If you run a WordPress site and want to offer meal planning with shopping lists, you’re likely facing a frustrating challenge. While most recipe plugins allow you to display individual recipes, they often aren’t enough for organizing meals or generating shopping lists automatically.
So, what are the best WordPress plugins for creating a meal planner on your site?
We’ve compared the top meal planner plugins, diving into their features, setup requirements, and functionality. Learn how to streamline meal planning with automated shopping lists and SEO benefits, plus explore membership options for extra monetization. This guide is for food bloggers and WordPress site owners looking to turn recipes into a fully integrated meal-planning tool – no complex code required!
Top WordPress meal planning plugins compared
If you’re looking to add meal planning to your WordPress site, you might feel overwhelmed by the options. Don’t worry, you’re in the right place! We’ve compared several popular meal planning and recipe plugins, breaking down their features, pricing, and what sets them apart – so you can make an informed choice.
Before getting started, think about what your readers need: basic recipe display, automated shopping lists, SEO-friendly structured data, or full meal plans with membership access.
Premium vs free features
Free plugins usually cover the basics, like displaying recipe cards, but full meal planning capabilities require premium versions:
- WP Recipe Maker: Free version displays recipes, but the Elite Bundle ($149/year) unlocks Collections for complete meal planning.
- WP Delicious Meal Planner: Requires a $69/year add-on for meal planning and shopping lists; customization is limited.
- Meal Planner Pro Recipes: Free plugin with cloud-based recipe storage; plans and shopping lists live externally and lack advanced SEO features.
💭Did you know? WP Recipe Maker has over 50,000 active installs and offers flexible template customization.
SEO and schema comparison
Structured data is super important for recipe SEO.
- WP Recipe Maker automatically adds Recipe Card structured data in JSON-LD, Google’s preferred format for recipes, for rich results including cook times, ratings, and nutrition.
- Zip Recipes provides a basic schema but lacks advanced SEO support.
- WP Delicious and Meal Planner Pro offer some schema features, but updates are slower and less comprehensive.
Shopping list capabilities
Generating accurate shopping lists is a core feature of any meal planner:
- WP Recipe Maker Elite combines ingredients across recipes, so quantities like “1½ cups” + “½ cup” become “2 cups,” preventing duplication. Additionally, with automatic unit and temperature conversions, merging ingredients is more reliable, ensuring consistent measurements across shopping lists.
- WP Delicious and Meal Planner Pro offer shopping lists, but ingredient merging and unit conversions are limited, and lists may rely on external servers.
Internal storage in WP Recipe Maker ensures lists remain reliable across devices, eliminating missing items, mismatched units, or broken lists common in other plugins.
Plugin vs theme implementation
Recipe plugins store data independently of themes, keeping recipes and meal plans safe when updating site design:
- WP Recipe Maker and WP Delicious both separate content from design, but WP Recipe Maker’s system is fully integrated for collections and shopping lists.
- Themes control appearance, plugins handle functionality. Using plugins over recipe-specific themes ensures flexibility to update layouts without breaking your meal planning workflow.
Setting up WP Recipe Maker for meal planning
WP Recipe Maker Elite gives you multiple ways to offer meal planning depending on your site and audience.
Three ways to implement meal planning
- Recipe Collections let visitors build their own meal plans from your recipes. Plans save in the browser for guests or sync across devices for logged-in users, giving readers full control.
- Saved Collections let you create curated meal plans for visitors to follow. This works well for subscription sites or structured programs, guiding users through weekly menus.
- Quick Access Shopping List skips planning entirely. Visitors add ingredients from individual recipes straight to a shopping list without organizing them into collections. This setup is simpler but offers less functionality.
Most food blogs start with Recipe Collections for visitor-created plans, then add Saved Collections if they launch premium meal planning programs.
“The goal of Recipe Collections was to help food bloggers move from posting recipes to creating full meal experiences. Once readers can save and plan recipes directly on your site, engagement goes way up.” – Birthe Vandermeeren, Creator of WP Recipe Maker
Recipe Collections
Start by installing WP Recipe Maker and upgrading to the Elite bundle to unlock Recipe Collections and shopping lists. To display the collections, create a regular WordPress page and add the Collections shortcode or block to that page. Then, go to WP Recipe Maker → Settings and update the “Link to Collections Feature” setting to point to that page. Next, create a new collection, add a few recipes, and generate a shopping list to confirm that quantities combine when units match.
