You may be a pro at balancing your macros and maximizing your water intake.
But trying to remember what you ate yesterday feels like a detective piecing together a crime scene—of carbs. Breakfast was…something with eggs?
A good food journal solves that problem for good.
Not just for calorie counters or fitness buffs, food journals help spot patterns, improve energy, and bring a little more mindfulness to your plate.
To make diet-tracking easy (and enjoyable), we’ve rounded up the best free food journal templates—some pretty, some practical, all ready to help you track your meals without overthinking them.
12 Free Food Journal Templates to Track Meals
What Are Food Journal Templates?
Food journal templates are ready-made pages designed to help you log what and how much you eat, and sometimes even how you feel after each meal. They work like a mix between a notebook and a nutrition confidant, making it easier to stay aware of your eating habits.
Some templates simplify things with just spaces for recording meals, snacks, and water intake. Others go deeper and work as habit tracker templates with dedicated areas for tracking calories, mood, cravings, or how your body reacts to certain foods. Since they come in different styles and formats, finding one that fits your routine and goals may be simpler than you imagine.
Building self-discipline in your food intake doesn’t need to feel rigid or overwhelming. With the right template, it starts to feel like a small daily habit that sticks.
🔍 Did You Know: Most people can’t accurately recall what they ate 24 hours ago. That’s a big reason why food journaling exists—it’s like giving your memory a sidekick. Plus, when people better remember their recent meals, they tend to eat less at the next meal!
What Makes a Good Food Journal Template?
A good food journal template doesn’t stop at logging meals—it’s your behind-the-scenes MVP for spotting habits and staying accountable.
Here are the things you should look for in one:
- Easy to use: A good food journal template doesn’t overcomplicate things. It gives you just enough structure to stay consistent without becoming a chore. Think of it like your favorite to-do list app—simple, helpful, and satisfying to check off
- Customizable to fit your lifestyle: One size rarely fits all. A great template offers space for the details that matter to you, whether it’s mood, cravings, macros, or your post-lunch energy crash
- Encourages mindfulness: The best daily food diary doesn’t guilt you for having cake. Instead, it gently help you find inspiration to notice patterns, build awareness, and make choices with intention
- Designed for consistency: A good layout makes returning to it daily effortless. If it feels like a natural part of your routine, like brushing your teeth or checking your daily planner app, it’s doing its job
- Visually clean and motivating: A clutter-free design is key. The template should make you want to fill it in, with a layout that feels friendly and motivates you to write
Best Food Journal Templates
Ready to record your food habits and build a happier, healthier lifestyle? Here are the best food journal templates to use:
1. Meal Planning Template
Meal planning doesn’t need to be overwhelming when you have a meal planning template that brings everything together. The Meal Planning Template helps organize your meals, shopping lists, and nutrition goals in one place.
It’s designed to streamline your weekly planning by offering customizable fields, views, and even integration with your grocery lists. Plus, it’s flexible enough to accommodate various dietary preferences and meal prep routines. This makes it easy to stay on track with your weight goals.
🌟 Here’s why you’ll like it:
- Track nutritional info with built-in fields for documenting meals—calories, carbs, protein, and more
- Simplify shopping by generating ingredient checklists that sync with your meal plans
- See your weekly/monthly meals at a glance in color-coded tabs with the Meal Plan Calendar View
🔑 Ideal for: Individuals or families aiming to enhance nutritional awareness and meal planning
💡 Pro Tip: Scheduling meals for different days of the week? Don’t look further than ’s Recurring Tasks! Simply plan your menu in the template, select a date and day of the week on the calendar, and set it as a recurring task. This way, you don’t have to add the same meal to the same day’s plan every week.
2. Menu Planning Template
Planning weekly meals for a family, an event, or a restaurant takes more than passion; it requires precision, creativity, and organization. The Menu Planning Template organizes meals, ingredients, costs, and prep schedules in one workspace.
With built-in views like Recipe Box and Start Here, it’s easy to map out dishes, track what you need, and even assign cooking tasks. From daily menus to special events, this menu planning template helps keep everything running smoothly, right down to the last garnish.
🌟 Here’s why you’ll like it:
- Track ingredient costs with Custom Fields to stay within budget
- Plan preparation schedules by prioritizing popular dishes using the Gantt Chart View to ensure timely cooking
- Use lists, such as the Essential Tasks List, Shopping List, and Meal Plan List, for comprehensive planning
🔑 Ideal for: Families, chefs, and restaurant owners aiming to improve customer experience and meal planning efforts.
