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In my endeavor to become a better and more consistent cook, I've begun meal planning. I've been interested in this process as a way to save money and encourage myself to try new meals, but especially as a way to reduce food waste along with my overall carbon footprint (more on this later).
While I could search for recipes and create a meal plan on my own, it can be time-consuming. So, as an editor for tech publication CNET, I wondered whether artificial intelligence, specifically ChatGPT, could help. If this generative AI application can be used to negotiate bills, write resumes and even help you talk to your doctor about your health symptoms, could it help with something as simple as meal planning too?
I decided to find out. I asked ChatGPT to create a seven-day healthy-dinner meal plan for me, with few parameters. Here's how it went.
Read more: ChatGPT 4 Review: A Smarter AI Chatbot, but It'll Cost You
Meal planning with ChatGPT
Prompt: "Hi, ChatGPT. Can you provide me with a seven-day meal plan for quick and healthy dinners for two people?"
ChatGPT: "Certainly! Here's a seven-day meal plan for quick and healthy dinners for two people. Each meal is designed to be simple and fast to prepare."
I also asked for a meal plan that avoids fish (personal preference) and to provide an accompanying grocery list. Here are the meals it gave me:
Day 1: Lemon garlic chicken with roasted vegetables
Day 2: Beef stir-fry with broccoli and rice
Day 3: Veggie tacos
Day 4: Baked chicken with quinoa and spinach
Day 5: Pasta primavera
Day 6: Chicken-and-vegetable skewers
Day 7: Easy turkey chili
Ingredients and a short sentence with instructions were also provided, but the ingredients didn't offer any measurements, though you could ask the application for specific measurements if you needed them. I was able to estimate the amount of each ingredient that my small household of two needed. I headed to the grocery store with the list provided, then made the first meal that evening.
Putting the AI-created meal plan to the test
Day 1: Lemon garlic chicken with roasted vegetables
ChatGPT ingredients: Chicken breasts, lemon, garlic, olive oil, mixed vegetables (carrots, bell peppers, zucchini).
ChatGPT instructions: Marinate chicken breasts in lemon juice, minced garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast alongside mixed vegetables at 400°F (200°C) for 25-30 minutes.
I'm happy to report that ChatGPT kept its word and provided me with an extremely easy recipe to start off the week with. I was able to pop everything together in the oven, then clean up and set the table as it cooked.
I made slight tweaks to this recipe, including cooking the carrots for about 10 minutes before adding the other ingredients to the pan, since I know from past experience that zucchini and peppers cook a lot quicker than carrots. I also added a couple of extra seasonings.
Sheet-pan dinners such as this one are perfect for weeknight dinners.
Day 2: Beef stir-fry with broccoli and rice
ChatGPT ingredients: Beef strips, broccoli, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, rice.
ChatGPT instructions: Stir-fry beef strips with garlic and ginger, add broccoli, and cook until tender. Serve over steamed rice.
This recipe is the one I adjusted the most, but it was still quick to prepare. I felt like something was missing from the ingredients ChatGPT suggested, so I decided to make a slightly more involved sauce. I was inspired by this recipe, which I've used in the past, and I ended up adding only two extra ingredients: cornstarch and brown sugar. This was a perfect and filling weeknight meal.
With a few adjustments to ChatGPT's original recipe, this dish turned out tangy and delicious.
Day 3: Veggie quesadillas
ChatGPT ingredients: Tortillas, black beans, corn, bell peppers, avocado, salsa, shredded cheese.
ChatGPT instructions: Saute bell peppers, mix with black beans and corn. Fill tortillas with veggie mix, avocado slices, salsa, and cheese.
Although ChatGPT recommended veggie tacos, I ended up making quesadillas instead after accidentally buying the wrong size tortillas, but they were just as tasty. The one notable thing about this recipe is that ChatGPT didn't add any seasonings to the ingredient list, so I made sure to add my own.
Whether you make this meal as quesadillas or tacos, it'll be delicious.
Day 4: Baked chicken with quinoa and spinach
ChatGPT ingredients: Chicken thighs or breasts, lemon, olive oil, quinoa, fresh spinach.
ChatGPT instructions: Season chicken with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 25-30 minutes. Serve with cooked quinoa and sauteed spinach.
