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Simplify your grocery shopping with a printable Shopping List Template from Culinary Hill! By sorting your groceries into categories on paper, you’ll have a plan of action when you get to the store and avoid racing back and forth between areas.
Print as many as you need, any time, for free.
This printable grocery list template can simplify your life, clear your mind, and speed up your supermarket shopping trips. I like to keep a blank grocery list template pinned to the fridge door so I can add things throughout the week when I think of them, and then I just grab the list when it’s time for my next trip.
Any basic grocery list can help you stay focused and reduce impulse purchases, but I think the most useful templates are sorted by categories. A categorized grocery list forces me (and you) to sort groceries by department which means we don’t have to run back and forth across the store, zig-zagging through aisles, as we shop for our daily meals.
In theory, we should all be able to make a one-way journey through the grocery store and find everything with need. You should only have to visit the produce department, or search through dairy products, one time. It makes the whole grocery shopping process much more relaxed and reduces food waste. Nothing is more stressful than getting to the checkout and realizing you forgot broccoli or tomatoes!
Table of Contents
About this free printable grocery list template
This user-friendly template is organized by category including produce, meat and dairy items, pantry items, freezer items, and miscellaneous. It’s available in PDF format so you can print it immediatley or save the PDF file to your hard drive.
- Produce: Fruits, vegetables, refrigerated salad dressings, or anything else you’d find in this department.
- Meat and dairy: Proteins such as chicken breast, ground beef, shrimp, milk, butter, and cheese. I also include eggs in this category even though they are neither a meat nor a dairy product.
- Pantry: This is for all non-perishable items such as cereals, canned goods, pasta, grains, and baking items like sugar, flour, and spices.
- Freezer: Frozen fruits and vegetables, freezer meals, ice, and ice cream.
- Miscellaneous: I use this section for medicine, sunscreen, cleaning items, fresh flowers, gift cards, and bottled water or soda.
There are no check boxes or quantity columns which could clutter the experience. Feel free to write in quantities on the line as needed.
If you have a specific meal in mind, go through your recipe and write down the ingredients in the order they are listed, but choose the category they belong in. It’s that simple!
Fill in your blank shopping list template at home
Use this simple grocery list to organize your thoughts before you ever step foot in the grocery store!
- Review recipes or meal plan notes and write down the ingredients for your specific needs.
- Check your pantry, refrigerator, or freezer for items you may already have on hand or staples you need to replenish and update your grocery checklist accordingly.
- Automatically sort items by different categories. You are building separate lists for each section of the grocery store.
Use your completed shopping list at the store
A detailed shopping list will make the entire grocery shopping experience more focused, relaxed, and efficient. Whether it’s you, a family member, or roommates shopping, anyone can benefit from a basic template. Busy professionals and homemakers alike have busy schedules.
- SAVE TIME: Shop efficiently by gathering all items in one section before moving on. Avoid repeated to-and-from trips between sections. Even if you’re not in a rush, you can benefit from having an action plan in the grocery store.
- SAVE MONEY: Budget-conscious shoppers can avoid impulse purchases which can lead to food waste and extra expenses in your food budget.
- STAY FOCUSED: Gather the times you really need and never forget the most important things you came for. Cross off items you’ve found to keep track of the items left on your list.
- STAY CALM: An organized shopping list brings confidence and clarity to your shopping trip.
Thanks for checking out my downloadable grocery list template! I hope you love it as much as I do.
Best type of shopping list template
Personally, I love the analog experience of writing out my grocery list items by hand, on paper, with a pen. I keep it on the fridge with a magnet during the week. If I’m doing a lot of planning, I’ll secure the list to a clipboard as a forage through my cupboards to see what I have on hand (reducing the likelihood of buying extra back stock). Then, I fold the completed list for easy pocket or purse storage.
If you prefer a digital experience, seek out or create a blank template with a Microsoft Excel version or an editable Microsoft Word document. Editable Google Docs (specifically Google Sheets) can be useful, too. If you DIY your grocery list, you can add more columns to track the prices of the items, calculate the total amount, or edit any of the categories.
You could also find a shopping list app or make a list in the Notes app on your smartphone. Add a check mark box to keep track of what you’ve already found. I’ve also used delivery service apps such as Instacart to make my grocery shopping list.
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Really enjoy your recipes and love the shopping list template. Makes shopping easier and my lists are no longer confusing to follow. Thank you
I’m so happy you love them, Harriet! Please write and let me know if you have any questions! Happy cooking! – Meggan
My wife uses a similar format in a notebook, with items copied from a notepad that lives on the kitchen counter.
This may prove helpful.
We also post a supper menu (each day, for the week) on the ‘fridge. Planned left-overs don’t get eaten for lunch,
and meals can be varied through the week.
Have you ever come across a good recipe for Mulligatawny soup? The ones I had were with apples, rice curry powder and other things in it. It was very good. If you have a good one maybe you could incorporate into your emails for us to try.
Thank you.
Hi Roberta, I’m sorry, I haven’t, but it sounds delicious! I’m adding it to my list to look into. Thank you – Meggan
This is amazing! I’m always wandering through the store without any direction. This saved me so much time!
I’ve been using a composition book for my grocery shopping and it just takes me forever to make my lists, then I walk around the grocery store with my composition book, looking crazy with papers falling out and all. haha yes I’m a hot mess. Thank you for the template girl! <3