Cooking for a household with different diets

Start with the rules everyone shares

Write down every person's needs and sort them into three groups, because each group is handled differently.

• Allergies and ingredients someone must avoid. These are firm rules that apply to the whole meal, every time.
• Diet choices, such as vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian. These decide the base of the meal, but can often be met with a separate topping or side.
• Dislikes. They matter for a happy table, but a disliked ingredient can often be served on the side or left out of one portion.

Build meals from the firm rules first. A dinner that is safe for everyone and fits the strictest diet choice needs no second version at all. Many households find that most weeknight dinners can be vegetarian without anyone missing the meat, with chicken or fish added for those who want it.

Pick dishes that flex

Some dishes adapt easily because the parts are cooked separately and put together at the table. Plan more of these, and fewer dishes where everything is simmered together in one pot.

• Taco and burrito bowls: a shared base of rice, beans, salsa and vegetables, with chicken or beef cooked in its own pan.
• Stir-fries: cook the vegetables and sauce together, then add tofu to some portions and prawns or chicken to others.
• Pasta: make one sauce and serve cheese, meatballs or roasted vegetables on the side.
• Sheet-pan dinners: give each protein its own corner of the tray.
• Build-your-own plates: grain bowls, wraps, baked potatoes and salads, where everyone assembles their own.

Choose a base diet for the plan

In a mixed household, plan with the diet that suits the most people and adjust from there. If one person is vegetarian and everyone else eats everything, a vegetarian or flexitarian plan often works better than a classic one with substitutions. If someone is vegan, vegan recipes can be the base, with cheese or eggs added at the table for others.

Browse the recipes by diet to compare the options. Flexitarian recipes are a good middle ground: mostly vegetarian, with meat or fish some of the time. Pescatarian recipes suit a household where fish is the only meat everyone agrees on.

Keep allergies safe in a shared kitchen

Allergies need more care than preferences, because even a small amount can matter. These habits help, but the person with the allergy knows their own needs best, so ask them what works and follow their lead.

• Read every label, every time. Products change, and a brand you trusted can start using a new ingredient.
• Cook the allergy-safe portion first, with clean pans and utensils, and cover it before you cook anything else.
• Keep separate spreads, butter and condiments, or use squeeze bottles, so knives do not carry crumbs between jars.
• Label leftovers with what is in them.
• Serve risky ingredients such as nuts, sesame seeds or cheese at the table rather than cooking them into the dish.

Suppercharge supports 12 common restrictions, including gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, peanut-free, tree nut-free and sesame-free. Recipes that do not fit are left out of your plans, and grocery items that may contain one of your allergens in some brands carry a warning, so you know which labels to check.

Let everyone keep their own preferences

Planning for a household is easier when each person's needs live in one place rather than in the cook's head. With household sharing in Suppercharge Pro, up to six people share one meal plan and one grocery list. Each member keeps their own restrictions and dislikes, and the builder plans around all of them together, so a suggested dinner already works for everyone at the table.

The shared list updates in real time. Whoever is at the store can shop from it, and anything they check off is checked for everyone else too.

Make portions work

Mixed households often have mixed appetites too. Plan servings meal by meal instead of using one number for the whole week. A curry that everyone eats needs four servings; a fish dinner that only two of you eat needs two, with something simple for the others.

In Suppercharge you can set the servings for each meal in your plan, anywhere from one to twelve, and the grocery list changes to match.

Keep the table relaxed

Not every dinner has to please everyone equally. Take turns choosing a meal each week, let younger eaters build their own plates, and keep one familiar side on the table when you try something new. Within a few weeks you will have a set of dinners that work for the whole household, and planning becomes a matter of picking from them.