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Meal planning for a group with different diets

The usual fix for mixed diets in one household is cooking two dinners every night. There’s a lighter way to do it — plan around a shared base, then split off what changes.

  1. Start from a shared base.

    Pick meals that are naturally close already — a stir-fry, a taco night, a grain bowl — where the base (rice, noodles, veg) works for everyone.

  2. Swap the one ingredient that matters.

    Add the protein or dairy separately at the end (tofu alongside chicken, a dairy-free sauce on the side) instead of building two whole recipes.

  3. Tag recipes by who they work for.

    Keep a note on saved recipes for who eats them, so planning next week is a filter, not a memory test.

  4. Let the shopping list absorb the overlap.

    Shared ingredients (the rice, the vegetables) should only appear once on the list even if they show up in multiple people’s versions of the meal.

Plan meals with your group →