In my experience meal prepping leads to greater overall satisfaction with life. There’s something so delicious about having food ready for you when you’re hungry. No scrambling around the figure out what to eat, or ordering subpar delivery. Beautiful! We all know that the time you take to meal prep on a Sunday will save you time throughout the week, but I’m not one to spend my whole day meal prepping. Especially now that I have a baby, I can’t spend all day in the kitchen, even if I wanted to. I’ve finally figured out how to quickly meal prep a bunch of meals that will last me all week. I call it easy meal prep for busy people!
The key to quick meal prepping is to 1. only bother with easy-to-make dishes, 2. supplement with a few pre-made items from the grocery store––nothing major, just things like pasta sauce, pasta, hummus, and possibly other sauces, and 3. don’t make too many (if any) full meals during your meal prep. That way what you do make becomes more versatile, and can be paired in different combinations with the other things you make and items bought from the grocery store.
Below you’ll find recipes to what I’ve been meal prepping these days, plus a breakdown of how you can mix-and-match them so that you don’t get bored eating the same meal everyday. Download a PDF guide of my meal prep for busy people here! (shopping list included) This may be my first official “meal prep for busy people” on the blog, but I do have a few other easy meal prep guides: Buddha Bowl Inspired Meal Plan, Back to School Meal Plan, and Under $30 Meal Plan. I also have a full playlist on YouTube.
- 2 broccoli crowns, chopped
- 4 cups brussels sprouts, diced
- 1 large zucchini, sliced
- 2-3 cups mushrooms, sliced
- 2-3 tablespoons oil
- ½-1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp fresh black pepper
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Place the vegetables into a large mixing bowl.
- Toss with oil, salt, and pepper.
- Spread evenly on a baking sheet, and bake for 30 minutes.
- 4 sweet potatoes
- 2 tsp oil
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Use a fork to poke holes in the sweet potato. About 3-4 pokes should do.
- Coat the potato with oil.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes until tender.
- 2 cups green lentils, sorted and rinsed
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
- 1¾ cup water
- Place all the ingredients in the Instant Pot. Stir well.
- Pressure cook 6 minutes.
- Allow it to natural pressure release fully, or at least 10 minutes
- 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups frozen or fresh corn, thawed or grilled or quick sautéed if fresh
- ¼ cup red onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded & diced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- juice of 2 limes
- 1 tbsp agave or maple syrup
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp grapeseed or olive oil
- Place the kidney beans, corn, onion, pepper, tomatoes, and cilantro in a mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl combine the lime juice, agave, curry powder, pepper, sea salt, and oil, and whisk well.
- Pour the sauce over the veggies, and stir well.
- Season to taste with more lime and salt.
- Allow it to marinate at least 1 hour before serving.
- 1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
- 2 carrots, shredded (by hand or food processor)
- ¼ cup vegan mayo
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp ume plum vinegar + more to taste
- 1 tsp celery seeds
- 2 tsp dulse seaweed flakes (optional)
- 1 nori seaweed sheet, torn into squares
- Place the chickpeas in a bowl, and mash with a fork.
- Stir in the carrots, vegan mayo, mustard, ume vinegar, celery seeds, and dulse. Season with more ume vinegar to taste.
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 cup brown rice
- 2½ cups water or vegetable stock
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp oil
- Turn the Instant Pot on to the sauté setting and toast the quinoa for about 3 minutes, or until you smell it toasting.
- Add the other ingredients and stir.
- Seal the Instant Pot, and pressure cook for 24 minutes. Let it natural release for 10 minutes then quick release.
