Meal prepping can be so helpful, save you time, and allow you to have healthy, prepared foods at your fingertips. But if you haven’t done it before, meal prepping can be daunting, and you may not even know where to start.
If this is the case, and you need some tips, check out my first meal prep article, All About Meal Prepping For This Summer. And this article will give you all the best foods to be meal prepped, so get into the kitchen!
Berries
Since it’s summer, berries are not only in season, meaning they taste great and cost less, but they are perfect for meal prep. When you bring berries home from the store, make sure to wash them first.
Strawberries are great as soon as you get the green tops cut off, and they hold their shape in most meals. These can be easily prepped by washing them, cutting the tops off, and slicing them or cutting them in half. Blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are awesome, too, and just need to be washed, and they are good to go.
Other Fruits
Although berries are more than perfect for meal prepping, other fruits are, too. Apples may discolor a bit, but if you wash them, cut them, and add a squeeze of fresh lemon, they can chill in the refrigerator, ready for snacking or making a pie!
Citrus is great for meal prepping, too. Just peel the fruit and section it out. You can portion it into sandwich baggies or containers and they are good to go.
Vegetables
Meal prepping is best with vegetables. First of all, vegetables are so healthy for you and we all need to be eating more of them. And second, most vegetables take prep time, too, so if you pre-prep a whole bunch of them at once, it cuts down cook time and again, allows you to have a bunch of vegetables that are ready to go.
For carrots, buy the whole ones, skin them, and cut or shred them. Peppers can be deseeded and cut, either sliced or chopped. Onions can be presliced or chopped as well, just make sure to put them into an airtight container to keep contaminants out. Other vegetables that are great for prepping are broccoli, cucumbers, cauliflower, and zucchini. Keeping them all ready to grab and add to a meal or eat as an especially healthy snack is a great idea.
Sauces
Sauces are great for meal prep for so many reasons. Lots of sauces need to sit together and meld, making them fully incorporate and taste their best. Also, sauces can take some time with all of their ingredients and spices, so if they are ready to go, you will have one less thing to prepare.
Dips like french onion and barbeque sauce are good to make ahead of time. Sauces for your entree are great to have made already, too, so you can just warm them up at dinner time. Spaghetti sauce, cream sauce, pepper or chicken gravy, and other sauces are easy to make as a part of meal prep and you will be glad they are ready once you set out to start dinner.
These meal prep strategies are prefect for getting started with meal prepping. You will love having healthy and cut up produce on hand and be glad that you started meal prepping. It will make your life easier, and healthier. Win-win!