Meal prep cooking has become the norm for me and has allowed us as a family to eat healthier, save money with our grocery bill and limited cooking throughout the week, which has resulted in stress free family time. Since every meal is planned, we only need to warm up the food and serve.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not always eating healthy, setting a treible example for my kids.
But It happens to all of us, right?
Come home from work and “enter your excuses here”
- Too tired to cook
- Not enough ingredients
- Limited time to cook because of after school activities.
So either the meal is not nutritionally healthy as you piece together a simple meal or the easy way out and order take out.
Some days I would try to cook twice as much the night before so we had something the next night. But it’s very easy to fall back into the bad cycle.
It wasn’t until we started to do a bulk cook for the week and do our meal prep in one day that we had enough food for the 2 weeks of dinners that’s when things for us as a family started to change.
It started with dinners, then snacks for the kids. We then introduced lunch serves and finally incorporating breakfasts into our meal plan to round out the weekly meal prep and freezer cooking.
In this complete guide, I’m going to be showing you how you can do the same for your family, starting with the basics you need to do your own weekly meal prep.
What is meal prep
Meal preparation or meal prep for short is preparing your meals ahead of time. Cooking large amounts of food and planning your meals a few days to a few weeks out and freezing. Some people may also refer to this type of cooking as bulk cooking or freezer cooking.
I like to look at food prep as short term and long term cooking.
Short term
Food that would be prepared 2 to 3 days in advance and kept in the fridge, I considered as short-term food prep.
Smoothies, oats and yoghurt are the type of breakfast where you can whip up a few days worth and put them in the fridge ready to go and it’s quick and easy.
Lunches are also done this way if I’m putting together a salad that may have little bit of meat or fish. I would do 3 days in advance because the greens can start to wilt. If it’s a cooked lunch, such as a Bolognese then I wouldn’t go more than four days at the very most in the fridge.
Long term
I would generally cook Large batches of food in a slow cooker, stove top or oven. Pancakes, beard, chicken and vegetable dishes, meat dishes and any food for the fussy eaters of the family 🙂 The type of food we prepare are dinners, cooked lunches or quick snacks.
Cooking part of a meal also works such as cooking chicken mince or chicken schnitzels in bulk.
The same schnitzels can be used in salad, in wrap or sandwich, with pasta and chicken parmigiana. The mince works well with nachos and spaghetti bolognese for a nutritious meal in a pinch.
Generally making between 10 to 15 servings that can be placed into containers or ziploc bags and then frozen is the first step in doing a long term meal prep.
What are the benefits of meal prepping?
Cooking large amounts of food does take time but there are benefits to getting your cooking done once a week or at the very least cooking every 3 to 4 days.
- It saves you time
I know what you are thinking. If I’m going to spend all day cooking, How is that really saving me time?
When we first started cooking in bulk, It didn’t really feel that we were saving anytime. After a couple of meal prep sessions. You get into a groove and you certainly do save time in the long run.
Especially compared to cooking dinner every night. Deciding what to cook, shopping for the ingredients, cooking the meal and then cleaning up after.
I’ve noticed time saving in all the above especially the cooking of the meal, cleaning up and of course food shopping.
Pulling out a pre prepared healthy meal from the freezer ready to heat up and eat. An absolute lifesaver for those busy days when the kids have activities after school. It becomes a no brainer as to what we’re going to eat.
- It’s easier to eat healthy
I always have good intentions to eat healthy. Trying to set a good example for our kids. But, I do definitely get lazy and It’s not helped when we don’t have enough ingredients to create a healthy meal or if pressured for time and we take the easy way out and get take-out.
Being able to plan and cook ahead healthy and nutritious meals, with the right portion sizes makes it so much easier when you cook in bulk.
Making sure every meal has a protein, vegetable and carb does take a lot of effort if you’re trying to prepare that every day.
Bulk cooking makes it easier to plan out a week’s worth of food. Making sure that every meal has protein, a good helping of vegetables and a little bit of carbs to keep a healthy balance.
Don’t forget about your snacks, use ziplock bags or small containers, to keep snacks to the correct portions sizes. It’s ok to indulge, but keeping it under control is key to not waste all the good work you’ve done creating healthy meals.
- It helps with fussy eaters
Every family has someone that just won’t eat a particular food or it needs to be prepared in a certain way like they can’t eat it raw, but it’s ok if they’re cooked and chopped up really really small.