3. Recipe Template
The Recipe Template is your digital kitchen companion, designed to keep all your culinary creations organized and accessible. It helps you list ingredients, track cooking steps, and create grocery lists for shopping trips.
Use it to note down prep times, cooking durations, and even add personal tweaks. What’s more? You can collaborate with fellow food enthusiasts by sharing recipes and gathering feedback—or even turn your collection into a bestselling cookbook.
🌟 Here’s why you’ll like it:
- Customize fields to include prep time, cooking duration, and personal notes
- Track progress with checklists and status updates for each recipe
- Visualize cooking timelines using Gantt charts to plan your meals efficiently
🔑 Ideal for: Home cooks, professional chefs, or anyone looking to digitize their recipe collection
4. Weekly Planner Template
Some weeks move so fast, it’s hard to tell if you ate enough protein and fiber or just survived on coffee. The Weekly Planner Template by makes food journaling easier by giving you a simple, structured space to log your meals, hydration, and how you felt each day.
This template lets you lay out your week at a glance, allowing you to spot patterns, plan meals, and keep your wellness goals in check.
Every section is fully customizable. Whether you’re tracking macros, noting cravings, or just logging what feels good, you can shape it to fit your routine.
🌟 Here’s why you’ll like it:
- See your full week’s worth of meals without switching between apps or notes
- Log breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks—plus hydration and notes on mood or energy
- Add grocery lists, prep reminders, or nutrition goals for the week
- Customize meal planning by diet type, allergies, or fitness goals
🔑 Ideal for: Anyone building healthier habits—from casual eaters and macro trackers to fitness pros and mindful foodies
📮 Insight: Only 12% of people use physical journals to track their goals, and a surprising 38% aren’t tracking at all. But what if you could track goals with more precision and ease?
Enter , where the structure of a planner meets the power of automation. From setting tasks and deadlines to tracking progress with visual dashboards, helps you stay organized and focused. With AI-powered reminders and automated workflows, you’ll never miss a milestone again.
💫 Real Results: users report a 2x boost in productivity
5. Recipe Cost Template
The Recipe Cost Template is perfect for monitoring your culinary expenses.
It allows you to meticulously track the cost of each ingredient, helping you understand the true cost of every dish you prepare.
With customizable fields for quantities, units, and prices, it transforms your recipes into detailed financial breakdowns. By regularly updating and reviewing your recipe costs, you can make informed decisions to stay within budget without compromising on taste.
🌟 Here’s why you’ll like it:
- Calculate the cost per serving to manage portion expenses effectively
- Adjust for waste and spoilage to get a realistic view of your food costs
- Compare multiple recipes to choose the most budget-friendly options
🔑 Ideal for: Home cooks and chefs aiming to manage their food budget more effectively
💡 Pro Tip: Use the List and Board views in the template to get the full picture of your recipes. The List View breaks down each recipe’s cost by ingredients, while the Board View highlights the cost per serving at a glance. You can also use the built-in color coding to track ingredient stock levels and avoid last-minute grocery runs.
6. Personal Habit Template
The Personal Habit Tracker Template isn’t just for workouts or meditation—it’s a powerful way to stay intentional with your eating habits, too. Whether you’re trying to drink more water, cut down on late-night snacks, or simply eat more veggies, this template helps you build consistency one day at a time..
Set clear food-related goals, track your progress, and make mindful eating part of your daily rhythm—all in one customizable space. It’s your personal accountability partner that doesn’t judge your cookie cravings.
🌟 Here’s why you’ll like it:
- Set clear goals like “2 home-cooked meals a day” or “no sugar after 8 p.m.” to define what kind of eating habits you want to develop
- Visualize progress through charts and graphs that reflect your consistency
- Use Custom Statuses like ‘Open’ and ‘Complete’ to monitor habit completion
- Layer in notes about mood, energy, or hunger cues for deeper insights
🔑 Ideal for: Individuals aiming to build and maintain positive nutrition habits and meet food-related goals with structure and intention
7. Daily Goal Template
Mindful eating starts with small, intentional choices—and this template helps you make them stick. The Daily Goal Template is perfect for tracking short-term food and wellness goals like “Drink 3L of water,” “No mindless snacking,” or “Include protein in every meal.”
It brings clarity to your day by helping you define what success looks like today—not in theory, but in what goes on your plate and into your body. Reflect on how you feel, log what you ate, and track those small wins that build long-term habits.
