Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan for the Week (with Grocery List)

The Mediterranean diet keeps winning "best diet" lists because it is
easy to follow for life. It is not a rulebook. It is a pattern:
vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fish, olive oil, moderate dairy,
less red meat, minimal ultra-processed food. Wine and dessert are fine
in moderation.

Here is a realistic seven-day plan with a grocery list at the end.
Servings are for two adults. Scale to four or six in /recipes and the
list scales too.

## What makes a meal "Mediterranean"

Three quick heuristics:

- Olive oil is the default fat. Butter and seed oils are occasional.
- Plants outnumber animal protein on the plate.
- Fish appears at least twice a week. Red meat appears at most once.

That is enough to build a week around.

## The 7-day plan

### Monday
- **Breakfast:** Greek yogurt with walnuts, honey, and berries.
- **Lunch:** Chickpea and cucumber salad with feta, red onion, lemon,
olive oil.
- **Dinner:** Sheet-pan salmon with cherry tomatoes, olives, and
zucchini. Brown rice.

### Tuesday
- **Breakfast:** Whole-grain toast with avocado, tomato, olive oil,
flaky salt.
- **Lunch:** Leftover salmon flaked into a grain bowl with arugula,
lemon, and the leftover rice.
- **Dinner:** Lentil soup with carrots, celery, onion, cumin. Crusty
bread.

### Wednesday
- **Breakfast:** Oatmeal with almonds, chopped apple, cinnamon.
- **Lunch:** Hummus, pita, cucumber, bell pepper, olives, a handful
of cherry tomatoes.
- **Dinner:** Pasta with garlic, olive oil, chili flakes, parsley,
parmesan. Side salad.

### Thursday
- **Breakfast:** Greek yogurt with the other half of the honey-
walnut-berry mix from Monday.
- **Lunch:** Leftover lentil soup.
- **Dinner:** Grilled chicken thighs with tzatziki, tabbouleh,
tomato-cucumber salad.

### Friday
- **Breakfast:** Shakshuka — eggs poached in tomato, pepper, onion,
paprika. Bread.
- **Lunch:** Leftover chicken thighs in a pita with tzatziki and salad.
- **Dinner:** White beans with sautéed greens (spinach or kale),
lemon, olive oil, a poached egg on top.

### Saturday
- **Breakfast:** Whole-grain toast, soft-boiled egg, olives, feta,
sliced tomato. A Mediterranean breakfast plate.
- **Lunch:** Tuna salad — good canned tuna, white beans, red onion,
parsley, olive oil, lemon.
- **Dinner:** Roasted whole fish (branzino, bream, or trout) with
lemon, herbs. Roasted potatoes and green beans.

### Sunday
- **Breakfast:** Oatmeal with pear and walnuts.
- **Lunch:** Big Greek salad — tomato, cucumber, red onion, olives,
feta, oregano, olive oil. Bread.
- **Dinner:** Slow-cooked chicken and chickpea stew with tomato,
paprika, spinach. Rice or bread to soak it up.

## Grocery list

### Produce
- Cherry tomatoes (2 pints)
- Tomatoes, large (5)
- Cucumbers (4)
- Red onions (3)
- Yellow onions (3)
- Garlic (2 heads)
- Lemons (6)
- Berries, fresh or frozen (1 pint)
- Apples (2)
- Pears (2)
- Bell peppers (3)
- Zucchini (2)
- Carrots (1 bag)
- Celery (1 bunch)
- Parsley (2 bunches)
- Oregano, fresh or dried
- Spinach or kale (2 bunches)
- Arugula (1 bag)
- Green beans (1 lb)
- Potatoes (2 lb)
- Avocado (2)

### Protein
- Salmon fillets (2 portions)
- Chicken thighs, bone-in (6)
- Whole fish: branzino, bream, or trout (2)
- Eggs (1 dozen)
- Canned tuna, good quality (2 tins)

### Pantry
- Extra-virgin olive oil (yes, the good one)
- Brown rice (1 lb)
- Pasta (1 box)
- Bulgur or couscous for tabbouleh
- Rolled oats
- Whole-grain bread, pita, and a good crusty loaf
- Lentils (1 bag)
- Chickpeas (2 cans)
- White beans (2 cans)
- Hummus (or make from the chickpeas)
- Tzatziki (or make from the yogurt)
- Olives (1 jar, Kalamata)

### Dairy
- Greek yogurt, plain, full-fat (1 large tub)
- Feta (1 block)
- Parmesan (small wedge)

### Nuts, seeds, extras
- Walnuts
- Almonds
- Honey
- Cinnamon, cumin, paprika, chili flakes
- Dry white wine for cooking (optional)

## How to make this easier

Drop the whole plan into /meal-plan and the grocery list above
regenerates automatically in the order your store is laid out. Browse
more Mediterranean recipes at /recipes/cuisine/mediterranean, or scale
servings for guests in /recipes.

Two habits make the Mediterranean pattern stick:

- **Cook once, eat twice.** Most dinners above become the next day's
lunch. That is why the grocery list is smaller than it looks.
- **Default to plants.** Build the plate around the vegetable and the
grain first. The protein is the accent, not the anchor.

Stay on this pattern for a month and the "diet" part disappears. It is
just what dinner looks like.