Slimming World's 7-day menu will show you how amazingly generous, filling, and family-friendly Food Optimising is, and how vitally important Free Foods are to your weight loss.
They provide you with hundreds of delicious, satisfying meals and snacks to ensure you’ll lose weight beautifully without ever having to go hungry. And together with Healthy Extras – portions of food including whole-wheat bread, cereals, and milk for extra fiber and calcium – they ensure you have a healthy, balanced diet you can enjoy for life.
We've put together a deliciously diverse 7-day menu that's just bursting with basic Free Food (shown in bold) and includes your Healthy Extra choices (shown in italics) each day – super for your weight loss and simple to follow.
Get started with these quick guidelines - happy eating!
choose...
...a menu each day - they include filling favorites and lunch ideas that everyone
will enjoy!
eat freely...
...those foods in bold – no weighing, no measuring, no counting, no kidding!
which of the following menus would you like to try?
Day one
A satisfying start
Help yourself to a huge slice of refreshing melon while preparing yourself a big breakfast - loads of scrambled eggs, broiled tomato wedges, big flat mushrooms fried in low calorie cooking spray or button mushrooms poached in canned tomatoes and 2oz whole-wheat bread to soak it all up with
Cheesy potato salad
Serve up a generous helping of cheesy potato salad, made by mixing cooked baby potatoes, chopped chives and scallions, 3oz fat free Cheddar cheese, shredded and fat free plain yogurt. Pile lettuce, sliced tomato, pickles, and cucumber onto the plate for variety and crunch.
Spaghetti bolognese:
Top a mound of cooked spaghetti with rich vegetable bolognese, made by frying an onion in low calorie cooking spray (like PAM), adding chopped tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, chopped bell peppers, chopped or grated carrot, celery, crushed garlic, and oregano, seasoning with salt and black pepper and simmering for 10-15 minutes.
Snacks: wherever, whenever and however much you like!
Juicy cherries, rice salad made by mixing cooked brown rice with fat free plain cottage cheese and any chopped crunchy vegetables and herbs. Plus 12 fl oz fat free skim or 10 fl oz 1% low fat milk to enjoy however you like.
Day two
Fruity oatmeal
Make a bowl of oatmeal using 1oz rolled oats and milk from your allowance (12 fl oz fat free skim or 10 fl oz 1% low fat). Top with loads of sliced banana and fresh blueberries and enjoy.
Red pepper, spinach, and sweet potato fritatta
Serve up a slice of red bell pepper, spinach and sweet potato fritatta (scroll down for recipe) with a generous salad, made with lettuce, sliced tomato, scallions, red onion, and cucumber drizzled with balsamic vinegar or fat-free vinaigrette for variety and crunch.
Speedy Chinese
For a quick, filling alternative to a takeout, rustle up your own Chinese banquet by heating some low calorie cooking spray in a wok, adding some chopped scallions, red chile, finely chopped ginger, and crushed garlic, fry for a couple of minutes, then throw in a pack of mixed stir-fry veg from the grocery store (fresh or frozen are both fine). If you’re feeling adventurous, add other oriental delights like tofu, water chestnuts or lychees! Add lots of soy sauce to taste, cook for 3 or 4 minutes and serve on a mound of boiled egg noodles or rice.
Snacks: wherever, whenever and however much you like!
Munch on sticks of celery, bell pepper, and carrot dipped into 4oz fat free cream cheese. Plus fresh or frozen fruit.
Red pepper, spinach and sweet potato fritatta
- Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C Mix a chopped red onion, 2 sliced (and peeled) sweet potatoes, and 1 chopped red bell pepper together and place on a roasting tin lined with baking parchment or sprayed with low calorie cooking spray.
- Roast the vegetables for 20-25 minutes, until they’re tender. Five minutes before the end of cooking time, add 1 tsp dried rosemary and a crushed garlic clove and mix well. Remove the vegetables from the oven and reduce the temperature to 350°F/180°C
- In a large bowl, whisk 4 eggs then add the roasted vegetables and 2oz baby spinach and mix together well. Season to taste.
- Preheat a 7-8inch diameter non-stick, ovenproof frying pan on the stove top. Once hot, spray the pan with low calorie cooking spray.
