Healthy meal prep ideas or recipes that are essential for a healthy weight loss is an essential requirement if one is looking for a healthy diet plan to prepare meals ahead of time.
It needs to have a balanced combination for a balanced diet and that could give a body the necessary nutrition. Also, help stay fit and healthy. For more weight loss and protein-related recipes check out my post that is detox water weight loss, low carb high protein meals, scrambled egg whites, vegetable salad, low calorie breakfast recipes.
Jump to:
About the recipe
This post covers recipes that can be helpful for working people who are constantly looking for weight loss meal prep. I will also be covering the pros and cons of preparing meals.
It will also cover the containers to use and detailed insight into what actually meal prep is all about.
What do you mean by meal prep?
Meal prep is a way of preparing meals ahead of time and storing them to stay away from the outside food.
It is always exhausting to prepare meals after a long day of work. Making them a week earlier during a day off can keep the stress levels away by having a meal plan ready before time.
Carrying the already prepared meals and heating them right before having them is helpful for a busy one.
This post is about meals to lose weight and cooking them beforehand as it is stressful to prepare meals on the same day.
Many females look for ideas and recipes to keep them full throughout the day and work efficiently. Also, do not fall sick with regular outside food.
If looking to shed those extra pounds then one has to also check for meals that are healthy and not just heavy meal preparation.
The meals should have all the essential nutrients to cut down the body fat. Also, do not feel hungry after having the meals as well as give those nutrients to stay fit. Also, to manage to lose weight by having a limited amount of calories in a day.
Types of meal prep
Meal prep can be done in many ways such as batch cooking that is cooking food at once and dividing the same food into portions or cooking different meals in small portions.
The other way is to just keep all the ingredients cut or chopped ready for the week to help the cooking process faster.
Check out other meal recipes such as meals under 200 calories as well that are quick to make and healthy too.
What are the benefits of healthy meal prep?
- Time saver
Cooking every day can take up a lot of time and just imagine returning home, cooking meals and also planning out the rest of the activities of the day can take a toll on us.
If making some meals that can be one meal of the day or three meals a day and storing them on Sundays can help in thinking about other activities for the day.
One can spend time with the kids and less cooking time in the kitchen, do household chores. Also, to give some time for ourselves and enjoy leisure time and have a stress free day after work.
- Grocery shopping becomes easy
If the meals are planned beforehand then one can list out all the necessary stuff to be bought to make the meals. This can make the shopping worry-free and this can lead to a sorted life.
Making a list of all the food items, snacks, fruits, veggies to buy from the store for the whole week and shopping for them as per our needs reduces the stress on different thoughts such as what to buy? what to make? etc...
- Saves money
Imagine eating outside food that can cost a lot of bucks, but preparing and planning and making a schedule can save many dollars by avoiding the outside food.
Having three meals a day or one meal too outside can cost a lot. Planning and preparing can save plenty of money.
Cons of meal prep
When there are benefits there are always cons as well. Preparing large amounts of meals for the whole week can be exhausting. It also takes away the complete day in some cases. Therefore, plan out in such a way to make the meals in 1 or 2 hours.
The large cooking can make the kitchen dirty and needs a lot of cleaning. Also, it can be boring to eat the same food every day if food is prepared in batch cooking.
When the food prepared tastes bad then one has no other option but to eat them which can bring the energy levels down.
How to store the meal prep food?
Always store them in airtight containers or in high-quality food-grade containers. There are containers available in different sizes and shapes as well as contain sections to fill up various snacks, meals, fruits etc...
The containers can be of any material but should be storage safe, microwave and oven safe in order to reheat the food.
Tips to store food
- Use good quality safe containers that are meant to store food in refrigerator of fridge
- Do not store the food as soon as teh cooking iss done. Allow the food to cool completely and then store the food.
- Do not store the food for more than 3 or 4 days as the food tend to lose its taste. It also loses its nutrition value.
- Try to make and schedule meal prep twice a weak so that it does not get boring to eat the same food everyday. Also, try to make changes to the diet plan and include various other healthy diet options while preparing the meals.
- Make sure to always write or label the containers with dates.
- Reheat the food prepared in a microwave or thaw it well before reheating.
- Do not reheat again and again.
Quick foods to pack
Always use a combination of protein, low carb meal prep for a successful weight loss plan. Below are some of the healthy meal prep ideas and quick food ideas to make during meal preparation.
Fruits: Always have some fruits handy that keep us full. Chop them if they need to be cut or chopped during meal prep. Fruits such as apples, bananas, watermelon, mangoes, kiwi, strawberries, berries make a good choice.
Salads: Salads are a good choice during meal preps. Make salads that have spinach, boiled chicken, boiled peas, lettuce, broccoli etc... Make sure to have any healthy salad that can keep us full and healthy.
Oats and whole grains: whole-grain foods such as brown rice and quinoa make a good combination with lean meats. Other grains such as preparing overnights oats for weight loss is also great meal preparation.
Snacks: Include healthy snacks such as almonds, nuts, seeds, raisins, berries as good snacking habits.
Veggies: vegetables such as cucumber, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, asparagus, tomatoes, beans of different kinds also make a healthy option while preparing various meals.
Eggs, dairy and lean meat: Eggs and meat have high protein content and are a good idea to include during meal prep. Dairy products such as low-fat milk and greek yoghurt too make a good choice.
Smoothie prep: Prep up all the smoothie ingredients in a ziplock, store them in the freezer and blend them on the day of use.
