The Complete Guide to MealThinker

When you first sign up, you'll walk through a quick setup: dietary preferences (vegan, keto, gluten-free, etc.), allergies, and health goals. Don't skip this - it's the foundation for every suggestion you'll get.

In Preferences, set your cooking skill level, time per meal, budget, and household size. This tells MealThinker whether to suggest quick 15-minute meals or elaborate weekend projects.

Pick up to 10 cuisines you love - Italian, Mexican, Thai, Indian, and more. MealThinker uses these to vary your suggestions so you're not eating the same style every day.

Enter your age, weight, height, and activity level, and MealThinker calculates your daily calorie and macro targets automatically. You can also set custom targets if you have specific goals.

Hate cilantro? Can't stand mushrooms? Add them to your disliked foods list and MealThinker will never suggest them. Saves you from typing 'no mushrooms' every single time.

Tap any quick action button to instantly start a request. These are the 7 most common things users ask for:

• Plan My Day - Get breakfast, lunch, and dinner suggestions for today
• Just Dinner - Only need tonight's meal? Start here
• Just Breakfast - Morning meal suggestions
• Just Lunch - Midday meal ideas
• How Do I Cook... - Fill in any ingredient or dish for cooking guidance
• What Can I Make With My Pantry? - Uses your actual pantry inventory
• What's Expiring Soon? - Shows pantry items about to go bad

Before sending a quick action, you can set the number of servings (1-12 people) and toggle 'Make extra for leftovers' on or off. MealThinker adjusts portions and nutrition accordingly.

You're not limited to quick actions. Type anything in plain language:

The chat remembers your conversation for 24 hours (last 20 messages). You can refine suggestions without starting over:

• 'Actually, make that vegan' - switches the suggestion
• 'Can you add more protein?' - adjusts the recipe
• 'What about something with my air fryer?' - factors in equipment
• 'Give me the full recipe for option 2' - expands a suggestion into a complete recipe

There are two ways to add items:

• In the Pantry tab - tap '+' and type the item. MealThinker auto-categorizes it (Produce, Grains, Frozen, Canned Goods, etc.) and estimates its shelf life.
• In the Chat - tell the AI 'I just bought tomatoes, tofu, rice, and broccoli' and it adds them to your pantry automatically.
• Bulk Import - use the 'Import Common Staples' button to quickly add pantry basics like salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, etc.

MealThinker automatically estimates shelf life for every item. You'll see visual warnings:

• Green - fresh, plenty of time
• 'USE SOON!' - expires within 3 days, highlighted in orange
• 'EXPIRED' - past the use-by date, flagged in red with how many days ago

Your dashboard also shows a count of items expiring within 3 days, with specific item names.

Mark any item as 'running low' and MealThinker factors this into suggestions - it'll prioritize using that ingredient before suggesting you buy more.

When you ask 'What can I make with what's in my pantry?' the AI checks your actual inventory and suggests recipes using those specific ingredients. It also factors in what's expiring soonest.

Use 'Just Dinner,' 'Just Breakfast,' or 'Just Lunch' for a quick single-meal suggestion. Great for when you only need help with one meal.

Use 'Plan My Day' to get breakfast, lunch, and dinner suggestions that hit your daily nutrition targets together. The AI balances macros across all three meals.

Ask 'Plan my meals for the week' and MealThinker creates a 7-day plan with variety across cuisines, proteins, and cooking methods. No repeating the same meal twice.

Save any plan with a custom name (e.g., 'Busy Work Week' or 'Holiday Prep'). Browse saved plans anytime in the Meal Plans tab.

Don't like one meal in your plan? Swap just that one - the rest stays. MealThinker suggests alternatives that still fit your nutrition targets.

Turn any saved meal plan into a shopping list with one tap. It cross-references your pantry so you only buy what you actually need.

All generated recipes are auto-saved with full details: ingredients, step-by-step instructions, nutrition facts (macros + micros), cook time, and serving count.