🌟 Here’s why you’ll like it:
- Set realistic, daily food or hydration goals in the Daily Notes View
- Jot down how meals made you feel or what triggered certain cravings in the Notes List View
- Log meaningful progress and see how each day builds toward something bigger
- Organize goals easily with drag-and-drop simplicity and clean formatting
🔑 Ideal for: Individuals looking to set daily achievable goals for a healthy relationship with food and stay accountable for their choices
Want to plan your weekly meals faster to achieve your dietary goals?
Just describe your goals (like “high-protein vegetarian meals” or “3-day low-carb plan”), and Brain will generate a full meal plan right inside your Doc using AI. You can even ask it to create a shopping list or swap ingredients based on what’s in your fridge.
8. 3-Day Food Journal Template by Canva
The 3-Day Food Journal Template by Canva has a minimalist and straightforward design, making it easy to log your daily food intake. Its uncluttered layout ensures that your focus remains on the content, helping you stay consistent with your journaling.
Whether you’re monitoring your diet, planning meals, or simply documenting your culinary experiences, customize it to fit your style and dietary needs.
🌟 Here’s why you’ll like it:
- Simplify meal tracking with a clean, distraction-free layout
- Customize entries to suit your dietary preferences and goals
- Add notes, allergies, or special things to remember for your meals
🔑 Ideal for: Individuals seeking a customizable daily meal plan tool
9. Abstract Food Journal Template for Instagram by Canva
Are you trying to turn your meals into mini moments on Instagram? This colorful Abstract Food Journal Template for Instagram by Canva is perfect for sharing your bites in style. It’s bright and bold, designed to make your daily food logs pop right off the screen.
You can customize the design to match your vibe, making food journaling feel more like self-expression than routine. With the right words and visuals, each post becomes a creative statement.
🌟 Here’s why you’ll like it:
- Share your journey directly as Instagram Stories in just a few taps
- Stay accountable with a playful design that encourages consistency
- Sync with your routine by pairing it with a life-planning template
🔑 Ideal for: Anyone who wants to track food while sharing it stylishly and engagingly on social media
10. Food Journal Presentation Template by Canva
If you’re looking to present your food preferences in a fun manner, don’t look further than the Food Journal Presentation Template by Canva.
With slides dedicated to your favorite foods, desserts, spicy dishes, and perfect meals, you get a full picture view of your eating habits in a more expressive than clinical format. The layout is easy to personalize, and there’s room to write everything, from portion notes to mood tracking.
🌟 Here’s why you’ll like it:
- Share the different food items you’ve tried, challenges you’ve taken, and your culinary bucket lists with people
- Collaborate with your peers in real time
- Add animations and transitions to make it more interactive
🔑 Ideal for: Anyone looking to share their food habits in a fun and engaging manner
11. Food Diary Template by NutriAdmin
Tracking your clients’ food habits becomes much easier when your tools are built for clarity and purpose. NutriAdmin’s Food Diary Template streamlines this process, offering a structured and user-friendly approach to dietary tracking.
Designed for nutrition professionals, it helps you accurately record meals, snacks, and beverages. It also lets you identify eating patterns and areas for improvement, enhancing your ability to support clients effectively.
🌟 Here’s why you’ll like it:
- Capture more than just meals with prompts for hunger cues, mood, and energy levels
- Strengthen client follow-through by making journaling less intimidating and more reflective
- Create smarter reviews during consultations with organized, high-quality inputs
🔑 Ideal for: Dietitians and health coaches seeking deeper insights without overwhelming their clients
12. Daily Log of Calories Template by Microsoft
The Daily Log of Calories Template by Microsoft allows you to log your meals, calories, and grams of fat consumed, automatically calculating the fat percentage in your diet.
This helps you stay aligned with the USDA’s recommendation of limiting fat intake to 30% of your daily calories. It also visually represents your fat percentage with a chart, making it easier to monitor your dietary habits over time.
🌟 Here’s why you’ll like it:
- Simplify tracking by logging meals, calories, and fat grams in one place
- Visualize your fat intake with an automatic chart that updates as you enter data
- Customize easily to fit your personal dietary goals and preferences
🔑 Ideal for: Individuals looking for an effective tool to monitor and manage their daily fat intake
Stay on Top of Your Health Journey with
Food journal templates make healthy living feel less like a chore and more like a well-supported routine. They help you stay accountable, recognize patterns, and make more intentional choices about what fuels your body.
, the everything app for work, offers a wide range of templates that act as digital planner apps for meals and stand out for their versatility.
With features like task tracking, calendar views, and full customization, blends planning and journaling into a single, powerful space. Sign up for for free today!
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
