How to create a meal prep plan?
Meal planning and prep can look different for everyone depending on your eating habits and goals. Some people choose to plan weekly, others monthly. Some want to focus on planning just dinners, others want breakfast and lunch included too.
A meal plan can help you save time and money throughout the week whilst enabling you to stick to healthy eating habits. The first step is deciding what your goals are and how you want your meal plan to look. Take time to consider:
- What's your budget?
- How many people are you cooking for?
- Do you have any dietary requirements?
- Do you have any taste and flavour preferences?
- Do you have any personal health goals e.g. increasing fibre or protein intake?
- How many meals do you want to prep – do you want breakfast, lunch and dinner? Do you want to plan snacks too?
- Look at your schedule – when is a good time to do your prepping?
How to keep to a budget
One advantage of meal planning is having tighter control of your budget. You can track the total spend of your weekly food shop more easily than if you’re buying top-up shops throughout the week.
Work out a budget that works for you and write a shopping list to help you stick to this budget. Everyone’s budget is completely different depending on household size and how many meals you’re budgeting for.
If you regularly eat pasta or rice, buy a bigger pack to use throughout the week – this often works out cheaper!
Tip: Check what you’ve already got in your cupboards and freezer before you shop and plan a meal around those ingredients to help your budget go further.
Planning your budget will help you stay on top of your spending whilst tailoring your food choices to your meal needs.
How to stay organised
Once you’ve worked out your budget, write out your meals for the week to help you stay on track. Try writing your meal plan on a board so everyone in your house knows the schedule.
You could get the whole family involved in the planning process so everyone’s happy with the recipe choices. Designate a chef for each meal to evenly spread out the cooking so it doesn’t all rely on one person.
When you’ve tried out a few meal plans that work for you, keep them on rotation so you can enjoy different meals each week.
See more meal prep tips.
How to flex ingredients
A crucial part of meal planning is stretching the same ingredients to use across the week to help make the most of your budget.
If you buy a pack of chicken breasts for a peanutty stir-fry, use the rest of the pack the next day in a pasta bake.
Or use broccoli for an Indian-style traybake, then a cheesy gnocchi later in the week.
Try bulking out mince with budget-friendly beans and pulses to help stretch it further across other meals. Or use ‘meatier’ vegetables, like cauliflower and aubergine.
By reusing the same ingredient across multiple dishes, you’ll cut down food waste, save money and enjoy varied meals across the week.
How to make the most of your freezer and storecupboard
Keeping your freezer and cupboards stocked is the secret to successful meal planning. Herbs and spices, tinned food and frozen food have long shelf lives and will save you time prepping – they're also a great way to stick to your budget! Check out our top 5 timesaving frozen ingredients.
Packs of frozen veg, like spinach, mushrooms or carrots, are useful because they can be stretched across multiple of meals without going off.
Tinned fish is a budget-friendly option. And tinned legumes and pulses, like chickpeas, beans and lentils, are an easy way to bulk out pasta sauces and stews.
Once you start collecting different herbs and spices, you can reuse them to make something totally different next week. Oregano, paprika and cumin are super-versatile and always good to have stocked up.
How to meal prep nutritionally balanced meals
Meal prepping is an easy way to maintain a balanced diet because you’re planning your meals in advance instead of relying on whatever’s in the fridge or grabbing something quick from the shops. According to the NHS*, here's how to get the right balance across the week:
- Aim for at least 5 portions of a variety of fruits and vegetables a day. See our 5-a-day recipes for inspiration.
- Base meals on starchy carbohydrates, like potatoes, bread, rice and pasta. Choose higher fibre or wholegrain varieties, such as wholewheat pasta and brown rice, or leave the skins on potatoes. There are also higher fibre varieties of white bread and pasta.
- Eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other protein foods. These foods are good sources of protein, vitamins and minerals. Pulses, such as beans, peas and lentils are good alternatives to meat because they're low in fat and they're good sources of fibre and protein, too.
- Eat two pieces of fish a week, one of which should be an oily fish, like salmon or mackerel. This includes frozen and tinned fish – a brilliant budget-friendly option for stocking up your cupboard!
- Have some dairy, like milk, yogurt and cheese, or unsweetened fortified dairy alternatives (such as soya drinks). They're a good source of protein and some vitamins, and they're also an important source of calcium, which helps keep our bones healthy.
- Choose unsaturated oils and spreads, and eat them in small amounts.
How to meal prep for the week
Batch-cooking saves time and stretches ingredients; it’s one of the easiest ways to meal prep for the week. See our top batch cooking tips below:
Fill your freezer
Your freezer is your best friend when it comes to meal prepping. Focus on dishes that freeze well, like stews and soups, and you’ll always have a freezer stocked with homemade, ready-to-go meals.
Meal prep bags are a great way to prep-ahead with your freezer. Simply put all your prepped ingredients into a freezer bag, then freeze until you’re ready to eat. The bags will stack more easily and take up less room than other food storage. Try our speedy chicken fajita recipe, or this veg-packed meatball version.
See our guidelines on how to safely freeze food.
Batch-up the basics
If you fancy some variation in your weekly meals, try batching-up the bases of different meals (like sauces and stock) which can be transformed into entirely different recipes with a few small tweaks.
This simple tomato sauce is packed with ‘hidden’ veggies and is the perfect base for pasta sauces, stews or pizzas (just keep it in the freezer until you need it.) Or this 10-minute garlic and basil version is super versatile – try it poured over chicken or roasted veg.
