What is Meal Prep?

Meal prep is short for meal preparation. It’s the process of making meals in advance so that you have them ready to eat when you’re hungry. Meal prep can range from cooking a big batch of food to making several meals, to prepping ingredients so that you can cook a meal quickly.

Is Meal Prep for You?

Meal prepping is a great way to save time and eat healthily. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Just choose simple recipes, cook once and eat all week, and get creative with your ingredients. It’s especially helpful if you’re trying to eat healthy on a budget. When you meal prep, you can cook once and eat all week. This means that you don’t have to spend time cooking every day, and you can save money by buying in bulk and cooking at home. When you make your own meals, you can control how much you spend on ingredients. And, you can avoid eating out or buying expensive convenience foods.

Meal prep can also help you eat healthier, as you can control what goes into your meals and you’re less likely to eat out or order takeout. When you have healthy meals already made, you’re less likely to reach for unhealthy foods. And, if you’re trying to lose weight, meal prep can help you control your portion sizes. Now, be prepared to get a little messy. Cooking is a messy business, so don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. Meal prepping can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Just follow these easy steps to get started.

8 Tips to Get Started

If you are trying for the first time, choose recipes that have fewer ingredients and steps. Complex recipes can take a long time to prepare and there is more room for error. Once you get the hang of it, you can start meal-prepping more frequently.

1. The first step to meal prep is to decide what you want to make. I suggest you choose recipes that can be made ahead of time and that will keep well. For example, you can make a big batch of something like soup or chili, or you can prep ingredients for several different meals.

2. Focus on one or two recipes that you like to eat. Then cook larger portions so you can have leftovers for the next few days. As you get better you can repurpose leftovers into new meals. For example, if you have grilled chicken, you can use it in a salad, wrap or pasta dish.

3. Make sure to choose recipes that you enjoy making and that you have the equipment for. Invest in some good quality kitchen gadgets and good quality containers. This will make it more likely that you’ll actually use your leftovers. Having a few key kitchen gadgets can make meal-prepping quicker and easier. A good knife, a mandoline slicer and a food processor can be really helpful. Use freezer-friendly containers. Store your meal prep meals in freezer-friendly containers so you can reheat and eat them later. Use meal prep containers to store your food and to make portioning easier.

4. Use your weekends to meal prep for the week ahead. On the weekends you may have more time to make extra of each recipe so you have leftovers for the week. This way you can have healthy meals ready to go during the week.

5. Meal prep with a friend. It’s more fun this way and you can split the cost of ingredients and the work to clean up.

6. Don’t try to make all your meals from scratch. If you’re short on time, use shortcuts like pre-chopped veggies, rotisserie chicken, and jarred sauce.

7. Use frozen fruits and vegetables. Frozen fruits and vegetables are just as healthy as fresh and they’re often cheaper. Plus, they’re already chopped so they are faster to prepare.

8. Use electric slow cookers, crockpots, rice cookers, and pressure cookers. Slow cookers are great for making healthy meals with a minimal time commitment.

Things to Watch Out For

Don’t Meal Prep Too Many Meals

You might be excited to get ahead on cooking and think that you can meal prep a bunch of meals at once to save time. But cooking too many meals at once can actually lead to unhealthy decision-making. When you make a bunch of meals all at once, you are more likely to choose unhealthy shortcuts, like using preprocessed ingredients or not cooking the food properly. Stick to meal prepping one or two meals at a time so that you can focus on making healthy choices. at Once It’s tempting to want to make all your meals for the week in one big cooking session. But unless you have a ton of time (or help) on your hands, this isn’t realistic—or necessary. Meal prepping a few key recipes will give you a jump start on healthy eating without taking over your whole weekend.

Make sure you have a plan for using up your leftovers

No one wants to eat the same thing for five days straight. Think About What You Actually Eat In a perfect world, we’d all have the time (and energy) to cook elaborate meals from scratch every day. But in the real world, we often end up eating the same few things over and over again. When you’re planning your meals for the week, take inventory of what you actually eat on a regular basis. There’s no point in prepping a bunch of meals that you’re not actually going to eat.

Focus on simple make-ahead components

Rather than prepping whole meals, focus on prepping individual components that can be used in a variety of recipes. This will give you more flexibility during the week and help you avoid getting sick of the same old thing. Some good things to prep in advance: cooked grains, roasted vegetables, cooked protein, sauces, and dressings.

Keep Your Goal In Mind

What are you trying to achieve by meal prepping? Are you looking to save time? Money? Eat healthier? Get in better shape? Once you know your goal, you can better tailor your meal plan and prep strategy.

It’s Time to Get Started!

Make A Plan:

With the goals decided and the recipe selected it’s time to start planning. First, take a look at your schedule and figure out what days and times you’ll have time to cook. Then, make a grocery list of all the ingredients you’ll need for your meals.

Get Prepped:

The next step is to actually do the prep work. This includes cooking or chopping your ingredients, portioning out your meals, and packing them up. Make sure to label everything so you know what it is and when it needs to be eaten.

Enjoy Your Meals:

The last step is to enjoy your healthy, delicious, and time-saving meals! Everything is already taken care of, so all you have to do is sit down and enjoy your meal. And because you’ve saved so much time by meal prepping, you can now use that time to enjoy other things in life, like spending time with family and friends or pursuing your hobbies. So go ahead and enjoy your meal prep creations, knowing that you’re doing your body good!

Where is the Best Place to Meal Prep?

The kitchen is the best place to start when it comes to meal planning. After all, that’s where the food is! But what if your kitchen is a disaster zone? Or what if you don’t even know where to start? There are plenty of resources available online to help you get your kitchen in order and start meal planning. The best resource for managing your recipes is TastyNow.com. Think of it like a recipe book but with lots of fancy tools you can use to optimize your recipes. You can also add your own recipes, rate and review recipes, and get ideas for new recipes based on the ingredients you have on hand. Learn more at TastyNow.com