- Pour in the eggs and roasted vegetables, and then add 2 rounded tbsp fat free plain cottage cheese in small spoonfuls over the top. Let the tortilla set slightly on the hob for 1 minute, transfer to the oven and cook for 20 minutes, until set. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Day three
Tropical Trail Mix Crunch
In a large sundae glass or bowl, defrost a large portion of mixed tropical fruits and layer with fresh strawberries and fat free plain yogurt. Top with 1oz Trail Mix Crunch. Add a teaspoon of granulated sweetener to the yogurt if you prefer a sweeter start to the day.
Mixed bean and pasta salad
In a Tupperware box, mix together a large portion of cooked pasta shapes with some tinned mixed beans (in brine or spring water), diced cucumber, grated carrot, corn, and a generous spoonful of fat free plain yogurt mixed with a level tablespoon of fat free mayonnaise (½ Syn). Enjoy with 3oz fat free cheddar, diced and mixed in.
Omelet and fries (yes, fries!)
Make up a big batch of Free Slimming World fries (scroll down for recipe) and serve with a generous 3-egg omelet made using low calorie cooking spray, vegetables of your choice and 1oz Gruyere cheese. Enjoy a large salad alongside and finish off with a bunch of red or green grapes.
Snacks: wherever, whenever and however much you like!
Unlimited fresh or frozen fruit and a ready-to-eat sugar-free Jello dessert
Free Slimming World Fries
- Preheat the oven to 460°/240°.
- Cut piles of peeled potatoes into chunky fries, boil for 5 minutes and then drain and leave to dry for 10 minutes.
- Return to the pan, put a lid on and shake to ‘rough up’ the edges of the fries (this will give them a lovely crunchy texture once cooked!).
- Place on a baking tray, spray with low calorie cooking spray and bake in the hot oven for 25 minutes, turning occasionally until golden.
Day four
Fruity ricotta toast
Top 2 small slices of whole wheat toast with 3oz part skim ricotta and pile high with your favorite fresh fruit - apricots, strawberries, blueberries.
Ploughman’s platter
Pile your plate with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and pickles, and add hard-boiled egg, chopped apple and 3oz fat free cheddar cheese. For added tang, include a Waldorf salad, made by chopping celery, green apple and mixing with fat free plain yogurt. Throw in 6 walnut halves or 4 level tsp pumpkin seeds for added crunch! (6 Syns)
Chile and butternut squash risotto
Scroll down to find the recipe for chile and butternut squash risotto, and serve with a peppery arugula and watercress salad.
Snacks: wherever, whenever and however much you like!
Make up a big tub of couscous soaked in stock and a squeeze of lemon juice for added flavour. Add fresh herbs, finely chopped scallions, chopped bell peppers, and chopped tomatoes and tuck in whenever you’re a bit hungry.
Spicy chile and butternut squash risotto
- Bring 30fl oz/1½ pts stock to the boil in a saucepan. Meanwhile, spray a large non-stick frying pan or saucepan with low calorie cooking spray. Add 1 finely chopped red onion, 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic, and 1 deseeded and finely sliced chile, and cook gently for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Increase the heat under the frying pan to medium and add 9oz of Arborio or risotto rice to the pan, along with 5oz chopped butternut squash. Stir in a ladleful of the hot stock.
- Wait until the stock has been absorbed, then continue to add a ladleful of boiling stock at a time, as soon as each addition of liquid has been absorbed. Stir constantly to prevent it from sticking.
- Add the stock in this way until the squash and rice are creamy and just tender. Season, stir in some parsley and serve.
Makes 4 servings.
Day five
Busy breakfast!
Grab a Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain Cereal Bar plus a banana as a quick breakfast on the go. Throw a selection of fresh fruit and a couple of fat free fruit yogurts in your bag for a mid-morning snack.
Greek couscous salad
In a big bowl, mix together loads of sliced tomatoes, red onion, and cucumber and drizzle with fat free vinaigrette. Mix in lots of canned corn and couscous (made with bouillon), then crumble 1½ oz chopped feta on top. Throw in a handful of olives if you like them (1 Syns for 8 olives).
Mac & cheese bake
Make a family size meal of macaroni cheese bake (see recipe below) and enjoy with Mediterranean vegetables - bell peppers, zucchinis, eggplant, red onion - sprayed with low calorie cooking spray and roasted in the oven while your mac and cheese cooks!
Snacks: wherever, whenever and however much you like!
