How Sous works

1. Sign in with Google or Microsoft, or with a link sent to your email.
2. Connect your calendar, if you like. With Google sign-in, Sous asks for read-only access to Google Calendar, and you pick which calendars count. Outlook and other calendar links can be added later. Skip it and Sous asks about your week instead.
3. Add a US or Canadian mobile number for texts, or skip texts and use Quiet mode, where Sous emails you when your week is ready.
4. Answer four quick questions, by text or on the web: who you're cooking for, any allergies or dietary needs, which meals to plan (just dinners, or breakfast and lunch too), and your planning day.

• The week check. On your planning day, Sous texts your week as a short day-by-day itinerary from your calendar. Reply with anything it missed (“we're away Friday”) or just “looks good.” If you're busy and don't reply, it nudges once, then goes ahead with what your calendar says.
• The game plan and the menu. Sous picks the week's time-saver, one make-ahead component such as a big pot of sauce that becomes three dinners, and the best day to cook it, then sends the menu. Packed nights get quick meals, open evenings get something more ambitious, and nights out stay nights out.
• The grocery list. Give the menu a 👍 and Sous sends a link to your grocery list: one list for the week, sorted by aisle, with the things you probably already have marked. Ask, and it texts you the whole list.
• Mid-week. On Wednesday evening Sous asks one short question, such as how a meal went or whether the rest of the week still works. If your calendar changes after the plan is set, Sous mentions it once and asks before changing anything.
• Cooking. Ask “what's the recipe for tonight?” and Sous texts you the recipe card: what to prep first, the steps in order, and the amounts for your household.

Sous doesn't send scheduled texts overnight: anything planned waits for morning (quiet hours are 9pm to 8am your time). If you text Sous at night, it still replies.

Text Sous the way you'd text a friend who cooks:

• “What's for dinner tonight?”
• “Swap Thursday for tacos.”
• “We're traveling next week, keep it light.”
• “Add milk and paper towels to the list.”
• “We went vegetarian.”
• “That salmon was a hit, more like that.”

Sous changes just what you asked for and updates the grocery list. On the dashboard you can replace any meal, move it to another day, label a night (“Leftovers”), or undo the last change.

What you tell Sous sticks: ratings (Loved it or Skip next time), notes on a meal, answers to the mid-week question, or a quick text. In the first week or two it asks a few extra questions, such as what everyone loves and how much cooking you're up for, then mostly gets out of your way. Everything it knows about your household is on the dashboard, where you can read and edit it.

Invite your partner from the Your kitchen page. You share one plan and one grocery list, each with your own login, texts and calendars, and both of your calendars shape the week. Either of you can confirm the week, and either can call a night (“I've got Thursday”); Sous lets the other person know. One subscription covers the household.

Choose Quiet mode and Sous never texts you. It still plans your week at your planning time, puts the plan and grocery list on your dashboard, and sends one email when it's ready. With a confirmed mobile number you can switch back to texts any time.

• It doesn't deliver groceries or meal kits. You shop from the list, wherever you like.
• It isn't a recipe library to browse. Recipes come with the meals it plans.
• It doesn't decide who cooks or keep score. In a two-adult kitchen it only repeats what one of you said.
• It isn't medical or nutrition advice. It plans around the allergies and diets you tell it about, but it's no substitute for a doctor or dietitian.

Wondering whether a meal kit or a recipe app would suit you better? Here's how they compare.

Calendar access is read-only: Sous never creates, changes or deletes events. It reads only the calendars you pick, uses them only to plan your meals, and never uses them for advertising. Sous doesn't sell your personal information, and you can disconnect your calendar any time. The privacy policy has the details, and the FAQ and pricing pages answer the rest.