12 Easy and Healthy Meal Prep Ideas (2024)

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Do you want to eat well AND save money at the same time?

I kid you not, you can achieve ALL three goals at once with these easy and healthy meal prep ideas.

Now, you must be thinking… “Who’s got time for meal prep?” Right?

Wrong!

The fact that you don’t have time is all the more the reason why you need to start meal prep today!

Healthy and easy meal prep ideas were designed for busy people like you! You won’t have to stress over what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! The best part is you can buy these ingredients without breaking the bank when you prepare a list and shop for these healthy groceries on a budget.

It’s so easy to meal prep that once you start, you’ll wish you’d started sooner!

In fact, if you’re new to Meal Prep, you’ll want to first invest in a set of long-lasting and high-quality glass containers – these are personally my favorite glass containers!

Healthy Meal Prep NOTE: Since you’re looking for healthy meals, I highly recommend this $5 Meal Plan! This healthy meal plan is the perfect solution for you if you’re on the hunt for delicious budget-friendly recipes. It is a service that will send you a delicious meal plan straight to your e-mail inbox along with a shopping list every week for just $5 a month! You can get a FREE 14-day trial here when you sign up. This is risk-free and you can cancel anytime with no questions asked. 🙂

Meal Prep Saves You Money

Not only will following healthy meal prep recipes save you many hours of cooking time, but it’ll also save you A LOT of money! There are plenty of delicious and cheap healthy budget-friendly meals you can make at home without breaking your weekly food budget!

Meal prep involves preparing your meals in advance. This ensures you use the exact amount of ingredients needed and avoid an overload of lettuce or tomato in your fridge. As a result, you’ll reduce food waste and save money. Not only that, but you’ll see savings on delivery and service fees when you opt out of using delivery apps.

Quick Tips on Meal Prep

1. Start Slowly:You don’t need to take an all-or-nothing approach to meal prepping to make it work. It’s highly recommended that you take small steps and start your meal preps with one or two recipes that you’re excited to try and slowly add more recipes as you get more comfortable. This way, you won’t feel overwhelmed with this new way of preparing food and quit half-way.
2. Plan Ahead: A big part of meal prepping is planning ahead. This will help you save time and money because you’ll know exactly which recipes to make and how much ingredients you’ll need. As you’re planning your meals for the week, write down the delicious and healthy recipes you’re looking forward to making so you don’t forget it!
3. Invest in Quality Products: Storing your food properly is extremely crucial when it comes to meal prep. You want to keep your prepared meals as fresh as possible, for as long as possible,with airtight quality glass containers. The last thing you want is to throw away your food because it turned bad.

More Delicious Recipes and Meal Prep Ideas:

• 10 Easy and Healthy Meatless Meals That Even Meat Lovers Enjoy (Perfect For Meatless Monday)
• 10 Low Carb Keto Casserole Recipes That Are Seriously Delicious
• 20 Healthy and Budget-Friendly Meals For Less Than $5 (Super Tasty Too)

Meal Prep Ideas for Breakfast

Do you tend to skip breakfast because you’re always rushing out the door trying to get to work on time?

If you’re not a morning person and have trouble waking up to make a quick and healthy breakfast, then preparing your breakfast the night before or on the weekends will be a gamer changer for you!

Check out these quick and easy breakfast meal prep ideas that will help you kickstart your mornings the right way!

1. Healthy Breakfast Egg Muffins

The busiest time of the day is usually your mornings. You’re so busy that sometimes, you don’t even notice that you missed breakfast until your stomach tells you!

Break this habit with this super delicious and easy to make breakfast egg muffins recipe. It only takes is 35 minutes, from start to finish, to make a batch of these goodies for the week.

Simply mix 3 of your favorite ingredients with beaten-up eggs (seasoned with salt and pepper) and see which one you like the most!

The beauty of cooking with baking trays is that you can have different kinds of frittatas all in one tray!

2. Easy Breakfast Burritos

Starting your day with a nutritious breakfast doesn’t have to be a struggle. Rather than picking up an unhealthy sausage sandwich on the way to work, why not prepare a healthy breakfast the night so it’s ready for your mornings?

Breakfast burritos are effortless to make and it’s loaded with your staple ingredients: scrambled eggs, cheese, fresh tomato, potato, creamy avocado, and onions (optional).

Fill your tummy and feel your best with this simple breakfast hack that you can enjoy on-the-go. They’re perfect for road trips too!

And YES, they arefreezer-friendly!

3. Healthy Overnight Breakfast Oats

Quit making your grandparent’s plain oatmeal breakfast.

B-O-R-I-N-G!

Spice up your life with these yummy and flavorful overnight breakfast oats recipes! It’s super fast and so easy to make!

The best way is to store your oats in mason jars and let it chill overnight in the fridge. That way, your healthy oats will have plenty of time to soak up the milk or almond milk (whatever you like).

Overnight oats are SO good that you might think it’s a dessert! It sure tastes like one!

4. Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

You don’t have the luxury to sit down and have breakfast in the morning, right? Gotcha!

Then these tasty breakfast muffins are what you’re looking for if you’re constantly running around and can’t afford to slow down to eat breakfast. They’re MUCH better and healthier than the ones you buy from stores!

It’s packed with healthy oats and blueberries so you won’t have to feel guilty eating more than one.

Lunch Meal Prep Ideas

When hunger strikes, the last thing you want is to wait patiently in line listening to the person customize their orders to the max. You just want to eat ASAP so you can finally go for a walk and take a break from work!

Here are some easy and healthy lunch prep recipes that you can make for this week to help you avoid the busy lunch crowds at the food court.

5. Turkey Taco Lunch Bowls

Honestly, this delicious turkey taco bowl is one of the BEST healthy meal prep recipes that you can easily prepare for the week.

You have your protein in there, plenty of vegetables to satisfy the doctors, and also very budget-friendly to keep your wallet happy.

As with all bowls, you can easily customize it to your liking by choosing your favorite toppings.

I love avocados, especially in bowls, so if you like them as much as I do, definitely cut a fresh one for your meal. It’s so good!

See! You don’t need to fork out over $10 to get your hands on a delicious taco bowl.

6. Honey Sriracha Glazed Meatballs

Who says that healthy food can’t be delicious? Stick these mouthwatering in their face and see if they can resist!

These lean turkey meatballs are healthy AND taste amazing!

If you like to put Sriracha on all your food, then this is THE meal prep idea for you! The sweet and spicy secret sauce will have you adding this recipe to your weekly meal prep ASAP.

Got a potluck coming up but you have no idea what to bring? Make a batch of these yummy honey glazed meatballs and everyone will go wild over them!

7. Southwest Chicken Burrito Bowls

Are you tired of having the same old meals for lunch and switch things up?

Now, you can eat clean, healthy, and save money with your own homemade chicken burrito bowls!

The key to this delish lunch is flavorful rice. It’s seasoned with a mix of spices: cayenne, paprika, cumin, and pepper. However, it’s entirely up to you on how you want to prepare the rice for this meal.

As you can see, the possibilities are endless with lunch! So be creative and try all sorts of ingredients when you make your tasty bowls!

8. Glazed Chicken Meal Prep

This meal prep idea is very flexible and allows you to use whichever vegetables you like. So if you don’t like green beans, no problem, you can easily replace this vegetable with broccoli. Add sweet potatoes to the mix if you like them.

There are a variety of ways you can eat this. If you’re not feeling for regular potatoes, then swap them out for sweet potatoes. I mean, who doesn’t love sweet potatoes?

If you’re feeling for rice one day, you can add your choice of white or brown rice.

Want to avoid too many carbs? No problem, just ditch the potatoes and toss a boiled or fried egg onto this plate and you’ll have yourself a low carb healthy meal! I promise you that this healthy meal prep will taste just as great!

Meal Prep Ideas for Dinner

9. Thai Coconut Yellow Curry Chicken & Rice

If you’re into healthy curry dishes, then you’ve got to try this amazing Thai Coconut Yellow Curry Chicken and Rice.

Even an amateur cook can easily and quickly prepare this recipe for dinner when using the Instant Pot. You can take a peek at the best Instant Pot recipes here if you’re into quick and easy meals with this pressure cooker.

The beauty of this Thai Coconut Curry dish is you can mix it with almost whatever vegetables you crave for. Snap peas, broccoli, asparagus, bell peppers – you name it! And if you’re looking for a vegetarian option, simply swap the chicken for tofu or egg and you’ll have yourself a vegetarian option for dinner!

10. Roasted Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, & Broccoli

A great healthy alternative to the regular red or yellow potatoes is sweet potatoes! They are a great source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

According to Healthline, they’re also incredibly rich in beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A to support good vision and your immune system.

Sweet potatoes are versatile and can be prepared in meal preps like this roasted chicken, sweet potato, and broccoli dish. With chicken breast, you’ll get tons of protein for the day and you won’t miss out on vitamin C and fiber with the added broccoli.

11. One Pan Healthy Italian Sausage & Veggies

This One Pan Healthy Italian Sausage & Veggies will sure blow your mind away!

Load it up with veggies to make it extra healthy and loaded with fiber and many essential vitamins for your daily intake.

Alternatively, if you’re not a huge fan of Italian sausages and want a lean version of this delicious and healthy dish, then you can replace them with lean turkey sausages. In my honest opinion, this option tastes just as great and if not, even better! You’ll get loads of protein and less fat with the turkey option!

12. Healthy Beef & Broccoli

You can’t go wrong with a mix of beef and broccoli.

Beef is packed with iron which is great for people who generally have low blood count, and mixed with the delicious mouth-watering broccoli, you’ll get tons of vitamin C, K1, and Folate.

This is a great healthy meal prep dish to have especially when you have kids who don’t like to eat vegetables. With an amazing tasting dish like this, your kids will be asking for more veggies on their plates! 🙂