I’ve done the food prep thing for years. From the time I moved into my first apartment, carving out time each week to prepare food in advance has been a priority. Why? Well, you know the saying, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Planning and prepping ahead saves time and money, reduces food waste, and sets me up to nourish my body and feel my best all week.
When it comes to food prep, the “what” (setting aside time to do it) hasn’t changed for me. However, the “how” has! As I see it, there are two ways to approach it: ingredient prep and meal prep. Your current circumstances (e.g. household size and food preferences, schedule, cooking ability, enjoyment around cooking, etc.) will determine the method that best fits your lifestyle. And just because one works well this season doesn’t mean it will always work best for you. I oscillate between ingredient prep and meal prep, and will likely never settle on one indefinitely. Let’s start with the OG prep for me, ingredient prep.
INGREIDIENT PREP | Ingredient prep is a way to individually prepare ingredients to make mealtime easier all week. Examples include:
- Washing and chopping fruits and veggies
- Making sauces
- Cooking grains
- Marinating/batch cooking meat
- Making homemade wraps or sourdough bread
- Shredding cheese
- Hard-boiling and peeling eggs
- Making homemade hummus or salsa
Ingredients can be combined to create a meal without the need to spend hours in the kitchen. An example could be creating a warm grain bowl with sliced marinated chicken breast + brown rice + broccoli florets and sliced mushrooms + sauce + additional herbs/spices. Alternatively, ingredients can be kept cold and combined to make a salad or sandwich, or even a cold grain bowl. (I can’t be the only one who loves food cold!) No matter which combinations you choose, you can’t do this wrong. You’re the food artist here!
When ingredient prep works best for me: This was my go-to method when I was a young adult, cooking for one. I loved the ease of prepping my favorite staples and combining them into simple, real food meals. This also avoided the monotony of eating off the same recipe until the leftovers were gone. Nowadays, I still mix in ingredient prep when my husband and I enjoy slightly different variations of dishes, when the season is bursting with fresh produce or when our evening schedule in the upcoming week doesn’t allow for as many sit-down meals together. You may like the ease of pleasing multiple picky palettes with ingredient prep or the ability to pack elements of your prepped food in lunch boxes quickly. The reasons to ingredient prep are almost limitless; and if nothing else—it’s good to mix it up every once in a while!
MEAL PREP | Meal prep is the practice of preparing complete recipes to either cook or reheat at a later time. An example could be assembling a lasagna or egg bake to fully cook the next day (the “cook later” way) or similarly, fully cooking those same dishes to reheat on a rushed weeknight. (Recipes made in a casserole dish can also be cooked, cooled completely, cut into squares and frozen individually to enjoy days, weeks or months later!) Whether you’re making taco meat, sloppy joe’s, chicken marinara or bacon-wrapped meatloaf, all are easy to heat and eat with little prep time involved.
When meal prep works best for me: These days, this is my preferred method. With a household of two, I’ve found if I prep two to three recipes (depending on how many evenings we’ll eat at home that week), we eat well and don’t get tired of anything I’ve prepared. I try to make at least two different meats to add variety between recipes (e.g. grass-fed ground beef, organic chicken breasts, ground venison, etc.). We might enjoy tacos on a Sunday, chicken marinara on a Monday, reheat whatever is easiest after our home group on Tuesday and continue alternating between recipes until they’re gone. If we don’t eat something up, I individually freeze portions and that becomes an alternate option in the weeks ahead. If you, like me, enjoy the experience of cooking complete meals and experimenting with new recipes, meal prepping may be for you! This method may also cater better to your household if you have kiddos requesting dishes like mac n’ cheese or chicken nuggets, which can both be prepped ahead from real foods to better nourish their growing bodies.
As you can see, both ingredient prep and meal prep have their advantages. And what works best for you this season may be one or the other, or a combination of the two. Try them on for size and keep an open mind. You may discover rethinking your approach brings joy (and deliciousness) back into your kitchen!
Motivated to start a weekly prep routine but don’t know where to start? I’m here for you. Check out my Food Prep & Planning Package to get cookin’!
