OneTaskBy Tim King · Updated
Random Meal Generator
What Should I Eat Today, or This Week?
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If this tool saved you time, a coffee helps keep new ones coming.
How the Random Meal Generator works
This random meal generator settles the daily question of what to eat. Get one breakfast, lunch or dinner idea, or plan a whole week with no dish repeated, and narrow the choice to vegetarian or vegan meals. Every dish is a familiar home-cooked meal you can make from a supermarket shop.
How the random meal generator works
The tool keeps a list of everyday dishes, each tagged with the meal it suits and whether it is vegan, vegetarian or contains meat or fish. It filters the list by your choices and picks from what is left with the browser's cryptographic random source. A week plan draws seven different dishes for each meal without replacement, so nothing repeats.
The formula for the number of different no-repeat week plans from n dishes is n! ÷ (n − 7)!, because there are n choices for Monday, n − 1 for Tuesday and so on down to Sunday.
First example. With 8 vegan dinners, a no-repeat week can be arranged in 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 = 40,320 ways.
Second example. With 20 dinners to choose from, the count rises to 20 × 19 × 18 × 17 × 16 × 15 × 14 = 390,700,800 different weeks, so you would not see the same plan twice in a lifetime.
How many dishes does a no-repeat week need? At least seven for each meal you plan. The vegan lists have just enough for a full week of breakfasts, lunches and dinners.
How many different seven-day plans a pool of n dishes can make
| Dishes in pool (n) | Week with no repeats, order matters | Set of 7 dishes, any order | Week with repeats allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 5,040 | 1 | 823,543 |
| 8 | 40,320 | 8 | 2,097,152 |
| 9 | 181,440 | 36 | 4,782,969 |
| 10 | 604,800 | 120 | 10,000,000 |
| 11 | 1,663,200 | 330 | 19,487,171 |
| 12 | 3,991,680 | 792 | 35,831,808 |
| 13 | 8,648,640 | 1,716 | 62,748,517 |
| 14 | 17,297,280 | 3,432 | 105,413,504 |
| 15 | 32,432,400 | 6,435 | 170,859,375 |
| 16 | 57,657,600 | 11,440 | 268,435,456 |
| 17 | 98,017,920 | 19,448 | 410,338,673 |
| 18 | 160,392,960 | 31,824 | 612,220,032 |
| 19 | 253,955,520 | 50,388 | 893,871,739 |
| 20 | 390,700,800 | 77,520 | 1,280,000,000 |
| 21 | 586,051,200 | 116,280 | 1,801,088,541 |
| 22 | 859,541,760 | 170,544 | 2,494,357,888 |
| 23 | 1,235,591,280 | 245,157 | 3,404,825,447 |
| 24 | 1,744,364,160 | 346,104 | 4,586,471,424 |
| 25 | 2,422,728,000 | 480,700 | 6,103,515,625 |
| 26 | 3,315,312,000 | 657,800 | 8,031,810,176 |
| 27 | 4,475,671,200 | 888,030 | 10,460,353,203 |
| 28 | 5,967,561,600 | 1,184,040 | 13,492,928,512 |
| 29 | 7,866,331,200 | 1,560,780 | 17,249,876,309 |
| 30 | 10,260,432,000 | 2,035,800 | 21,870,000,000 |
Tips and pitfalls
Use the week plan to write one shopping list, and look for shared ingredients such as peppers or chickpeas that turn up in two dishes. If a pick does not suit, press Generate again rather than overriding it, because the point is to stop deliberating. Check allergens yourself, since the tool only knows whether a dish contains meat, fish or animal products.
FAQ
How does the random meal generator decide what I should eat?
It filters its list of dishes by the meal and diet you choose, then picks one at random with equal chances. Nothing is weighted by popularity or past choices, so every dish that matches has the same chance of coming up.
Can I get a vegan or vegetarian meal plan?
Yes. Choose Vegan for dishes with no animal products, or Vegetarian for dishes with no meat or fish that may include eggs and dairy. Both work for a single meal or a full week with no repeats.
Will the weekly plan repeat any meals?
No. "A week, no repeats" draws seven different dishes for each meal, so Monday's dinner never comes back on Thursday. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are drawn from separate lists, so they never overlap either.
Does the meal generator include recipes?
No. It names a familiar dish, such as chilli con carne or a chickpea curry, that you can cook from any standard recipe. The aim is to remove the decision, not to replace your favourite cookbook.
Why use a random meal generator at all?
Deciding what to eat is a small choice made every day, and it wears people down. Letting chance pick from a list you already like ends the debate quickly, adds variety and makes weekly planning and shopping much easier.
See also: all Lists & Lines tools, Writing & Editing, Markdown & HTML, Ciphers & Alphabets.
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