Do You Have Meal Prep Containers
Now that your meal plan is out of the way, its time to think about how youre going to organize all the food. I recommend keeping a selection of small, medium, and large containers, to accommodate everything from a large batch of zucchini lasagna to a small jar of lemon vinaigrette.
You can read all about my favorite meal prep containers, but heres a quick glance at my top choices:
- Weck Jars: These rounded glass jars come in a variety of shapes and sizes, are 100% airtight and freezer-safe.
- Le Parfait Jars: Theyre very similar to Weck jars and are great for canning or preserving ingredients.
- Glasslock Containers: These are your typical meal prep containers thats great for larger food items. But the best part is that theyre durable in the fridge, freezer, and microwave.
- Stasher Bags: For sustainable reusable ziplock bags, opt for these silicone ones!
Did You Know You Can Lose Weight With Meal Prep By Controlling Your Portions
#7 Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Chicken Breast
I love to cook in an Instant Pot, its quick and less messy.
When I do my meal prep for the week, I love to make Instant Pot Chicken Shredded recipe for salads or stir fry veggies.
This is super healthy if you are on a strict diet via Wholesome Yum.
#8 Easy Teriyaki Chicken
If you are craving for Asian food then this is perfect for you!
Its easy to make and you can do meal prep for a week, served with white rice and steamed veggies such as broccoli.
Or you can change the white rice into cauliflower rice for a healthy option via Cakes Cottage.
#9 Healthy Greek Chicken Rice Instant Pot
Another chicken recipe thats full of flavor and smells nice!
I personally love to incorporate a lot of herbs in my cooking because I love flavourful food via Carmyy.
#10 Hawaiian Chicken Meal Prep Bowls
I have personally tried this recipe and it is super amazing!
Please note that its better to separate the zucchini and the chicken because it will be soggy and turn bad if you leave it for a week.
Put the chicken together with the zucchini on the day youll eat it via Life in the Lofthouse.
#11 One Pan Healthy Sausage and Veggies
This easy and quick recipe is less messy to cook because you will make it in just one pan!
Super healthy because theres a lot of veggies incorporate into this via Chelseas Messy Apron.
Meal Prep Healthy Roasted Chicken And Veggies
Seasoned with olive oil and italian spices then roasted to perfection, this sheet pan chicken and rainbow veggies is great for meal prep and makes a healthy lunch or dinner too!
This sheet pan roasted chicken and rainbow veggies is a great dish to make if your just starting to meal prep or if you just want easy toss in the oven kind of dinner.
The chicken and veggies are loaded with spices and drizzled with olive oil, then roasted in the oven for 20 minutes or until charred and tender. Since the chicken breasts are cut into small cubes, they cook at the same rate as the veggies making it that much easier to cook everything at the same rate.
Divide the chicken and veggies into individual meal prep containers on a handful of brown rice or quinoa or your favorite type of rice and enjoys a weeks worth of meals all done in under 30 minutes!
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Quinoa And Rice Pilaf
Here’s how to cook quinoa with rice: Put them in the pot together and let them simmer until tender. It’s really as simple as that! Use the fluffy grains as a side dish or base for a grain bowl. Or try our favorite way to enjoy them: sprinkled into a salad for a hearty lunch.
Get the Recipe: Quinoa and Rice Pilaf
Can You Freeze Meal Prep Recipes
Some meal prep recipes will freeze better than others. Proteins like chicken, turkey and beef will hold up well to freezing. Typically starches like pasta do not hold up well in the freezer as theyll be mushy when thawed. Rice and potatoes are great candidates for the freezer. Many vegetables can be frozen, but veggies with a high water content, such as zucchini and lettuce, do not freeze well.
Read Also: Beef Stew Meat Recipes Crock Pot
How Do Beginners Meal Prep For A Week
If youre just starting out on your meal prepping journey, there are a few key things to keep in mind. Heres a quick rundown of how to do beginners meal prep for a week:
Keep The Seasonings Simple
One of the keys to keeping this meal prep fast and easy is to not overthink the seasonings. This is one time when I usually lean heavily on pre-made seasoning blends. I dont want to pull out ten bottles of herbs and spices, I just want to add a sprinkle-sprinkle of one thing and that and be done with it. Some great seasoning options are steak seasoning, cajun seasoning, taco seasoning, chili seasoning, zaatar, curry powder, garlic herb seasoning, lemon pepper, or Greek seasoning.
I usually season the protein heavily, and then keep the seasonings for the vegetables quite simple so they arent competing too much.
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How Much Is A 7 Day Meal Prep
If youre like most people, you probably dont think about how much food youll need for a 7 day meal prep. But if youre like me, its something thats on the forefront of your mind every time I walk into the grocery store.
