Meal Prep Recipes

{Tips and How to Get Started}

Saving time is where it’s at! Which is why Meal Prep Recipes are exploding in popularity. Busy people know that if they don’t plan ahead, time will slip away. And takeout will become much more alluring. Therefore, Meal Prep Recipes can help take the guessing game out of dinner with simple and delicious meals that can be ready in a hurry. Additionally, this will help in lowering your stress and giving yourself time to focus on other things! 

This post was sponsored by the Egg Farmers of Ontario, as always, all opinions are genuine.

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What is Meal Prep? 

Preparing full meals or components of meals in advance (i.e., protein, veggie and/or starch). This saves time assembling meals or preparing ready-made lunches/dinners for those busy days! 

What are Meal Prep Recipes? 

Meal Prep Recipes involve strategically planning how to arrange your ingredients or when to assemble your meals to allow for easier follow-through and less stress. In other words, it’s the ability to break down meal preparation into smaller steps so work can be done ahead of time. Finally, Meal Prep Recipes often take advantage of batch-prep to save time later. 

For example, if you’re planning to make a quiche for dinner, you can make this into a ‘Meal Prep Recipe’ by: 

1. Preparing components in advance so it’s faster to cook later. For example, this might mean grating cheese, slicing mushrooms and chopping broccoli. Try putting all the prepped ingredients on a tray so you can pull this out and start cookin’ later!
2. Making twice as much (for leftovers or frozen meals). 

Grandma’s Mushroom, Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche

Grandma’s Mushroom, Broccoli & Cheddar Quiche is the perfect Meal Prep Recipe to cook on a busy day when you’re short on time.

Top 3 Benefits of Meal Prep Recipes:

• Saves Time: Cook twice as much in less than twice the time. Breaking down preparation into smaller steps allows for faster cooking later!
• Improves Nutrition: When we prepare foods in advance, we are more likely to choose homemade options that tend to be higher in veggies, lower in fat, salt and calories!
• Saves $$: Meal Prepping allows you to cook more at home and this saves us from expensive take-out, eating out or buying prepared foods (i.e. pre-cut veggies, or pre-seasoned chicken).

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3 Ways to Use Meal Prep Recipes: 

1. Protein Prep

Every nutritionally balanced meal NEEDS a source of protein. After all, it’s a key component for our body cells, supporting their growth, maintenance and the repair of red blood cells. Protein is involved in hormone production and builds and repairs muscle tissue, skin, nails and hair. 

Protein Prepping is a powerful Meal Prep tool to set you up for speedy meals!

Furthermore, when we have protein sources ready, the meal comes together SO much faster. Think of having sliced BBQ chicken in the fridge, so you have a protein ready-to-go. It can be used in a sandwich, on a naan flatbread, on a salad, in a stir-fry, sauce or even soup. Or, perhaps you want to make a Buddha Bowl with chicken, rice and veggies. 

Here are some ideas for convenient proteins you can prep AHEAD and corresponding Meal Prep Recipes: 

Hard–Cooked Eggs

Making a batch of hard-cooked eggs is a meal prep go-to for me, EVERY week. After all, having fast and accessible protein sources, like hard-cooked eggs, means we can add them to lunches, charcuterie boards or part of your snack. Importantly, eggs are also a nutrition power-house, with only 70 calories and an impressive 6 grams of protein. 

These Perfect Hard Cooked Eggs are an excellent protein-packed option to meal prep for the week. Plus, they take only 10 minutes!

Do I Skip the Yolk? 

In fact, many do not know that we receive half the protein in the yolk AND most of the nutrition – such as choline for the brain and lutein (a type of carotenoid) for brain and eye health. Actually, per egg there are 14 essential minerals. Can’t beat that for a completely affordable price too (see blog on Cheap, Healthy Meals for only $2/serving meals).   

Meal Prep Tip: Hard-cooked eggs can be stored in your fridge for up to seven days!

