25+ Meal Prep Ideas

Easy, healthy and delicious recipes that will make your meal prep a success! Also includes FREE meal prep worksheet that is printable for planning ahead.

If you love these free meal prep ideas, check out our weekly meal plan for more inspiration!

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The Best Meal Prep Ideas

If you’ve never meal prepped before, I highly recommend it! It may seem a bit intimidating at first, but it doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of quick and easy recipes that will make your prepping a success!

Meal prep is great for when your trying to eat healthy dinners. It’s so much easier to stay on track when everything is already prepared. You can just grab it out of the fridge and dig in!

How to Meal Prep

• Make time to plan, shop, and cook. I like to meal prep at the beginning of each week, but feel free to choose a day that works with your schedule.
• In order to get organized, I use my free meal prep printables (scroll down to download and print) to plan out my meals for the week ahead.
• Choose recipes you know you can accomplish. If you’re not big into planning, check out my free weekly meal plan.

I’ve included some of my favorite ideas below to help make your next meal prep as easy and stress-free as possible! There are tons of healthy, delicious and even several Whole 30 recipes to choose from when planning out a meal prep sheet.

Meal Prep Containers

To stay organized, it’s so helpful to use meal prep containers when storing your meals. Below are some of my favorites. I love using glass containers because they keep so much longer and don’t stain, however I’ve included some plastic ones too.

• Pyrex Mini Circle Containers. I love this set of small containers for individual servings, like the overnight oats.
• Smart Seal Leakproof Glass Food Storage Set. This is great for almost any of the lunch recipes.
• Disposable Storage Containers with Dividers. I use these when making lunches for my kids for the week.
• Glass Containers with Dividers. These are a favorite for lunches for my husband and me.
• Containers with Lid. I am a big fan of these meal prep containers that make it super easy to make individual dinners.
• Mason Jars. I have always loved using mason jars for salads, soups, or overnight oats.

Meal Prep Breakfast Ideas

I don’t know about you, but my mornings are pretty crazy, and I often don’t have time to cook something up. That’s why I love to breakfast meal prep, so that I can just quickly grab and go. Plus, this way I know I’m grabbing something healthy rather than an unhealthy quick option.

• Overnight Oats. Make breakfast the night before with 6 customizable ways to enjoy oatmeal.
• Mini Egg Frittatas. Make a big batch to enjoy throughout the week.
• No-Bake Breakfast Cookies. Make them in less than 5 minutes and enjoy them up to 2 weeks.
• Yogurt Parfait. I love making this super simple recipe with homemade granola.
• Cereal Bars. These are a kid favorite, made with just 4 simple ingredients.
• Baked Oatmeal. This whole breakfast can be prepped in one bowl in less than 10 minutes.
• Breakfast Yogurt Popsicles. Packed with summer fruits and topped with a crunchy granola.
• Egg White Muffins. Make the perfect healthy on-the-go breakfast with this easy customizable recipe.
• Peanut Butter Overnight Oats. Topped with chocolate chips and sliced bananas. What more can you ask for?
• Homemade Granola. Oats, honey, coconut, pecans, and a delicious crunch make this granola an absolute winner.

Meal Prep Lunch Ideas

You definitely won’t be bored with these tasty and healthy lunch ideas. They are packed with amazing flavor and are so easy to make! My favorite to make is my sheet pan sausage with veggies.

• Sheet Pan Sausage and Veggies. It’s made in just one pan and takes only 30 minutes. Plus it’s Whole30 approved too. However, if I’m not doing a Whole30, I like to add some rice or cooked quinoa to bulk it up a little.
• Chicken Fajita Bowl Recipe. Made with rice, seasoned chicken, fajita veggies, beans and pico de gallo.
• Spinach Berry Salad. One of my favorite lunches is this spinach, mixed berries, almonds salad with a red wine poppyseed vinaigrette.
• Teriyaki Chicken Bowl. Evenly assemble the ingredients into meal prep containers and store in the fridge until serving.
• Vegetable Beef Soup. I love to make a big batch and freeze a bunch for later dinners.
• Mediterranean Salad. This makes great individual lunches all week long.
• Southwest Quinoa Salad. The beauty of this salad is the longer it marinates, the more flavorful it will be.
• Mexican Chicken Soup. This makes an easy dinner and several freezer-friendly meals.
• Taco Salad. Made in just 20 minutes, this salad will last for several lunches.
• Mango Chicken Quinoa Salad. This salad tastes better chilled, so is a dream for making ahead.
• Mediterranean Quinoa Salad. Prep all the ingredients ahead of time and simply assemble when ready to eat or make the entire salad (sans dressing) and portion out for the week.
• The Jennifer Aniston Salad. It’s so good it’s rumored she at it every day on the set of Friends!

