Is 1,500 calories a day too low?

For many adults it is a moderate deficit rather than a crash diet, but it depends entirely on your size, activity and starting point — 1,500 kcal is a reasonable cut for one person and far too little for another. The safer approach is to work out your own maintenance calories first and take a deficit from there, which is what FitFresh does when you build your own plan.

Will I be hungry on 1,500 calories?

Protein and volume are what make a deficit tolerable, which is why this plan holds protein high rather than cutting it alongside the calories. Even so, hunger is individual — if a week like this leaves you miserable, that is information, not failure, and a smaller deficit will be easier to sustain.

Do I have to cook every day?

No. The plan is built for batch cooking, so each recipe makes several servings and those servings fill consecutive days. A seven-day week usually needs eight to twelve cooking sessions rather than twenty-one.

Are these Tesco prices accurate today?

They were accurate on the date printed beside the basket total, which is when they were read from the Tesco catalogue. Supermarket prices move week to week, so treat the total as a reliable guide rather than a quote. Generating your own plan prices it fresh.

Can I get this plan for a different supermarket?

Yes. FitFresh prices the same kind of week at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons or Waitrose — you pick the chain when you build your plan.

What if I have an allergy or do not eat meat?

Both are handled when you build your own plan: you can exclude any of the 14 major allergens, and choose a pescatarian, vegetarian or vegan plan. Allergen matching is best-effort and derived from ingredient text, so always check labels yourself.

A 1,500 calorie meal plan for weight loss, shopped at Tesco

A real 7-day 1,500 calorie meal plan built for weight loss, with the Tesco shopping list priced product by product. Free, and no account needed.

Calories a day: 1,521kcal
Protein a day: 103g
Priced basket: £48.54
Plan score: 96/100

The shop

The Tesco shopping list, priced product by product

Real products from the Tesco catalogue, in the pack sizes the week actually uses — not an estimate, and not a per-serving average.

Product	Qty	Price
Tesco British Chicken Drumstick Fillets for Chicken breasts	2	£5.90
Tesco Skinless and Boneless Cod Fillet Pieces for Cod fish	1	£4.95
Tesco Turkey Thigh Mince 7% Fat for Ground turkey meat	1	£4.25
Tesco Finest Parmigiano Reggiano 170g for Parmesan cheese	1	£3.85
Tesco 4 Beef Quarter Pounders for Beef	1	£2.79
Creamfields Mature White Cheddar for Cheddar cheese	1	£2.45
Tesco Frozen Sweet Potato Chunks for Sweet potatoes	1	£1.80
East End Green Lentils for Raw lentils	1	£1.50
East End Desiccated Coconut for Coconut flakes	1	£1.50
Tesco Red Peppers for Red bell peppers	2	£1.40
Tesco Chia Seeds for Chia seeds	1	£1.20
Rosedene Farms Strawberries for Strawberries	1	£1.19
Tesco Madagascan Vanilla Extract for Vanilla extract	1	£1.15
Tesco Hot Chilli Powder for Chilli powder	1	£1.10
Tesco 6 Mixed Weight Barn Eggs for Eggs	1	£1.00
Tesco Frozen Sliced Mushrooms for Button mushrooms	1	£0.99
Tesco Whole Cucumber for Cucumbers	1	£0.99
Tesco Green Beans for Green beans	1	£0.85
Tesco Broccoli for Broccoli	1	£0.82
Tesco Little Gem Lettuce Twin Pack for Lettuce	1	£0.77
Tesco Celery for Celery stalks	1	£0.75
Tesco Lemons for Lemons	2	£0.74
Tesco Green Pepper for Green bell peppers	1	£0.70
Creamfields Semi Skimmed UHT Milk for skimmed milk, skimmed milk, Cow's milk	1	£0.65
Nightingale Farms cherry tomatoes for Cherry tomatoes, Cherry tomatoes, Tomatoes	1	£0.62
Tesco Root Ginger for Ginger	1	£0.56
Tesco Courgettes Loose for Zucchini	1	£0.56
Creamfields Low Fat Natural Yogurt for Yogurt	1	£0.55
Tesco Fresh Cut Flat Leaf Parsley for Parsley	1	£0.50
Tesco Large Garlic for Garlic	1	£0.50
Tesco fresh mint for Mint	1	£0.50
Grower's Harvest Chopped Tomatoes for Canned tomatoes	1	£0.43
Prymat ground sweet paprika for Paprika powder	1	£0.40
Tesco Bananas Loose for Bananas	2	£0.32
Tesco Red Onions Loose for Red onions, Red onions, Onions	1	£0.20
Tesco Carrots Loose for Carrots	1	£0.11

36 items, priced at Tesco

Prices read from the Tesco catalogue on 10 August 2026

£48.54

Assumed already in the cupboard, so not in the total: cooked rice, Butter, Black pepper, Sumac.