Meal Prep Recipes Using Eggs:

Cobb Salad with Homemade Ranch Dressing

With hard-cooked eggs already prepped, this Cobb Salad can come together quickly. You can also cut your veggies and make the Ranch dressing ahead too.

Zesty Avocado Toast with Eggs

Lunch Charcuterie Board

Simple Spinach Salad

Italian Hard-Cooked Eggs

These Hard Cooked Eggs with Chives were a staple growing up! Only olive oil and red wine vinegar for the dressing too.

Nicoise Toast

Looking for a unique take on toast? Nicoise Toast is the dish for you!

Club Salad

Club Salad is the perfect way to use leftovers at the end of the week!

Divine Deviled Eggs

Potato Salad with Egg & Chickpeas

Curry Egg Salad with Apples, Walnuts & Craisins

Meat & Fish Prep 

Meats or fish are other versatile proteins that can be meal prepped ahead. Changing up the seasoning allows for variety in flavours. For example, try our Chicken Souvlaki Marinade for batch-prep and you can marinate it a day ahead. You can store your flavourful, batch-cooked chicken in the freezer for future meals. Similarly, Jerk Chicken is another favourite seasoning. Additionally, use your leftover cooked chicken on Flatbreads, rice dishes, salads, buddha bowls or in chicken wraps. 

Proteins to Batch Prep for Future Meals: 

Chicken Souvlaki Marinade

Jerk Chicken Drumsticks

Perfect Pulled Pork

Pre-Cooked Sausages

Baked or Grilled Salmon Salad

Grilled Shrimp or BBQ Salmon

Grilled Steak (be mindful of reheating if preference is rare)

Remember: Salt is a flavour enhancer. Be sure to pre-salt meats for juicer meats like chicken, beef, or pork. 

Meal Prep Recipes Using Meat or Fish: 

Flatbreads with Leftover Protein & Veg

Wraps with Leftover Protein & Veg

Grilled Veggie & Chicken Pasta

Buddha Bowls

Slap it on a Sandwich

Grilled Steak Salad

Tuna Salad

Dietitian TIP: Designate a Meal Prep Day. Be sure to cook extra proteins like hard-cook eggs for the fridge. Your future self will thank you! 

Vegetarian Protein Prep

Preparing vegetarian protein sources in advance is another helpful Meal Prep strategy. Try pre-cutting tofu into strips and storing them in an air-tight container. Then, you can add to your stir-fry or curry when home from work. As well, opening a can of beans (chickpeas, lentils, black beans, etc.) can allow you to rinse and drain them and have them ready to add to your salads, soups, stir-fry’s and sauces. 

Dietitian TIP: For many taking the Pulse Pledge or trying to have more heart-healthy beans or legumes in the diet, having them prepped by cooking in advance or simply opening a can helps in saving time.

Vegetarian Meal Prep Recipes: 

Shrimp & Tofu Green Curry

Roasted Rosemary Chickpeas

Lupini Beans

Tofu Bites

Easiest Greek Lentil Salad

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2. Veggie or Grain Prepping:

Meal Prep Recipes are all about spending time upfront strategically to save time later. This could involve full Meal Planning (click here to see the difference between Meal Planning vs. A Meal Plan) for the week ahead or simply preparing components or ingredients in advance to speed the cooking process later. 

For example, if you’re planning on making a stir-fry for dinner, cook the rice in advance and simply heat it up later or toss it into the veggie mix for a Fried Rice. Additionally, rice cookers or an Instant Pot allows for hands-off cooking so you can be at work while your grains are cooking. Consequently, later you have your starch ready with one less thing to do. 

Try Veggie Prepping: 

Another approach to Meal Prep Recipes is Veggie Prepping! After all, cutting veggies in advance allows you to cook your meals faster! This is also known as Mise En Place – everything in its place. Think of it like being on a cooking show at home and you’re simply adding your onion (already chopped), to oil then adding your celery and carrots (prepped and ready). It’s a nice way to cook! If adding your sautéed veggies with canned beans and canned tomatoes, you could make a speedy chili or a soup ready in a hurry with all your ingredients ready to be tossed in the pot. 

