Trader Joe's Under $100 Meal Plan Release

Released once a quarter, these week-long Trader Joe’s Meal Plans are all created with a $100 weekly grocery budget in mind. They include a complete and priced-out shopping list, full recipes for five unique dinners, four nutrient-dense breakfasts, four lunch options, a list of nutritionist-approved snack options, and a week-at-a-glance calendar guide.

This meal plan is crafted with a small family in mind and is not just for one person. If you are a single eater, you could easily make use of leftovers and turn this into a two-week plan.

This meal plan is naturally gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free. 

This meal plan assumes you already have a decent pantry stash of cooking fats, dried herbs and spices, basic condiments, and at least one healthier sweetener choice like pure maple syrup or coconut sugar. My preferred cooking fats are ghee, coconut oil, or avocado oil. The ingredients priced out at Trader Joe’s are listed in bold. 

This meal plan saves you money by only calling for organic ingredients if they are on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list of produce.

This meal plan was created in Southern California in the summer of 2019. All of Trader Joe’s prices are subject to change based on date and location.

This meal plan is not affiliated with or endorsed by Trader Joe’s.

This meal plan does not pretend to know how much each member in your family eats or what their specific preferences are. The recipe and serving sizes are averages. Apologies if you have a child who eats like a college water polo player…or is exceptionally picky. We think everything is yummy!

This meal plan is made to be flexible and built-upon. If your budget is higher than $100/week, then by all means double a recipe, add a few extra superfoods, and buy organic everything! Don’t feel like you need to eat each recipe on the specific days given. It’s merely a guide to help you get your grocery bill down in an organized and healthy fashion. 

This meal plan serves as a guide to get the right products into your hands, while helping you avoid others that contain questionable ingredients like canola and soybean oils, or loads of refined salt and processed sugar. Trader Joe’s has already eliminated artificial trans fats, colors, flavors, preservatives & GMO ingredients from their private label products. While that’s a fantastic start for a grocery chain, there are still plenty of Trader Joe’s products that are subpar nutritionally.