60 Healthy Meal Prep Ideas – Love and Lemons
Busy week? These meal prep ideas are here to help! With tips and recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, they make eating healthy, delicious meals easy.
Is anyone else trying to get in a new meal prep routine this fall? Jack and I took some time off last week for an end-of-summer trip to Michigan. It was so fun and relaxing, but when we got back, I realized just how busy the next few months are going to be. Thankfully, I have a full arsenal of healthy meal prep ideas to help us get through it. 🙂
In case you’re also having a busy fall, I’m sharing over 60 of my healthy meal prep ideas today. They include meal prep recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and they cater to a variety of meal prep styles and preferences. Do you like to prep components on the weekend to use in different ways throughout the week? Plenty of these meal prep ideas will catch your eye. Do you prefer to make a full recipe and reheat it when you’re ready to eat? I’ve got meal prep ideas for you, too! No matter your style, I hope these tips and recipes help you save money and eat well this season. Bon appétit!
Healthy Meal Prep Ideas for Breakfast
On a busy morning, there’s nothing better than having a healthy breakfast prepped and ready to go. P.S. Many of these breakfast meal prep recipes can also double as snacks!
Overnight Oats
Don’t have time to make hot oatmeal in the morning? Mix up these overnight oats the night before! Stored in a Mason jar, they’re a perfect grab-and-go breakfast.
Hard-Boiled Eggs
Left unpeeled, hard-boiled eggs keep well in the fridge for up to 5 days. Make a big batch on Sunday, and you’ll have a protein-packed breakfast ready for every day of the week!
Chia Seed Pudding
This easy pudding is packed with protein, fiber, and healthy fats. Before you eat, pile on fresh fruit, coconut flakes, and granola to take it over the top.
Mini Frittata Muffins
Store these egg and veggie muffins in the fridge for up to 3 days for a quick, healthy breakfast.
Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
I love starting my day with one of these soft, nourishing breakfast cookies. They keep well at room temperature for a few days, and they freeze perfectly for up to 3 months!
Homemade Granola
Serve it with your favorite yogurt or a splash of almond milk and fresh fruit.
Healthy Banana Bread
Store it at room temperature for up to 4 days. After that, freeze slices to have on hand for busy mornings. ~30 seconds in the microwave are all it takes to thaw a piece of this moist, warmly-spiced bread.
Vegan Breakfast Burrito
These vegan breakfast burritos are filled with my tofu scramble instead of scrambled eggs, which makes them 1) super flavorful and 2) freezer-friendly! Reheat one in the microwave for a delicious, satisfying breakfast.
Pumpkin Muffins
Freeze a batch for quick, cozy breakfasts.
Salad and Bowl Meal Prep Recipes
These healthy meal prep recipes are my favorite ones to pack for lunch. They’re filled with fresh veggies and herbs, so they’re light and flavorful, but ingredients like whole grains, beans, chickpeas, and/or avocado make them substantial enough to fill me up.
Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Roasted tomatoes, olives, and a homemade Italian dressing fill this hearty salad with complex flavors. You can prep the whole thing ahead of time – just hold the herbs until right before you eat.
Black Bean and Corn Salad
This zesty salad actually improves as it sits in the fridge, so it’s a great one to make on a Sunday and enjoy throughout the week.
Broccoli Pesto Quinoa Salad
This quinoa salad is my ideal lunch! It’s fresh & filling, topped with blanched broccoli, lemony pesto, crispy chickpeas, crunchy veggies & avocado.
Orzo Salad
I had this one on repeat throughout the summer! I liked to serve it as a side dish with dinner one night and eat it for lunch for the next couple of days.
Sesame Soba Noodles
This recipe is one of my all-time favorite meal prep ideas. The nutty sesame dressing tastes fantastic on a wide variety of veggies. Feel free to toss in whatever you have on hand!
