7 Easy Ways to Make Meal Prep a Breeze

One of the biggest roadblocks to eating well is planning. Without a well-stocked fridge or pantry, eating out is unavoidable. If you end up skipping meals or snacks simply because you haven’t prioritized them, it also makes perfect biological sense why you would instinctively reach for super convenient, concentrated sources of carbohydrates (we’re looking at you, vending machine snacks). Under-fueled brains and bodies don’t necessarily have the capacity to go “hey, let’s have this Salmon & Brown Rice with Bok Choy.” Instead, they shout, “feed me now!”

To prevent this from happening, we’re dishing out seven of our best tips to make meal prep a breeze. We also tapped into the expertise of our in-house chef, Mayra Lopez, who happens to be a pro on the subject matter.

7 Tips for Meal Prepping

1. Dedicate one day a week to meal prep and give yourself a time limit. If you hype it up in your head that meal prepping could take all day, you probably won’t even start. Put a time limit on it, such as one hour, and see how much you can get accomplished. “If you prep even a few things in advance, it’s more likely you’re going to cook,” says Chef Mayra.
2. Start with the essentials you’ll incorporate into tons of meals, like onions, shallots, and garlic, or a mix of vegetables like a mirepoix. After chopping or mincing them in the nutribullet^® Triple Prep System food processor, store the veggies in an airtight container. Another pro tip: if you have leftover onions, caramelize them and extend their life another week!
3. Slice a variety of veggies using the food processor for salads, stir-fries, or roasting. “You don’t have to have a specific menu in mind,” advises Chef Mayra. “Use whatever ingredients you have on hand, and assign a different veggie to each day of the week. You may surprise yourself with the meals you put together,” she continues.
4. Shred cheeses. Flip the slicing disc on your nutribullet^® Triple Prep System food processor to the other side to shred a bunch of cheese to use in a variety of recipes.
5. Make one homemade sauce, such as Arugula Pistachio Pesto, Pineapple Salsa, or hummus. Sauces are another way to inspire creativity in the kitchen. They’re great on sandwiches, in pasta, as a marinade, or on top of cooked fish or poultry.
6. Make one homemade salad dressing. From a flavor standpoint, store-bought salad dressings don’t hold a candle to homemade versions. And if you think you’re not a salad person or someone who likes to eat veggies, I’ll let you in on a little secret: it’s all in the salad dressing. This Green Goddess Dressing, for example, is a game-changer.
7. Make a nut or seed butter if you really want to hit it out of the park. Nut butters are not only great on sandwiches, but they also make a delicious ingredient in smoothies, homemade granola bars, energy bites, and so much more.

Once you start prepping some ingredients at the beginning of the week, you’ll be hooked. “It will not only help to reduce food waste,” says Mayra, “it’s also such a money-saving strategy.” If you’re stumped on what recipe to make with all your prepped ingredients, turn to our website for inspiration.