Meal prep ideas to make your life easier

After a long day dealing with everything life sends your way, it can be hard to find the time and energy to make a tasty, healthy dish from scratch. This can be frustrating – especially for those of us that enjoy cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Enter meal prep! 

With a little forward planning, preparing a week’s menu in advance can save you time, help you make more nutritious choices, cut food waste and keep costs down. Win, win, win.

Whether it’s ready-to-eat breakfasts, grab-and-go packed lunches or defrostable dinners, this expert guide of meal prep ideas will make you a pro in no time.

Begin by working out the number of meals you’ll need each day, how many people you need to feed, plus any dietary preferences/requirements. Next, find recipes that can be made ahead of time and cooked in batches – such as chili con carne, curry or ragu – and use these to plan a daily menu. It can help to write this on a weekly planner that’s kept on view in the kitchen, so everyone knows what they’ll be eating that week and when. 

Once you’ve planned your meals, work out the ingredients you need and make a full shopping list. Streamline the process further by organising your list into categories, such as vegetables, meat or tinned goods; this will help you not to forget any essentials when placing your food order or visiting the supermarket. 

To transform your ingredients into time-saving meals, you’ll need to do some batch cooking – investing a little time up front (on the weekend, for example) will serve you well throughout the week.

Get organised: start by setting out all the equipment you need, including chopping boards, kitchen knives and cooking utensils. Measure the necessary ingredients, then work through your chosen recipes methodically. Hint: pop your recipe book or tablet on a cookbook stand, so you can follow the steps with ease.

To keep things interesting, find simple ways to tweak your batch-cooked dishes so you're not eating an identical meal all week long. For example, chilli con carne can be served with jacket potatoes or rice, transformed into a taco filling or used as a topping for nachos. You can also change things up by adding in different freshly-made sides, quick salads or salsas. 

Speed up your meal prep by utilising technology that can lend a helping hand. A slow cooker offers an opportunity to simplify batch cooking and, better still, enhances recipes by developing deeper flavours as it works. An air fryer is your shortcut to speedy sides, such as garlic bread or chips, to go with your pre-prepared meals. 

Food processors and blenders are serious time-savers when it comes to making soups or sauces, while measuring jugs can help you scale up recipes to make a larger batch. 

Once cooked, you’ll need a few ways to store your made-ahead meals, whether that’s air-tight containers, oven-safe solutions or jars for the fridge. John Lewis has a huge range of food storage options, made from BPA-free plastic, glass or reusable silicone. 

Buying sets of identically-sized containers has a hidden benefit: it can help you portion meals evenly, whether by day, by person or both. 

Keep organised by labelling every container with the contents and date they were cooked. You can use old-school write-on labels or invest in a labelling machine (which is seriously addictive once you get started!).

Depending on your meal plan, store your prepped food in the fridge or freezer. Remember, if freezing, put new containers at the back and move older ones forward so that they are eaten first.

If you’re looking for new flavours or stuck when it comes to menu inspiration, Waitrose has a huge collection of batch cook recipes. Savoury saviours include lentil ragu, spiced dal and a sausage-and-bean stew, while the overnight oats make a perfect speedy-but-nutritious breakfast.