Kale Salad with Carrot-Ginger Dressing
Unlike tender lettuces, kale holds up nicely once it’s dressed, making this salad perfect for meal prep. Dried cranberries, toasted seeds, and the bright carrot-ginger dressing pack it with fun textures and flavors.
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
I especially love making this flavorful salad in late summer and early fall, when tomatoes, peppers, and fresh herbs are at their best.
Vegan Burrito Bowls
Meal prep all the components on the weekend, and you’ll look forward to lunches all week! For a fun veggie twist, substitute cauliflower rice for the regular rice.
Best Buddha Bowl
A sunny turmeric-tahini sauce takes this veggie and brown rice bowl over the top.
Packable Sandwiches, Wraps, and Rolls
Most sandwiches are best on the day they’re made, so I like to prepare just the fillings in advance. That way, I can quickly assemble the sandwich on the day I plan to eat it, either in the morning before I head out the door, or, if I happen to be home, right before I eat.
If you’re taking a sandwich on the go, wrap it tightly in foil or a reusable sandwich wrap so that it holds together until lunchtime.
Best Egg Salad
My bright, briny egg salad keeps well for up to 3 days in the fridge. Layer it into a delicious sandwich with watercress or pea shoots and poppy pickled onions.
Chickpea Salad Sandwich
A vegan twist on a pan bagnat, this sandwich is loaded with a hearty chickpea salad, olives, basil, and lots of fresh veggies.
Caprese Sandwich
Replace the mozzarella with sliced avocado and slathers of vegan pesto to make this recipe vegan.
Healthy Lunch Wraps
These zingy wraps are one of my go-to meal prep recipes right now. Fully assembled, they’ll keep for a day or two in the fridge, but if you prefer to prep for the entire week at once, you can store the components separately and put the wraps together throughout the week.
Chickpea Shawarma Wraps
This recipe has a number of components, so it takes some time to meal prep, but, trust me, it is SO worth it. Stuffed with creamy hummus, pickled onions, spiced roasted chickpeas, and more, these satisfying plant-based wraps are bursting with flavor.
Fresh Spring Rolls
Good news! You can assemble these peanut spring rolls entirely in advance, so they’re great for busy workdays. Served with extra peanut sauce for dipping, they’re such a fresh, yummy lunch.
Soups and Stews
If you ask me, soups and stews are some of the best easy meal prep ideas. Here’s why:
- They’re great for both lunch and dinner.
- They often taste better on the second or third day, after the flavors have had a chance to mingle.
- And they freeze super well.
Get ahead on your weekly meal prep by making a double batch of soup this weekend. Eat half this week, and freeze the rest for a busy week down the road. (These are my favorite containers for freezing soups and stews. They’re also perfect for prepping salads and bowls! Win-win.)
Easy Vegetarian Chili
This smoky chili is a perfect one-pot meal! Thanks to the beans, it’s packed with protein, and it’s also filled with veggies like corn, onion, and peppers. If you like, top it with avocado and pickled red onions.
Easy Coconut Curry
If you’re looking for easy meal prep recipes, add this curry to your rotation ASAP. It’s super simple to make, and it tastes just as good on day 3 as it does on the day it’s made.
Many-Veggie Vegetable Soup
Adapt this recipe to use whatever veggies you happen to have on hand. Squash? Spinach? Bell peppers? They’d all be great here.
Cannellini Beans and Greens
Make this recipe on a lazy Sunday when you’re hanging out at home. It takes some time, but it’s almost entirely hands-off.
Best Lentil Soup
This soup’s lightly creamy broth and rich curry flavor have made it a Love & Lemons reader favorite. It keeps well for up to 4 days in the fridge and freezes like a dream.
Black Bean Soup
Take your weekly meal prep to the next level by baking homemade cornbread to pair with this soup. They’re a match made in heaven, and both freeze perfectly.
