diff --git a/mealie/schema/group/group_shopping_list.py b/mealie/schema/group/group_shopping_list.py
index ae5a27da5ece..1046431cf144 100644
--- a/mealie/schema/group/group_shopping_list.py
+++ b/mealie/schema/group/group_shopping_list.py
@@ -225,10 +225,14 @@ class ShoppingListUpdate(ShoppingListSave):
 
 
 class ShoppingListOut(ShoppingListUpdate):
-    recipe_references: list[ShoppingListRecipeRefOut]
-    label_settings: list[ShoppingListMultiPurposeLabelOut]
+    recipe_references: list[ShoppingListRecipeRefOut] = []
+    label_settings: list[ShoppingListMultiPurposeLabelOut] = []
     model_config = ConfigDict(from_attributes=True)
 
+    @field_validator("recipe_references", "label_settings", mode="before")
+    def default_none_to_empty_list(cls, v):
+        return v or []
+
     @classmethod
     def loader_options(cls) -> list[LoaderOption]:
         return [