Vegetables first
Fresh, frozen and tinned vegetables all count. The plan uses them in soups, curries, traybakes, salads and pasta sauces.
Mediterranean-style, practical and flexible
7-day Mediterranean fatty liver meal plan
This worked week turns Mediterranean-style MASLD guidance into ordinary meals you can shop for in a normal supermarket. The emphasis is on vegetables, fruit, beans and lentils, wholegrains or other higher-fibre staples, nuts and seeds, fish and seafood, suitable dairy foods and mainly unsaturated fats such as olive or rapeseed oil.
This is a general example, not personalised medical nutrition therapy. Individual needs can differ substantially with diabetes, kidney disease, cirrhosis, malnutrition, pregnancy, allergies, medicines or unplanned weight loss.
The quick answer
Is a Mediterranean-style diet recommended for fatty liver?
Current European MASLD guidance recommends improving overall diet quality in a direction similar to a Mediterranean dietary pattern, while limiting ultra-processed foods rich in sugars and saturated fat and avoiding sugar-sweetened drinks. The guideline describes a Mediterranean pattern as rich in olive oil, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, legumes, wholegrains, fish and seafood.
That does not mean there is one official Mediterranean menu for everybody. This page is a practical seven-day example showing how those food-pattern principles can look in ordinary meals. It deliberately repeats ingredients and uses leftovers because a plan that is easy to shop and cook is more useful than seven days of unrelated recipes.
Important: this is not a “liver cleanse”, a guaranteed reversal plan or a universal weight-loss diet. If your clinical team has given you specific advice about energy intake, protein, sodium, diabetes, kidney disease or advanced liver disease, that advice takes priority.
Before the week
Five building blocks used throughout the plan
The meals change, but the pattern stays recognisable.
Beans and lentils often
Chickpeas, lentils and beans make meals more plant-forward and help reduce reliance on processed meat.
Fish in rotation
Salmon, sardines or mackerel and white fish are mixed with plant-based meals rather than appearing at every meal.
Mostly unsaturated fats
Olive or rapeseed oil, nuts and seeds are used sensibly instead of assuming that “healthy fat” means unlimited portions.
Wholegrain where practical
Oats, wholemeal bread, brown rice, wholewheat pasta and other higher-fibre staples are used when they fit the meal and your preferences.
The worked week
Seven Mediterranean-style days
Snacks are optional. Portion sizes are deliberately not prescribed because individual needs differ.
Day 1
Start with oats, chickpeas and fish
Breakfast
Porridge with berries, plain yoghurt and a spoonful of chopped walnuts or seeds.
Lunch
Chickpea, tomato, cucumber and pepper salad with mixed leaves, wholemeal pitta and a lemon-olive-oil dressing.
Dinner
Baked salmon with roasted peppers, courgette and tomatoes plus small new potatoes or another higher-fibre starchy side.
Optional snack
Piece of fruit with a small handful of unsalted nuts.
Prep forward: roast extra vegetables and cook an extra salmon portion for tomorrow's lunch. Vegetarian swap: use baked tofu or extra chickpeas with the roasted vegetables.
Day 2
Use yesterday's cooking twice
Breakfast
Wholegrain toast with tomatoes, spinach and a poached or scrambled egg.
Lunch
Leftover salmon and roasted vegetables over mixed leaves with a small portion of wholegrain couscous or barley.
Dinner
Red-lentil and vegetable stew with onions, carrots, tomatoes and greens, served with wholegrain bread.
Optional snack
Plain yoghurt with chopped fruit or berries.
Prep forward: make enough lentil stew for Day 3 lunch. Vegetarian by default.
Day 3
A plant-forward middle of the week
Breakfast
Overnight oats with apple, cinnamon, plain yoghurt and seeds.
Lunch
Leftover lentil stew with a side salad and fruit.
Dinner
Wholewheat pasta with tomato, aubergine, courgette and cannellini beans, finished with herbs and a little olive oil.
Optional snack
Carrot and pepper sticks with hummus.
Prep forward: cook extra pasta sauce; keep the sauce separate from tomorrow's grain bowl so it can be reused without becoming repetitive.
Day 4
Fish again, with plenty of vegetables
Breakfast
Plain yoghurt with oats, pear and a few unsalted nuts.
Lunch
Wholegrain bowl with leftover tomato-bean vegetables, spinach, cucumber and a spoonful of plain yoghurt or hummus.