Dietitian Tip: Having veggies prepped in advance in glass containers at eye-level in the fridge helps us eat more of them. This is because it decreases workload (of cutting and washing them) making them easier to add to meals. We can all be lazy so why not make eating veggies easier? 

Minimize Moisture:

Remember, when veggie prepping, you want to keep moisture to a minimum. This helps the items stay fresh for longer. Therefore, if you are cutting kale or romaine lettuce in advance, be sure to dry the greens fully and store in an air-tight container/bag with a paper towel. Also, remove the plastic bags around peppers which can cause them to hold moisture and spoil faster. 

Meal prepping veggies to add to dishes can speed up preparation time for meals.

Here are examples of Veggie Prepping:  

• Pre-cutting peppers (lasts for about 4-5 days in fridge)
• Celery cut into strips
• Cherry tomatoes diced in a small glass jar 
• Kale or rappini, chopped and dried in bag or glass container
• Broccoli or cauliflower, chopped in dry sealed containers
• Roasting peppers & freezing extras

When you have ingredients prepped ahead, meal assembly becomes so much easier later!

Foodie Tip: Delegate tasks to children to help with veggie prepping! This way they can practice their knife skills, which builds a more confident future cook. 

Meal Prep Recipe Ideas: 

With your veggies already cut and ready to use, here are some Meal Prep Recipes that can come together quickly:

Bean Salad

Wraps with veggies

Pasta with veggies 

Kale Chips

Broccoli Soup

Chili 

Roasted Veggies in oven or BBQ

Pineapple Pizza 

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3. Full Meal Assembly

The final Meal Prep Recipe category is the full meal assembly! This is one that allows you to coast on through later with a ready-to-eat lunch or dinner. Sweet! However, this takes a little planning for having enough ingredients and containers to store leftovers. Additionally, having your freezer stocked with ready-to-eat meals like Cashew Chicken, Curry Bowls or fridge with ready-made Cobb Salads creates extra special and enticing options. After all, who really wants to cook EVERY night? With a little planning ahead and Meal Prepping, you don’t have to. 

Remember: Most fresh homemade foods last for up to four days in the fridge, so if you don’t have a plan to eat them, store them in the freezer for a future meal. 

Batch Cooking 

A mind-set shift to batch-cooking allows you to focus on planned leftovers. This means if you plan on cooking your chili, you’re not just making enough for just one dinner. Instead, you’re making enough for dinner, lunch-leftovers AND freezer leftovers! You could also switch up the type of meal you make with your chili to include it on top of nachos, or added in a burrito.

Meal Prep Tip: Think of making your kitchen an “assembly line,” have a vision for how much you want to cook and how many lunches or dinners you are looking to make. Making twice as much does not take twice as much time. 

Full Meal Prep Recipe Ideas:

Stuffed Peppers  

Chia Seed Pudding

Bean Salads

Quesadilla 

Try this Quesadilla recipe on your next Mexican meal theme night! Try freezing uncooked quesadillas for a future fast dinner.

Chili

Batch-Prep Freezer Pancakes

Nothing can beat this recipe for delicious homemade Pancakes! They become a quick and easy future meal when stored in the freezer.

Pasta for Freezer Meals

Cashew Stir-Fry Rice

Batch Freeze Muffins

Gouda Mac & Cheese Peas

Taco Soup

Pumpkin Sage Risotto with Shrimp

Mini Egg Muffins

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Bottom Line: 

Meal Prep Recipes are a way to save time and be strategic in planning your meals. Additionally, Meal Prepping will save you money and even improve your nutrition. Start small and be sure to focus on incremental changes. This might include protein or veggie prepping to start and then batch preparing entire meals ahead. In fact, some people like combining veggie prepping with talking on the phone or listening to their favourite music. It’s all about making it fun and having a lifestyle that’s sustainable! 

What are your Meal Prep Recipe favourites? How do you break it down into manageable strategies so you can avoid cooking every night?