‘I meal prepped all of my meals for a week, here’s what I learnt…’
In a bid to save time and money I spent one afternoon making every meal I’d eat for a week. I was surprised by how I felt by the end of the experiment… By Izzie Cox I’m an avid planner of meals, and often eat my leftovers for lunch, but I definitely wouldn’t class myself as a meal prepper – someone who makes every meal for days, or even weeks – all in one go. However recently I’ve become seduced by the aesthetic fridges packed with neatly stacked rows of food containers that have filled my social media feeds – on Instagram alone the hashtag ‘meal prep’ is attached to 15 million posts. These posts claim that meal prepping saves you time and money and makes it much easier to stick to healthier, balanced meals. What’s the science behind these claims? Research suggests meal planners consume a wider variety of food groups and nutrients than their off-the-cuff counterparts. Additionally a six-week group study of advanced meal prep showed that the overall time individuals spent on preparing meals across the week was significantly reduced. Interestingly, there could also be a lesser-discussed benefit – not having to make decisions around what you’re going to eat has been shown to reduce stress. Whilst I would love to reduce my food shop bill, I’m particularly interested in the time and health benefits – I frequently struggle with finding the time to fit in the gym or make a healthy, filling breakfast. By cooking everything in one go, would I free up some valuable time? The importance of ‘cross-over’ ingredients Knowing where to start was daunting, so I decided to get advice from an expert food prepper and influencer, Mimi Harrison. Her first top tip is to “plan a shopping list that incorporates lots of cross-over ingredients.” As well as keeping food waste to a minimum, this “can really help to save money whilst meal prepping.” So I came up with a meal plan that would use as many of the same ingredients as possible. For example, I thought I’d make a hidden veg tomato sauce that would include courgettes, so I looked for other recipes that could include the veg and popped beetroot burgers and roasted green veg on the menu. Think about ‘bases’ for your meal Another top tip from Harrison is to “make versatile bases - you don’t always have to meal prep a dish that seems the same throughout the week, you can mix it up!” This really resonates with me as my main concern with meal prepping a week’s meals is repeated dishes will be a snooze-fest by day seven. So I plan for my hidden veg tomato sauce to be served with both butter beans and pasta, and to evolve into a topping for pitta pizzas and a soup at the end of the week. This hidden veg tomato sauce was a great base for three different dishes Consider food storage I assembled my food containers and realised I was massively short, I’d need at least another 10, so I purchased these in advance. Harrison gives some clever storage tips: store salad, leafy veg and boiled eggs in airtight containers lined with damp kitchen roll, this will help keep them fresh. Always keep your carbs and sauces separate to maximise the flavour and textures when reheating – and with food hygiene in mind, use a combination of the fridge and freezer, with the latter vital for meals eaten later on in the week. Food prep day Sunday comes around, and I’ve cleared my diary for the day. I’ve come up with a plan for 21 meals for me (breakfast, lunch and dinner for seven days) and 14 for my two housemates as we eat our evening meals together. I head to the shops with a shopping list that’s smaller than it usually is. And lo-and-behold, when I get to the checkout I’ve spent around £40 less than we would on average – so far so good. I get home mid-afternoon, unpack the shopping and it’s time to get started. I’ve mentally allowed about three hours for the activity. I quickly realise this isn’t an achievable timeframe at all. Luckily, one of my housemates quickly volunteers to help make the dishes too. She starts on the roast aubergine and potato curry and I’m on the chickpea traybake pittas and we encounter our first problem, we don’t have enough oven trays or oven space to make both recipes simultaneously. Not to worry, I switch over to make-ahead couscous bowls whilst I await my time with the oven. For hours and hours the oven is in constant use, with multiple recipes being held up waiting for enough space to be cooked at the correct temperature. We cook for a total of nine hours. And we even had to get our other housemate in halfway through the cook-athon to tackle the mountain of washing up. The second we finished my housemate collapsed on the sofa and said she “never wanted to meal prep again”. She didn’t even want the bowl of aubergine and potato curry with rice and yoghurt mint sauce we’d prepared because she had “food fatigue” (although she changed her mind on this stance fairly rapidly). After nine hours of cooking, I had enough meals for the entire week Don’t forget the snacks It’s almost embarrassing that on the first full day of the challenge I realise I’ve made a mistake with the planning – snacks, or a lack of them. When putting together the meal plan it had sounded like lots and lots of food, so I presumed I’d be full without them. But I still need a mid-morning and mid-afternoon boost, I add grapes, a bar of dark chocolate and some crackers to my shopping list to pick up after work, but in the meantime? I end up making a dash to the nearest shop for some honey roasted cashews and a kombucha to drink at work. Sitting down for dinner with my second batch of aubergine and potato curry I’m pleasantly surprised by how great it is – even tastier than the first time round. A (potentially obvious) learning to take forward - dishes like curries, stews and ragus, whose flavours develop and get better as they sit, are perfectly suited to meal prep. My pack of pittas really went far. Here's one of my prepped lunches which sees them filled with chickpeas and salad Feeling restricted Uh-oh, it’s just a few days in and rebelliousness has kicked in. I feel constrained by the water-tight meal plan I’ve created for myself, desperate to just have a packet of instant ramen for dinner. But this touches on some advice from Harrison that I’d failed to take: “You don’t want to dive straight into having every single meal planned and prepped as it will feel too regimented and you’ll get bored easily.” She read me like a book. When it comes to meal prepping, flexibility is key. I manage to stick to the plan, but the issue arises again on Friday night, when one of my friends suggests a last-minute dinner out upon receiving some good news. I tuck into some spicy Sichuan hot pot whilst my poor little pitta pizza sits at home neglected. Sticking to it Despite life interfering with my best laid plans, I get to the end of the week with little to no food waste. There’s a couple of breakfast wraps and a portion of tomato sauce still in the freezer, but these are things that will last and help me out with next week’s meals. Notwithstanding my mid-week wobble – struggling with all meals being predetermined and missing the wind-down benefits of cooking – I could clearly see how much more time I’d had to play with all week. It was much easier to fit in a trip to the gym knowing I could have dinner within minutes of arriving home. And, there was the money saved, not only was my food shop cheaper but because I knew there was food waiting for me at home I was far less likely to pop into shops on the way home and buy unneeded extras. Would I do it again? I don’t think I’ll be prepping all of my meals, but the time, cost and health benefits are undeniable and I’d like to continue with some.As having time to make a healthy breakfast is my biggest struggle, I’m going to continue making breakfast wraps to keep in the freezer and have a batch of granola in the cupboard. I’d also like to have a few portions of something delicious stored in the freezer for emergency lunches and dinners, rather than reaching for instant ramen or the takeaway apps. And if you were desperate to know my housemates reviews by the end of the week? Here you go: “Would do it again, there was a lot less washing up.” My week-long meal plan Originally published October 2024