Real Agent Cases

Plan five days of meals and a $75 grocery list with ChatGPT

Posted
by Delish
Last checked
Method:
How we verify

Evidence: Article or interviewA newsletter, journalist or interview account of what happened.

PartialThe source says it only partly worked, or had a significant problem a person had to deal with.

What went wrong: The list included five items she didn't need, and she found the meals repetitive.

Outcome

Delish's writer asked ChatGPT for Monday–Friday recipes (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) and a grocery list on a $75 budget with no tomatoes, peas or oats, then asked it to drop tofu. The list came to about $74.50, but she says it had her buy five items she didn't need, and by Wednesday the chicken-heavy meals felt repetitive; she decided the method wasn't for her.

Agent

ChatGPT

Prompt Original prompt

Exact prompt as published in the source.

Create a grocery list and recipes (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) for Monday through Friday. Budget is $75. Do not include tomatoes, peas, or oats. Recipes should be fairly healthy and nutrient-dense. Thanks!
Optional stronger version

Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.

Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to.

Goal: Plan a week of simple, healthy meals and one grocery list that stays under my budget and uses every item.

Fill in before running:
- Who's eating: [NUMBER OF PEOPLE, AGES]
- Days and meals to cover: [e.g. Mon–Fri breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks]
- Weekly budget: [AMOUNT] at [STORE]
- Must avoid (allergies, dislikes): [LIST]
- Max cooking time on weeknights: [MINUTES]
- What's already in my pantry: [LIST]

Rules:
- Every grocery item must be used in at least one recipe; list which recipes use it.
- Vary proteins and flavours across the week; no protein more than twice.
- Give rough prices per item and a running total, labelled as estimates.
- Leave out anything already in my pantry.
- Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify.
- Before giving the list, cross-check it against every recipe and remove anything unused.

Output: A day-by-day meal table, short recipes with quantities, and a grocery list grouped by store section with estimated prices and total.

You'll know it worked when: the total is under budget, nothing on the list goes unused, and no meal repeats the same protein back to back.

Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.

Source

https://www.delish.com/food-news/a64236165/ai-chatgpt-meal-plan-grocery-list/

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