For guests, Collections save in the browser; for logged-in users, Collections save to your site, so plans follow them across devices.
Saved Recipe Collections
Curated meal plans allow you to control what visitors follow. Go to WP Recipe Maker → Settings → Saved Collections and create a new collection. Add recipes, set the order, and display the collection on any page with a shortcode or block. Visitors can generate shopping lists from your pre-built plans and copy them to their own Collections.
Use this for weekly menu programs, seasonal meal prep, or subscription content. When editing a recipe, click Reload Recipes to update cached details in saved collections.
Quick Access Shopping List
This option bypasses meal planning. Visitors add ingredients from individual recipes directly to a shopping list. Create a WordPress page, add the Shopping List block or [wprm-shopping-list] shortcode, then set the URL in Settings → Recipe Collections → Quick Access Shopping List. Add the “Add to Shopping List” button to your recipe template through the Template Editor.
Ingredients combine when units match, but there’s no way to organize recipes into weekly plans or see nutrition totals. It’s ideal for casual browsing.
Shoppable Recipes
You can turn weekly meal plans into instant shopping lists with Instacart’s “Shop with Instacart” button on each recipe. Readers planning multiple meals can combine ingredients from their full weekly menu into one order. The integration matches recipe ingredients to actual products across 750+ retailers, simplifying grocery shopping. Adjusted serving sizes automatically update product quantities.
⚠️ Remember: Ingredient combining works best when units match – “1 tbsp olive oil” and “15 ml olive oil” won’t merge unless units align. Encourage editors to pick a standard unit set. Nutrition can roll up by day in Collections for an at-a-glance view. Logged-in users can return on desktop or mobile to find the same plans and lists ready to go.
| Plugin | Collections / Meal Planning | Shopping List | SEO / Schema | Customization | Price | Overall rating |
| WP Recipe Maker (Elite) | ★★★★★ Built-in Collections for full meal planning. | ★★★★★ Automatic ingredient merging & cross-device sync. | ★★★★★ Rich Recipe Card structured data. | ★★★★★ Unlimited template customization. | $149/year | ★★★★★ |
| WP Delicious Meal Planner | ★★★ Requires $69 add-on. | ★★★ Limited merging & unit support. | ★★★ Basic schema. | ★★★ Limited template options. | $69/year | ★★★ |
| Meal Planner Pro Recipes | ★★ Cloud-based plans, no native calendar. | ★★ Shopping lists stored externally. | ★★ Basic schema, slow updates. | ★★ Limited | Free | ★★ |
| Zip Recipes | ★★ No built-in meal planning. | ★★ Basic list, no merging. | ★★ Limited SEO schema. | ★★ Limited | Free | ★★ |
Creating a membership-based meal planning service
If you want to offer premium meal plans or restrict access to certain collections, you can layer a membership system on top of WP Recipe Maker without changing your recipe workflow.
Access control setup
Use a membership plugin to protect the pages where your WP Recipe Maker Collections live.
MemberPress is a popular option for rule-based access and content dripping. For example, you could release “Week 1” when a member signs up, then “Week 2” seven days later. Create a “My Meal Plans” page in the member dashboard so each user can access their saved collections easily. Other membership tools, like Restrict Content Pro, work just as well – the goal is simply to gate the collections securely.
Content delivery methods
Once content is protected, you can schedule automated email reminders through your membership plugin to bring users back each week. This keeps members engaged and ensures they follow the meal plans. The setup stays simple: the membership plugin manages access and dripping, while WP Recipe Maker handles the recipes, shopping lists, and collections.
Avoiding complexity
For basic schedules, skip Zapier and rely on your membership plugin’s built-in dripping and reminders. If you need recurring payments, pair the membership plugin with WooCommerce Subscriptions for billing. Keep recipes and collections within WP Recipe Maker and let the membership tool handle access. This separation keeps your workflow clear and avoids unnecessary complexity while delivering a smooth experience for members.
Quick start guide
Getting started with WP Recipe Maker is straightforward. First, download the plugin and create a few test recipes – three is a good starting point – and add them to a collection. This gives you a feel for how recipe organization and collections work in practice.
Once you’re comfortable, upgrade to the Elite bundle to unlock full meal planning features, including Collections and shopping lists.
If you plan to offer premium meal plans or restrict access, add a membership plugin like MemberPress to manage subscriptions and content dripping.
Start with WP Recipe Maker today and give your visitors the tools to create, follow, and shop from weekly meal plans – all directly on your site.
