The key to successful meal prepping is to make the most of the time you are most motivated to cook to ensure you have healthy, nutritious, delicious and filling meals ready for when you are not.
A weekly meal prep plan can take many forms, from the classic protein/grain/veg trifecta that can be mixed and matched at will to large scale batch cooking that is frozen and enjoyed as and when you please.
However you choose to meal prep, here are three handy tools that can make your meal prep easier.
Glass Storage Containers
The key to any successful meal prep is the storage, as it needs to survive being frozen and heated up again, as well as keep your meals fresher for as long as possible.
Many plastic tubs are not up to the task, as they tend to warp after being heated in the microwave, so spend a little extra and get a good set of glass containers. Keep in mind that you will need at least seven of these for a weekly prep, ideally with a few extra if you freeze meals.
Large Cooking Sheets
An increasingly popular, fast meal prep solution is the traybake, a concept that is as simple to describe as they are to make. A traybake is all of your protein and veg components thrown into a cooking tray with sauces and spices before being baked.
They are so very simple, but incredibly delicious and versatile, and can be scaled up to where you can make a week’s worth of dinners in just an hour.
Slow Cooker
Essentially required if you want to batch cook dinners, slow cookers let you start the day with meal prep and have a huge, delicious dinner waiting for you at the end.
Aim for a larger slow cooker if you can; anything under four litres is unlikely to be enough for a week’s worth of food, put your ingredients in, switch it on and let it do its thing.
Slow cookers are incredibly versatile and there is only one important tip to remember; let the cooker do its thing; don’t be tempted to open the lid and release the heat.