Build a Simple Siri Shortcut to Create a Weekly Grocery List (Apple Intelligence Ready)

Open the Shortcuts app

Tap the Shortcuts icon – two overlapping squares, usually coloured blue and purple – on your home screen. If you don’t see it, swipe down from the middle of the screen to open the Search bar, type “Shortcuts”, and tap the result. When the app opens you’ll see a page titled My Shortcuts with either a list of existing shortcuts or a blank screen that says “No Shortcuts Yet”. You’ll know it worked when the header reads My Shortcuts and you can scroll vertically without any error messages.

Start a new shortcut

In the top‑right corner of the My Shortcuts screen look for a + button (a plus sign inside a circle). Tap that button. A new page appears called New Shortcut with a large empty canvas and a search bar that says “Search for apps or actions”. This is where you’ll start adding the building blocks of your automation. If the plus sign isn’t visible, look for a menu icon (three dots) and choose Create Shortcut from the dropdown. You’ll know it worked when the canvas shows a thin horizontal line labelled “Tap to add action”.

Add an “Ask for Input” action to capture meal ideas

Tap the Add Action button (or the search field) and type “Ask for Input”. From the results choose Ask for Input – this action prompts you to type something later. In the action’s settings, tap the placeholder text and replace it with the prompt you want Siri to ask, for example “What meals are you planning for the week?”. This step creates a simple text box that appears whenever you run the shortcut. If you don’t see “Ask for Input”, look for a similar action called Prompt for Text – Apple occasionally renames actions.

You’ll know it worked when the action card displays your custom prompt underneath the title Ask for Input.

Store the input in a Reminders list called “Weekly Meals”

Tap Add Action again and search for “Add to Reminders”. Select it, then drag the small circle on the right side of the Ask for Input card onto the Add to Reminders card – this links the text you type to the reminder entry. In the Add to Reminders settings tap List and choose Weekly Meals; if that list doesn’t exist, tap New List and type “Weekly Meals”. This creates a dedicated list where every meal idea you enter will be saved. If the list selector looks different, look for any dropdown labelled “List” or “Folder”.

You’ll know it worked when, after tapping the linked actions, the shortcut shows a small check‑mark and the Add to Reminders card displays List: Weekly Meals.

Compile a basic grocery list from the stored meals

First, add a Find Reminders action by searching for it. Set the filter to List is Weekly Meals – this tells the shortcut to pull up everything you stored in the previous step. Below that, add a Text action and type a few staple items, e.g., Milk, Bread, Eggs, Butter. Finally, add another Add to Reminders action, set its list to Grocery List (create a new list with that name if needed), and connect the Text output to it. This chain reads your meal notes, then adds the hard‑coded staples to a separate grocery list. If you can’t find Find Reminders, look for Search Reminders – the name can vary across iOS versions.

You’ll know it worked when the shortcut diagram shows the three actions in order – Find Reminders → Text → Add to Reminders – and the final Add to Reminders card displays List: Grocery List.

Name, test, and run your shortcut

Tap the name field at the top of the canvas (it may say “New Shortcut”) and type a clear title such as Weekly Grocery Helper. Press Done. To test, tap the small play button – a triangle pointing right – at the bottom‑right of the screen. Siri will ask the prompt you set in Step 3; type something like “Spaghetti, salad, chicken” and hit Return. The shortcut will then create a reminder in Weekly Meals and add the staple items to Grocery List. If the play button is hidden, look for a Run icon in the toolbar or press the ⋯ menu and choose Run.

You’ll know it worked when the Reminders app opens, shows a new entry under Weekly Meals with the text you typed, and also shows three new items (Milk, Bread, Eggs, Butter) under Grocery List.