A while back I posted a few polls/questions on Instagram stories asking about your obstacles when it comes to meal prep/grocery shopping/weeknight dinners. Overwhelmingly the feedback was “how do you meal prep and not get sick of eating the same thing all week.” So I made it my mission to share how I meal prep and account for variety in meals without wasting food. This post isn’t necessarily a recipe, more of a guide for a weekly meal prep. I made this with the idea of it being enough for two people for 4-5 lunches or dinners, but tried to include serving sizes so you can modify for your needs and preferences. If you live alone feel free to cut down on the chicken! If you’re cooking for a family, maybe double the chicken and veggies, but I’ve also included some suggestions for easy proteins you can cook on the fly with some of the already prepped items so you’re not eating chicken for literally every meal.
Shopping List
- 2-3 pounds of chicken, one serving is 1/4 pound, but bigger appetites (my husband) may prefer 1/2 pound and tbh I can often eat more than a 1/4 pound myself 😉
- 3 bell peppers
- 3 zuchinni
- 1 small onion
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, one potato per serving
- 1 head broccoli, one serving is about a cup
- cucumber
- cherry tomatoes
- greens
- 1 cup rice, one serving is 1/2 cup cooked
- frozen bag of fried rice
- eggs
- tzatziki, recipe here but store bought is perfectly fine 🙂
- pasta sauce of choice
- salsa
- feta cheese
- taco seasoning, recipe here but no judgement on store bought!
- Greek seasoning, Cavenders is my favorite
- olive oil
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- salt
- pepper
Prep List
- Season chicken with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder and cook. I use my instant pot: pressure cook for 10 minutes and manual release. You can also bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. The internal temperature should be 165. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, it’s the best $20 you’ll ever spend!
- Slice bell peppers, onion and one zuchinni into strips. Drizzle with olive oil and taco seasoning and toss to combine. Cook at 400 for 15-20 minutes.
- Cut broccoli into florets, drizzle with olive oil and seasoning of choice and toss to combine. Cook at 400 for 15-20 minutes. (Can do the peppers and broccoli at the same time.) I will do all different kinds of seasoning with the broccoli depending on my mood! My personal favorite is everything bagel seasoning, but a little salt, pepper and garlic can’t do you wrong.
- Cut potatoes into about 1/2 in cubes and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook at 400 for 25-30 minutes.
- Cook rice by method of choice. Buying dry rice in bulk is definitely the cheapest way to do it, but I also love the microwave rice packs for their convenience, which you don’t need to prep ahead of time.
- Spiralize zucchini and store in tupperware lined with paper towel in the fridge. If you don’t plan to cook the zucchini within 2-3 days I would wait to do this.
- Slice cucumber and store in tupperware in the fridge.
Meal Combinations
- Taco Bowls: Chicken + cooked peppers and onions + rice + salsa
- Taco Salad: Chicken + cooked peppers and onions + greens dressed in olive oil and lemon juice + salsa
- You could also brown some ground turkey or beef to sub for the chicken
- You could also do tacos/quesadillas with tortillas
- Greek Bowls: Chicken + broccoli + rice + tzatziki + feta
- Greek Salad: Chicken + greens dressed in olive oil and red wine vinegar + cucumbers + grape tomatoes + feta
- Greek Rice Salad: Chicken + rice + cucumber + grape tomatoes + feta, toss in olive oil, rice wine vinegar and greek seasoning, could also throw in olives if you have them!
- Greek Zoodles: Chicken + zoodles and cherry tomatoes sauteed in olive oil with greek seasoning + tzatziki + feta
- You could also sub canned chickpeas for the chicken
- You could also stuff everything into pita for a gyro of sorts
- Italian Zoodles: Chicken + zoodles cooked with pasta sauce of choice + feta
- You could also brown some ground turkey or beef to sub for the chicken
- You could also boil pasta if you’re not into zoodles 😉
- You could also sub the chicken for precooked chicken sausage (I always keep this in my fridge for dinner on the fly!)
- Chicken & Broccoli: Chicken + broccoli + roasted potatoes
- You could sub the chicken for precooked chicken sausage or even scrambled eggs
- Jazz this up with your favorite condiments – ketchup, mustard, bbq sauce, sweet chili sauce, peanut sauce
- Fried Rice: Chicken + frozen fried rice + (optional) scrambled egg
- Brinner: Scramble some eggs with cherry tomatoes and greens + roasted potatoes
- Fiesta Potatoes: Roasted potatoes + chicken + cooked peppers and onions + salsa
- You could sub the chicken for a fried egg
- And if you get really bored of the chicken.. make chicken salad
- Snack idea – cucumber slices with tzatziki
If y’all like it, I may make this a series and share other meal prep ideas. Please feel free to share any feedback in the comments below! I hope this is helpful for you, and if not, would love to know what would be beneficial to add.
Biscuits & blessings,
Leels
