Spoiler alert: prepping some ingredients and food at the beginning of the week will make your life sooooo much easier.

My tried-and-true meal prep guidelines:

1. IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE FANCY.
2. Come up with a rough meal plan for meals you want to make during the week. 
3. Grocery shop on Sundays or Mondays.
4. Clean and chop up veggies when you get home from shopping so you save on prep time during the week!
5. Prep some single-ingredient recipes (like hard-boiled eggs, sweet potatoes, roasted veggies), etc. that you can throw together in an easy meal in a pinch.
6. (interlude): turn on some jams and dance in the kitchen. Ooobviously.
7. Prep or (keep on hand) some of your favorite sauces and spices, so you can have some variation in flavors all week, even if you’re eating the same base ingredients.

Think of it this way – your life is stressful enough already, with everything you have going on. Food should NOT become another huge stressor on your plate (pun totally intended), so make it easier on yourself by doing some Meal Prep at the start of your week! You’ll thank me later. Ya welcome, friends.

So after I’ve done some meal planning and grocery shopping, on either a Sunday or Monday…

here’s an example of my Batch Cooking/Meal Prep for the week!

• 1 large protein
• 1-2 veggies, roasted / steamed / sautéed
• 1 breakfast option
• 1 batch of a starchy vegetable or grains for staying power + blood sugar balance
• 1-2 sauces or spice blends that you can use on recipes later in the week.
• Optional: chop up some veggies for recipes you’ll need later in the week to save on prep time!

Then, I’ll use these ingredients to throw together easy meals throughout the week – for quick breakfasts, take-to-work (or heat up quick) lunches, or quick dinners if I know I’m in a pinch for time! 

Check out this HOW TO BUILD A POWER BOWL post & infographic for step-by-step instructions on how to build an easy meal throughout the week.

As an example (all recipes linked below!):

Protein: Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork OR Easy Balsamic Roasted Chicken
Breakfast option: 8 Hard-boiled eggs / Smoked Salmon Frittata
Veggies: Baked Zucchini/Onions/Peppers
Roast sweet potatoes (whole or wedges) + batch of rice
Chop cauliflower for roasting later in week
Sauce it up: Avocado green goddess dressing / OR homemade mayo
Spice blend: Homemade Paleo Ranch Seasoning

Make a GAME PLAN:

Throw the pork in the crock pot and let it go. Preheat the oven for the sweet potatoes and veggies, then boil some water for the eggs while you chop up the veggies, potatoes, and cauliflower. Put the eggs in (set a timer!), pop the veggies/potatoes on a baking sheet and then put them in the oven (set another timer!), then while everything is cooking, make your sauce/dressing and spice blend for the week. BOOM DONE.

I also ALWAYS keep on hand some of my favorite freezer staples,

…like Cauliflower Rice, Fire Roasted Red Peppers, and Chili-Lime Chicken Burgers from Trader Joe’s, or frozen shrimp on hand that I can throw together in a flash in case I don’t have anything prepped and am effing starving. Which does tend to happen when life gets CRAY. Same goes for pantry stuff – I always have canned tuna and salmon for easy protein options, and some homemade mayonnaise or Primal Kitchen Foods mayo and Tessemae’s Dressings so I can make a quick (delicious) salad if need. Oh, and snack options too. Like RXbars, jerky, mixed nuts, and and fruit with nut butter. Because snacks = lifesavers sometimes!

PRO TIP: Take some shortcuts to save yourself time.

Buy pre-chopped veggies, pre-made sauces and spice blends, can even buy hard-boiled eggs at Trader Joe’s, or grab some salad/veggie stuff from a salad bar/hot bar like Whole Foods! Just make sure to double-check your ingredients.  

So, following the formula (“they’re more like guidelines, anyway”…s/o to Kiera Knightley for that awesome line in Pirates of the Caribbean, ha!)…

here are a bunch of meal prep ideas for ya to mix and match!