And its something that I have to keep in mind when cooking meals at home because theres no way to go around running out of ingredients.
Thats why I wanted to take a look at how much a 7 day meal prep costs and what types of foods you can cook with it.
The average person spends about $60 per month on groceries and $120 per year on groceries. So if you want to make a 7 day meal prep cost effective, youll need to spend about $240 per month.
Basic Healthy Meal Prep Ideas
Up to this point, Ive shared healthy meal prep recipes for complete dishes. But one of my favorite ways to meal prep is actually by preparing components not full recipes that I can use in a variety of ways throughout the week. A pot of rice, baked tofu, a flavorful sauce
I recommend this method if you dont want to eat the exact same thing every day of the week. Here are some of my favorite components to prepare, along with my go-to ways to use them:
Whole GrainsPerfect for bulking up grain bowls and salads, serving with curries and stir-fries, or tossing into fried rice. These grains are the ones I meal prep most often:
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What Does It Mean To Meal Prep
Meal prep is a once or twice a week large batch preparation of meals to last for 4-5 days. Meal prep is a great way to save time because you only cook a few times a week as opposed to cooking every single day. Its also a great way to eat healthier youll be a lot less likely to hit the fast food drive through if you have a meal ready to go in the fridge. Youll also save money because cooking in bulk tends to be cheaper, and its way less expensive than going to a restaurant for lunch.
Farro Tabbouleh With Feta
With hearty farro and chickpeas, a healthy dose of herbs and veggies and a flavorful sprinkling of feta cheese and olives, Inas tabbouleh makes a great vegetarian meal. Add some variety throughout the week by serving over greens or alongside grilled chicken.
Get the Recipe: Farro Tabbouleh with Feta
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Herb Skillet Turkey Tenderloins Serves: 6
INGREDIENTS:2 lbs turkey breast tenderloinsCanola oil1 cup dry white wine1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, minced5 green onions, chopped1 teaspoon dried thymeKosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pat tenderloin dry. Flatten out a bit. Season with kosher salt and pepper to your liking.
In a medium bowl, mix together wine, parsley, green onions, shallots, garlic, and dried spices. Spread the flavorful paste into the tenderloins. Re-season with salt and pepper if needed.
Using an iron skillet or large pan, heat about 1/4 cup of canola oil to medium-high heat. Cook the seasoned tenderloins for about 5-7 minutes on each side. Allow to rest before carving.
Make sure the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Reserve the pan juices to serve over the sliced turkey tenderloins.
Chef Adrianne’s second clutch recipewhich features to-die-for candied quinoa, soy brown butter and cilantro mayois featured in one of her cookbooks. She calls it her “go-to” Thanksgiving sweet potato side dish.
You don’t have to peel the sweet potatoes, and you can shave off cooking time by cutting them in pieces, she said. The candied quinoa delivers a crunchy texture and the soy brown butter brings an “umami” factor.
“My guests are wowed,” Chef Adrianne said. “It takes me a fraction of the time than a classic sweet potato casserole, and it has all the elements.”
Lunches You Can Meal Prep On Sunday
Source: Gimme Delicious
Avoid drive-thru urges and packaged food cravings this week by preparing nutritious lunches ahead of time. This meal-prep technique will not only remove stress from your weekly grind, but its also easy on the wallet and good for the body. Here, we rounded up 20 make-ahead lunches you can prep on a lazy Sunday for a productive week. From protein-packed to vegetarian-friendly, we have plenty of recipe inspiration to get you started!
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Black Pepper Buttermilk Biscuits Serves: 12
INGREDIENTS:½ cup cold unsalted butter, cubed1¼ cups whole buttermilk, add slowly checking for moistureEgg wash, to brush over biscuitsButter, to serve
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly spray a square cast-iron skillet with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, stir together flour, thyme, baking powder, salt, ½ teaspoon of pepper, baking soda, garlic powder, and onion powder. Using a pastry blender or 2 forks, cut in cold butter until the mixture is crumbly. Gently stir in buttermilk until a soft dough forms.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently pat to ¾-inch thick. Using a 2½-inch round cutter, cut dough, re-rolling scraps as necessary.
Arrange biscuits in a prepared skillet. Brush tops with egg wash. Sprinkle with remaining ¼ teaspoon pepper. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes.
Meal Prep Steamed Vegetables
When it comes to prepping for the week ahead, we love cooking off lots of veggies so we can reach for them instead of something less healthy in the scramble of making a weeknight meal. Blanching a vegetable in boiling water and then plunging it in an ice bath is great when you’re making just one kind. But for a large-scale production, our go-to method is steaming. You can use the same water for multiple batches, steaming one vegetable after the next. The result: a rainbow of perfectly cooked vegetables at the ready for grain bowls, pastas, salads, frittatas and more.