Over time I’ve noticed our kids taste for certain foods has certainly changed. Vegetables that they used to eat in large quantities. Now simply don’t eat them or they have to be prepared in a certain way which can drive you nuts and a lot of unnecessary stress during dinner time.
Meal prepping can solve this buy having a constant supply of food made to a person’s certain taste. Absolute lifesaver!
Also for families that may have someone using a gastric tube or Peg. Moving away from the formula feed that’s normally prescribed and feeding them real food can help in more ways than you would realise such as preventing constipation, better skin and higher energy levels for example.
We have found that planning out the dietary needs ahead of time, using a slow cooker to cook large batches of food, blending it up and freezing the food in manageable amounts has removed the stress and without error.
How to meal prep with chicken
The Workload will be less when you involve the whole family. Assign tasks for preparing the food, cooking, putting food into containers and cleaning.
We’ve found out our kids absolutely love doing grown-up activities such as cooking, if you get them started now, they’re developing excellent life skills. Plus who doesn’t love it when other people cook for them 🙂
Now if you’re only preparing food for yourself then don’t worry this whole process will be easier as naturally you’ll be cooking less anyway.
It’s important when you first start out to not overwhelm yourself and cook too much and not be able to store it.
Pick 1 meal starting with a recipe that you are familiar with. The reason to start off with 1 meal is:
- If you do make a mistake with the recipe or worst you overcook it, The wastage won’t be as much.
- Storage is also a factor as the ingredients that your purchase will more than likely be fresh or some may be frozen, which you will need to store until you do your meal prep. and then when you cook your food and store it, the bulk of it will be in the freezer which can fill up quickly.
Meal Prep Calendar
First step will be to work out what you’re going to cook, is it going to be breakfast, lunch or dinner or maybe just a snack?
As a family we use a meal prep calendar. It allows us to plan up to a month of Meals including a shopping list. We then break it down to a week at a time, to make it manageable, and to work out how much food we need to buy for a weekly meal prep.
Be careful not to cook too much as you also need to store your food
Start with 7 dinners, they don’t have to be all the same meal. But, It does help that you can use some of the ingredients for more than one meal.
- Spaghetti chicken meatballs
- Chicken breast and veg
- Nachos
- Lasagne
- Stir Fry with veg
- Pulled pork
- Pizza & garlic bread
Meal prep Grocery List
Now that you have worked out how many meals you need to cook. Next step would be creating your grocery list. As a family doing one weekly shop works for us, sometimes two weeks worth of food in a shop.
The trick is to find a balance between space for the raw ingredients and space for your cooked meals.
Remember that your cooked meals will more than likely all end up in the freezer, so you need to have a fair amount of freezer space. There will be a portion of the cooking that will end up in the fridge ready to go for the next few days.
We did end up buying a stand up freezer which has worked out extremely well for us. It has 5 shelves and we can freeze raw meat, cooked meals, fruit and vegetables and bread in there. Then using the freezer in our main fridge for snacks & meals that will be used for that week. Highly recommended if you have the space.
For this example I’m going to assume you only have one fridge / freezer combo.
When putting together the grocery list don’t just buy enough for that one meal for the week. For example for spaghetti meatballs, buy enough mince that will make a whole tray full of Meatballs. This so they can be frozen and ready for using, rather than just for that one meal.
So buying 3 kilos ( 6.6 pounds ) of mince will allow you to not only make a full tray of meatballs, but also several dinners of nachos and a large lasagna.
The same would also apply to chicken pieces. It can be used with a marinade and vegetables, a stir-fry and if you really want you could potentially put some on one of the pieces on the pizza you make later in the week.
We found that by buying ingredients which can be used in several meals will save time and money. Especially when purchased in bulk during sales. But keep in mind that if meat or chicken is on sale it may have a short expiry and will need you to meal prep it quickly and freeze to get any benefit.
Food Preparation for bulk cooking
Clean the countertop and make sure that you have all the necessary utensils ready to go.
Being food safe while meal prepping is important to not contaminate any of your food especially when working with chicken. Make sure your hands are washed with soap before and after to stop the spread of salmonella.
Ideally you should have separate cutting boards. One for chicken, one for meat and one for fruit and vegetables. This will stop the spread of germs, once you are finished all the chopping boards should be cleaned with warm soapy water and disaffected spray, to kill all the germs.
