A step by step guide to meal prep for beginners so you can have healthy and easy meals ready at your finger tips all week!

I wanted to create an easy and simple go to guide to help you meal prep healthy meals for the week without spending every day in the kitchen cooking. I like to prep large batches of whole ingredients so have on hand in the fridge/freezer for when I need to pull together quick meals on the fly. Whether its a breakfast, lunch or dinner meal I need I can create a delicious and nutritious meal in minutes without ever turning on the stove unless its to warm things up!

I like to breakdown my meal prep into different categories so I know I have a little bit of everything prepped to make building meals easier. I also look at which foods take the longest to cook such as steel cut oats, brown rice and roasted veggies and make those part of my weekly meal prep so I can cook everything at once and not have to wait 40 minutes if I want oatmeal or roasted veg. Make sense? Okay lets get started!

Grains

I like to switch things up every week and have grains like quinoa, soba noodles or brown rice on hand to make buddha bowls, soups, stirfrys, you name it! Think of grains as your base to so many meals that you can create throughout the week.

Brown Rice Basmati

• 1 cup of brown rice basmati
• 2 1/2 cups water
• pinch of sea salt

In a rice cooker (meal prep essential) add in water, sea salt and rice and follow cooking directions for your rice cooker.

Steel Cut Oats

• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 4 cups water
• pinch of sea salt

In a medium sized pot bring water to a boil with a pinch of sea salt. Add in your oats, stir and lower the heat to a low simmer with the lid on and cook for 20 mins, stirring occasionally. Allow to fully cool before storing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. When ready to eat warm up on a sauce pan with a bit of water or nut milk to get it creamy and hot again.

Veggies

Whether you’re sautéing, steaming or roasting veggies its great to cook up a large batch early in the week to then add to your meals to bulk it up and add colour.

Roasted Veggies

• 1/2 head of cauliflower chopped into florets
• 4 rainbow carrots peeled and chopped
• 2 cups mini purple potatoes quartered
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Pre-heat oven to 375F. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and spread out veggies so they roasted evenly. Drizzle olive oil and season. Roast in the oven for 25-30 min, tossing half way through. Allow to cool fully before transferring into an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Zucchini Noodles

• 2-3 medium zucchinis

Wash and cut off both end of zucchinis. Using a veggie spiralizer, follow the directions and spiralize until you got a bowl full of zoodles! Transfer your zucchini noodles into an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. These are perfect for adding into stirfrys, pasta, soups, and salads.

Fruit

• 1 bunch of ripe bananas
• 1 basket of whole strawberries

Peel and store very ripe bananas in a large freezer bag and freeze until ready to use in smoothies, pancakes, banana bread or cookies!

Wash, dry and cut tops of strawberries and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Perfect as a grab ‘n’ go snack or to add to oatmeal or smoothies.

Protein

Roasted and Shredded Chicken

• 3 large chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped chives

OPTION #1 ROASTED: Pre-heat oven to 375F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and place two chicken breasts on top. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice and season with garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven with the veggies for 25-30 min until the middle if full cooked. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container for 3-5 days in the fridge.

OPTION #2 SHREDDED: In a silicone reusable storage bag add in your chicken and drizzle olive oil, lemon juice, add season with garlic, chives, salt and pepper. Seal up and cook in a pot of boiling water for 20 min until chicken is fully cooked. Allow to cool and shred using two forks then store in an air tight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. Great for chicken salad, buddha bowls, soups, tacos and salads.

Dressing, Sauces, Dips

Making a big batch of a good basic salad dressing is a great way to motivate yourself to eat more salads throughout the week. I have some great recipes HERE that you can check out.

Basic Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 2 tbsp grainy dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinager
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients into a glass jar, screw on lid and shake until combined. Store in the fridge for 5-7 days.

Garden Vegetable Dip

*You can find the recipe HERE.

Drinks

Whether its lemonade, golden milk or nut milk, I love making drinks at home because I can control the sugars and whats in it.

Cashew Milk

• 1 cup raw cashews
• 3 cups filtered water
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

In a high speed blender (this one is my favourite) add in all ingredients and blend for 30-60 secs until creamy milky smooth! No straining needed 😉 Transfer to an air tight glass jar and store in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Snacks

Mixed Nuts & Fruit Trail-mix

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup freeze dried apple slices
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

Mix together all ingredients in an air tight container and store on the counter for 2-3 weeks.

You are officially prepped for a week of healthy meals ready at your finger tips! Make sure to watch the full video for 4 easy meal ideas you can make in less than 5 minutes using these foods you just prepped.

If you think of any fun meals you can put together using these ingredients leave me a comment down below. I would love to hear your creative ideas 🙂