If you are wondering how to jumpstart or support your healthy style when it comes to meals and recipes, weekly meal prep is essential. In this beginning meal prep guide, I share how to meal prep for the week, easy meal prep ideas, and the best meal prep recipes!
Whether you want to eat healthier, lose weight, reduce stress, or get your grocery budget under control, weekly meal prep can be the solution.
When I first started meal prep, my main goal was to have healthy food ready during the week. I wanted to lose weight, and the first step was to ditch the frozen pizza and start preparing more food at home.
Meal prep has been a huge game-changer for me and the #1 reason I successfully changed my eating habits and dropped 30 lbs in the first six months. It’s incredible how easy it is to eat healthy when foods are ready ahead of time.
You can read more about how I use meal prep for weight loss. I want to share more information on weekly meal prep in this post. You can see all my meal prep posts for tips and tutorials.
Jump to:
What is meal prep?
Meal prep means preparing meals, meal components, and ingredients once a week when you have time so food is available to eat when time is limited.
Benefits of Weekly Meal Prep
Today, meal prep is still a large part of my healthier lifestyle, and it’s safe to say it’s essential for my entire family to eat healthy meals daily. Here are the benefits we experience using weekly food prep.
- Time-Saving. Taking a couple of hours to do Sunday meal prep will save you 3 -4x that during the week preparing dinner after work! Depending on the type of meal prep, all you’ll need to do after work is warm-up or quickly cook and maybe prepare a couple of other things (salad, pasta, etc.).
- No More Mindless Eating. If mindless eating while preparing dinner is a problem, then meal prep can help solve that. No more grazing and consuming 500 – 700 in random calories while desperately trying to get dinner together. Instead, everyone can eat healthy meals prepared when they’re hungry.
- Money-Saving. Another significant benefit to weekly meal prep is controlling your grocery bill and ultimately saving money. You only buy the ingredients needed by putting a meal plan together and preparing those foods. So, even by purchasing higher-quality foods, you’ll likely save money. You won’t fill your grocery cart with frozen pizzas, banquet chicken, or frozen garlic bread anymore. Instead, you’ll purchase whole ingredients that you’ll use in more than one recipe.
- Easy Clean-Up. This is a big one, because who likes to clean a kitchen after working all day. Not many! Cleaning up after dinner becomes a breeze with meal prep. No need to scrub pans, wash cutting boards, or soak dishes. Nope! All you have to do is clean up the dishes used to eat.
- Less Stress. Having meals ready to eat made life much easier, and I didn’t have to worry about preparing lunches every morning or figuring out what to make for dinner. I did everything on Sunday! So I removed that stress from my week!
- Better Eating Habits. Planning and preparing meals ahead of time allows you to be intentional with your food. If you’re struggling with lunches, putting together healthy mason jar salads will help you eat more veggies during the day. If you frequent the drive-through for breakfast, make homemade breakfast sandwiches instead.
Easy Meal Prep Ideas
Preparation can be everything from washing and chopping vegetables to cooking your entire meal plan ahead of time. The key is to do what works for your lifestyle. Here are some of my favorite make-ahead ideas. Keep in mind that you can prepare every single recipe ahead of time in one way, shape, or form.
- Batch cook the basics. This is an excellent meal prep method when you don’t want to commit to specific meals. Instead, you make a big batch of a few components and then build meals around them. For example, shredded chicken or other lean proteins, brown rice, other grains, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, lentils, chopped vegetables (broccoli, bell peppers, onions), roasted vegetables, or marinara sauce, to name a few.
- Recipe components. If you want dinner to come together quickly but don’t want to cook the recipe ahead of time, then preparing all the meal’s components, so it’s ready to cook on the day you eat is a good solution. For example, marinate chicken, make the meatballs for meatball subs or make the seasoned beef and cheese sauce ahead of time for cheeseburger macaroni.
- Cook meals completely. This method does all the cooking and preparation on Sunday, so you have to do minimal or no cooking during the week. For dinner, this means cooking recipes and storing them in the fridge to heat and eat all week. However, you can also prep steel-cut oats or baked oatmeal ahead for breakfast. You can make soup for the week or mason jar salads for lunch.