Recipe
healthy meal prep recipe for weight loss
Ingredients
Breakfast
- ½ cup oats
- 1 cup almond milk
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon protein powder
- ½ cup frozen chopped fruits or freshly chopped stored fruits (berries or any fruit)
Lunch
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 chicken breast piece
- ¼ teaspoon pepper powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4-5 green capsicum strips
- 4-5 yellow and red capsicum strips
- 2 tablespoon tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Snack
- ¼ cup apples
- ¼ cup berries (strawberries, blueberries)
- ¼ cup grapes
- 2 tbsp nuts (almonds sliced)
Instructions
Breakfast
- Take a meal prep container, add whole grain oats into it.
- Add protein powder.
- Add almond milk to the oats.
- Add a pinch of cinnamon and stir everything well.
- Cover the containers and let them sit overnight in refrigerator.
- Similarly make 4 to 5 conatiners for the week in the same way and store in refrigerator.
- Add any frozen chopped fruits or fresh chopped stored fruits such as strawberries, apples or any berries while serving and enjoy.
- Healthy Breakfast for 4-5 days of the week is ready.
Lunch or Dinner
- Place a chicken breast on a baking sheet or tray, spray olive oil all over the chicken.
- Season the chicken with any spices such as salt and pepper.
- Bake the chicken for 25 to 30 minutes at 425°F in the oven.
- Shred the baked chicken into small strips.
- Take a pan, add some tomato sauce or tomato paste to the pan, add the baked chicken strips.
- Mix and toss the chicken well.
- In a separate pan, toss or slightly roast the bell peppers by adding some olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Take meal prep containers with different sections.
- Place 1 cup cooked quinoa in one section, roasted peppers in second section and cooked chicken in the third section.
- Cover the container and store in the fridge for not more than 3 or 4 days.
- When required just microwave and enjoy the ready to eat food for luch or dinner.
Snacks
- Snacks can be some chopped fruits, bananas, berries, oranges, greek yogurt, nuts etc...
Notes
- In place of roasted bell peppers using sauteed asparagus, steamed broccoli or green beans is healthy and are other good options to substitute.
- In place of quinoa, using whole-grain foods such as brown rice or whole-grain pasta is another good option for the meals.
Nutrition
Other Healthy meal prep ideas or recipes
These are simple overnight oats packed in freezer bags. It uses quick oats with different flavours added to them. The flavours include berries, almonds, cinnamon, apples, chocolate and healthy peanut butter to make a good breakfast.
This is a healthy meal prep to prepare in minutes and can make a filling meal. It also helps to lose weight easily. The recipe is made using rolled oats with different fruit flavours added to them. Other ingredients to use are almond milk or low-fat milk and then keep them in containers to sit overnight.
Looking for a different diet? Then try this keto bowl which is an amazing breakfast delicacy. A healthy meal consisting of various seeds such as flax, chia etc... and made by adding greek yogurt.
Use Toppings with almond butter or peanut butter for delicious flavour. Do try this meal prep for breakfast or dinner and lead a healthy life.
This meal prep is an amazing healthy recipe made using healthy veggies such as cauliflower, Brussel sprouts and also whole grains such as quinoa. This is a complete meal to keep us full and also added touch to the recipe is sweet potatoes that make this a complete meal.
A perfect meal to make ahead of time for lunch or dinner.
4. Greek chicken meal prep bowl
Another one of the healthy meal prep ideas is to lose fat using different simple veggies such as zucchini, tomatoes, lean meat such as chicken breast. Tossing veggies and cooking them with chicken in the oven is a good choice of healthy meal prep.
This is a low carb high protein meal and is another good idea of preparing meals for dinner during weekdays.
A healthy meal prep using lean meat, corn, beans and whole grains such as quinoa and cooking them as a one-pot meal.
To this meal toppings such as chopped onions, tomatoes, parsley or cilantro can make it more flavorful.
6. Sweet potato black bean bowl
This is a weight loss healthy meal prep bowl that uses brown rice, black beans, sweet potatoes which makes it a complete meal. This meal can be served with any green dip to enhance the taste of the rice bowl.
This dish makes a wonderful meal prep bowl for lunch or dinners and can be modified by adding lean meats such as chicken breast or salmon to the bowl.
7. Chicken salad brown rice bowl
A simple and easy meal prep made by cooking brown rice and chicken separately and added to it are some veggies such as celery, grapes etc. These meals are divided into small portions in different containers and used for different days.
Brown rice is a great weight loss option for those looking to plan meals ahead and these kinds of quick bowls save plenty of time.
Wanna try it out? As the name suggests it is a healthy dish with brown rice and is a whole grain which helps in better digestion and helps in weight loss too. The brown rice is served using grilled chicken and added to serve the dish is a dressing blended using tomatoes, basil, onions etc...
9. Ground turkey meal prep bowl
Cooking turkey by mincing it well and cooking brown rice along with some roasted vegetables and then dividing the rice, chicken and veggies into small portions in different containers make it a healthy meal prep bowl to use for many days.
It is an egg breakfast recipe similar to muffins but make in a keto style which is one of the healthy meal prep ideas to lose fat. A muffin dish beaked using eggs, roasted chopped vegetables, combined with mozzarella cheese makes it a wholesome meal
Trying a different recipe to make ahead is a healthy as well as a unique recipe to try out.
Tried any recipes? Do leave us your feedback on which recipe was useful and helpful below in the comment section.
Recommended
Leave a Reply