Dinner
White fish baked with tomatoes, olives, herbs and lemon, served with green beans and brown rice or potatoes.
Optional snack
Fruit, or a few nuts if you are hungry.
Prep forward: cook extra rice or potatoes and extra green vegetables for tomorrow's lunch. Vegetarian swap: use butter beans or tofu in the tomato-herb traybake.
Day 5
Keep Friday easy
Breakfast
Wholegrain toast with peanut or almond butter, banana slices and a side of plain yoghurt if wanted.
Lunch
Leftover rice or potatoes with green vegetables, chickpeas, tomatoes and lemon-herb dressing.
Dinner
Chicken, chickpea and vegetable traybake with peppers, onions, courgette and tomatoes, served with wholegrain couscous.
Optional snack
Apple or orange with a small handful of nuts.
Prep forward: make extra traybake for Day 6 lunch. Vegetarian swap: omit chicken and increase chickpeas or add tofu.
Day 6
Use leftovers, then cook one flexible pot
Breakfast
Vegetable omelette with tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach plus wholegrain toast.
Lunch
Leftover chicken/chickpea traybake stuffed into a wholemeal wrap or served over salad leaves.
Dinner
Bean and vegetable chilli with peppers, tomatoes and sweetcorn, served with brown rice and avocado or plain yoghurt if wanted.
Optional snack
Plain yoghurt and berries, or vegetables with hummus.
Prep forward: save one portion of chilli for Day 7 lunch. The chilli is vegetarian by default.
Day 7
Finish the week with a simple oily-fish option
Breakfast
Porridge with chopped apple or berries, cinnamon and seeds.
Lunch
Leftover bean chilli with salad, or turn it into a wholemeal wrap with extra vegetables.
Dinner
Sardines or mackerel with lemon and herbs, served with roasted vegetables and potatoes; use fresh or tinned fish according to budget and preference.
Optional snack
Fresh fruit and a small portion of unsalted nuts.
Next-week bridge: freeze any spare chilli or stew and note which breakfasts were easiest to repeat. Vegetarian swap: bean patties, tofu or a lentil-and-vegetable traybake.
One realistic shop
Core ingredients that appear more than once
This example is intentionally repetitive in a useful way. You do not need seven different grains, ten different vegetables or expensive “Mediterranean” branded foods.
Vegetables & fruit
Tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, onions, carrots, leafy greens, green beans, mushrooms, aubergine, lemons, apples/pears, berries or seasonal alternatives.
Beans & proteins
Chickpeas, lentils, cannellini or mixed beans, eggs, plain yoghurt, salmon, white fish, sardines/mackerel and optional chicken or tofu.
Staples & fats
Oats, wholegrain bread/pitta/wraps, brown rice, wholewheat pasta, potatoes, wholegrain couscous/barley, olive or rapeseed oil, nuts and seeds.
Make the plan yours
Swap within the pattern instead of restarting the week
A Mediterranean-style pattern is flexible. If you dislike salmon, use another fish you enjoy or a plant protein. If brown rice does not suit you, choose potatoes, barley, wholegrain couscous or another higher-fibre staple that works in your kitchen. If dairy does not suit you, use an appropriate unsweetened alternative and check that it is fortified where relevant.
The pattern also works across different cuisines. A lentil dhal with vegetables, bean chilli, chickpea tagine or tofu-and-vegetable stir-fry can all move in the same broad direction without pretending to be Mediterranean dishes.
And if you prefer to generate a different week rather than follow this one, the Meal Planner is the interactive route. This page owns the fixed Mediterranean-style example; the tool owns custom week generation.
Keep planning
Use the right page for the next job
The plan gives you a worked week. These live resources explain the pattern or make it editable.
Mediterranean-style eating guide
Understand the evidence and principles behind this week's food pattern.
Meal Planner
Generate a different starting week around eating pattern, cooking time and snacks.
Foods to Eat
See the food groups that can form the backbone of regular meals.
General 7-day plan
Use the broader worked week when you do not specifically want a Mediterranean-style emphasis.
Evidence checked 18 August 2026
Sources used for the plan framework
- EASL–EASD–EASO — 2024 Clinical Practice Guidelines on MASLD
- Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust — MASLD dietary guidance
- NIDDK — Eating, Diet & Nutrition for NAFLD & NASH
- Mayo Clinic — Fatty liver disease (MASLD) diet
See our editorial policy, evidence policy and medical disclaimer.