After cooking a recipe, rate it. Higher-rated recipes influence future suggestions - MealThinker learns what you actually enjoy and suggests similar dishes.

Mark recipes as 'Favorite' for quick access to your best ones. Use 'Want to Make' as a cooking bucket list - queue up recipes you're excited to try.

Add notes to any recipe: 'Kids loved this,' 'Add extra garlic next time,' 'Double the sauce.' Your notes are permanent and show up whenever you view that recipe.

Cooked a saved recipe? Tap 'Log as Eaten' to add it to your meal log with all the nutrition data already filled in - no manual entry needed.

Browse your library by: all saved, favorites only, want-to-make, top-rated, or most cooked. Find that one recipe you loved last month in seconds.

Every item is automatically sorted into grocery sections - Produce, Grains, Frozen, Canned Goods, etc. Walk through the store in order, no backtracking.

Turn any saved meal plan into a shopping list with one tap. MealThinker cross-references your pantry and only adds ingredients you don't already have.

The Smart Suggestions tab analyzes your dietary preferences, favorite cuisines, and cooking habits to recommend grocery staples you might need - organized by category (proteins, grains, produce, pantry staples).

Tap items to mark them as purchased. Use the list on your phone while walking through the store.

Log meals in two ways: tap 'Log as Eaten' on a saved recipe (nutrition pre-filled), or manually log any meal with the AI estimating nutrition from your description.

See progress bars for calories, protein, carbs, and fat against your daily targets. At a glance, you know if you need more protein at dinner or if you've hit your calorie target.

Track fiber, iron, calcium, sodium, vitamin C, and vitamin B12. MealThinker sets targets based on your age, sex, and dietary preferences (e.g., vegans get higher iron targets).

Navigate between dates to see your nutrition history. Spot patterns - maybe you consistently undereat protein on weekdays, or your fiber intake drops on weekends.

MealThinker doesn't just track - it acts on the data. If your logged meals are low on iron, the next meal suggestion will prioritize iron-rich foods automatically.

All available in the Preferences page:

• Dietary preferences: Vegan, Vegetarian, Keto, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Low Carb, High Protein, Whole30
• Allergies: Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Wheat, Soy, Sesame, and more
• Health goals: Build Muscle, Eat Healthier, More Energy, Save Money, Quick Meals, Meal Prep
• Favorite cuisines: American, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Thai, Mediterranean, Korean, Middle Eastern
• Kitchen equipment: Instant Pot, Air Fryer, Slow Cooker, Blender, Food Processor, Grill, Stand Mixer, Wok, Cast Iron, Sous Vide
• Cooking skill level, time per meal (15-60+ minutes), budget level, household size, meals per day

Tell the AI things in conversation and it remembers permanently: 'Remember that my kids don't eat spicy food' or 'I prefer oatmeal with extra liquid when adding protein powder.' These notes are saved and applied to every future suggestion.

Visit About Me to see everything MealThinker knows about you in one place: your profile, nutrition targets, kitchen overview, recipe stats, taste profile, remembered notes, and usage statistics. It's your AI profile mirror.

Go to Preferences and set your due date. MealThinker automatically calculates your trimester and adjusts everything accordingly.

Iron, folate, calcium, and DHA targets adjust by trimester. First trimester emphasizes folate; second and third increase iron and calcium. No manual configuration needed.

MealThinker automatically avoids unsafe foods, adjusts nutrition targets, and flags anything not recommended during pregnancy. If a recipe contains anything flagged for pregnancy, you'll see a warning.

Enter your age, sex, weight, height, and activity level. Get your recommended daily calories, protein, carbs, fat, plus micronutrient targets (fiber, iron, calcium, vitamin C, B12). Email results to yourself for reference.

Based on USDA food plans, estimate your monthly grocery spending. Adjust for household size, age ranges, meals eaten at home, and food waste percentage. Good reality check on where your money goes.

Stuck on dinner? Get instant suggestions from 400+ curated meal ideas. Filter by dietary preference, cuisine, and vibe/occasion. See calorie and macro breakdowns. A taste of what the full app does.