For many people, a healthy lifestyle coupled with a healthy diet has become inevitable. However, there is often a lack of time and motivation to maintain it consistently. Especially with meal prep, you can often save time while still enjoying healthy food. As a great side effect, you'll also save money. In today's blog post, we present 5 helpful tips and various recipe ideas on the topic of meal prep.
What does meal prep actually mean?
Meal prep is a buzzword these days and has truly become a significant trend. But what exactly is meal prep?
Let's start with the simplest explanation: meal prep comes from English, stands for "meal preparation," and means nothing more than "meal preparation." The name says it all. When you refer to meal prep, in most cases, you mean preparing food for the next day.
Professional meal preppers and also some beginners prepare food partially for an entire week. Beginners may start by preparing food for just one day, perhaps even just for lunch. Every beginning can be difficult, so you shouldn't let it discourage you.
You could either pre-cook and freeze entire dishes or pre-cook individual components to simplify the preparation. Regardless of which method you prefer, we know it's worth the effort.
Meal prep as a fitness trend
Meal prep gained recognition and popularity, like many trends, in the USA. However, its usage was not primarily among office workers, but rather fitness enthusiasts. This enables you to control exactly which nutrients and foods you consume.
Even though meal prepping started mainly as a fitness trend, you don't necessarily have to be a fitness fanatic to reap its benefits! Meal prepping can help make your meals healthier too. This way, you can ensure that you're not consuming too much fat, sugar, or other unhealthy additives.
As a little inspiration, here's a recipe idea for a healthy snack in between:
Vegan Walnut Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 brown bananas
- 50 g oatmeal
- 100 g spelt flour
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon crushed flaxseed
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 60 g walnuts
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 70 ml plant-based drink
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder (to taste)
Preparation
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First, preheat your oven to 180 degrees (convection).
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Next, use a fork to mash the two bananas into a puree and then place the mixture in a bowl.
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Next, place the walnuts in a food processor until they are crushed and add them to the bananas.
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Then melt the coconut oil and add it to your mixture.
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Next, add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix everything well until a creamy dough forms.
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Then place the dough for the banana bread in a loaf pan. If necessary, lightly grease the pan.
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If you want, you can also add a few whole walnut halves on top of the dough as decoration.
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Now put the banana bread in the oven for about 40 minutes. If the bread becomes too dark on top, you can cover it with foil.
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After the baking time, remove the banana bread from the oven and let it cool briefly. Then you can take the banana bread out of the pan and cut it into slices.
Nutritional values
5 tips for the perfect meal prep
Now that we've discussed meal prep extensively, explained its origins, and highlighted its benefits, how do you actually begin preparing food? Here are the 5 simplest and best tips summarized for you.
1. Time is the most important component of meal prep
It may seem obvious, but it is absolutely essential: time! Especially if you plan to "pre-cook" for an entire week, you will need to allocate adequate time for this. But it's not just cooking time you should account for—packing, cooling, and shopping also consume time.
The best approach is to find a regular day of the week when you can dedicate a few hours to meal prep. This will help you establish a routine that is hopefully enjoyable and, ideally, a bit relaxing.
2. Planning is key
Consider carefully which dishes you would like to have during the week. Planning is crucial for successful meal prep. Without adequate planning, you could easily become disoriented while shopping, cooking, and storing.
A weekly plan outlining which dishes you intend to pre-cook can simplify this significantly. With a weekly plan, every step becomes more straightforward. Take a moment to reflect at home and try planning your week ahead—you'll discover what ingredients you have and what you might need to purchase.
3. Proper storage is very important for meal prep
The unique aspect of meal prep is that you can also pre-cook portions for the entire week. However, you must also consider how you will store your dishes. Proper storage ensures that the ingredients will last longer and retain their taste and freshness.
For example, it’s best to freeze some dishes in large portions. This works particularly well with soups, curries, and casseroles. Additionally, when freezing meals, you won’t have to rely on the same dishes throughout the week, allowing for more diversity in your meal plan.
To be safe and maintain the flavor of your dishes, always store all ingredients separately in different glass containers. You can then place them in the fridge and combine them on the day of consumption. This way, you ensure that everything remains delicious.
