• Start simple with ingredients and cooking methods you have available.
• Variety is key to not getting tired of the food and burning out.
• How you store your meals matters.
  • Fridge – meals don’t last as long as freezer and cooking is required more often. Takes up less space in freezer
  • Freezer – Food last longer and you can build up a variety of foods to ensure you don’t get tired of meals.
• Methods to freezing your food
  • Wrap in aluminum foil
  • Disposable paper containers
  • Disposable vacuum sealed bags
  • Re-usable vacuum sealed bags

This guide includes the best meal prep recipes, techniques, and tips.

Imagine having a variety of healthy meals ready to eat at any moment.

As grocery prices continue to rise, these techniques will help you save money.

Additionally, the ideas found in this guide may assist in your weight loss journey.

Personally, fast food is incredibly convenient and has been a difficult habit for me to kick.

Sometimes after a long day of work, I don’t feel like cooking.

Having meals ready to go has allowed me to easily skip the unhealthy options.

Tip #1: Start Simple, But Start

Starting and taking action is the first step.

Once you’ve started, you’ll figure out what works best and you’ll make adjustments accordingly.

Tip #2: Look in Your Pantry

Look in your pantry.

Chances are you have some kind of canned food you’ve completely forgotten about.

Be creative or ask your favorite AI to create a recipe for you using the item you found.

Tip #3: Use an Easy Cooking Technique

Don’t over complicate the cooking process.

The more cooking you have to do, the more resistance you will face.

If you have a crock pot…use it.

If all you have is a single baking sheet…that works.

If you have just a single large pot…perfect!

There are meal prep recipes perfect for all these cooking techniques and more.

Meal Prep Methods

There is more than one way to meal prep.

The following section will go through the best meal prep ideas so you can find the one that works for you

Weekly Meal Prep

The weekly meal prep involves cooking a meal, you guessed it!…Every week

Usually, this meal will be cooked on the weekend and eaten throughout the work week.

This is a solid process if you want to avoid freezing your meals.

The downside of this process is a lack of variety and involves more days of cooking compared to some other techniques.

Containers for Weekly Meal Prep Technique

Glass Containers

In my opinion, glass containers are the most appetizing way to keep your food.

It just looks so nice and tasty.

For those who choose the weekly meal prep technique, glass containers are a great option.

Over the long run, you’ll save money by using glass containers.

Of course, if you’re planning on freezing your meals, glass is not ideal.

Plastic Reusable Containers

Plastic containers are similar to glass but slightly less appetizing.

They have a lower initial cost, but they will more easily crack.

You will likely need to buy a new set of plastic containers more often than the glass ones.

Similar to the glass containers, plastic is not ideal for freezing your food.

Disposable Food Container

The disposable meal containers are an amazing, no clean-up option for storing food.

They’re usually made with cardboard type material and are typically microwave safe.

Sometimes they’re made with recycled material.

Once you’ve eaten your meal, you simple throw away the used item.

The downside to this option is the continued need to buy new packs.

Weekly Freeze Method

The weekly freeze method involves cooking an amount of food you know you won’t be able to eat in one week.

This method involves only one recipe to keep things simple.

You store some of the food in the fridge for your work week.

Store the rest in the freezer.

Then, do the same thing the next week with a different recipe.

Eventually, you’ll build up a variety of foods in your freezer.

Quick Tip: Make sure you like the recipe before you make a large batch!

Containers for the Weekly Freeze Method

When saving food in the freezer, you want to avoid freezer burn.

You also want to avoid water freezing on your food and strange flavors being introduced.

The container used to store your meals can help prevent some of these common issues.

Glass Containers

Glass containers are not the best for storing your food in the freezer.

There will inevitably be air trapped in the containers which will reduce the time your food will stay fresh.

Glass containers also take up a lot of space in the freezer.

There are vacuum sealable glass and plastic containers which can help cut down some of these issues.

Reusable Plastic Containers

Similar to the glass containers, these take up a lot of space in the freezer.

They also have similar issues with length of freshness due to it not being vacuum sealed.

Disposable Food Containers

Again, similar to the glass and plastic containers, these will take up a lot of room in the freezer.

They too will have less effectiveness in maintining the quality of your food over longer periods of time.

Vacuum Sealed Bags

Vacuum seal bags are prefect for freezing your food.

They reduce the amount of ice build-up and freezer burn.

This allows your food to stay good in the freezer for longer.

Reusable Vacuum Seal Bags

Reusable vacuum seal bags are perfect for things like burritos.

When you want a burrito, you can open the bag and re-seal it when you’re done.

This is specifically good for burritos so you don’t have to vacuum seal each burrito individually.

Over the long run, this will save you money by avoiding the need to constantly buy new bags.

Burrito Method

The burrito method is pretty simple.

It involves turning your meals into burritos and freezing them.

To do this, you’ll simply add rice, potatoes, or additional protein and wrapping it all in a tortilla or wrap.

This method makes for easy storage in the freezer and simple transportation and reheating.

Containers for the Weekly Freeze Method

Reusable Vacuum Seal Bags

Aluminum Foil

Zip Lock Freezer Bags

Multiple Recipe Freezing Method

What is Meal Prep?

Meal prep is the process of making large amounts of food to be eaten throughout the week.

The idea behind meal prepping is to only cook once and pre-portion meals so they are ready to eat at any moment.

The meals are usually stored in plastic or glass containers, but can also be stored in zip-lock bags and vacuum sealable bags.

Any food not eaten within a few days can be stored in the freezer so it will last longer.

This can save you money by eating out less and making food from discounted items you buy in large quantities.

Meal prepping also helps you eat healthier and lose weight…assuming you prepped healthy food.

Another key aspect of meal prep is the process of separating your food into pre-portioned containers.

This allows you to simply grab the container out of the fridge or freezer and throw it in the microwave or take it to work.

Freezing Your Meals

Freezing meals is effective because it slows micro-organisms and molecules which prevents rotting.

Freezing your foods at 0 degrees or lower helps preserve vitamins and nutrients