Heard About Capsule Meal Planning? Here’s My Take on How it Works

Capsule meal planning is trending, but is it new? I break down what it is, how it works, and how you can capsule your meal planning.

So, I was on my ChatGPT buddy the other day having a whinge about how stressed I was (because, let’s face it, no human will put up with a ton of whinging, but—so far, at least—AI does), and it told me I should try capsule meal planning. 

Um, what? 

I googled.

Turns out capsule meal planning is a modern concept for…meal planning but with a limited number of staple ingredients.

Meal planning, it seems, has a new, trendy name, but the strategy itself is nothing new. In fact, people have been cooking with limited ingredients this way for centuries.

It’s how I’ve been planning for…decades (gosh, I feel old when I type that!).

In a nutshell, capsule meal planning is much like a capsule wardrobe. 

It involves stocking your kitchen with basic staples you always have on hand and having a few adaptable recipes in your cooking repertoire to which you can add seasonal produce & seasonings for variety.

In this post, I’ll explore capsule meal planning in depth, why it works & how you can incorporate it into your life to save time, money & effort.

What is Capsule Meal Planning?

You’ve probably heard of a capsule wardrobe, where you have a small number of versatile items of clothes that can be mixed & matched to create multiple outfits for variation.

For example, a classic white button-up shirt can be dressed up with a skirt & blazer or dressed down with jeans & sneakers. 

And the addition of accessories like a scarf or jewellery can give it a totally different flair.

Just like a capsule wardrobe helps you create endless outfits from a few key pieces, capsule meal planning lets you create countless meals from a well-stocked kitchen.

How Capsule Meal Planning Works

Capsule meal planning is inspired by this concept—versatility with a small number of flexible ingredients to mix & match meals.

I’ve noticed, when reading up on the idea, that there are two main interpretations of the concept:

1. Meal rotation – A set number of meals or themes you cycle through using similar ingredients.
2. Ingredient smorgasbord – A selection of staple ingredients that allow for flexible meal combinations with fresh produce acting like accessories and adding variety (e.g., seasonal ingredients).

And, of course, you can do both—a hybrid approach—keeping core staple ingredients to create a variety of meals while rotating through a set master list of themes to cut down on mental load, which is how we roll.

Why Capsule Meal Planning Works

How to Get Started with Capsule Meal Planning

Step 1: Identify Your Staples (see below for ideas) – Think about the ingredients you cook with most often. Think versatile, long-lasting, and something your household enjoys eating. Start with pantry basics (grains, pasta, beans), proteins (chicken, eggs, tofu), and essential flavour boosters (garlic, onions, herbs, spices).

Step 2: Take Stock of What You Already Have – Before you shop, look through your fridge, freezer, and pantry to identify the staples you already own and make a note of any gaps. It’s best to keep a minimalist pantry to reduce waste, so only stock what you actually use, not aspirational ingredients (ask me about the aspirational nutritional yeast I didn’t use!)

Step 3: Choose a Few Flexible Base Recipes – Pick 3-5 adaptable meals (like stir-fries, soups, or grain bowls – see more ideas below) that can be adjusted based on what’s in season or on sale. These will form the foundation of your capsule meal plan.

Step 4: Build Your First Capsule Grocery List – Using your staples and base recipes, create a shopping list that focuses on essentials. If your pantry and fridge are already full of staples, the only thing you’ll need to buy is fresh produce to complement those staples.

Step 5: Cook & Adjust as Needed – Start using your capsule pantry to prepare meals and make adjustments based on what works best for your household. Over time, you’ll refine your ingredient choices to maximise efficiency and variety, not to mention they will adjust with changing preferences.

Building Your Capsule Pantry

The staples you stock will depend on your food preferences, but I’m sharing some of our staples for inspiration.

Protein Staples:

• Chicken thigh and breast
• Ground beef/mince
• Sausages (Chorizo packs a lot of flavour for a tiny bit of meat)
• Bacon (same as chorizo – lots of flavour from a couple of rashes)
• Tinned tuna
• Tofu
• Tinned beans
• Eggs

Basic Produce:

• Onions
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Frozen peas, corn, green beans
• Garlic
• Apples
• Frozen berries

Dairy

• Milk
• Cheese
• Yoghurt
• Butter
• Long-life cream (can be kept in the pantry)

Pantry Essentials:

• Flour
• Sugar
• Pasta
• Rice
• Tortillas
• Rolled oats
• Honey
• Tinned tomatoes
• Olive Oil
• Cocoa
• Baking powder
• Vinegar
• Soy sauce

Don’t get me wrong, we have quite a few herbs, spices, and additional sauces nowadays, but if I were starting out, this list would mean we ate well and had a wide variety while sticking to simple meals and on a budget.

An alternative to stocking a wide variety of spices and sauces is to buy recipe bases and bottled marinades.

Capsule Meal Planning in Action

Here’s where the magic happens!

By keeping a handful of staple ingredients on hand, you can whip up these meals in minutes:

Learn Universal Techniques and Base Recipes to Create an Endless Variety of Meals

There are a few foundational recipes and techniques that, if you know, you can create endless meals.

Let’s talk about just one of those recipes: a basic roux or white sauce.

If you can make a basic white sauce, you can make:

• Lasagne or moussaka
• Macaroni and Cheese
• Pasta sauce like mushroom sauce
• Sauce for silverside
• Mornay Sauce
• You can use it as a binder in a pie, for example, chicken and vegetable pie.
• Cream of vegetable soup
• Croquettes
• Souffle
• Creamed or scalloped vegetables

I’ve already written about these sauces and basic recipes, so I’ll link to those articles below:

Capsule meal planning is about flexibility, efficiency, and reducing waste. It’s about simplifying the whole planning and cooking process and using what you have.

While it’s sporting a new trendy name, it’s how people have been meal planning and cooking for centuries – around basics on hand supplemented with fresh, seasonal produce.