Even though this was probably the simplest recipe of the week, it was my favorite. I loved how the sauteed spinach and quinoa tasted together. It's a great recipe to make when you have spinach left over in the fridge that may be on the brink of going bad, since even numerous cups of spinach still isn't a huge amount after it's sauteed.
If you want to add more flavor to your quinoa, you can cook it in chicken or vegetable broth instead of water.
Day 5: Pasta primavera
ChatGPT ingredients: Pasta (e.g., penne or spaghetti), cherry tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, olive oil, Parmesan cheese.
ChatGPT instructions: Cook pasta, saute vegetables in olive oil until tender. Toss pasta with veggies and Parmesan cheese.
It's hard to go wrong with pasta, but this recipe missed the mark. ChatGPT's instructions said to saute the cherry tomatoes, zucchini and bell peppers in olive oil, then toss the cooked pasta with the veggies and parmesan cheese. Though no seasonings were listed, I added them, but it was still a lackluster meal.
I still ate it for dinner (and lunch the next day), but if I make this meal in the future, I'll add fresh garlic, a few more varieties of vegetables, and lemon juice to enrich the flavor.
Additional vegetables you can add to pasta primavera are onions, asparagus and carrots.
Day 6: Chicken-and-vegetable skewers
ChatGPT ingredients: Chicken chunks, bell peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, your favorite seasoning.
ChatGPT instructions: Thread chicken and vegetables onto skewers. Brush with olive oil and seasoning. Grill or bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15-20 minutes.
These chicken thigh kebabs were so delicious and filling. Something I especially liked about the ChatGPT meal plan was that meals were basic enough to make slight adjustments. For example, this recipe listed bell peppers, onions and cherry tomatoes for the vegetables, but it's simple enough to swap out those vegetables with any of your choosing.
I skipped using cherry tomatoes, since I'd had plenty the night before in the pasta primavera,but mushrooms would be a great addition to this meal.
You can cook these kebabs in the air fryer or oven.
Day 7: Turkey chili
ChatGPT ingredients: Ground turkey, canned tomatoes, kidney beans, chili seasoning.
ChatGPT instructions: Brown the ground turkey, then add tomatoes, beans, and chili seasoning. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
People either love chili or hate it. I'm in the former category so this meal was a great way to end my week (and to welcome in fall!). After you brown the ground turkey, this meal largely cooks itself while it simmers on the stove, so it's an especially good recipe for days you don't want to spend all night in the kitchen.
Turkey chili is typically a healthier alternative to beef chili.
My overall opinion on using ChatGPT for meal planning
I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't love grocery shopping, so one of my favorite parts about using ChatGPT for a meal plan was getting an accompanying grocery list along with it.
The application made my trip to the market painless by grouping items by category for ultra convenience. With the list copied into my iPhone's notes app, I was in and out of the store within 30 minutes.
While the simple meals ChatGPT gave me weren't groundbreaking, I appreciate that you can continue asking the application questions to get exactly what type of meals you desire. Whether you want meals for the week that can be made in under 30 minutes or you want them to be vegetarian, gluten-free or even zero-waste, you can ask ChatGPT to customize a meal plan for you.
Most importantly though, I realized this week that I didn't throw away any food — not even a single scrap. My fiance and I either ate all the food the night we cooked it or ate the leftovers for lunch the following day. And that felt even better than an uncomplicated grocery store trip.
How meal planning helps fight food waste
In the United States, it's estimated that 30% to 40% of food is wasted each year. Though food waste occurs at all stages of food production, it can (and often does) happen directly in your kitchen. This largely occurs from over-purchasing food or not eating it before it spoils.
Read more: Stop Throwing Away Your Food Scraps: 11 Ways to Repurpose Them and Save Money
This level of food waste can negatively affect the environment by forcing food production to increase, adding to its carbon footprint, which is based on how many greenhouse gasses are emitted into the atmosphere during the food production process. And rotting foods in landfills actually release methane into the environment, which is the second-largest contributor to climate warming (directly behind carbon dioxide).
But there's some good news: Meal planning can help you tackle food waste. If you plan out your meals, you're less likely to buy too many ingredients at the grocery store, and you can also map out how you'll use any leftover food or ingredient scraps.