Paleo Shopping List: What to Buy for a Week of Paleo Meals
August 5, 2026
Starting a Paleo diet becomes much easier when your kitchen is stocked with the right foods. Instead of trying to decide whether every ingredient fits the diet while you’re standing in the grocery aisle, a simple Paleo shopping list can help you shop with confidence.
The Paleo diet focuses primarily on whole, minimally processed foods such as meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats. Your exact grocery list will depend on the recipes you’re planning for the week, but the basics remain surprisingly simple.
Use this Paleo shopping list as a starting point, then adjust the quantities and ingredients to match your meal plan.
Meat and Poultry
Protein forms the foundation of many Paleo meals, so the meat department is a good place to start.
Add some of these to your shopping list:
- Chicken breasts
- Chicken thighs
- Whole chicken
- Ground chicken
- Turkey
- Ground turkey
- Beef
- Ground beef
- Steak
- Pork chops
- Pork tenderloin
- Lamb
You don’t need every protein on the list. Choose two or three that work with the recipes you’re planning for the week.
Buying larger packages can also make meal planning easier. Cook extra chicken, beef, or pork with dinner and use the leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch.
Fish and Seafood
Seafood is another excellent source of protein and adds variety to your weekly Paleo menu.
Look for:
- Salmon
- Tuna
- Cod
- Shrimp
- Scallops
- Sardines
- Mackerel
- Fresh whole fish
Fresh and frozen seafood can both work well. When buying canned fish, check the ingredient list for unnecessary additives or sauces.
Eggs
Eggs are one of the most versatile ingredients to keep in a Paleo kitchen.
They can become:
- Scrambled eggs
- Omelets
- Frittatas
- Hard-boiled snacks
- Salad toppings
- Breakfast bowls
They’re also useful ingredients in many Paleo recipes.
Vegetables
Vegetables should make up a large portion of your Paleo shopping cart.
Choose a variety of colors and textures to keep meals interesting.
Leafy Greens
- Spinach
- Kale
- Romaine lettuce
- Arugula
- Mixed salad greens
Everyday Vegetables
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Bell peppers
- Zucchini
- Mushrooms
- Carrots
- Asparagus
- Brussels sprouts
- Green beans
- Cabbage
- Cucumbers
- Tomatoes
- Onions
Starchy Vegetables
- Sweet potatoes
- Butternut squash
- Pumpkin
- Acorn squash
Cauliflower and zucchini are particularly useful because they can replace foods normally made with grains. Cauliflower can become rice or mash, while zucchini makes an easy alternative to pasta.
Fresh Fruit
Fruit provides an easy snack and can add natural sweetness to meals.
Some Paleo-friendly choices include:
- Apples
- Bananas
- Oranges
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Grapes
- Peaches
- Pears
- Mango
- Pineapple
- Melons
Choose fruits you actually enjoy rather than filling your refrigerator with produce that may go uneaten.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds are convenient for snacks, salads, and recipes.
Keep a few favorites on hand:
- Almonds
- Walnuts
- Pecans
- Cashews
- Macadamia nuts
- Pumpkin seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Chia seeds
When buying packaged nuts, check the ingredients for added sugar, flavorings, or oils that don’t fit your Paleo approach.
Remember that peanuts are technically legumes and are generally excluded from traditional Paleo diets.
Healthy Fats and Cooking Oils
A few fats can cover most Paleo recipes.
Stock your pantry with:
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Avocado oil
- Coconut oil
Avocados themselves are another easy way to add healthy fats to salads, breakfast dishes, and bowls.
Herbs, Spices, and Flavorings
Eating Paleo doesn’t mean eating bland food.
A well-stocked spice cabinet elevates simple meat and vegetables into completely different meals throughout the week.
Useful staples include:
- Garlic
- Fresh herbs
- Basil
- Oregano
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Parsley
- Cilantro
- Paprika
- Cumin
- Turmeric
- Chili powder
- Cinnamon
- Black pepper
- Sea salt
Fresh lemons and limes are also useful for marinades, salad dressings, seafood, and vegetables.
Paleo Pantry Staples
Once you’ve built a basic Paleo pantry, you won’t need to buy these ingredients every week.
Consider keeping:
- Almond flour
- Coconut flour
- Unsweetened shredded coconut
- Coconut milk
- Coconut cream
- Almond butter
- Coconut aminos
- Vinegar
- Canned tomatoes
- Tomato paste
- Broth or stock
- Unsweetened dried fruit
Always check packaged-food labels. Products that sound Paleo-friendly can still contain added sugars, grains, preservatives, or other ingredients you may be trying to avoid.
Foods to Leave Off Your Paleo Shopping List
The traditional Paleo diet generally excludes:
- Wheat
- Rice
- Corn
- Oats
- Bread
- Pasta
- Beans
- Lentils
- Peanuts
- Most dairy products
- Refined sugar
- Candy
- Soft drinks
- Highly processed foods
Want to understand why these foods are usually excluded? Read our Foods to Avoid on the Paleo Diet guide for a closer look at the reasoning behind Paleo food choices.
A Simple Paleo Shopping List for One Week
If you’re just getting started, you don’t need to buy everything listed above.
A basic week might look something like this:
Proteins
- Chicken breasts or thighs
- Ground beef
- Salmon
- Eggs
Vegetables
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Spinach
- Salad greens
- Bell peppers
- Zucchini
- Carrots
- Sweet potatoes
- Onions
Fruit
- Apples
- Bananas
- Berries
Healthy Fats
- Avocados
- Olive oil
- Almonds
Flavor
- Garlic
- Lemons
- Fresh herbs
- Your favorite spices
From those basic ingredients, you can create numerous breakfasts, lunches, and dinners without buying dozens of specialty products.
Plan Your Meals Before You Shop
The easiest way to create a Paleo shopping list isn’t actually to start with the shopping list.
Start with your meals.
Choose the Paleo recipes you want to make for the week, determine how many servings you’ll need, and then build your grocery list from those recipes.
Planning this way helps prevent buying ingredients you don’t need and can reduce food waste.
It also lets you intentionally reuse ingredients.
For example, spinach purchased for a breakfast omelet can also go into a lunch salad. Chicken cooked for dinner can become tomorrow’s lunch, and vegetables purchased for several different recipes can be roasted together.
Build Your Paleo Shopping List with Plan N Cook
Instead of creating your grocery list from scratch every week, you can use Plan N Cook to organize the process.
Start by browsing our growing collection of Paleo recipes and choose the meals you’d like to make.
Then log in—or create a free Plan N Cook account—to add recipes to your meal plan and organize what you’ll need for the week.
This gives you a simple workflow:
Find recipes → Plan your meals → Build your shopping list → Start cooking.
As you discover recipes you enjoy, save them to your kitchen so they’re easy to find the next time you’re planning meals.
Explore More Paleo Resources
Building a shopping list is only one part of making Paleo easier to follow.
If you’re just getting started, read What Is the Paleo Diet? to learn the basics of Paleo meal planning.
Already familiar with Paleo? Explore our Paleo Meal Plans guide to start organizing your week, or browse our Paleo Dinner Ideas when you need some inspiration.
And if you’re wondering whether a particular ingredient belongs in your cart, our Foods to Avoid on the Paleo Diet guide can help.
With a little planning and a well-stocked kitchen, preparing Paleo meals doesn’t have to be complicated.