- Meal prep bowls. This means preparing a recipe and portioning it out into 4-5 servings for lunch or dinner. For more information check out my tutorial on meal prep bowls.
- The night before. Assembling recipes the night before is a great way to have meals ready to eat or cook the next day. For example, this works great when making slow cooker recipes. Take time the night before to assemble the ingredients; then, in the morning, you’ll need to turn it out. Here are some other slow cooker meal prep ideas.
- No-cook recipes. Overnight oats or mason jar salads require no cooking and can be thrown together in less than 30 minutes. Energy bites are also a super easy no-cook recipe.
- Freezer meal prep. This means making meals or prepping ingredients and storing them in the freezer. You can see my freezer meal posts for more information and recipes.
How long does food last?
I’ve been at this food prep game for a very long time – over ten years! I prep on Sunday for the week, so my make-ahead meals must last five days. This has been my experience with food storage.
- Most food lasts 4-5 days in the refrigerator. If you’re not going to eat the meal right away and are concerned about freshness, then consider freezing the food and taking it out the day before you eat. Or make a few meals later in the week—for example, overnight oats or mason jar salads.
- Raw fruits and vegetables stay fresh all week if stored in glass containers. You can also freeze both if you’re not going to eat them. They won’t taste fresh once thawed, but you can use them in smoothies and soups.
- Raw meat should be frozen if not used within a couple of days.
- Cooked meat is good for four days. Freeze if you’re not going to eat it within those days.
In the decade I’ve been meal prepping, I haven’t had any food spoil. However, it’s good to follow food safety guidelines, and it’s also a good idea to plan your meal plan around the recipes you should eat first.
Meal prep storage containers
The right meal prep containers are essential to keeping food fresh all week. I started with plastic containers and what I had available. Since then, I’ve evolved to glass containers, and now that’s what I recommend for ultimate freshness. See this post with my favorite glass meal prep containers for a complete list.
Here are a few of my must-haves.
- Mason Jars. I use these for mason jar salads, overnight oats, parfaits, spices, and sauces, and to store just about everything. I use 32-ounce mason jars and 16-ounce mason jars. Don’t forget the plastic mason jar lids.
- Single-compartment glass containers. My favorites are Simply Store Pyrex Containers, Ello 30-ounce snap-lid containers, and these 36-ounce snap-lid containers.
Beginner Meal Prep Tips
After so many years of trying out all the different tips and hacks, these are the ones that worked out the best when first starting meal prep.
- Don’t try to meal prep everything. This is the #1 tip I give to people, starting with meal prep. It’s important to start slow and then add on as you get comfortable.
- Focus on meals that will make the most significant difference in your week. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned meal prepper, one of the best pieces of advice I can give, especially if you’re overwhelmed or short on time, is to focus on the meal that will help the most during the week. So, if you struggle with lunches, then start with some of those recipes.
- Put it on your calendar. You’ll need time for meal planning, grocery shopping, and preparing meals. If you’re not used to doing this, you’ll need to block chunks of time to ensure all 3 of these things are a priority during the week. Have a running list of favorites. This is something I recommend to new and experienced meal preppers alike. There’s no need to try new recipes every single week.
- Wear comfortable shoes. Being on your feet for a couple of hours does not feel good on the back.
- Have music ready or your favorite show on. Catch up on your favorite shows during meal prep time. I do this, and now I look forward to meal prep to watch some Bravo reruns!
- Try to put everything in clear containers or label, so everybody knows what’s in the refrigerator.
- Keep your meal plan handy, so you don’t forget what to eat that day.
- Freeze food you’re not able to eat.
- Save your meal plans (and grocery lists). Type it into a google doc and save it in google drive. Over time, you’ll have a collection to pull from, making the entire process much more manageable.
- If you feel overwhelmed or short on time, know that you can adjust meal prep to meet your needs and situation. Start small with meal prep, and as you become comfortable, add more on. Once you start to experience the benefits of having food ready, I know you’ll want to keep going.