Meal Prep Dinner Ideas

When things are really busy during the week, I sometimes don’t have time to whip up dinner. That’s why dinner meal prep is super handy! Instead of just ordering a pizza or getting take out, I have a healthy and nutritious meal that I can easily reheat in a matter of minutes. I can’t tell you how many times it has saved me. It’s definitely worth the extra work!

• Egg Roll in a Bowl. I love making a big batch at the beginning of the week and then having it for dinner (or lunch) throughout the week. 
• Balsamic Chicken. This easy sheet pan dinner comes together so quickly and the leftovers are great for lunches.
• Sweet Potato Bowls. This is one that you can prep ahead and pull together quickly or use the leftovers in a variety of ways for lunches later.
• Healthy Turkey Chili. I am a big believer that chili tastes better the next day, so this is one I love to make on Sunday for dinner during the week.
• Chicken Stir Fry. Pull this together in a pinch and enjoy the leftovers for dinner the next night.
• Turkey Meatball Recipe. I love having a batch of these already made to use in a variety of ways like with my easy marinara sauce over cooked pasta, spaghetti squash or in a sub sandwich or meatball casserole.
• Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas. Cook this Sunday night and simply reheat on a busy weeknight for a stellar dinner.
• Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken. Serve this brown or white rice, steamed vegetables like broccoli or green beans, or chow mein noodles.
• Chicken Stuffed Peppers. Stuff these ahead of time and bake later.
• Instant Pot Chicken Taco Bowl. Cook everything ahead and assemble when you are ready to eat.

Snack Ideas

It’s so helpful to have snacks ready for when you get hungry throughout the day. That way you know you’re grabbing a healthy option that will give you energy and hold you over until your next meal. I always make sure to have fresh fruit on hand, but also love to make protein balls, yogurt bites, and homemade applesauce.

• Energy Balls. Just 5 minutes and 5 ingredients to have protein-packed snacks all week.
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Balls. This is like eating a favorite candy but so much better for you.
• Yogurt Bites. My kids love these and they only require 2 ingredients to make.
• Hard Boiled Eggs. I always keep a batch on hand to make a quick egg salad or for a protein-powered snack.
• Homemade Hummus. This is so easy to make and tastes better than store bought.
• Roasted Pumpkin Seeds. This is one of my favorite fall snacks to make ahead and enjoy throughout the season.
• Homemade Granola Bars. An endlessly customizable option of a treat that lasts all week.
• Lemon Coconut Energy Balls. All you need is dates, nuts, coconut, chia seeds and lemon juice to make a healthy snack that has no added sugar and is paleo and Whole30 approved!
• Cinnamon Apple Chips. Made with 3 ingredients, this chips are a great alternative to the potato variety.
• Berry Fruit Salad. I love keeping a bowl of this on-hand and at the ready when one of my kids is craving fruit.
• Crockpot Applesauce. So fast and easy, as well as tastier and less expensive than store-bought.
• Almond Joy Energy Bites. The perfect treat to have on-hand when you get that candy craving.
• Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. And I mean healthy! Absolutely no sugar, butter or flour added and only 50 calories per cookie!

FREE Meal Prep Printables

To help make your planning a little easier and stress-free, I created these free meal prep printables. I use these all the time! They help me stay organized and are perfect to stick on the fridge.

Meal prep worksheet printables include:

• Weekly meal plan template (with boxes for shopping lists & weekly goals)
• Monthly meal plan template (with box for monthly goals)
• Weekly water tracker

Full List of Meal Prep Ideas

Click on the links below for all of the easy meal prep ideas mentioned above.