diff --git a/composeApp/src/commonMain/kotlin/de/kitshn/Utils.kt b/composeApp/src/commonMain/kotlin/de/kitshn/Utils.kt
index 9a3282d0..7a943aae 100644
--- a/composeApp/src/commonMain/kotlin/de/kitshn/Utils.kt
+++ b/composeApp/src/commonMain/kotlin/de/kitshn/Utils.kt
@@ -462,4 +462,37 @@ expect fun closeAppHandler(): () -> Unit
 
 fun String.extractUrl(delimiters: String = " ") = this
     .split(delimiters)
-    .firstOrNull { it.startsWith("http://") || it.startsWith("https://") }
\ No newline at end of file
+    .firstOrNull { it.startsWith("http://") || it.startsWith("https://") }
+
+/**
+ * filters and scores a list of elements by a text query on a selected property.
+ * The priorities are
+ * 1. exact query match
+ * 2. a prefix of the property matches the query
+ * 3. a word boundary substring matches
+ * 4. a regular substring matches
+ *
+ * everything else is not included in the resulting score sorted list
+ */
+fun <T> filterBySearchQuery(
+    list: List<T>,
+    query: String,
+    selector: (T) -> String
+): List<T> {
+    if (query.isBlank()) return list
+
+    return list
+        .mapNotNull { item ->
+            val name = selector(item)
+            val score = when {
+                name.equals(query, ignoreCase = true) -> 0
+                name.startsWith(query, ignoreCase = true) -> 1
+                name.contains(" $query", ignoreCase = true) -> 2
+                name.contains(query, ignoreCase = true) -> 3
+                else -> return@mapNotNull null
+            }
+            item to score
+        }
+        .sortedBy { it.second }
+        .map { it.first }
+}
diff --git a/composeApp/src/commonMain/kotlin/de/kitshn/ui/component/input/MealTypeSearchField.kt b/composeApp/src/commonMain/kotlin/de/kitshn/ui/component/input/MealTypeSearchField.kt
index 0079c529..e517157a 100644
--- a/composeApp/src/commonMain/kotlin/de/kitshn/ui/component/input/MealTypeSearchField.kt
+++ b/composeApp/src/commonMain/kotlin/de/kitshn/ui/component/input/MealTypeSearchField.kt
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import co.touchlab.kermit.Logger
 import de.kitshn.api.tandoor.TandoorClient
 import de.kitshn.api.tandoor.TandoorRequestsError
 import de.kitshn.api.tandoor.model.TandoorMealType
+import de.kitshn.filterBySearchQuery
 import kitshn.composeapp.generated.resources.Res
 import kitshn.composeapp.generated.resources.common_unknown_meal_type
 import org.jetbrains.compose.resources.getString
@@ -81,6 +82,16 @@ fun BaseMealTypeSearchField(
         }
     }
 
+
+    val filteredMealTypes = remember(mealTypeList, searchText, selectedMealType) {
+        if (selectedMealType != null || searchText.isBlank()){
+            mealTypeList
+        } else {
+            // use a priority filtering for better first results
+            filterBySearchQuery(mealTypeList, searchText) { it.name }
+        }
+    }
+
     ExposedDropdownMenuBox(
         expanded = isExpanded,
         onExpandedChange = {
@@ -112,7 +123,7 @@ fun BaseMealTypeSearchField(
                 focus.clearFocus()
             }
         ) {
-            mealTypeList.forEach {
+            filteredMealTypes.forEach {
                 DropdownMenuItem(
                     text = { Text(it.name) },
                     onClick = {