fish on five occasions, eggs on four and chicken or turkey on two. AESAN recommends at least three servings of fish a week, giving preference to oily fish [1].

Day	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Soft porridge oats cooked with milk or a soya drink, sliced banana and a pinch of cinnamon	Lentil stew with courgette, carrot and potato · a mandarin	Courgette omelette with sliced tomatoes dressed in extra virgin olive oil · plain unsweetened yoghurt
Tuesday	Wholemeal toast with grated tomato and extra virgin olive oil · a glass of milk or plain yoghurt	Brown rice stir-fried with leek, peas and carrot · grilled boneless hake fillets with lemon · a pear	Homemade pumpkin and leek soup with cubes of toasted wholemeal bread · homemade grilled lentil and carrot burger · an apple
Wednesday	Plain yoghurt with pieces of fresh strawberry and unsweetened cornflakes	Chickpeas sautéed with baby spinach and chopped hard-boiled egg · a sliced orange	Wholewheat noodle soup in homemade vegetable and chicken stock · baked salmon fillets with sliced roasted potatoes · plain yoghurt
Thursday	Wholemeal toast with fresh cheese and sliced banana · a glass of milk or a soya drink	Wholewheat pasta with homemade tomato and onion sauce and minced turkey · a kiwi	Steamed green beans and potatoes with extra virgin olive oil · scrambled eggs with mushrooms · homemade unsweetened apple compote
Friday	Warm porridge made with milk, berries and ground walnuts	White bean stew with pumpkin, onion and bay leaf · baked sea bream fillets with sliced tomatoes · a banana	Courgette soup with cubes of fresh cheese · homemade baked hake fingers coated in crushed cornflakes · plain yoghurt
Saturday	Homemade oat and ripe banana pancakes with no added sugar · a glass of milk	Wholewheat couscous with diced grilled chicken, sautéed courgette, peppers and carrot · a small bunch of grapes (for children under 5, quarter each grape lengthways)	Lamb’s lettuce salad with diced tomatoes and mild cheese · potato and onion omelette with salad · plain yoghurt
Sunday	Wholemeal toast with mashed avocado and fresh cheese · orange segments	Mild potato stew with cod and young peas · fresh strawberries	Homemade pizza on a wholemeal base with homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, courgette and oregano · seasonal fruit

Mid-morning snacks and afternoon snacks for school

Mid-morning and afternoon snacks are opportunities to offer fruit, dairy foods and nuts that may not feature in the main meals. These are some easy options.

• Ready-to-eat fruit. Mandarins, bananas, apple slices with a squeeze of lemon, or a lunchbox of strawberries and blueberries.
• A wholemeal sandwich. Fill it with olive oil and fresh cheese, omelette, 100% peanut butter, or hummus and cucumber.
• Plain unsweetened yoghurt. Pack it in a leakproof container. Add ground nuts for children under 5; for older children, the nuts can also be chopped.
• Unsalted nuts. Walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts, plain or roasted. For children under 5, always serve them ground or as nut butter.

Shopping list for the week

These are approximate quantities for two adults and two children for seven days. The list is organised by supermarket section, so you can shop in one go without filling the trolley with ultra-processed foods. If the adults will eat the same meals in adult-sized portions, see our healthy weekly meal plan for the whole family.

Fruit and vegetables

• Ripe tomatoes for salads and sauces, 2 kg
• Medium courgettes, 4
• Leeks, 1 bunch (about 4 or 5)
• Carrots, 1 kg
• Chopped pumpkin, 1 kg
• Fresh or frozen green beans, 500 g
• Baby spinach, 300 g
• Mushrooms, 400 g
• Red and green peppers, 3
• Sweet onions, 1 kg
• Potatoes, 2 kg
• Ripe bananas, 2 kg
• Apples, 1.5 kg
• Pears, 1 kg
• Mandarins, 2 kg, and oranges, 1.5 kg
• Strawberries or mixed berries, 500 g
• Kiwis, 500 g
• Avocados, 2
• Grapes, 500 g
• Lamb’s lettuce, 1 bag of 125 g
• Cucumbers, 2
• Lemons, 2

Fish and meat

• Boneless hake fillets, 1 kg
• Fresh salmon fillets, 500 g
• Prepared sea bream fillets, 500 g
• Fresh or desalted cod fillets, 500 g
• Chicken breasts, whole or sliced, 800 g
• Minced turkey for the pasta sauce, 500 g

