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The fridge door is open, cold air hits your face, and you already know there’s nothing in there that adds up to an actual meal. So you order pizza again and promise yourself that next week will be different. Sound familiar?
I spent years in that exact cycle, convinced meal prep meant spending entire Sundays cooking complicated recipes I’d never eat. Turns out, I was overthinking it.
These 15 meal prep ideas are designed for people who’ve never meal prepped before or tried once and gave up. Nothing here requires advanced cooking skills or three hours of chopping. We’re talking about Sheet Pan Chicken and Vegetables that you can toss together in ten minutes, Mason Jar Salads that stay crisp all week, and Overnight Oats you literally assemble the night before while you’re cleaning up dinner. Each idea focuses on simple ingredients, minimal dishes, and food that tastes good on day four, not just day one. You’ll find breakfasts you can grab straight from the fridge, lunches that don’t need reheating, and dinners that portion out perfectly. No fancy containers required, no meal prep guru skills needed.
1. Sheet Pan Chicken and Vegetables
Sunday afternoon, I throw chicken thighs on a sheet pan with chopped sweet potatoes, bell peppers, and red onion. Drizzle everything with olive oil, add salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Roast at 425°F for about 35 minutes. That’s it. The whole thing happens in one pan, and I get four complete dinners out of it. I portion everything into glass containers while it’s still warm. By Wednesday, when I’m drowning in work calls, I just grab one from the fridge and microwave it for two minutes. The chicken stays juicy because thighs are forgiving like that. This one’s my gateway drug for meal prep beginners.
2. Mason Jar Salads
These looked ridiculous to me until I tried them. Now I make five every Sunday and eat salad for lunch instead of ordering takeout. The trick is layering: dressing on the bottom, then hard vegetables like carrots and cucumbers, then softer stuff like tomatoes, then greens on top. When you’re ready to eat, shake it up. They stay crisp for five days, which shocked me. I use quart-sized mason jars from Target, about $10 for a 4-pack. My favorite combo is balsamic on the bottom, chickpeas, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, feta, and spinach. Takes maybe 20 minutes to prep all five on Sunday.
3. Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken
Four chicken breasts go in the slow cooker with a cup of chicken broth. Cook on low for 6 hours while you work. Shred it with two forks right in the pot. I divide it into containers and use it for everything: tacos on Tuesday, chicken salad on Wednesday, pasta on Thursday. You can season it however you want after shredding, which is the genius part. One batch gives me protein for at least six meals. My slow cooker was $30 at Walmart three years ago, and I use it constantly. If you have an Instant Pot instead, that works too, just pressure cook for 15 minutes. Either way, you need protein for the entire week and can’t be bothered with anything complicated.
4. Overnight Oats
I resisted this trend hard because I’m not a breakfast person, but now I have one every single morning. Mix equal parts oats and milk in a jar the night before. I do half a cup of each. Add a spoonful of peanut butter, a drizzle of honey, and whatever fruit I have around. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, it’s ready to eat cold, or you can microwave it for a minute if you want it warm. I prep five jars on Sunday night and grab one each morning. The time savings alone are worth it, plus I’m not starving by 10 am anymore. Any jar with a lid works fine, even old spaghetti sauce jars.
5. Burrito Bowls
Cook a pot of rice, brown a pound of ground turkey with taco seasoning, and open a can of black beans. Chop some lettuce, tomatoes, and whatever else you like. I keep everything separate in containers and build my bowl fresh each day. Takes about 30 minutes on Sunday to prep everything. Each person can customize their bowl, which solves the problem of my picky daughter. The components last all week in the fridge. I add salsa, sour cream, and cheese when I’m ready to eat. My teenage son requests these, which tells you everything. This was my first successful meal prep, and I still make it every other week.
6. Hard Boiled Eggs
A dozen eggs, boiled on Sunday, have saved me from the vending machine more times than I can count. Put eggs in a pot, cover with cold water by an inch, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes. Transfer to ice water. They peel more easily if you use older eggs, not fresh ones. I eat them plain with salt, make egg salad, or slice them on toast. They’re good for a week in the fridge. The protein keeps me full between meetings when I’d normally grab chips. My best discovery is peeling them all at once on Sunday while watching TV. Sounds too simple to count as meal prep, but these work.
7. Freezer Breakfast Sandwiches
These are cheaper and better than the store-bought kind. I cook a batch of scrambled eggs in a muffin tin, about 20 minutes at 350°F. Let them cool, then build sandwiches with English muffins, the egg rounds, and cheese. Wrap each one in parchment paper, then stick them all in a freezer bag. When you need one, unwrap it, wrap it in a paper towel, and microwave it for 90 seconds. I make 12 at a time, and they last over a month in the freezer. Costs may be $8-10 total for a dozen. Way better than spending $4 each at a drive-through when I’m running late.