Unlimited fresh or frozen fruit and a ready-to-eat sugar-free Jello dessert
Mac & cheese bake
- Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C. Then boil or steam 2 cups of cauliflower florets and cook ⅔ cup dried macaroni, then drain and set aside.
- Spray a pan with low calorie cooking spray and cook the 6 sliced scallions, 2 chopped garlic cloves, 8 cherry tomatoes, and the cooked cauliflower for 2-3 minutes.
- Add ½ cup of water to the pan and continue to cook for 4-5 minutes until the water’s been absorbed. Stir in the pasta, toss to mix well, and transfer to a shallow ovenproof dish.
- Prepare the topping by mixing the 2 cups fat free plain yogurt, 1 tsp mustard, ¾cup grated Cheddar cheese and 2 beaten eggs together. Season well, pour over the pasta and cook for 15-20 minutes until bubbling and golden. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Makes 2/4 servings.
Day six
Fruity filler
Enjoy a big bowl of fresh strawberries, pineapple, and black grapes mixed with a Dannon Light & Fit carb and sugar control (any flavor).
Soup n' salad
Start with a bed of crisp iceberg lettuce leaves topped with sliced beets, tomato wedges and crunchy coleslaw (mix shredded white cabbage, carrot, celery, and slivers of red onion with fat free plain yogurt and mustard powder). Then enjoy an 18½oz pot of Progresso Light Italian Style Vegetable Soup.
Bulgur wheat and bell pepper melt
Fry sliced onions and sliced red bell peppers in a pan sprayed with low calorie cooking spray. Meanwhile, make up a jug of vegetable bouillon. Once the vegetables are soft and syrupy, add bulgur wheat (or couscous if you prefer) and cover with the bouillon. Cover the pan and warm over a gentle heat. Once the bouillon has been absorbed, melt in 1oz Gruyere cheese and serve.
Snacks: wherever, whenever and however much you like!
Juicy cherries, leftover bulgur wheat melt, fat free plain cottage cheese with chopped crunchy vegetables. Plus 12 fl oz fat free skim or 10 fl oz 1% low fat milk to enjoy however you like.
Day seven
Huevos rancheros
Start the day with a spicy breakfast of eggs, scrambled or fried using low calorie cooking spray, on top of a Mission Multi-Grain Flour Tortilla (1.26oz) topped with delicious homemade salsa (see the recipe below).
Mega mushrooms
Broil a large Portobello mushroom (or two) until cooked through. Top with 4oz fat free cream cheese mixed with chopped bell peppers and scallions, then broil until golden brown. Serve on a salad of baby spinach leaves with cherry tomatoes.
Baked potato and Jack!
Cook a large baked potato in the oven or microwave, then scoop out the centre and mix with fat free plain yogurt, 1oz shredded Monterey Jack, shredded cilantro, salt, and black pepper. Scoop back into the potato skins and warm for a further 5 minutes then serve with a can of Eating Right Vegetarian Chili and a serving of salsa.
Snacks: wherever, whenever and however much you like!
Hot corn on the cob (drizzle with honey for 1 Syn per level tsp), fresh or frozen fruit, Dannon Light & Fit yogurts.
Homemade salsa - gives chili, eggs, salad… and anything else… a kick!
It couldn’t be easier. Mix together the following
- 4 cups ripe tomatoes, cored and chopped
- 5 jalapeño peppers, seeded, cored and chopped
- 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and chopped
- ½ green bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
- 1 cup canned tomato sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp peeled and finely chopped or crushed garlic
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
- 1½ tbsp red wine vinegar
- Salsa jalapeño to taste (½ Syn for 2 tbsp)
For maximum health, satisfaction and variety, enjoy even more every day!
Tuck into 10 Syns every day. Some meals have built-in suggestions, but feel free to substitute your favorites - whether that's a drink, something sweet or a 'saucy' addition to your dinner!.
Handy hints
- Trim all visible fat off meat and remove all skin from poultry.
- Cook your food in any way as long as no fat or oil is added.
- Vegetables can be fresh, canned or frozen.
- Black tea/coffee and low-cal drinks, fat-free vinaigrette/French salad dressings and all herbs and spices can be used freely.
- Eat at least five portions of fruit and veg each day - it shouldn't be hard, fresh and frozen fruit is Free!
- Healthy Extra choices have been built into the menus. Where you see a weight, portion size or measurement you will be eating a Healthy Extra.