Pescatarian Meal Plan for Weight Loss (7 Days + Shopping List)

Last updated: 24 October 2026

A pescatarian diet is a vegetarian diet with fish and seafood added. You skip meat and poultry, and you keep salmon, cod, prawns, tuna, eggs, dairy, beans and wholegrains. For weight loss it is a practical choice: fish gives you lean protein, and beans, wholegrains and vegetables give you fibre.

Below is a 7-day pescatarian meal plan for weight loss, with breakfast, lunch and dinner planned for a 1,700 kcal day, and the shopping list for that week sorted by aisle.

What is a pescatarian diet?

The name comes from the Italian pesce (fish). There are no official rules, but most pescatarians eat:

• Fish and seafood. Salmon, cod, trout, tilapia, halibut, tuna, sardines, prawns, scallops, mussels.
• Eggs and dairy. Eggs, Greek yoghurt, milk, cheese.
• Pulses. Lentils, chickpeas, black beans, white beans, tofu.
• Wholegrains. Oats, brown rice, quinoa, wholemeal bread and pasta.
• Vegetables and fruit. All of them.
• Nuts, seeds and oils. Walnuts, pumpkin seeds, chia, olive oil.

They do not eat beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey or game. Some people also skip eggs or dairy. The plan below includes both.

Why a pescatarian diet can help with weight loss

You lose weight when you eat fewer calories than you burn, on any diet. A pescatarian week makes that deficit easier to keep for three reasons:

• Lean protein with few calories. 100 g of raw cod has about 80 kcal and 18 g of protein. Prawns are similar. Protein keeps you full longer than the same calories from refined carbs.
• Omega-3 fats. Oily fish such as salmon, trout and sardines are the main food source of the omega-3 fats EPA and DHA, and health agencies recommend them for the heart. They do not burn fat by themselves. Raw farmed salmon has about 200 kcal per 100 g, more than twice as much as cod, so count it like any other food.
• Fibre from plants. Without meat, the rest of the plate is beans, lentils, wholegrains and vegetables. They are filling for their calories.

A pescatarian diet is not low-calorie by itself. Fried fish, breaded fillets, creamy sauces, tempura rolls and large bowls of cheesy pasta are all pescatarian. Cooking methods and portions still matter.

What the research says

In the Adventist Health Study-2, a study of about 61,000 adults in the US and Canada, pescatarians had an average BMI of 26.3, against 28.8 for people who ate meat (Tonstad et al., Diabetes Care, 2009 ). Lacto-ovo vegetarians averaged 25.7 and vegans 23.6. This is observational data: it shows that pescatarians weighed less on average, not that the diet caused it. People who choose this diet may also exercise more or smoke less.

How many calories for weight loss?

The answer depends on your size, age, sex and activity. A common starting point is about 500 kcal a day below what you burn. The US CDC describes a loss of about 0.5 to 1 kg a week as gradual and steady. As an example only, the NHS 12-week weight-loss plan uses 1,400 kcal a day for women and 1,900 kcal for men.

The week below was planned for a 1,700 kcal day. Use our calorie calculator to find your own number. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18 or have a health condition, ask your doctor before you cut calories.

The 7-day pescatarian meal plan

We made this week in MenuMagic with one custom rule, "Pescatarian: no meat or poultry, fish and seafood allowed", a 1,700 kcal calorie goal, and breakfast, lunch and dinner turned on. We did not change the meals. Eight of the 14 lunches and dinners are fish or seafood, and the other six are vegetarian. No meal has meat or poultry.

One way to split a 1,700 kcal day: about 400 kcal at breakfast, 550 at lunch and 600 at dinner. That leaves about 150 kcal for a piece of fruit or a coffee with milk.

A few notes on the week:

• The fish cooks fast. Cod, tilapia, prawns and scallops are done in less than 10 minutes. The sides take longer: roasted squash and Brussels sprouts need 25 to 35 minutes, and wild rice 45 to 60, so start those first or cook the rice a day ahead.
• On Monday, roast the sweet potatoes for Wednesday's bowl on the same tray as the butternut squash.
• Make a double batch of lentil soup on Tuesday. It keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge and freezes well.
• Use plain Greek yoghurt for the parfait and for Friday's lime crema, in place of soured cream.
• Saturday has the richest meals of the week. If you count calories, keep the pancakes and the cheese toastie to one serving each.
• If you do not like a fish, swap it for another white fish or salmon. Cod, tilapia and halibut are interchangeable in most recipes.

Shopping list for the week, by aisle

Quantities are for two adults with weight-loss portions. Check your cupboards first: you probably have the oil, spices and some of the dry goods already. For the method behind a list like this, see how to make a grocery list from a meal plan .