- There isn’t a right or wrong way to meal prep, and it’s really about what works for you.
How to Meal Prep For The Week
Sunday food prep day (depending on the meals) usually takes about 2-4 hours to complete. The key is planning your day ahead of time. This way, you can get right into it without thinking about where to start. Here are step-by-step instructions for planning out your meal prep day. Keep in mind, yours might look different depending on the recipes you use.
Step 1: Put together a meal plan and grocery shopping list. Do not try to meal prep without doing this first; don’t do it. Also, it’s helpful to do both of these tasks before meal prep day. If you try to do everything on Sunday, you’ll be exhausted before even starting.
Step 2: Clean your kitchen and gather supplies. The goal is to start meal prep day ready! Nothing is more frustrating than wasting time looking for containers and trying to find room in a disorganized fridge or spending precious energy cleaning dishes on the morning of meal prep. Get that all done the night before.
Step 3: Start slow cooker recipes first. Those take the longest to cook, so getting them started makes sense.
Step 4: Then, start cooking any ingredients you’ll use for other recipes. For example, I need to cook the quinoa and hard-boiled eggs for my Protein Power Mason Jar Salad, so I get those going immediately.
Step 5: While those ingredients are cooking, I’ll start a dinner recipe. For example, I’ll make taco meat or prep a meatloaf recipe. Or, maybe I’ll prep vegetables for a sheet pan dinner later in the week.
Step 6: Then, I put together the mason jar salads. If I’m short on time then these salads are made first because it’s a priority to have lunches made for the week.
Step 7: After the slow cooker recipe cooks, let it cool slightly, then store it in the refrigerator (or freezer). The slow cooker recipes I typically make on meal prep days are shredded chicken or other shredded meat recipes I plan to use in other recipes during the week. For example, shredded Buffalo chicken on subs and later in macaroni and cheese.
Step 8: If you have the energy, prep the slow cooker insert with another recipe for the next day. Then, I’ll store the insert in the refrigerator and get it started in the morning. If I don’t plan to eat the slow cooker recipe until later in the week, I’ll put everything into a large freezer bag and stick it in the freezer. I’ll take it out the day before we eat it, then dump it into the insert the morning of, and continue with the recipe.
Step 9: After you’re done with meal prep, clean up the entire kitchen. Then, sit back and bask in the glory of accomplishment! It feels fantastic going into the workweek prepared with healthy meals!
The Best Meal Prep Recipes
Here are my favorite easy meal prep recipes! All are family-friendly and quick to prepare.
Breakfast Recipes
See all of my meal prep breakfast recipes.
Other meal prep posts:
That’s how to meal prep for the week. What are some questions you have about weekly meal prep? Do you have any tips to share?
Sukanya says
Hey, I had a question. Doesn’t the food go bad after some days? And the food in bags could create a strange smell amalgamated from the different chopped vegetables and fruits?
Tammy Kresge says
I never had an issue with food going bad within 5 days or any strange smells.
diane says
Tammi, when you prep your shredded chicken for the week, do you measure out 3 to 4 ounces per bag for your dinner menus? Thank you for the terrific posts. I enjoy them and look forward to using them and your posts on my weight loss journey.
mitali says
Thank you so much for this. Great post!
Sienna Eskildsen says
Thank you so much for this. I’m a lazy college student with no ideas on how to make healthy food. I won’t be limited to ramen anymore ?
Bethany says
Very interesting! I am interested to know how you keep the cucumber and peppers from drying out. Even if I put them in a sealed container in the fridge, they don’t go off, but they don’t retain that fresh cut look that my kids have become used to…
Amy says
I’m still unsure… Does all this go in the fridge or freezer?? If freezer, do the oats defrost okay and taste okay? Do the veggies taste okay after being defrosted, or if in the fridge, do they go soggy by the last day??
Erin says
When I make meals, I put the next day’s serving (s) in the fridge and anything beyond tomorrow goes in the freezer. Every day I rotate from freezer to fridge so things can thaw.