Eggs and dairy

• Eggs, 2 dozen
• Whole or semi-skimmed milk, 3 or 4 litres. Alternatively, use an unsweetened soya drink fortified with calcium and containing at least 3 g of protein per 100 ml.
• Plain unsweetened full-fat yoghurt, 16 to 20 pots
• Fresh Burgos cheese or cottage cheese, 400 g
• Mild cheese or grated mozzarella, 200 g

Grains, pulses and store cupboard

• Wholemeal bread from the bakery, 2 loaves
• Soft porridge oats, 500 g
• Cornflakes with no added sugar or honey, 250 g
• Brown rice, 500 g
• Wholewheat pasta (spirals, macaroni or noodles), 500 g
• Wholewheat couscous, 250 g
• Cooked lentils in glass jars, 3 large jars (1.2 kg drained weight; one jar is for the burgers)
• Cooked chickpeas in glass jars, 2 large jars (800 g drained weight)
• Cooked white beans in jars, 2 large jars (800 g drained weight)
• Frozen peas, 400 g
• Shelled walnuts and unsalted roasted almonds, 200 g of each
• 100% peanut butter, 1 jar
• Extra virgin olive oil, 1 litre
• Ground cinnamon, dried oregano and bay leaves

How can you fit dinner around school lunches?

Most schools share their monthly lunch menu in advance. Checking it before you shop helps you avoid serving the same food again at dinner.

• If lunch included meat, serve fish, eggs or tofu for dinner.
• If lunch included pasta or rice, serve vegetables as a soup, steamed or baked, with potatoes or a little wholemeal bread.
• If lunch was short on vegetables, start dinner with a vegetable dish, such as leek and pumpkin soup or cucumber sticks.
• If lunch included pulses, serve baked fish or an omelette with salad.

Adapting the plan for different ages

The plan does not set a calorie target. A 4-year-old and an 11-year-old who trains three afternoons a week need very different amounts of food. For healthy children, the quality of their food matters more than a fixed quantity, and at these ages they can adjust how much they eat to their needs [2].

You decide what is served and when; your child decides how much to eat.

Children should not be put on weight-loss diets or have their portions reduced without professional advice. Restriction may leave them without enough food for growth and make their relationship with food more difficult.

For younger children, two safety adjustments matter. Before the age of 5, nuts must be ground or served as nut butter, never whole. Grapes, blueberries and cherry tomatoes should also be quartered lengthways [3].

For fish, children under 10 should avoid swordfish (also called emperor fish), bluefin tuna, shark and pike because of their mercury content. From ages 10 to 14, the limit is less than 120 g a month [2]. That is why this plan uses hake, sea bream, cod and salmon.

What common difficulties do we see in clinic?

Four difficulties come up almost every week in consultations, and there are ways to address each one.

• Pressuring a child to finish their plate. Repeated pressure at the table can create negative feelings about food [2]. Serve the meal, offer it and let your child decide how much to eat. Avoid using food as a reward or punishment, too.
• Giving up after three attempts. Being wary of unfamiliar foods is common, especially between ages two and six. Keep offering them without pressure, and let children see adults eating them [2].
• Only serving vegetables blended into soup. Soup can help on difficult days, but children also need to see and try a variety of vegetables in other forms [2]. Put a small serving on the plate without pressuring them to eat it.
• Counting juice as fruit. Offer whole fruit. Limit juice to no more than 150 ml a day for preschool children and 250 ml for school-age children [2].

Which nutrients does this plan provide?

• Calcium. Milk, yoghurt and cheese provide calcium, which is needed for bones and teeth [2]. If you choose a soya drink, remember that soya is an allergen.
• Iron. Pulses and meat provide iron. Serving them with oranges, kiwi or tomatoes adds vitamin C, which helps the body absorb it.
• Omega-3. Sources include oily fish such as salmon and sardines, as well as walnuts.
• Less free sugar. The breakfasts, desserts and snacks omit juice, smoothies and pastries. According to the WHO, free sugars should provide no more than 10% of daily energy, and ideally no more than 5% [4]. Paediatric guidance recommends less than 5% for children [2].

Pastries, biscuits, sugary cereals, packaged fizzy drinks and juices, sweetened dairy desserts, processed meats and ready meals are best kept out of the regular shop and saved for celebrations or occasional treats.