Meal roster template
A meal roster template for when someone needs a hand
Dinners for a family with a new baby, someone home from hospital, or a household going through a hard few weeks. Who’s cooking, what they’re bringing and when it arrives.
Preview: Meal roster for the Mahmoud family
| Date | Cook | Dish | Drop-off time | Dish to return? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 16 Nov | Leilani | Chicken and vegetable soup, bread rolls | 5:00 | No, takeaway tub |
| Wed 18 Nov | Tom and Sarah | Lasagne (no mushrooms) | 5:30 | Yes, blue dish |
| Fri 20 Nov | Anjali | Dal, rice and a fruit salad | 5:00 | No |
| Mon 23 Nov | Greg | Shepherd’s pie, frozen for later | Any time after 3 | No |
The printed version has 12 blank rows under the example ones. The download opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets.
Start with what the family needs
Before anyone signs a name, ask the family three questions, or ask someone close to them: how many people, what nobody will eat, and how they want food dropped off. Put the answers in the note line at the top of the sheet. People who are sick or exhausted don’t want six phone calls about allergies.
Three meals a week is usually enough. Seven lasagnes in a week is a well-meant problem. Leave gaps for leftovers and the nights a grandparent comes over.
Organising the meal train
- 01
Pick one coordinator
One person holds the list and talks to the family, so they only hear from one person.
- 02
Set the dates
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for three or four weeks is a common pattern. Extend it if needed.
- 03
Put names against dates
Go round your group and offer each person a date. Spread it so nobody cooks twice before everyone has cooked once.
- 04
Ask for the dish
Each cook writes what they’re bringing, so the family doesn’t get pasta four nights running.
- 05
Use dishes that don’t come back
Takeaway tubs or foil trays mean the family isn’t washing up and returning everyone’s containers.
Our guide to organising a meal roster has ideas for meals that freeze well and travel safely.
When it runs for months
A meal train for a fortnight fits on this sheet. Care that goes on for months, such as treatment, a long recovery, or an older parent living alone, needs something that doesn’t get lost in a group chat.
In a FairTurns meal roster, you click the first Monday, choose “Every week on Monday”, and the dates keep coming months ahead. Add cooks by email or by name only, and Fill gives each date to whoever has had the fewest turns. Cooks mark the weeks they’re away and are left off them. A public link shows the whole roster to anyone you send it to, names and dates only. Free, for any number of helpers. For longer family care, see sharing the care of a parent.
Questions
Is this the same as a meal train template?
Yes. Meal train, meal roster and meal schedule all describe the same thing: a list of who brings dinner on which night.
How long should a meal roster run?
Two to four weeks for a new baby or surgery is typical. Check in with the family at the end and extend it if they’d like.
Should I include the family’s address?
Only on the copy that goes to the cooks themselves, never on one that gets shared widely. The template leaves it off for that reason.
Can I add a column for allergies?
Put allergies in the note at the top, so every cook reads them before choosing a dish. A column per row is easy to miss.
Read next
Meal roster
Dinners for a family with a new baby, an illness or a loss, shared between friends on one page.
How to organise a meal roster
Set up a meal train for a new baby, an illness or a loss: who cooks, when, and how to drop it off.
Family care roster
Visits, shopping and appointments for an ageing parent, shared between brothers, sisters and helpers.
Make your roster free
Click a day, add people, share one link. No card, no limit on people or dates.