21 more ingredients are not in that total, because we could not match them to a specific Tesco product: chicken broth, salt, pastum, garlic powder, maple syrup, oats, oregano, baking soda, breadcrumbs, cornstarch, soy sauce, dill, brown sugar, sunflower oil, flour, mustard, baking powder, olive oil, sesame oil, beef broth, cooked rice or quinoa. Those are ordinary shop items — the gap is in our matching rather than in the aisles — so read £48.54 as the priced part of this week, not as the final till receipt.

The week

Seven days, 9 things to cook

Built to batch-cook: a recipe's servings carry across consecutive days, so the week runs on 9 cooking sessions rather than 21 of them.

Day	Meals	Daily total
Monday	Breakfast Oatmeal Pancakes Lemon Herb Baked White Fish Spicy Garlic Beef Stir-Fry	1,513 kcal · 125g protein · 124g carbs · 57g fat
Tuesday	Breakfast Oatmeal Pancakes High Protein Grilled Chicken Salad Spicy Garlic Beef Stir-Fry	1,517 kcal · 112g protein · 124g carbs · 54g fat
Wednesday	Breakfast Oatmeal Pancakes High Protein Grilled Chicken Salad Air Fryer Turkey Meatballs with Coconut and Ginger	1,564 kcal · 114g protein · 110g carbs · 63g fat
Thursday	Breakfast Lemon Berry Chia Seed Pudding Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake Air Fryer Turkey Meatballs with Coconut and Ginger	1,544 kcal · 103g protein · 101g carbs · 73g fat
Friday	Breakfast Lemon Berry Chia Seed Pudding Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake Air Fryer Turkey Meatballs with Coconut and Ginger	1,544 kcal · 103g protein · 101g carbs · 73g fat
Saturday	Breakfast Lemon Berry Chia Seed Pudding Lentil and Sweet Potato Pie Air Fryer Turkey Meatballs with Coconut and Ginger	1,501 kcal · 89g protein · 136g carbs · 65g fat
Sunday	Breakfast Lemon Berry Chia Seed Pudding Lentil and Sweet Potato Pie Grilled Chicken and Roasted Broccoli Bowl with Garlic Yogurt Sauce	1,466 kcal · 77g protein · 164g carbs · 44g fat

How this plan was made

The week was generated by FitFresh on 10 August 2026 against a target of 1,500 kcal and 130g of protein a day, and it lands at an average of 1,521 kcal · 103g protein · 123g carbs · 61g fat. Nothing here was written by hand: the meals are what the planner chose, and the daily totals are the sum of what it chose.

Prices come from Tesco's own catalogue, read on 10 August 2026. Supermarket prices move, so treat the total as accurate on that date rather than today. Where an ingredient had no match, it is named above instead of being dropped from the total.

Macro targets should come from your own body, not a round number on a page. This week is built for a 1,500 kcal day at 130g of protein; yours probably is not.

This week, built around your numbers

Answer a few questions about your body and goal, and FitFresh builds the same kind of week at your calories and your macros — priced at Tesco or any of the other four chains.

Build my free meal plan

Free, and you do not need an account to see your plan.

Not sure 1,500 calories is your number? Work out your TDEE first — it takes a minute, and the plan is built from whatever it says.

Questions

Is 1,500 calories a day too low?: For many adults it is a moderate deficit rather than a crash diet, but it depends entirely on your size, activity and starting point — 1,500 kcal is a reasonable cut for one person and far too little for another. The safer approach is to work out your own maintenance calories first and take a deficit from there, which is what FitFresh does when you build your own plan.
Will I be hungry on 1,500 calories?: Protein and volume are what make a deficit tolerable, which is why this plan holds protein high rather than cutting it alongside the calories. Even so, hunger is individual — if a week like this leaves you miserable, that is information, not failure, and a smaller deficit will be easier to sustain.
Do I have to cook every day?: No. The plan is built for batch cooking, so each recipe makes several servings and those servings fill consecutive days. A seven-day week usually needs eight to twelve cooking sessions rather than twenty-one.
Are these Tesco prices accurate today?: They were accurate on the date printed beside the basket total, which is when they were read from the Tesco catalogue. Supermarket prices move week to week, so treat the total as a reliable guide rather than a quote. Generating your own plan prices it fresh.
Can I get this plan for a different supermarket?: Yes. FitFresh prices the same kind of week at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons or Waitrose — you pick the chain when you build your plan.
What if I have an allergy or do not eat meat?: Both are handled when you build your own plan: you can exclude any of the 14 major allergens, and choose a pescatarian, vegetarian or vegan plan. Allergen matching is best-effort and derived from ingredient text, so always check labels yourself.