Get the Recipe: Meal Prep Steamed Vegetables
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Lets Make Meal Planning Easy
I know the thought of planning out a weeks worth of healthy meals can be daunting. But after years of perfecting my meal prep ideas and strategy, I can tell you this it all starts with meal planning. So how does one do that? Well, the best way to approach this is to ask yourself a few questions
- How many people do I need to prep for? Are you just one person? A family of four? Keep in mind how many servings youll need to make of each recipe to get you through the week. Then jot that down.
- Whats in season? Try to center your meals around in-season produce. Not only is it fresh and tasty, itll challenge you to be creative and add variety throughout the year. Bonus seasonal produce is usually cheaper and often on sale!
- What types of meals do I want to prep? Theres two ways to look at this. You can create building blocks to get creative throughout the week or make fully cooked meals that you can easily reheat. Your schedule for the week might lead you one way or the other. Theres no right or wrong choice, meal prep is meant to suit you and your schedule!
From there, you can jot down your grocery list , and head to the market!
Weight Loss Meal Plan
This is probably the most important part of your meal prep routine. Prepping food alone won’t necessarily help you drop pounds if you aren’t following the basic steps for weight loss. Start with the following, in this order:
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Can You Meal Prep For 7 Days
The short answer is yes, absolutely. But the longer answer is this: food wont stay good for that long in the fridge. So if you are meal prepping for a whole week, youll want to choose recipes that can be frozen for days 4-7. Then defrost them when you are ready to eat. This will limit or eliminate your risk of food spoilage.
Healthy Meal Prep Ideas For The Week
If you need some healthy meal prep ideas for the week and tips to help you make it happen, pull up a chair, and grab a pen and pad- youll want to take notes!
When it comes to meal prepping, most people picture a full-blown 5 recipe cooking session that destroys the kitchen and takes up half your Sunday.
But if theres anything that Ive learned from creating healthy meal plans for thousands of MOMables customers for more than a decade is that having a plan and the right recipes is EVERYTHING.
And, you dont have to cook all 5 meals at once. I promise!
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How To Meal Prep
Roasted Pumpkin Sweet Potato And Brown Rice Pilaf
This colorful side dish packed with vegetables is hearty enough to be your main course.
Get creative and top it with a sunny-side-up egg, or serve cold as a topping on salad greens.
Everyone loves a good burger! Turkey patties are a great choice for meal prep because they can do double-duty as the protein in a salad or served with our Roast Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, and Brown Rice Pilaf recipe.
Pro tip: Double this recipe and cook half for one week and freeze the uncooked patties in individual plastic bags for another week.
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How Do I Prep Food For A Week
Make a game plan:
- Use the list below for easy meal prep ideas. Or come up with your own, based on your favorite things to eat.
- Be realistic Think about how much time you have and how much food youll actually eat.
- Start small Especially if youre a beginner.
- Schedule it Figure out which day works best for you. And if youll shop and prep on the same day or on 2 different days.
Turn on your favorite playlist, podcast, or audiobook
Youll enjoy the process so much more if you have a fun distraction.
Have everything ready
Get out everything youll need to do your meal prep for the week That includes the food, any pots or pans, and containers to store your finished prep.
Multi-task
Combine hands on and hands off tasks. You can hard boil eggs while veggies roast in the oven and you make a salad, for example. It might take a couple weeks to get your exact system down, but itll become a new habit quickly.
Use the proper containers
You will definitely need containers to store your meal prep. You can totally use whatever you have on hand, or try the meal prep containers below.
Mix & Match Ingredient Meal Prep
Aside from making full meals, my seasonal meal prep ideas are always reader favorites. Why? Because prepping individual ingredients allows you to get creative with quick mix and match meals during the week. All you need to do is plan easy, adaptable, in-season ingredients that keep well in the fridge . Then make unique texture and flavor combinations everyday that will get you excited about meal time.
Below youll find each of my seasonal meal preps, along with a quick guideline to inspire your ingredient choices. Happy meal prepping!
- Winter Meal Prep: Meals that are hearty and filling with shredded pulled pork, lentils, sweet potato noodles, and vibrant winter vegetables.
- Spring Meal Prep: Fresh and light meals with shrimp spring rolls, shrimp salads, and a batch of chia pudding.
- Summer Meal Prep: Its all about incorporating fresh fruit, lettuce wraps, salads, zucchini bread, and sweet refreshing desserts into your meals.
- Fall Meal Prep: Cozy meals with ingredients like roasted sweet potatoes and kale to create a hash, a versatile hummus spread, and paleo apple pancakes for breakfast.
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