A 7-day low FODMAP meal plan
Not appropriate if you have a history of disordered eating, are pregnant, are underweight, or already eat a restricted diet. Elimination diets carry real risks in those situations and a dietitian should be involved.
Download the printable version, with the shopping list, free and no email required.
The week
Built from the low-rated foods in our own FODMAP list, and additionally avoiding the things that are technically low FODMAP but commonly irritate anyway: very fatty or processed meats, spicy chili, and alcohol. Nothing here needs unusual ingredients or more than about twenty minutes.
| Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Snack | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Oats with lactose-free milk, blueberries, walnuts | Rice noodle salad: prawns, cucumber, carrot, spring onion greens, soy sauce, lime | Roast chicken, potatoes, green beans, garlic-infused olive oil | Firm banana with peanut butter |
| Tue | Scrambled eggs on sourdough, chives | Quinoa bowl: feta, cucumber, tomato, olive oil, fresh herbs | Baked salmon, white rice, bok choy | Orange and a small handful of walnuts |
| Wed | Lactose-free yogurt, strawberries, oats | Corn tortillas: grilled chicken, lettuce, red bell pepper, cheddar | Polenta with roasted zucchini, eggplant and hard cheese | Rice cakes with peanut butter |
| Thu | Oats with lactose-free milk, raspberries | Jacket potato with tuna, mayonnaise, chives, side salad | Stir-fried firm tofu, bok choy, carrot, ginger, soy sauce, rice | Grapes and a little hard cheese |
| Fri | Eggs with sauteed baby spinach and feta on gluten-free toast | Rice noodle soup: chicken, carrot, spring onion greens | Beef with a small serving of sweet potato and green beans | Kiwifruit |
| Sat | Lactose-free yogurt, strawberries, walnuts | Quinoa salad: rinsed canned chickpeas (small serving), cucumber, tomato, olive oil | Prawns with rice noodles, zucchini, chives | Firm banana |
| Sun | Oats with lactose-free milk, cantaloupe | Sourdough sandwich: cheddar, lettuce, tomato, mustard | Baked white fish, potatoes, carrots, fresh herbs | Rice cakes with peanut butter |
Shopping list
| Produce | Carrots, potatoes, sweet potato, zucchini, eggplant, cucumber, red bell pepper, green beans, bok choy, baby spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, chives, spring onions (green tops only), fresh herbs, ginger, lemon or lime |
| Fruit | Firm bananas, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, grapes, orange, kiwifruit, cantaloupe |
| Protein | Chicken, salmon, white fish, beef, prawns, canned tuna, eggs, firm tofu |
| Dairy | Lactose-free milk, lactose-free yogurt, cheddar, feta, butter |
| Pantry | Oats, white rice, quinoa, polenta, rice noodles, corn tortillas, rice cakes, gluten-free bread, traditional sourdough, peanut butter, walnuts, canned chickpeas |
| Condiments | Garlic-infused olive oil, olive oil, soy sauce, mustard, mayonnaise, vinegar |
Three things this plan cannot tell you
1. Your portions
This is the biggest gap in every meal plan on the internet, ours included. FODMAP content is dose dependent: sweet potato is fine in a small serving and not in a large one, and the same is true of dozens of foods. The tested thresholds come from laboratory work that Monash does and updates, so their app is where current portions live. It is a one-time purchase and we recommend it even though we make a competing app. If paying for it is the sticking point, the free lookup tools are compared here, along with an honest answer about when they are not good enough.
2. Whether FODMAPs are your problem at all
Roughly one in four people with IBS get nothing from this diet, because their mechanism is something else: visceral hypersensitivity, the gut-brain axis, bile acid malabsorption, or a condition that has not been diagnosed yet. If a properly followed six-week elimination changes nothing, that is a real result and the answer is not a stricter version of it. The three different jobs IBS apps do covers where to go next.
3. Which foods are yours
A week of eating this way removes six FODMAP groups simultaneously. If you improve, you have learned that some part of that mattered, and nothing about which part. Most people who respond react to one or two groups, not all six, which means a permanent version of this plan is almost always far more restrictive than your body actually requires.
Getting out is the reintroduction phase, and our free planner lays out the eight challenges. If you have a menstrual cycle, schedule those challenges away from your premenstrual week: cycle phase shifts your baseline enough to manufacture false positives.
Before you start, log a normal week
This is worth more than the plan itself and almost nobody does it. If you change your diet on Monday with no record of the two weeks before, you have nothing to compare against, and "I think I feel a bit better" is a genuinely poor instrument when symptoms fluctuate on their own anyway.
A fortnight of ordinary eating, logged, gives you a base rate. Then the change means something. Our free diary sheet is set up for it, and logging in Minthe is free and unlimited.
Minthe is a wellness and self-tracking tool, not a medical device. It does not diagnose or treat any condition and isn't a substitute for professional medical advice. If you have red-flag symptoms such as blood in your stool, unintentional weight loss, difficulty swallowing, persistent vomiting or a fever alongside gut symptoms, see a clinician rather than tracking them.
Frequently asked
Is this meal plan suitable for everyone?
No. It is a scaffold for the elimination phase of the low FODMAP diet, which is a short diagnostic phase of two to six weeks, not a way of eating. It is not appropriate if you have a history of disordered eating, are pregnant, are underweight, or are managing a condition that already restricts your diet. In those situations the risks of a restrictive plan outweigh what it can tell you, and a registered dietitian should be involved.
How long should I follow it?
Two to six weeks is the usual elimination window, and Monash and most dietitians are explicit that it is not meant to be permanent. If you feel better, that is the signal to start reintroducing rather than to keep going. If you feel no different after six weeks, FODMAPs are probably not your mechanism and continuing is unlikely to change that.
Why does the plan not include portion sizes?
Because FODMAP content is dose dependent and the tested portions are the part we cannot responsibly reproduce. A food can be low FODMAP in a small serving and high in a larger one, and those thresholds come from laboratory testing that Monash does and republishes as their data improves. Their app is a one-off purchase and is the right place to get current portions.
Can I swap meals around?
Yes, that is the intended use. The value of a plan is removing the daily decision, not enforcing a specific Tuesday. Keep the general shape, swap within categories, and repeat the meals you like. A plan you follow loosely for three weeks beats a perfect one you abandon after four days.
Will a low FODMAP week fix my bloating?
It might reduce it, and around 75% of people with IBS get some relief on the diet according to Monash. What it will not do is tell you which foods are your problem, because removing six FODMAP groups at once cannot distinguish between them. That is what the reintroduction phase is for, and it is the step most people skip.