Power Up with Proteins

Easy Balsamic Roasted Chicken
The Easiest Slow Cooker Chicken
Apple & Herb Roast Chicken
Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken
Spatchcocked Chicken with Herbed Ghee Rub
Ginger Garlic Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Smoky Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork
Roasted Salmon with Ginger-Scallion Sauce
Lemon Dill Salmon

Salmon Cakes with Caper-Dill Aioli
My Favorite Tuna Salad
One Pan Summer Greek Shrimp Skillet

No recipe needed!

Grilled or Sautéed chicken breasts or thighs
Cook up some ground meat in a skillet with your favorite spice blend! beef, pork, sausage, turkey, chicken…you pick!

Get your Veggies on!

One Pan Bake with Sweet Potatoes, Veggies & Bacon
Rainbow Chard & Carrot Hash
Sweet & Sour Brussels Sprouts
The BEST Roasted Carrots

Roasted Brussels Sprouts Rice
Oven-Roasted Cauliflower Rice
Curry Cauliflower Rice  (AIP)
Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Chimichurri

Turmeric Roasted Cauli Rice
Turmeric & Cumin Roasted Cauliflower with Olives
Bacon-Braised Red Cabbage with Apples
Balsamic Broccoli & Sweet Potato Salad

Nutty Green Parsnip Rice
Roasted Delicata, Apple & Fig “Stuffing”
Zucchini Ginger Soup
Cumin-Cinnamon Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup
Simple Asian Sautéed Kale
Roasted Butternut Squash Salad

No recipe needed – just cook and add your favorite spices!

Grilled or Roasted in-season veggies! (Favorite combo: zucchini + onions + peppers)
Roasted Brussels Sprouts or Cauliflower
Steamed Broccoli
Roasted Spaghetti squash
Roasted Fall/Winter Squash: Delicata, Butternut, Acorn, etc.

Make-Ahead Breakfasts for when “ain’t nobody got time to make breakfast in the morning”

Smoked Salmon Frittata with Caper Aioli
Tomato & Sausage Frittata
Butternut Squash Breakfast Sausage
Chicken Hash Browns

Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage
Sweet Potato Sausage Egg Bake
Taco Egg Muffins
Breakfast Sausage Scotch Eggs
Hard-boiled eggs (great for snacks too!)

Post-Workout Goodness aka GIMME DEM CARBS MMKAY

Sweet Pan-Fried Plantains with Cinnamon & Sea Salt
Ginger-Garlic Sweet Potato Wedges
One Pan Bake with Sweet Potatoes, Veggies & Bacon
Sweet Potato “Buns” for Burgers

Sweet Potato Toast
Chicken & Sweet Potato Hash Browns
The BESt Roast Carrots
Dill Roasted Carrots with Coconut Tzatziki Sauce
Sunny Sweet Potato Hash

No recipe needed!

Baked (whole) sweet potatoes
Make a mix of roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, and squash!

Condiments to add some spice in yo lifeee

Homemade Paleo Ranch Seasoning
Pantry Staple: Primal Palate Spice Blends
Smoky BBQ Seasoning

Creamy Cauliflower Hummus
Paleo Ranch Dressing
Chimichurri Sauce
The Ultimate Dairy-Free Pesto

Avocado Green Goddess Dressing
Elote Cafe Onion Slaw
Secret Recipe Guacamole (Avocado Crack Sauce)

Spicy Mango Guacamole
Tahini sauce: mix equal parts tahini, harissa, and a splash of lemon juice with a pinch of salt and pepper!
Pantry staple: Tessemae’s Buffalo Sauce or Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
Pantry Staple: your favorite Salsa

PRO TIP: Not all your meal prep needs to follow recipes (ex. bake some sweet potatoes, hard-boil some eggs, grill some plan chicken and veggies), and you don’t even need to COOK all the food. For example, if I know I’m going to be making Roasted Brussels Sprouts on Wednesday, I’ll chop them up on Sunday and put them in a resealable bag to save myself some prep time when I come home a hangry monster on Wednesday night. It’ll make your life so much easier!

What are you favorite Meal Prep tips and recipes? Let me know in the comments!