Nine Healthy Recipes Perfect for Meal Prep

Meal prep photo via istock.com/Beno

If you associate meal prep with sad rows of Tupperware filled with soggy lettuce and slimy chicken, you’re doing it all wrong.

Meal prep—practically a necessity for time-strapped healthy eaters—doesn’t have to mean depressing desk lunches. If you pick the right recipes and ingredients, it’s easy to create make-ahead meals you actually enjoy eating. What a concept.

Start with these nine healthy recipes you can meal prep:

1. Chicken and Rainbow Veggies
via Gimme Delicious

Roast chicken and an array of your favorite veggies on Sunday, and you’ll have colorful, flavorful meals all week long. Even better? You can use the components in a variety of ways. Eat them plain, throw them into pasta or quinoa, top your salad with them, or even make them into a soup.

2. Gnocchi with White Beans, Spinach, and Tomatoes
via Taste of Home

Gnocchi will last for a few days in the refrigerator, so go ahead and make a big batch at the beginning of the week. Swap in whole wheat gnocchi if you choose.

3. Winter Wheat Berry Salad
via the Kitchn

With a long cook time and a hearty texture, wheat berries scream meal prep. They’ll shine in this winter salad, made with figs, red onion, raisins, celery, and almonds.

4. Blueberry Baked Oatmeal
via the Roasted Root

Meal prep can totally transform your mornings. This sugar- and dairy-free make-ahead oatmeal sure beats surviving on coffee until lunch.

5. Carnitas Burrito Bowls
via Fit Foodie Finds

With the help of a slow cooker, meal prep Sunday doesn’t even have to take the whole day. Cook all of your ingredients ahead of time, then assemble throughout the week.

6. One Pan Mexican Quinoa
via Damn Delicious

This loaded quinoa dish reheats wonderfully throughout the week. If you opt to include avocado, chop and add that just before eating each serving.

7. Chickpea and Sausage Soup in a Jar
via Cooking Light

Ready for a game changer? To make this soup, all you do is layer the ingredients in a jar, then add hot water just before eating. It’s the perfect portable lunch.

8. Make-Ahead Breakfast Casserole
via Paleo Running Momma

This recipe may be billed as a breakfast dish, but with egg, bacon, sweet potato, and Brussels sprouts, it’s filling enough to eat for lunch or dinner, too.

9. Slow Cooker Chicken, Kale, and Sweet Potato Stew
via Real Food Whole Life

Toss six ingredients into your slow cooker. Four to six hours later, you’ll have days worth of warm, comforting, healthy meals.