Strategies to help with meal prep

 Different Ways to Meal Prep

You may think that cooking meals for the week ahead will consume a big chunk of your weekend.

However, because there are various ways to meal prep, you don’t have to stand in the kitchen for an entire Sunday afternoon. Everyone can find a suitable meal preparation style.

The most popular ways to meal-prep include:

• Make-ahead meals: Full meals cooked in advance which can be refrigerated and reheated at mealtimes. This is particularly handy for dinnertime meals.
• Batch cooking: Making large batches of a specific recipe, then splitting it into individual portions to be frozen and eaten over the next few months. These make for popular warm lunch or dinner options.
• Individually portioned meals: Preparing fresh meals and portioning them into individual grab-and-go portions to be refrigerated and eaten over the next few days. This is particularly handy for quick lunches.
• Ready-to-cook ingredients: Prepping the ingredients required for specific meals ahead of time as a way to cut down on cooking time in the kitchen.

The method that will work best for you depends on your goals and daily routine.

For instance, make-ahead breakfasts might work best if you’re looking to streamline your morning routine. On the other hand, keeping batch-cooked meals in your freezer is particularly handy for those who have limited time in the evenings.

The different meal-prepping methods can also be mixed and matched depending on your own circumstances. Start by choosing the most appealing method, then slowly experiment with the others to determine what suits you best.