Building an n8n AI Agent: A Pantry-Based Meal Planner Using Google Sheets, n8n and OpenAI

Introduction

No-code automation for business is transforming how teams—and even individuals—tackle repetitive tasks and data-driven decisions. You don’t need to hire a full development team or write complex scripts to connect apps, pull in AI services, and deliver results. Instead, you use a visual builder to drag, drop, and wire together nodes that handle everything from Google Sheets to OpenAI to email. In this article, I’ll walk you through a friendly proof-of-concept: an AI Agent in n8n that reads your pantry inventory, proposes one recipe at a time, and then emails the recipe while updating your stock when you say “Yes.” This demo isn’t a plug-and-play business tool—instead, it shows just how simple no-code automation can be, whether you’re a business owner curious about the possibilities or someone who wants to spice up dinnertime at home.

Video coming shortly

What is n8n?

At its heart, n8n is an open-source, “fair-code” workflow platform. Unlike traditional coding where you wrestle with SDKs and endpoints, n8n presents a canvas of nodes which you join together in a flow (if you’re familiar with flowcharts you’ll understand the concept easily).

Each node represents a service—like Google Sheets or an e-mail service —or an action—like running a piece of JavaScript or branching on a condition. You draw arrows between them to define your data flow. The result is fully auditable, easy to debug, and endlessly flexible.

For business users, n8n delivers the power of integration platforms—If you’ve every encountered Zapier or Make.com you’ll be right at home. n8n however offers self-hosting options, transparent execution, and no per-operation fees.

What Can You Build with n8n?

Whether you’re running a busy sales team, managing customer support, or even planning meals at home, n8n’s visual canvas lets you automate the entire process—from data collection, to AI-powered decisions, to follow-up actions—without writing a single line of code.

Imagine waking up to find that overnight:

Your CRM contacts were enriched with the latest purchase data, and high-value leads pinged automatically to your sales Slack channel.
New support tickets were analyzed for sentiment, tagged accordingly, and the most urgent ones routed straight to your on-call engineer.
Or, on a more personal note, your Google Sheets pantry inventory was read by an AI agent, which proposed a daily meal recipe; you simply replied “Yes,” and the recipe emailed to you while your stock levels updated in real time.

Those use cases may sound different, but under the hood they all follow the same pattern:

A data node reads from your source (CRM, ticket system, Google Sheets).
An AI or logic node processes the data (sentiment analysis, lead scoring, recipe generation).
A conditional node or human-in-the-loop step decides the next action (Yes/No, tagging, routing).
An action node delivers the outcome (Slack message, email, database update).

Because each step is a self-contained “node,” you can inspect inputs and outputs in real time, swap services at will (Google Sheets ↔️ Airtable, o4-mini ↔️ gpt-4-turbo), and manage all your credentials in a secure, central vault. That transparency and flexibility is what makes no-code automation so powerful: you get enterprise-grade capabilities with the speed and agility of a startup prototype.

In our pantry-meal-planner demo, the same recipe applies—literally.

A Google Sheets node pulls your stock,
an AI Agent node (with OpenAI’s o4-mini) generates exactly one recipe that fits your inventory,
a chat interface waits for your “Yes” or “No,” and
on confirmation an email node sends you a beautifully formatted recipe card while
a Google Sheets update node deducts the used portions.
If you aren’t happy with the suggestion, the flow loops back—asking the AI for another idea.

That simplicity and power—and the ability to swap out any piece in seconds—illustrates why n8n can handle everything from small personal automations to complex, multi-step business processes.

Meet n8n AI Agents

Imagine an assistant who understands your natural-language requests, knows exactly where your data lives, and can take care of the busywork without you writing a single line of code. That’s what an n8n AI Agent does. Instead of painstakingly wiring every step yourself, you describe what you need—say, “Find me dinner ideas based on my pantry,”—and the Agent:

Reads your data from wherever you’ve stored it (Google Sheets in our demo).
Consults an AI model to come up with the smartest next step—whether that’s a recipe, a summary, or a product recommendation.
Shows you the result in a friendly, conversational interface.
Waits for your simple Yes/No reply.
On “Yes,” delivers on the promise (emails the recipe, updates your inventory); on “No,” it goes back and tries again—never repeating itself.

