Healthy meal prepping is a simple way to make nutritious eating easier, save time during the week, and build healthier habits. By planning and preparing some of your meals ahead of time, you can spend less time cooking each day and make it easier to stick to your wellness goals.
(Affiliate Disclosure) This post contains affiliate links where, if you make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
How to start meal prepping as a beginner
Start by keeping things simple so you don’t feel overwhelmed.
1. Start small
- Begin with leftovers: Put an extra plate of food for dinner and put it in containers for lunch the next day. Or you can freeze it for a couple of days from now.
- Prep just 2 to 3 days at a time: Don’t prep food for the whole week just in case your schedule changes or you decide you don’t want it and it will waste food.
- Next time you cook a meal you already love, make double or triple portions to freeze.
2. Plan your meals and grocery list
- Check what you have first: Go through your fridge and clean out old and unusable items. Also, so you don’t rebuy items you already have.
- Pick versatile ingredients: Choose basic proteins like chicken or hamburger, complex carbs like rice and potatoes, and sturdy roasted vegetables.
- Make your shopping list strict: Stick to what you need at the store and don’t buy extras.
3. Choose beginner-friendly methods
- All-in-one meals: These would be single recipes that will all fit in one bowl, like stir-fry, pasta mixes, or sheet pan meals where it’s all cooked together and mixed into one bowl.
- Slow cooker or batch cooking: this is how to cook large portions of food all at once to freeze.
- Keep wet ingredients separate, like sauces, tomatoes, onions. This is so your food doesn’t get soggy.
4. Invest in the right storage
- Get clear airtight containers
- Check out these Here
- Label and date your food.
What is the easiest food to meal prep?
The easiest foods to prep include pasta bowls, rice bowls, and slow cooker recipes. Then again, it might just be easier to make an extra plate every night and freeze it for the next week’s lunches.
How many days a week should you meal prep
You should meal prep according to your own schedule. If you don’t have a schedule then the meal a night might be an idea. Or you could plan to make 2 to 3 meals and freeze them all. You could choose to make an extra meal 2 to 3 days a week and freeze the whole meal, so you have more options.
How long should meal prepping take
Meal prepping should not take more than 3 to 4 hours for a whole week’s worth of food.
Time breakdown by prepping style
- Quick basic prep 1-2 hours: focuses on simple assembly, using pre-chopped vegies, batch cooking, or just prepping lunches.
- Standard weekly prep: Includes multitasking with multiple appliances.
- Complex gourmet prep: Includes building complex dishes from scratch, with high variety across breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Tips to speed up your prep
- Multitask: Use multiple appliances at the same time
- Keep it simple: Choose one recipe at a time
- Start small: Pack lunches from your dinners the night before.
Why is meal prepping hard?
I find meal prepping hard because my schedule always changes, and I end up wasting food. I might try a recipe, and it turns out bad, so I can’t freeze it. Or I make too much, and it goes to waste.
Meal prepping feels hard because of all the preparation that needs to go into it. It has heavy expenses of time, planning, and executive function before you can even eat.
What is the 3-3-3 rule for meal prepping
The 333 rule for meal prepping is a simplified grocery shopping and meal planning framework designed to remove decision fatigue and balance macros.
How it works
Instead of buying tons of ingredients and spending a whole day cooking, you limit what you buy to:
3 protien sources
3 carb or grain sources
3 fat sources
You woulld typically pick a few fruits and other sources as well.
Why people try this
- Some say it cuts grocery costs and saves money
- Others say it cuts down on thinking time at the store
- It acts as an easy way to hit all your nutrients and saves time, as well as reduces the need for strict dieting,
Conclusion
In conclusion, food and meal prepping can save time and money. It can also enhance healthy habits already in place, and it can make sure you are eating what you want to be eating instead of everything in the fridge.
