Make a grocery list

The grocery list reads the recipes you planned, adds up the ingredients and sorts them into store aisles. You choose how many days to shop for.

Build your list#

1. 1

   Open Grocery

   On a computer, click Grocery in the top bar. On a phone, tap Grocery in the bottom bar. The Plan page’s ⋯ menu has a Shop this week shortcut that opens the same page.

   

   You'll see: The first time, a list for the coming week builds by itself. After that you see the list you last built.

2. 2

   Pick how far ahead you are cooking

   Tap Change on the summary line, then choose 3 days, A week, 2 weeks or A month. They count from today.

   

   You'll see: Under Cook through one choice is highlighted.

3. 3

   Or choose Custom dates…

   Use this for a trip or a party. Set both dates.

   

   You'll see: Two date boxes, From and To, appear.

4. 4

   Tap Build list

   The summary line shows how many recipes it came from and the dates.

   

   You'll see: The list fills with every ingredient from those days.

Ingredients from different recipes are added together. Each row names the recipe it came from. Tap an aisle name such as Canned goods to fold it closed or open. If nothing is planned in those days, you see Nothing to shop for yet. Plan some meals first: tap Plan the week, add dinners, then come back and tap Build list. See Plan your meals. The Hide pantry staples switch and the Copy, Share and Keep, Move down, Hide controls only appear once the list has ingredients.

Tick things off#

1. 1

   Tick an item as you put it in the basket

   Tap the box beside it.

   

   You'll see: The row fades and the line at the top counts checked.

2. 2

   Choose what ticked items do with Keep, Move down or Hide

   Keep leaves them where they are. Move down gathers them in a section at the bottom. Hide removes them from view.

   

   You'll see: The list rearranges. Your choice is remembered on this device.

3. 3

   Tap Reset to untick everything

   Reset shows once something is ticked. On a phone it is a small circular arrow.

   

   You'll see: All the ticks clear.

Hide pantry staples#

1. 1

   Turn on Hide pantry staples

   It starts off every time you open the page and is never remembered, so turn it on each visit. Items whose name matches something in your pantry disappear from the aisles. If your pantry is empty, common basics such as salt, oil, butter, flour and eggs are hidden instead. The names must match, so an item called “olive oil” hides “olive oil” and not “extra virgin olive oil”. Tap Manage your pantry in the note to edit what counts. See Keep track of your pantry.

   

   You'll see: A note says Pantry staples are hidden.

Add your own items#

1. 1

   Type in Add an item…, then tap Add

   Use it for dish soap, paper towels or anything that is not in a recipe. Press Enter instead of Add if you like. Tick items off like any other. To remove one, tap its ×. Tap Clear checked to delete every ticked one. These items are saved to your account, so they show on every device.

   

   You'll see: The item joins My items at the top of the list.

Copy or send the list#

1. 1

   Tap Copy or Share

   Copy puts the list on your clipboard to paste into a message. Share opens your phone’s share sheet, or copies the list if your device has none. Both send what is left to buy, aisle by aisle, then My items. Ticked items are left out. On a phone these are two icons.

   

   You'll see: Copy changes to Copied for a moment.

A household list#

In a household, a switch at the top reads Mine and the name of your household. The household side builds from the shared plan. See Share recipes, plans and lists.

Common questions#

The list is empty. Nothing is planned in the days you picked. Plan some meals, or choose a longer stretch under Change.

I planned more meals and the list did not change. This browser remembers the last list you built. Tap Change then Build list to read the plan again.

Why are some ingredient names odd? Rows use the wording from each recipe. Edit the recipe to tidy it. See Edit a recipe.