More Freezer-Friendly Meal Prep Recipes
Soups and stews aren’t the only healthy meal prep ideas that freeze well! Make casseroles, patties, and more in bulk and freeze them to reheat on busy weeknights.
Easy Baked Ziti
What’s better than saucy, cheesy comfort food on a chilly fall night?! To freeze this recipe, assemble the casserole up until the point of baking. Cover and freeze it in the baking dish. To reheat, bake, covered in foil, at 350°F for one hour, or until warmed through. Uncover it for the last 20 minutes of baking to brown the cheese on top.
Crispy Baked Falafel
Jam-packed with herbs and spices, these homemade falafel balls are SO darn flavorful! Freeze them after baking. Then, reheat in a 400°F-oven for about 10 minutes, or until crisp and heated through.
Easy Black Bean Burger
Freeze the cooked patties for up to 2 months. Reheat by baking them in a 400°F-oven until heated through, about 10-20 minutes. Then, pile them onto buns with your favorite fixings! I recommend pickles, onion, lettuce, tomato, and a big slather of chipotle sauce.
Best Vegetarian Lasagna
Stuffed with roasted veggies, this recipe is a healthier version of the classic comfort food. To freeze and reheat it, follow the same method as the one listed for the baked ziti above.
Homemade Taquitos
A super-fun appetizer or light dinner! After baking, freeze them for up to a month. To reheat, pop them in a 400°F oven for about 25 minutes, or until crisp and warmed through. Enjoy them plain, or serve them with plenty of salsa and guac.
Basic Healthy Meal Prep Ideas
Up to this point, I’ve shared healthy meal prep recipes for complete dishes. But one of my favorite ways to meal prep is actually by preparing components – not full recipes – that I can use in a variety of ways throughout the week. A pot of rice, baked tofu, a flavorful sauce…
I recommend this method if you don’t want to eat the exact same thing every day of the week. Here are some of my favorite components to prepare, along with my go-to ways to use them:
Whole Grains
Perfect for bulking up grain bowls and salads, serving with curries and stir-fries, or tossing into fried rice. These grains are the ones I meal prep most often:
Plant-Based Proteins
Toss them into bowls, salads, stir-fries, noodle or pasta dishes, and soups! These are the protein sources I like to meal prep:
Roasted Veggies
Serve them as a side dish, add them to a salad or bowl, fold them into tacos or burritos, stir them into pasta, bake them into frittatas…the options are endless! These veggies all keep well if you roast them ahead of time:
Flavorful Sauces
Use them on salads, grain bowls, tacos, burritos, sandwiches, and more! If you meal prep a flavorful sauce, it will punch up so many of your meals throughout the week. Here are some of my favorites:
More Healthy Meal Prep Ideas
Want more meal prep inspiration? Check out one of these posts next:
Meal Prep Ideas: Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Serves 6
We love this Mediterranean Quinoa Salad as a healthy meal prep recipe. Many of the components – the quinoa, tomatoes, dressing, and the chickpeas – can be made in advance.
- 3 cups cooked quinoa
- 1 recipe Roasted Tomatoes
- 1 cup sliced Persian cucumbers
- ¾ cup crumbled feta cheese
- ¾ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
- ½ cup diced red onion
- ⅓ cup toasted pine nuts
- 1 recipe Italian Dressing, plus 2 additional garlic cloves, grated
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Pinches of red pepper flakes
- 1 cup roasted chickpeas
- 2 cups arugula
- 1 cup mixed basil & mint
-
In a large bowl, combine the quinoa, roasted tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, olives, onion, and pine nuts.
-
Toss to combine, then drizzle with the dressing and toss again. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and a few pinches of red pepper flakes, and toss again.
-
If you are meal prepping this recipe, add the roasted chickpeas, arugula, and herbs just before serving.
Note: the quinoa and roasted tomatoes can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the fridge until ready to use.
Make this recipe vegan by omitting the cheese.
This article was originally published by loveandlemons.com. Read the original article here.
