When I told my coworkers I would be writing about meal prepping today, I got a lot of the same responses: meal prepping would save me so much time/energy/stress, if only I could actually do it.
I think a lot of us end up vegging out on the couch by Sunday afternoon, drinking coffee or tea and dutifully ignoring the kitchen. It’s hard to find the will to meal prep each and every week, because you’re giving up a part of your weekend – even if you’re gaining something during the week days.
Is meal prep worth the stress on the weekend? It depends on your life, but it can save you time, money, and help you eat healthier… all things we need to be focusing on, honestly.
Okay, what is meal prep?
Maybe you’ve heard of meal prep, but you don’t really get it. You’ve seen the little black boxes on Amazon, or the photos of food all lined up and ready to be reheated and eaten, but you’re not sure how to get there.
Meal prep is, well, exactly like it sounds: prepping your meals ahead to save you time and effort later. This could be batch cooking, where you make a big pot of something and portion it out over the week. Or you could just do a bit pot of, say, shredded chicken breast and prepare different sides with it.
It could be breakfast burritos thrown in the freezer for a quick breakfast on the go. Maybe egg muffin bites (the bomb) for healthier-than-takeout breakfast with your coffee. Snacks and dried fruit all pre-portioned for easy grab and go for lunches…
You get the idea.
Meal prep basically helps you get the ‘hassle’ of lunches or dinners out of the way all at once, so you don’t feel like you spent your entire weeknight cooking and then cleaning up. There’s nothing worse than finishing the dishes and realizing it’s 8 pm and your night is over, knowing you basically have no time until you face the next work day.
But I hate eating the same thing every day…
A big argument people make against meal prep is that they hate eating the same thing again and again. I absolutely get it. Give me 2 or 3 days of the same lunch in a row and I’m over it. Dinner, 2 tops before I need to shuffle in something new. Otherwise I just get bored, and I won’t eat what’s in the fridge.
But you don’t have to meal prep 5 of the same meals!
The idea of meal prep in a swapping way is that you do 2-3 meals, and you eat something different each day. So, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday you’ve got chili. Tuesday Thursday, however, you have burrito bowls. Or soup. Or whatever you made, I don’t know, I’m not in your kitchen.
This gives you a lot more variety and helps you not to get ‘stuck’ on a meal for too many days.
You can also prep ingredients but not the whole meal. If you genuinely find cooking relaxing at the end of a long work day (hello it’s me, I do), consider getting all of your meals and ingredients together on Sunday. Prep your peppers and onions for Tuesday and put them together in a bag. Toss your meats in a marinade or a separate container so the chicken you’re cooking on Thursday is ready for grab-and-go.
With all the mise en place (French for setting up, it’s basically kitchen speak for ‘everything in its place’) in, um, place, your cooking time is going to be cut way down. This way, you can enjoy a fresh, homemade meal every night, but you’re not stuck chopping celery, onions, and mincing garlic after work.
You know, the best parts of cooking.
But I hate leftovers!
Okay, so you want to meal prep, but you think you hate leftovers. I wish I could understand your problem, but I really can’t because so much food is better the next day!
Soups, stews, and chili are all great examples of foods that just get better the longer you let them sit. Let that chili flavor really meet together overnight, and you’ve got an incredibly flavorful end result.
I think a lot of people struggle when the full meal is a leftover, but you don’t have to do that! Prep veggies at the start of the week in Ziploc so you just have to pour some oil and seasoning in, shake the bag, and throw them on a sheet pan for 20 minutes. Your “main” part of the meal can still be your meal prep dinner, like shredded chicken, taco meat, whatever. But having that fresh, just-cooked component really livens it up.
My favorite way of doing this? Fresh rice! We have a rice maker, but you can make rice on the stove or in an Instant Pot. Heating up leftover Mongolian chicken, burrito bowls, or white chicken chili and throwing it over hot, fresh rice makes it feel new.
Related: Everything You Should Know About The Instant Pot
Other foods that taste better the next day? Meatloaf, lasagna, curry, Chinese-American or Asian-inspired dishes, potatoes in every way but fried, casseroles… not everything is dry, rubbery chicken or wilted greens!
How to start
Like with anything in life, you really don’t want to start meal prepping by diving headfirst and overwhelming yourself. Don’t go and spend $100 on new Tupperware or a second Crockpot to maximize your output.
I bought 10 matching containers from the dollar store down the street for like, $5. If you search Amazon for meal prep containers, you’ll find a ton. I personally don’t care for the ones with compartments, but it’s going to depend on if you’re prepping lunches or dinners and what you generally like to cook. You do you, basically.
Just dip your toes in the water, you don’t have to go all out right away. Think about one meal or base you can make on Sunday that will last you. Maybe that’s a big pot of soup, baked chicken to shred for multiple meals, or a few side dishes to make actual cooking easier.
Try to aim for half the week, or three, dinners prepped and ready. Make it as easy on yourself as possible. Don’t just toss a pot of soup in the fridge and hope you heat it up; portion everything into individual containers. Make sure you have to do as little work as possible the day of, so you always use it.
Pro tip: Reheating dinner for you and your partner? Use a casserole dish and put two portions in it, then pop it in the fridge. When you’re ready to eat, just take the whole dish out and toss it in the oven!
Make a point to make Sunday meal preps happen. Put on your favorite podcast or stream a show to your phone, laptop, or tablet in the kitchen with you. Having something slightly distracting can really be entertaining. I love watching old episodes of Guy’s Grocery Games on Hulu while I chop all my ingredients. Chopped is a close second.
Google recipes that save well or choose your favorite recipes that you know you’ll want to eat to get you started. There’s a ton of inspiration out there for every palate and budget.
Meal prepping isn’t just for bodybuilders who need to eat 10,000 calories a day, or busy moms with 14 children doing 14 different activities – but if you’re one of those people, meal prepping is great! It also can help you eat healthier (no impulse fast food dinners, no eating 10 cookies over the sink for dinner at 10 pm), save you a ton of time during the week, and help shift that mental load.
You deserve an easy week of hassle-free dinners. You deserve that extra time after work to unwind. You deserve to eat well and take care of your body.
