Grocery list · $0 · 6-min read

Let AI do the grocery list from what you already cook

You don’t need another app for this. Write down the dinners your family already eats, once, and AI turns them into a weekly list sorted by store section.

By Dave Luderer, dad of three · Updated

Step 1: write down your regular dinners (15 min)

Everything else builds on this list.

Our regular dinners
- [Tacos]: ground beef or beans, tortillas, cheese, lettuce, salsa. Serves 5. [Kid 2 skips the salsa.]
- [Sheet-pan chicken and potatoes]: chicken thighs, potatoes, carrots, olive oil.
- [Spaghetti and meatballs]: pasta, jar sauce, frozen meatballs, salad kit.
- [Breakfast for dinner]: eggs, pancake mix, bacon, fruit.
- (keep going: aim for 10 to 15)

Staples we always have: [salt, oil, rice, pasta, flour, butter, ketchup]
Allergies / no-go foods: [ ]

Step 2: give the list a home (5 min)

  • ChatGPT: add it as a file in a project. Free allows 5 files per project.[1] One catch: a scheduled task made inside a project can’t read the project’s files, so for a scheduled list, paste the dinners into the prompt itself.[2]
  • Claude: put it in a project. Free includes up to 5.[3]
  • Gemini: keep it as a Google Doc or a Keep note. With the Google Workspace app connected, Gemini can find things in your Docs and Drive and read your Keep notes.[4]

Step 3: the weekly list prompt

Every Saturday at 8 am, help me with this week's groceries.
- Pick 5 dinners from our regular dinners: [paste your list, or "use the 'Our regular dinners' doc"]. Don't repeat last week's, and choose meals that share ingredients.
- Make one combined grocery list for [number] people, grouped by store section (produce, meat and fish, dairy, bakery, pantry, frozen, household), with amounts.
- Leave off our staples unless I say we're out: [salt, oil, rice, pasta, flour, ...].
- Add a short "check before you go" list for things we might already have.
Keep it to one screen. Don't order or buy anything.

Schedule it for the morning you usually shop: how to schedule on each assistant. On a free plan without schedules, save it and run it yourself.

Step 4: put the list where the family can add to it

If you useDo this
iPhoneMake a Reminders list and set its list type to Groceries. Reminders sorts items into categories like Produce, Meat and Frozen Foods as you add them, and remembers if you move one.[5] You need iCloud turned on for Reminders.[5] On iPhones with Apple Intelligence, Reminders can also suggest grocery items from text in other apps, like a recipe in Safari.[6]
GoogleAsk Gemini to put the list in Google Keep. It can create notes and lists there once Google Workspace is connected.[4] Then share the note with your family group (Collaborators → Family group), and everyone in the group can edit it.[7]
Put this week's grocery list in a Google Keep list called "Groceries", one item per line, grouped by store section. Keep anything that's already on that list.

Midweek: top it up in one sentence

We're out of [milk, eggs, apples]. Add them to the Groceries list, and tell me if any of this week's dinners now need something else.

My advice: let AI write the list, but do the ordering and paying yourself.

Tested by Dave Not yet

I haven’t run this exact setup with my family for a full week yet. When I do, this box will say what happened, good or bad.

Next up

Sources

  1. OpenAI Help: Projects in ChatGPT
  2. OpenAI Help: Scheduled tasks in ChatGPT
  3. Claude: Pricing
  4. Gemini Apps Help: Connect the Google Workspace app to Gemini Apps (Gmail, Calendar, Keep, Tasks)
  5. Apple Support: Create grocery lists in Reminders on your iPhone
  6. Apple Support: Make a grocery list in Reminders on iPhone (iPhone User Guide)
  7. Google Keep Help: Share a Keep note with your family group

All checked Oct 18, 2026 unless noted. Prices change. If something’s out of date, reply to any newsletter issue and I’ll fix it.