Snacks just stay in the fridge all week. I find fruits and veggies keep well for a week, especially if washed and cut. I do triage though – things like apples, oranges, and blueberries will get eaten later in the week, but raspberries and blackberries need to be eaten in a couple of days. This is all trial and error and I continue to learn what keeps and how.
Karen says
Thanks for the very informative post!
Amanda says
My Hubby eats cottage cheese and yogurt as a snack(not together). Could I measure these out for the week? Or would they spoil faster?
Erin says
I do this all the time – hummus and applesauce too. There are great small containers for this at my grocery store and Target.
Margaret says
Do not like the incredible amount of plastic used…. would all this work in glass?
Tammy Kresge says
Yes it would.
Ghazaal says
I found this blog while thinking about doing weekly food prep…and I’m hooked !!! Thanks for taking the time to blog about all these great ideas and strategies to make life easier and healthy eating more attainable ! Love all the ideas, have already started making boxes and freezer bags ! Thanks again !
Sharyn says
I love this post and am happy to be “back” on the wagon :-).
I make homemade hummus in the Vitamix (BY FAR the best and easiest recipe ever) and portion in 2 oz. jello shot containers (sadly I don’t make jello shots). It’s the perfect amount with carrots. My daughter likes them for school, too.
I also add overnight oats in mason jars to my prep list (and yes, I use homemade almond milk made in the Vitamix – don’t hate). I swear half the time all you can see in my fridge is mason jars.
I recently bought an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker and it has changed my life even more than planning for the slow cooker. I can have almost ANY recipe ready in under an hour. As long as I’m planned out and shopping, I can cook almost every day (it also has a slow cooker function). I can also make up to 18 hard boiled eggs (which I have done for parties) in about 10 minutes. You should check it out!
Carrie says
Im just wondering about how well the food stays preserved after being divided up? Ex: Do you freeze or just refrigerate your daily raw chicken bags?
Waleska says
Love this article! I was wondering where to start between healthy, family, work and time and this just make my day!
Kim says
Hi, I have just found your page all the way here over in Australia and quickly made it one of my favourites. I just have a quick question (probably the first of many to come). With your vegetable snack packs, how do you stop the carrot and cucumber type vegies from drying out during the week?
Thanks
Em says
Thank you so much for sharing this with us. It has made my life so much easier and makes me motivated too. I am curious to know if I it’s a good idea to Cook week’s worth of food in a day too? I mean food prep has made my life a lot easier but you think it’s a good idea to cook chicken,beef, rice in a day and refrigerate the container for week and consume it everyday? I work 70 hours a week and barely get a day off. I thought if I could cook one day of the week that’s be great.
Sharon says
Great post! I just started doing this myself to try and change my eating habits. I started with mason jar salads just for lunch and then expanded to jar salads for lunch & dinner. I found that a bit boring so then I changed to salads and soups to interchange for lunch and dinner. I’ve been drinking a nutritional drink for breakfast (usually Carnation Instant breakfast or Boost) because I hate cooking and I don’t have a lot of time. I was considering expanding my repertoire and making green smoothies the night before to have for breakfast and another in the afternoon for a snack. BUT I was also thinking of planning out my snacks in advance because I do snack several times through the day and I need something healthy on hand. I’m going to start planning more in advance to try and incorporate your ideas. Thanks a lot!
Kristina says
How do you prepare the chicken in the crockpot for all your recipes? I have 4 recipes this week that I can use shredded chicken for. I’d like to make all the chicken ahead of time tomorrow. Do you just throw in the chicken with salt and pepper? Do you use any water or chicken broth?
Kristina says
I found the recipe 🙂
M says
How do you keep things fresh through Friday? I feel like if I put the mason jar salads or sliced vegetables together on Sunday, they’d be slimy and inedible by Tuesday night. Unfortunately, working and going to school full time, Sunday would be my only day to prep/pack. Right now I rely heavily on take out during the week and would love to be able to change that.
Tammy Kresge says
I have never had my mason jar salads or veggies go slimy. My advice would be to makes sure all the moisture is removed. But everything should last all week no problem.
