Meal prepping can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. To start, consider these three things when choosing your recipes:
- Choose a meal you’d like to prepare — breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Keep it simple by starting with one you usually eat out or skip altogether.
- Pick a day to do your meal prepping. Sunday and Wednesday are two common choices.
- Determine how much you want to prep. Experiment with prepping for two or three days before attempting five. You may not like eating the same thing the whole week.
Once you’ve chosen your meals, make veggies or fruit at least 50% of whatever you’re prepping and protein and starches the other 50%. Fresh is best but frozen or canned varieties last a while, can be more economical, and work in nearly every meal.
The best foods for meal prep
Frozen vegetables: peas, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, green beans, veggie pasta, cauliflower pizza crust, riced veggies, veggie-based tater tots
Starchy vegetables: parsnip, cassava, potato, yuca, taro, parsnip, sweet potato, canned pumpkin
Stiff fresh vegetables: celery, carrots, bell peppers, cabbage, radish
Sturdy greens: romaine, green leaf (dress just before serving)
Whole grains: oats, quinoa, barley, buckwheat, sorghum
Pulses: chickpeas, lentils, beans, peas
Lean protein: frozen or canned seafood, eggs, unsweetened Greek yogurt, skyr, reduced-sodium cottage cheese, shredded cheese, tofu, lean cuts of chicken, turkey, beef, pork
Whole fruits: apples, bananas, oranges, clementines, plums, peaches, pears
Nuts and seeds: almonds, walnuts, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, chia, flax
simple meal prepping ideas
Kebabs
Kebabs help you to gauge portions and are easy to make in multiple servings.
Pasta Salad
A large bowl of cold pasta in a sealed container can last up to 5 days.
Veggie Slaw
This large vegetable slaw with a 3 ingredient dressing is so versatile in the vegetables you can add, making it easy to plan (use what you have). And you can make this simple dressing in advance with just Miracle Whip, apple cider vinegar, and white sugar. Use 2 tablespoons of white sugar and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to each ½ cup of Miracle Whip.