TIP: Use a spatula to scrape meat and chicken that is stuck on your chopping boards. This will keep your sponges cleaner where germs can also spread.
Having the right utensils will make your job so much easier when it comes to meal prepping. Good quality knives make cutting that much easier and an 8 inch chef knife should be standard in your kitchen. So should a non stick pan, mixing bowls and measuring cup and spoons.
Cooking
In the beginning you don’t need to buy anything If you have a stove top or an oven. You can always add additional appliances down the track such as a slow cooker or pressure cooker if you ever increase your volume or want to try a different style of cooking.
TIP: Make sure your pot and pan can accommodate the quantities you’re trying to cook. If you overfill your pots and pans while cooking not only will take longer to cook but it’s also dangerous.
Stove top
If you don’t have a pot / pan that can fit all your food in, consider using a 2nd pot or pan. I wouldn’t use any more than two, to limit the risk of making a mistake with the recipe.
A better option would be to get a larger pot rather than use multiple parts as it cuts down on washing; we currently use a 3L / 3.1 quart pot.
For a frying pan look to find one that can accommodate at least one kilo of chicken or meat + vegetables. This is the limit before we split it up in two batches. We can cook 5 chicken stir fries servings or 5 nacho servings and the meat for a huge pot of spaghetti bolognese with one 1 kg of chicken or chicken mince.
Oven
One of the easiest ways we have found to double our cooking output is to use the oven at the same time as the stovetop. We have chicken meatballs and beef rissoles or a large quantity of vegetables cooking while we work on the stove top.
To cut down on using oil for food such as chicken breast fillets, chicken snitzel’s and rissoles or even burger patties sliders. Instead of using a frying pan with oilI, pop it in your oven for about 35 minutes to cook with little effort.
The more meal prep you do the faster and more efficient you will become cooking and cleaning up.
And that’s when appliances such as slow cookers or pressure cookers come into play.
I absolutely love our 7 liter / 1.8 gallon slow cooker. The simplicity of just being able to dump all your food into one big pot, turn it on and come back a hours later to have a wonderful meal ready for you to serve or freeze.
Irish stew, pulled pork, black beans and large quantities of chicken and vegetables are some of things that I cook in our slow cooker.
A Slow cooker also frees up the stove top or oven. On a typical Sunday meal prep we will definitely have three things going. The frying pan cook up some chicken mince to be used for bolognese or nachos, in the oven we cook chicken breast fillets or schnitzels and meatballs, while the slow cooker does rice and vegetables or a stew.
If you would rather finish up all the meal prep in a few hours then a pressure cooker may be your answer. Excellent in extracting flavour in a short time and condensing meals that take hours to an hour. Such as curries and meat dishes.
Storing your meals
You’re on the home stretch now! Finally you get to see the fruits of your labour. When it comes to storing the food that you have prepped, it’s important to use a container that fits your needs but also a good quality container at that.
Making sure your containers are microwave and dishwasher safe because if you store meat that has oil or some sort of red sauce, I find that they get stained and washing them by hand it’s an absolute pain and that’s why it;s important for them to be dishwasher safe.
We use a combination of different size containers as well as zip lock bags to store our meals so they fit comfortably in the fridge and freezer.
NB: Tomato based sauces will stain plastic containers over time.
Containers
The cost of containers can definitely add up. If you buy good quality containers, they will last you a very long time. Some of our containers are 5 years old, other than stains from sauces the seals work perfectly fine and they have certainly seen their fair share of the freezer and microwave.
The 1 – 2 litre containers are quite versatile. You can use them to store multiple meals either bulk or if you pre freeze portions. Freeze a tray of cooked chicken breasts flat first, then layer them in the container with backing paper in between each layer. They won’t stick and will be easier to make your meals by only defrosting what you need.
A 1 litre container can hold a dinner for 3 to 4 people depending on the meal. Like when we make nachos on the weekend for that last minute midweek dinner. All we have to do is heat it up and then add corn chips, guacamole sour cream and salsa. A meal for 4 people in 10 minutes flat, perfect when you don’t want to cook
Bento box style containers that have 2 or 3 compartments sections work well for lunches. They can help to determine the size of your portions for your vegetables, carbs and protein.
Reusable small containers to portion control your snacks is a great way to not overeat. Pre pack a weeks worth of nuts or crackers for work or school.