Fruit and vegetables

• Apples, 2
• Pears, 2
• Blueberries, 150 g
• Avocados, 2
• Lemons, 3
• Limes, 3
• Butternut squash, 1 small (about 1 kg)
• Delicata or onion squash, 1 small
• Sweet potatoes, 2
• Green beans, 350 g
• Broccoli, 1 large head
• Asparagus, 1 bunch
• Brussels sprouts, 500 g
• Baby spinach, 300 g
• Kale, 1 bag
• Mixed salad leaves, 1 bag
• Green cabbage, 1 small
• Red peppers, 2
• Tomatoes, 4
• Cucumbers, 2
• Chestnut mushrooms, 250 g
• Carrots, 3
• Onions, 3
• Red onion, 1
• Garlic, 1 bulb
• Fresh ginger, 1 small piece
• Fresh parsley, 2 bunches
• Fresh mint, 1 bunch
• Fresh basil, 1 bunch
• Fresh coriander, 1 bunch

Fish and seafood counter

• Salmon fillets, 2 × 150 g
• Cod fillets, 2 × 150 g
• Tilapia fillets, 300 g
• Trout fillets, 2 × 150 g
• Raw peeled prawns, 300 g
• Scallops, 300 g

Chilled fish

• Smoked salmon, 100 g

Dairy and eggs

• Eggs, 18
• Plain Greek yoghurt, 1 kg
• Skimmed milk, 2 litres
• Buttermilk, 1 pot (about 300 ml)
• Feta, 200 g
• Cheddar, 250 g
• Butter, 1 block (250 g)

Bakery

• Wholegrain bread, 1 loaf
• Sourdough bread, 1 small loaf
• Wholemeal pittas, 1 pack
• Wholemeal tortilla wraps, 1 pack
• Corn tortillas, 1 pack

Grains, pasta and pulses

• Porridge oats, 1 bag
• Brown rice, 500 g
• Wild rice, 1 small pack
• Quinoa, 250 g
• Wholemeal couscous, 250 g
• Wholemeal penne, 250 g
• Brown or green lentils, 500 g
• Plain flour, 1 small bag

Tins and jars

• Tinned skipjack (light) tuna, 2 tins of 145 g
• Chickpeas, 1 tin
• Black beans, 1 tin
• Chopped tomatoes, 4 tins of 400 g
• Vegetable stock, 3 litres
• Light mayonnaise, 1 small jar
• Reduced-salt soy sauce, 1 bottle
• Honey, 1 jar
• Pure maple syrup, 1 small bottle

Cereal, nuts and dried fruit

• Granola, 1 bag (or make it with oats, pumpkin seeds and honey)
• Walnuts, 100 g
• Pumpkin seeds, 50 g
• Dried cranberries, 50 g

Frozen

• Stir-fry vegetable mix, 1 bag

Cupboard (check first)

• Olive oil, red wine vinegar, baking powder, cinnamon, cumin, smoked paprika, chilli powder, salt, black pepper.

Which fish to choose

US dietary guidelines recommend at least 225 g of seafood a week for adults. The FDA and EPA advice about eating fish sorts common fish by mercury level. Salmon, cod, prawns, tilapia, scallops, trout, sardines and tinned light tuna are in its "Best Choices" group, the lowest in mercury. It advises against swordfish, shark, king mackerel, bigeye tuna, marlin, orange roughy and tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico.

If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, the same advice is 2 to 3 servings a week from the Best Choices list. The week above has more fish than that, so swap some fish meals for vegetarian ones. Tinned albacore ("white") tuna is in the "Good Choices" group, so tinned light tuna is lower in mercury for the Monday pitta.

How to make your own pescatarian week with MenuMagic

The week above is one example. Next week you need 21 new meals and a new shopping list. MenuMagic has no pescatarian preset, but one custom rule makes a new pescatarian week for your household each time:

1. Go to Settings, then Food and cooking. Under Meals, tick Breakfast next to lunch and dinner. Leave the vegetarian diet off: it removes fish too.
2. In Settings, open Calorie goal and set your daily goal.
3. In the Plan tab, tap Edit, then Rules.
4. Under Custom rules, add "Pescatarian: no meat or poultry, fish and seafood allowed". You can add more rules, for example "fish four times a week" or "no tuna".
5. Tap Save, then New to generate the week.

Rules are saved with your household's plan settings, and allergies and dislikes from your settings still apply. If a meal does not fit, or you do not fancy it, tap it while editing and choose Regenerate; the new meal follows the same rules.

With Premium, each meal comes with its full recipe: ingredients, steps, calories and macros. If you plan for one person, the planner picks dishes that fit your calorie goal and sizes each recipe to it. In the shopping list, Generate list turns the week into a list with quantities, sorted by aisle and shared with everyone in your household. The Diary logs your planned meals with their calories and macros in one tap; our meal planner with calorie tracking guide explains how.

Meal names in the plan and the rules are free. Full recipes, calorie-sized portions, macros, the automatic shopping list and one-tap logging need Premium.

FAQ: what do pescatarians eat?

Fish and seafood, eggs, dairy, pulses, wholegrains, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. They do not eat meat or poultry, such as beef, pork, lamb, chicken or turkey. Some pescatarians also skip eggs or dairy.

FAQ: is a pescatarian diet good for weight loss?

It can help. Fish and seafood give lean protein, and beans, wholegrains and vegetables give fibre, so meals are filling for their calories. In a study of about 61,000 adults in the US and Canada, pescatarians had a lower average BMI than meat eaters, but that does not prove the diet caused it. You still need to eat fewer calories than you burn.

FAQ: how many calories should I eat on a pescatarian diet to lose weight?

It depends on your size, age, sex and activity. A common starting point is about 500 kcal a day below what you burn. As an example, the NHS weight-loss plan uses 1,400 kcal a day for women and 1,900 for men. The sample week in this article was planned for 1,700 kcal.

FAQ: how often can you eat fish on a pescatarian diet?

US dietary guidelines recommend at least 225 g of seafood a week for adults. The FDA and EPA list salmon, cod, prawns, tilapia, trout and tinned light tuna among the fish lowest in mercury. Avoid swordfish, shark, king mackerel and bigeye tuna, which are high in mercury. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, the FDA and EPA advise 2 to 3 servings a week from their Best Choices list.