8. Chopped Vegetables in Containers
Not a full meal, but this changed my snacking completely. Sunday afternoon I wash and chop carrots, celery, bell peppers, and cucumbers. Everything goes into one big container with a damp paper towel on top to keep it fresh. When I’m working and need something crunchy, I grab a handful instead of opening a bag of chips. They stay crisp for about five days. I go through way more vegetables now that they’re ready to eat. Sometimes I portion them into smaller containers with hummus for a snack I can grab. Takes maybe 15 minutes of chopping, but saves me hours during the week.
9. Simple Pasta Bake
Cook a pound of pasta, mix it with a jar of marinara and a pound of cooked ground beef or Italian sausage. Add a container of ricotta if you want it creamier. Pour into a 9×13 pan, top with mozzarella, and bake at 375°F for 30 minutes. I cut it into portions and refrigerate half, freeze half. The frozen portions are perfect for those nights when even reheating feels like too much. My kids will eat the leftovers, which is a miracle. Total time, including cooking the pasta, is under an hour. This feeds my family twice with minimal effort.
10. Taco Meat Portions
I brown three pounds of ground beef with taco seasoning all at once, then freeze it in one-pound portions. Each portion makes enough tacos for our family of four. I use quart-sized freezer bags, flatten them so they stack, and label them with the date. They thaw in the fridge overnight, or you can dump a frozen portion in a skillet with a little water, and it’s ready in 10 minutes. This trick works for any seasoned ground meat. Having these in the freezer means I’m never tempted to order pizza on a busy Tuesday. Three pounds of beef costs about $12-15, depending on where you shop, and gives me three easy dinners.
11. Yogurt Parfait Cups
I started making these when I realized I was spending $4 each on parfaits from the coffee shop. Get a big container of plain Greek yogurt, portion it into individual containers, and let everyone add their own toppings. I keep granola, berries, and honey on the side. Takes five minutes to portion out the yogurt into five or six small containers. The yogurt lasts all week and doesn’t get soggy because you add the granola right before eating. My daughter makes her own breakfast now, which is an unexpected bonus. A $6 tub of yogurt makes six servings instead of buying one premade parfait.
12. Roasted Vegetable Medley
Chop whatever vegetables you have into similar sizes. I usually do broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast at 425°F for 25-30 minutes, stirring once halfway through. They’re good hot or cold. I add them to grain bowls, eat them as a side, or throw them in scrambled eggs. The batch lasts four or five days. Roasted vegetables taste good as leftovers, which surprised me. This is what finally got me eating vegetables regularly instead of pretending I would cook them fresh every night.
13. Muffin Tin Egg Cups
I didn’t expect these to become a staple, but here we are. I whisk a dozen eggs with milk, salt, and pepper, then pour the mixture into a greased muffin tin. Before baking, I drop in whatever needs using up: leftover ham, spinach, shredded cheese, diced peppers. Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes until they’re set. Pop them out, let them cool, and store them in a container. I grab two on my way out the door most mornings. They’re good cold, but 30 seconds in the microwave makes them taste fresh. My kids eat them without complaining, which is basically a parenting win. You can make a week’s worth of breakfast protein in 25 minutes.
14. DIY Soup Jars
I bought fancy soup cups at the store for months before realizing I could make better ones myself. Get wide-mouth mason jars and layer them: cooked rice or pasta on the bottom, then frozen vegetables, cooked chicken or beans, and seasonings. I use chicken bouillon, garlic powder, dried herbs, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Keep them in the fridge for up to four days. When you’re ready to eat, pour boiling water over everything, close the lid, and wait five minutes. Stir it up, and you’ve got soup. I make four at a time on Sunday. Way more filling than the sad desk lunch I used to settle for.
15. Baked Sweet Potatoes
Turns out you just stab them with a fork, put them on a baking sheet, and bake at 400°F for about an hour until they’re soft. I bake six at once. They keep in the fridge for a week and reheat perfectly. I eat them a different way each day: with butter and cinnamon, topped with black beans and avocado, or mashed up with a fried egg on top. The skin gets a little wrinkly in the fridge, but who cares? Having these ready means I eat a vegetable that isn’t from a bag of baby carrots. I thought sweet potatoes were complicated for years before I figured this out.
Start With Just One Thing
That Sunday night stare into the empty fridge doesn’t have to end in pizza guilt. You’re not failing at meal prep because you haven’t figured it out yet. You just haven’t found the version that works for your actual life.
Pick one thing from this list that sounds doable right now. Make hard-boiled eggs on Sunday if you need the easiest possible win. Try Sheet Pan Chicken and Vegetables if you want dinners handled for three days. Start with Overnight Oats if mornings are your biggest struggle. You don’t need to prep every meal for the entire week. You just need something ready when you’re too tired to think.
Next Sunday, you’ll have options that aren’t another delivery app. That’s worth a little Sunday effort.
