Close
Don’t jump ship on your meal prep when you’re super busy! Instead, tweak your meal-prep plan to maximize your time. Focus on tasks that yield big returns to help you eat healthy during the week. Maybe you won’t have time to get everything done on Sunday, but any time spent prepping meals for the week ahead is time well spent, even if it’s only 30 minutes. Here we break down easy meal-prep steps you can do even on your busiest days and offer up two 30-minute example plans for streamlining your lunches, dinner and snacks for the week.
Optimize Your Meal Plan and Shopping List
In order to cut down on time, streamline your meal plan and to-do list. A little bit of strategic prep can go a long way to help you eat healthy all week.
- Be Recipe Savvy
Choose recipes and meals that use ingredients you can prep once and use multiple times. Trim Brussels sprouts to be used in three different dinners-a pizza using store-bought dough, a convenientone-pot pastaand an easy-cleanupsheet-pan meal. Or cook a batch ofroasted vegetablesto use as toppers for quick quinoa bowls or as a filling for tacos or wraps.
- Shop with Shortcuts in Mind
On weeks when you’re crunched for time, go for already-prepped convenience items at the store that you might not normally buy. Healthy shortcuts like microwavable brown rice pouches, peeled and chopped vegetables, washed and chopped salad greens, or a rotisserie chicken can save you serious time in the kitchen. And take advantage of theeasy pantry itemsyou’ll likely already have on hand, like canned beans, dried pasta and canned tomatoes.
7-Day Pantry Staples Meal Plan
Meal-Prep Tasks You Can Do in 30 Minutes or Less
You don’t need a full Sunday afternoon to meal prep for the week. There are a number of tasks you can easily knock out during a 30-minute window. Or if a half hour feels too long, try one of the shorter 5- or 15-minute tasks. The keys are to narrow your focus (so you don’t start what you can’t finish) and to commit to tasks that will save you the most hassle during the week. Write down a quick prep to-do list to stay organized and on track.
5-Minute Meal Prep
15-Minute Meal Prep
30-Minute Meal Prep
If you can’t fit in everything you’d like to in one prep session, see where you can work in some additional prep throughout the week.In the morning as your coffee brews, tackle one of the 5-minute tasks mentioned above.On the way home from work, pick up a rotisserie chicken or another protein from your grocer’s prepared foods section.While dinner cooks, chop extra vegetables for lunch or dinner the next day or get a batch of overnight oats goingin your slow cookerfor easy breakfasts all week.
Try It Out: 30-Minute Meal-Prep Plan
How to Meal-Prep a Week’s Worth of Grab-&-Go Lunches and Snacks
In 30 minutes, you can prep your lunches and snacks for the whole week. Here you’ll makeBasic QuinoaandLean & Spicy Taco Meatto use in easy taco bowls for lunch, and theHomemade Trail Mixfor a satisfying snack.
Step 1: Boil Water & Chop Onions
Step 2: Cook Quinoa & Taco Meat
Add quinoa to the boiling water, reduce to a simmer and cover. As the quinoa simmers, cook the taco meat as directed.
Step 3: Assemble Snack Containers
While the taco meat simmers, combine ingredients for theHomemade Trail Mixin a bowl and divide into 5 single-serving snack-size containers or bags. Reach for no-prep fruits, like apples, bananas and clementines, as your other daily snack.
Step 4: Assemble Lunch Containers
After the quinoa and taco meat cool, divide one serving of each into 5 portable lunch containers. Top each with 1/3 cup canned black beans (drained and rinsed) and your favorite salsa. Wait to add other toppings, like shredded cheese or greens, until you’re ready to eat.
How to Meal-Prep for Three Easy Weeknight Dinners
Step 1: Wash & Prep Your Greens
Step 2: Prep Stir-Fry Veggies
Rinse and slice 2 red bell peppers and 1 yellow bell pepper. You’ll use these in thePotsticker & Vegetable Stir-FryandSheet-Pan Chicken Fajitas. Trim and halve the snow peas for the potsticker stir-fry recipe. Refrigerate the veggies together in an airtight container until ready to use.
Step 3: Prep & Store Cabbage
Rinse a small head of napa cabbage, removing any bruised outer leaves. Cut out the core and coarsely chop the leaves. You will need 4 cups for the potsticker stir-fry. Refrigerate in a zip-top bag or airtight container lined with a paper towel until ready to use.
Step 4: Prep Onions
Slice 2 yellow onions. You’ll use half of the onions for the chicken fajita recipe and the other half for the skillet gnocchi recipe. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use.
Step 5: Prep Chicken
Cut and slice the chicken breasts into strips for chicken fajitas. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!Tell us why!OtherSubmit
Was this page helpful?
Thanks for your feedback!
Tell us why!OtherSubmit
Tell us why!