Zip lock bags
Reduce spillage by buying zip lock bags that have two zips to close and they generally have thicker plastic as well.
Ziplock bags are great if you have limited space in your freezer. The downside is that they’re not as durable or safe to transport as a container. And depending on the food they generally are not reusable especially if you use some sort of meat with a sauce.
We tend to use small bags for smaller quantities of cooked meat that putting inside a container would be a waste.
Ziplock bags are great if you freeze your portions of meat and then put them in a ziplock bag after so they’re loose and make it easier to take the food out.
We keep two big ziplock bags full of snacks such as oatmeal pancakes with chia seeds that the kids absolutely love. Also zucchini bread where we bake a mini loaf and cut up into serving sizes freeze and then placed into their bags so the kids can just grab them for a snack at home or for recess.
What equipment do I need to successfully meal prep?
When first starting out you don’t need a whole lot of equipment. You need somewhere to prepare your chicken meals, to cook your food and also store your wonderful healthy meals and snacks.
If you’re preparing food for one person, it’s obvious that the amount of cooking and storing of food is a lot less.
1 – 2 people you can definitely use the existing freezer in your fridge. Anymore people such as a family of 4, to give you enough variety of food you may want to consider a separate freezer to store food that is going to be cooked and also your cooked meals.
In which case to make better use of the limited space in your fridge / freezer you should only bulk cook the chicken and later defrost it and construct your meals, this way you’ll have more variety and not be limited. but to get the full benefit of bulk cooking and also the cost savings a separate freezer will be worth it in the long run
You’ll be glad to know that you pretty much have all the equipment already in your kitchen to start meal prepping. The minimum amount of equipment you need to get started to meal prep with chicken is a stove or an oven to cook the chicken. A sturdy bench top, and chopping board to cut up chicken, a knife, a frying pan to cook individual pieces of chicken or complete meals such as stir fries. An oven can be used for a healthier choice meals and also if you want to cook more in one go.
Essential equipment
- Fridge / Freezer
- Chopping board
- 8” Chefs knife
- Mixing bowls
- Scales
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cups
- Aluminium foil
- Baking paper
- Cling wrap
- Cooking utensils such as spoons and spatulas and tongs
- Colander
Cooking
- Stove / Oven
- Non-stick 10” frying pan
- Small pot
- Large pot
- Sheet pan
- Deep baking dish
Storage
- Small microwave and dishwasher safe containers for lunch meals
- Large microwave and dishwasher safe containers for dinner meals
- Large containers for storing individual choked chicken pieces
- Medium sized ziplock bags
- Large sized ziploc bags
Optional Equipment
- Dedicated freezer
- Slow cooker
- Pressure cooker
Meal Prep Chicken Recipes to try
Before we start bulk cooking you should know that not all chicken recipes work as a meal prep meal. An example would be a chicken salad. Or anything with fresh leafy greens, certainly components of that meal can be prepped but you can’t prep the whole thing and expect it to taste the same or at least have the same texture once defrosted.
You can meal prep a week’s worth of chicken with leafy greens but by the end of the week the leafy greens may spoil.
So recommend bulk cooking the chicken and freeze half and the other half depending on how many people you need to feed to make only enough for 3 – 4 day max with your leafy greens or fresh vegetables that you still want a bit of crunch too and place them in the fridge.
This way you have food for most of the week, the green will still have some crunch to them and when that runs out you’ve got more chicken waiting to be used in the freezer.
As a general rule when meal prepping chicken try to have at least 2 or 3 days worth of meals for lunch ready to go. For dinner take out two nights worth to defrost so you have something ready. Depending on how many people you have to feed it may take up a good portion of your fridge but you will have food ready to go when you need it.
Some of our go to chicken recipes that work well are
- Chicken meatballs
- Chicken schnitzel
- Chicken breast fillets with a marinade
- Chicken vegetables and rice
- Chicken stir fries
We’re also very big fans of cooking a couple of dozen chicken pieces in different marinades then freezing them and using those pieces when a quick meal is needed or to build a whole meal by adding a quick salad or some vegetables and rice.
- Merrylands
- Drumsticks
- Thigh fillet
- Breast fillet
Whichever path you take either the complete meal or prepping parts of the meal so you can cut down cooking time during the week. You should always take out the frozen chicken the night before and place it in the fridge to thaw out, giving it a good 24 to 48 hours depending on what it is before you reheat it.