All of this happens in the same point-and-click canvas as the standard n8n automations. You don’t need to learn APIs or host extra services. The Agent takes care of the underlying complexity—data retrieval, AI prompting, decision logic, and the final actions—while you focus on the outcome. In our pantry-meal-planner example, that means a single flow that goes from “What’s for dinner?” to “Here’s your recipe, and I’ve updated your stock,” in just a few clicks.

Demo Agent: Our MealAgent

How It Works:

Behind the Scenes At the heart of our Pantry Meal Planner is a single n8n AI Agent that knows exactly which tools it can use—“Read Rows,” “Update Rows,” and “Send Email”—and when to call each one.

Here’s the gist:

When you type “What’s for dinner?” into the chat, the Agent springs into action. It quietly uses its Read Rows tool to pull your current pantry data, then feeds that inventory into an AI prompt that asks for exactly one recipe matching your stock. The result—a neat recipe card with dish name, ingredient list, and steps—appears back in your chat window without you ever wiring individual nodes.

Next, you reply “Yes” or “No.” If it’s “Yes,” the Agent automatically invokes its Send Email tool to deliver a beautifully formatted HTML recipe, then calls Update Rows to deduct used portions and stamp today’s date on your sheet. If it’s “No,” the Agent loops back—using Read Rows again if needed, then asking the AI for a fresh idea (skipping the last suggestion) until you find a winner.

All of this happens inside one conversational workflow. You never have to manually link reads, writes, or emails—just interact naturally, and let the Agent orchestrate the rest.

Setting up your own Meal Agent Planner

Ready to try this yourself?

Download the n8n JSON workflow using the button.

Now follow these simple steps:

Prepare your Google Sheet
- Create a tab named “Pantry” with these columns:
  - Item | Pack Size | Portions Per Pack | Packs in Stock – Portions Left | Supplier | Updated Date | Restock Level | Serving Suggestion
  - Fill in a few sample rows (Having a supermarket receipt may be handy!).
Import the Workflow
- In n8n, click “Import” and paste in the provided JSON.
  - You’ll see a pre-wired canvas with the chat trigger, AI Agent, along with it’s connected OpenAI Chat model, Simple Memory, Read Rows, Send Email, and Update Rows options.

Final Setup – Environment & Credentials:

Once you’ve prepared your Google Sheet and imported the workflow, you only need to connect n8n to your services:

Google Sheets – grant n8n access to your spreadsheet
Email – add your email credentials
AI Model – enter your OpenAI (or other LLM) API key

Here are the nodes you’ll need to open and hook up with your own credentials:

Get row(s) in sheet in Google Sheets • Credentials tab → select or create a Google Sheets OAuth2 credential • This lets the Agent “Read Rows” from your Pantry sheet
Update row in sheet in Google Sheets • Credentials tab → select the same Google Sheets OAuth2 credential • This powers the Agent’s “Update Rows” tool to deduct stock and stamp the date
OpenAI Chat Model • Credentials tab → select or create an OpenAI API credential (your o4-mini or other model key) • This node is what the Agent uses under the hood to generate recipes
Send email in Send Email • Credentials tab → select or create an SMTP (or Gmail OAuth2) credential • This enables the Agent’s “Send Email” tool to deliver your HTML recipe card

Each of those nodes has a Credentials section right in its panel. Just pick the appropriate account (or click “New Credential”), follow the built-in wizard, and n8n will handle the OAuth/API-key setup for you. Once those four nodes are wired to your accounts, your Pantry Meal Planner is ready to roll—trigger it with “What’s for dinner?”, reply “Yes” or “No,” and watch the magic happen!

Ready to turn ideas into real-world automations?

All Tech Plus has extensive experience designing, building, and scaling no-code AI workflows for projects of all sizes—from personal automations to growing businesses. Whether you need a custom solution, deeper integration with your current tools, or hands-on team training, we’re here to help.

If you’re ready to explore AI-driven workflows or see how no-code automation can simplify your processes, let’s chat. Visit https://all-tech-plus.com/contact-us or start a conversation with our on-page AI support agent.

And if you like the on-page AI agent experience, check out our sister site at https://aicognitio.com for AI-powered customer support that’s smart, responsive, and easy to scale. We’d love to help bring your next idea to life!