UpstateNYer says
@M – I think Tammy’s suggestion here states that by using mason jars – not plastic containers for her salad – and making sure your veggies, especially lettuce/spinach are totally dry before placing in the jar – will keep your salad crisp not mushy all week long. It is the type of tight seal the mason jar has.
Pascale S says
If you make the mason jar salads exactly in the order that Tammy suggests, they will last nearly 7 days and stay as crispy fresh as day 1. Dressing at the bottom, tougher veggies next, working up to greens – I fill as full as I can and close them. They are WONDERFUL – every time someone at works sees me eating one, they are amazed and jealous and make me share the link on how to prepare them!! THANK YOU.
kathleen rose says
Love the salads in a jar!
Erin Strait says
New to OYS, but we have mason jars with plastic screw on tops from storing homemade salsa, but want to re-purpose for salads. We don’t like the metal tops because we find they rust in the dishwasher. Do you have any experience with plastic screw on tops and mason jar salads staying fresh??
Susan Johnson says
I use plastic screw tops and they work as well. No problem with the mason jar salad. Just be sure to layer your salad as descrifbed in the post finishing with the lettuce or spinach (I use spinach) on top.
Lesley Kenny says
Also do not put any dressing on the salads. I have had great success with mason jar salads and usually put the lettuce or in my case spinach in last. Hope it helps.
Lesley
Lisa Okeefe says
how do you do butternut squash in the crockpot?
Tammy Kresge says
That post is coming soon 🙂
Jenny says
Great post! I am just starting to cook, eat more vegan (I’m a vegetarian), and this is just what I need to learn. I love the idea to have the same breakfast and lunch for a week. That certainly makes it feel doable!
I found steel cut oats that take 5 min in the microwave so you should check that out. It changed my life! That did and getting a slow cooker!
Also, I am learning what staples are for the diet I want and that is making shopping get easier since I have my home stocked with dry goods and spices I need.
How would you adjust if you are out of town for the weekend? My biggest concern is falling off track because of this. Any advice would be great!
Debi says
Jenny … Can you pls share ideas that you feel would work being a vegetarian? I am a pescatarian but would love more options to make ahead besides salads.
Katie says
Hi Debi, I’m vegan and love cooking soups, stews and casseroles for freezing. The best thing is that they are usually one-pot-wonders and it’s easy to substitute different vegetables or beans based on preference. Also, I freeze portions of brown rice or quinoa that I often add to the meals. Other tips to add variation are to add store-bought veggie sausages, fried tofu or tempeh cubes, or any other mock meats when the meals have defrosted before they start to heat up. (They can be cooked and frozen in with the original meal too though.)
I often just make up a big batch of whatever I’m cooking and build my freezer stock. I currently use plastic freezer-friendly bags but want to invest in more environmentally friendly alternatives. Once I’ve been doing this for a few months, I have a huge selection of meals to choose from so I don’t get bored. I always name and date them. All frozen food somehow ends up looking the same!
I have got out of my habit lately, used up all my freezer stock and have been flying by the seat of my pants. It’s not a pleasant way to live and I constantly feel ill-prepared and behind in every part of my life, just from not having my meals taken care of. Even my laundry is suffering! Found OYS today and am inspired to get ahead again! Also inspired to make a week’s worth of fridge snacks and trial freezing my smoothies (once I’m happy with a few recipes).
Sidharth says
As a guy, I can say this works for us too. (Am seeing only women posting so wanted to have our gender give some feedback as well) I am amazed with this concept and love doing this. Due to a busy lifestyle, I constantly find myself eating outside (to save time but ends up being very expensive) or eating easy to make, unhealthy meals at home which lack alot of key nutrients that i need. You are so right, when you are hungry, it is hard to focus and you easily regret doing something later on because you are too hungry to care at the moment. I still include red-meat (altho rarely and on special occasions) but it has allowed me to watch my diet, eat healthy, as well as eat food that are good for me. I lost 39lbs because i can eat right and save alot of money becasue i always have tasty, healthy meals ready to eat at work, making me spend money to eat out. 3 months into this system and love every moment of it. Thank you
Tammy Kresge says
Thanks so much for chiming in!