Save a meal once, then log it again

Keep your usual breakfast, lunch or snack in Saved so you can log it again without another photo or description. You can save one logged meal with all its ingredients, or select several recent foods and keep them together as a reusable group.

The starting point is a meal you have logged. Adding it by text, dictation or photo creates its first diary entry. Saving a reusable copy does not add another entry; it keeps that meal available for next time.

Describe or photograph a meal, then save it

Open + and choose your logging method. On iPhone, Type or Dictate lets you write or dictate a description. You can also take a photo or choose one from your library.
Include the foods and amounts together. For example: “200 g of plain yogurt, one banana and 40 g of oats.” For text or dictation, tap Add Meal.
When analysis finishes, open the meal from Home or your diary. Review the ingredients and portions, and correct anything that needs changing before saving the reusable copy.
Open the meal’s ⋯ menu and choose Save for reuse.
Keep the suggested name or enter your own, such as “My usual breakfast”, then tap Save for reuse.
Find it under + → Saved & Recent → Saved.

Describe all the ingredients together. If analysis produces several diary entries, save them as a group below. See meal logging methods for photo, text, voice and barcode instructions.

In Recent, use the bookmark or Save for reuse action. Its detail offers Save original: this saves the original amount, not any portion adjustment you have made for logging.

Save several foods as one group

Use a group for foods you usually have together, such as a yogurt bowl and a coffee. Start with foods already logged in your diary.

Open + → Saved & Recent → Recent and tap Select.
Select the foods you want to keep together and tap Save selection.
Review the group’s name and tap Save for reuse. It appears in Saved.

Recent covers the last 30 days. A group holds up to 10 items, each of which can contain several ingredients. The larger selection limit for immediate logging does not increase the saved-group limit.

Log a saved meal again

Open + → Saved & Recent → Saved and open the meal or group.
Keep the items you ate selected. Review each item’s amount; leave it at the saved amount or adjust its portion.
Check the date, meal time and meal type.
Tap Log meal to add the selected items to that diary day.

Repeating the saved amount reuses its nutrition without another meal analysis. A group creates a separate diary entry for each selected item. These new entries contribute to that day’s nutrition totals and reports; the saved copy and your previous diary entries stay unchanged.

Where available, use Weight or Volume instead of Portions. You can also open View ingredients before deciding to log. See saved ingredients and portion controls.

Change it for this occasion

On mobile, choose Customize this time to describe changes such as “half the yogurt and no honey.” On iPhone, Dictate can add your spoken changes to the text. Review the wording, tap Review changes, then confirm the proposed version with Log this one-time version.

This changes only the new diary entry. It does not replace the saved meal. To keep a changed version for future use, open the resulting diary entry and save it as another reusable meal.

On the web and Apple Watch

Web app

In the web app, open Library → Recent. Choose Save for reuse on one item, or select several and choose Save selection. Name and save the meal. Open it in Library → Saved to adjust amounts and log it. Use mobile for Customize this time.

Apple Watch

You can repeat saved and recent meals on the Watch. Use the phone or web app to create and organize saved groups, and to inspect their ingredients. See connecting your Apple Watch.

Your saved copy and your diary

Editing or deleting an original diary entry leaves its saved copy unchanged. Removing a saved copy or hiding a Recent suggestion also preserves diary history.

Keep up to 100 saved meals. Names stay as accepted when you change the app language. Use the actions menu to rename or remove a saved meal.

If you cannot save or find a meal

The analysis is still pending: wait for the meal to finish before saving. If it failed, resolve the failed capture first.
It is missing from Recent: check the search filter and the 30-day window. You can save an older meal directly from its diary detail.
The selection is too large: reduce the group to 10 items or fewer.
Saved Meals is full: remove a saved copy you no longer use, then try again. Its past diary entries remain.
A read or save failed: check your connection and use the retry action. An unavailable saved copy can be removed to free its space without deleting diary history.

Questions about saved meals

Can I create a saved meal without logging it first?

Saved meals start from diary entries. First log the meal, then save its reusable copy. Saved & Recent does not create a new meal directly from a description or photo, and saving a copy does not add another diary entry.

Is repeating a meal one tap?

On mobile, open the meal in Saved and tap Log meal after reviewing the details. You do not need to describe or photograph it again. On the web, the logging panel also has a direct Log button for saved meals at their saved amounts.

Does Customize this time change my saved meal?

No. It prepares a version for the new diary entry while keeping the saved meal unchanged. To keep that variation, save the resulting diary entry as another reusable meal.

Still need help? Contact PlateLens Support.