4. Take it slow and avoid stress – an important meal prep tip
It’s like many things in life: if you try to rush too much, you may find yourself falling short! This applies to meal prep as well. Our recommendation is to start slowly and at a comfortable pace. It’s not beneficial to attempt to pre-cook an entire week’s worth of meals at your first attempt.
Therefore, we suggest starting simply. Meal prep is not a competition. Instead of preparing meals for the entire week right away, try beginning with one day. Gradually increase to three days to quickly gain experience and establish a routine.
5. Simple dishes are the meal prep winners
Meal prep is not about creating highly complicated dishes. It’s more about raising awareness! Awareness of the ingredients you use and healthy eating practices.
Ensure you have plenty of staples on hand. Rice, quinoa, couscous, and whole grain pasta are known to have a long shelf life and are suitable for almost any dish. Whether for lunch or dinner, these ingredients are a perfect addition to any plate. A delicious quinoa vegetable stir-fry can be prepared quickly, is long-lasting, easy to transport, and simply delicious.
Lentils and beans can be stored dry or canned for a long time, making them always accessible! Additionally, make sure your dishes include enough protein sources. As you know, meat and fish have a relatively short shelf life, so freshness is a must. Eggs, yogurt, skyr, and tofu are excellent protein sources that can also be stored for a longer duration.
To avoid the same meals of broccoli, rice, and chicken every day, sauces and spices can greatly enhance your dishes. If you enjoy this trendy dish, you could try a simple mustard sauce to prevent the chicken, rice, or broccoli from becoming overly dry.
Overnight oats and oatmeal as the perfect meal-prep breakfast
Overnight Oats Basic Recipe – No Added Sugar
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp oatmeal (approx. 45 g oatmeal) or Verival Overnight Oats
- 80 ml milk, water, or a plant-based alternative (e.g., soy milk)
- Toppings of your choice: berries (blueberries, raspberries,...), nuts, nutmeg, dried or fresh fruits, bananas, apples, grated coconut,...
Preparation
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Combine the water, milk, or plant-based alternative with the oatmeal in a glass and stir well.
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Place the mixture in the refrigerator overnight or for at least 2 hours.
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Then stir well again and enjoy.
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Optionally, enhance your overnight oats with toppings of your choice.
Tip
Nutritional values
Meal prep is incredibly convenient to utilize, particularly for breakfast. For many people, mornings can feel stressful when getting out of a cozy bed. With Overnight Oats, you save time and still achieve a perfect start to your day.
Oatmeal is renowned for being a local superfood. Packed with nutrients, fiber, and complex carbohydrates, oatmeal ranks at the top of the list of healthiest foods. Not only do its many healthy components make oatmeal so special, but they also play a role in preventing various diseases.
Why Overnight Oats?
Overnight oats are easy to prepare – as the name suggests, you can blend them with water or milk the night before. In the morning, they're ready for the perfect breakfast! Customize with toppings of your choice or simply take them along to work in proper meal prep style. You can hardly begin your day in a better or healthier way!
However, porridge is also a highlight in the realm of meal prep breakfast. Porridge can be enjoyed in many forms, whether hot or cold, with or without toppings. Porridge is healthy and full of fiber, making it a great choice for breakfast! This ensures that you feel full for longer and don't have to rely on annoying snacks to get through the day.
Oatmeal breakfast with yogurt & banana
Accessories
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Bowl or (locking) glass
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Spoon
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Knife
Ingredients
- 50 g oatmeal (approx. 4 tbsp)
- 100 g yogurt or plant-based alternative
- 1 banana
Toppings
- 1 handful of blueberries
- 1 tsp. peanut butter
Preparation
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Combine the oatmeal (approximately 4 tablespoons) and yogurt in a bowl or glass and mix well.
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Slice the banana thinly and mix it in.
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Cover the oatmeal-yogurt mixture and place it in the refrigerator to swell for at least one hour. Our tip: Mix it in the evening and let it soak in the fridge overnight to save time!
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Take your breakfast out of the fridge, add a splash of peanut butter and the blueberries. Done!