Make a batch of our veggie soup concentrate, which you can turn into a creamy mushroom or smoky chorizo version – you can add in whatever vegetable or meat leftovers you have lurking in the fridge.
If your family loves Mexican flavours, try this multipurpose enchilada sauce. It takes just 15 minutes, and can be used for chillis, pasta bakes or fajitas!
Check out our favourite batch-cooking kitchen utensils.
Love your leftovers
Make extra of what you know your family love to enjoy in different meals throughout the week. Buying a whole chicken is often cheaper than buying a pack of breasts or thighs. Try roasting a chicken and use the leftovers across the week in pastas or soups.
Leftover veg, like carrots, potatoes and cauliflower, can be blitzed up into soups or turned into mash.
Make extra dinner and save the leftovers for lunch the next day or dinner later in the week.
Curries are easy to double up – try this simple chana masala and put the leftovers in wraps to enjoy later.
Unsure what to do with your leftovers? Try our recipe finder tool for inspiration.
Best things to meal prep for the week
So, how do you meal prep across the week whilst taking budget, nutrition and time into account? Check out our favourite meal prep ideas for the week below for inspiration:
Meal prep breakfast recipes
The most important meal of the day... meal prepping is a great way to make mornings run more smoothly. Starting off with a satisfying breakfast provides you with the energy needed to concentrate on the day ahead.
If your mornings are typically busy and rushed, try a breakfast to enjoy on the go or at work. Make a batch of homemade berry and pistachio granola to eat with yogurt or milk – you can store it for up to 2 months! Or try the ‘overnight’ trend and do all the hard work the night before with these berry compote chia pudding pots or our ginger and blueberry oats.
More of a savoury breakfast person? These make-ahead egg pots can be prepped up to 4 days in advance, then simply microwaved when you’re ready to eat. Or take a slice of this high-protein Mediterranean frittata to enjoy at work.
Looking for something the whole family will enjoy? Our make-ahead breakfast cookies are made with ‘hidden’ fruit and veg - no one can say no to cookies for breakfast! These banana and oat muffins make a delicious on-the-go breakfast that kids will love - they’re also a good way to use up overripe bananas.
Meal prep lunch recipes
Fill your food storage with lunch the night before to help you cut down on buying expensive lunches out and save time in the morning.
Try making a batch of prep-ahead fillings, like this gochujang chicken and sweetcorn recipe, or Coronation egg mayo, to put into sandwiches, wraps and pasta salads.
Salads are quick to prep-ahead and a great healthy lunch option. This rainbow jar salad is perfect for adults and kids, or this cheesy pea pasta salad recipe can be easily doubled or tripled in quantity depending on how many you’re feeding.
If you work from home, make a batch of these 20-minute Thai green chickpeas to serve with bread or rice. Want something even easier? Our speedy Singapore-style noodles use frozen veg and can be customised with whatever veg you have.
Kids lunchboxes can easily fit into your meal plan. Double or triple the ingredients for this chicken pasta salad to make enough for the whole family. Or bake a batch of these 3-ingredient sausage rolls for a lunchtime treat.
Meal prep dinner ideas
Whether you’re exhausted after work, have a busy family or just can’t find time to cook, meal prepping is an easy way to have a homemade meal ready when needed.
You can’t go wrong with a Bolognese, and this big-batch recipe makes enough for 8 portions. Mac ‘n’ cheese always goes down well with the family; you can freeze any leftovers of this broccoli and cauliflower recipe. Curries are also super easy to batch-up, try this vegan aubergine and potato recipe - so much tastier than a takeaway!
Tip: If you want to transform your Bolognese into a different meal, try adding 1 tsp smoked paprika and a tin of kidney beans to turn it into a chilli.
Looking for something you just need to heat up? These veg-packed burritos can be wrapped up and stored in your freezer until you need them.
Check what you’ve got in your storecupboard. Tinned fish makes a great speedy pasta sauce, try mackerel in a creamy pepper sauce or sardines with broccoli and spaghetti.
Don’t forget your freezer! Try something different with frozen fish fingers, like tacos or fried rice.
Double-up your dinner and enjoy any leftovers for lunch tomorrow. This 20-minute bean chilli would be a delicious tortilla filling. Or turn leftover Bolognese or chilli into sloppy Joes.
Snacks
If you find yourself reaching for a chocolate bar or packet of crisps in that post-lunch slump, try prepping some healthy snacks to enjoy on the go instead.
If you like baking, these fruity muffins take just 30-minutes and are great for when you’re craving something sweet. Or for something savoury, try these fun pizza pinwheels (which are made from leftover bread crusts!).
Short on time? Our no-bake granola bars take just 15 minutes to prepare and are made with only 4 ingredients. Try making homemade crisps in under 15 minutes with pitta breads and a dash of paprika to enjoy throughout the week.
Find your perfect meal prep plan
Meal prepping doesn’t have to be complicated. Try one of our readymade meal plans to help get you started with easy meal prep for the week, including 5 easy family meals for £25.**
Or take our helpful quiz to find your ultimate meal plan based on how much time you want to spend cooking and dietary and health requirements.
*source: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/how-to-eat-a-balanced-diet/eating-a-balanced-diet/
**Based on a family of four. Total cost is based on online prices at the time of publishing and is subject to change. Dependent on product availability, total basket price online may change due to substitutions.