Meal Prep Mastery: Cook Once, Eat All Week

Meal prepping doesn't mean eating the same thing every day or spending Sunday in the kitchen for six hours. Done right, it means 2 hours of strategic cooking that gives you a week's worth of quick, delicious meals based on components — grain, protein, vegetable, sauce — that combine in different ways each day.

The Component Method (Not the Full-Meal Method)

The biggest meal prep mistake: cooking complete, identical meals (7 containers of the same chicken and rice). Instead, cook components that can combine in multiple ways:

• Grain: Cook a big pot of rice, quinoa, or farro
• Protein: Roast chicken; cook a big batch of lentils; hard-boil eggs
• Roasted vegetables: Sheet pan of seasonal vegetables
• Sauce or dressing: A tahini sauce, a vinaigrette, or a pesto

What to Prep

Grains (Last 5 days refrigerated)

• Rice — serve as base, use in fried rice, add to soup
• Quinoa — salad base, breakfast porridge, bowl base
• Farro — hearty grain bowls, mixed into salads

Proteins (Last 3-4 days refrigerated)

• Roasted chicken thighs — slice into grain bowls, wraps, salads
• Hard-boiled eggs — snack, salad topping, grain bowl protein
• Seasoned ground meat — tacos, pasta, rice bowls, lettuce wraps
• Cooked lentils or chickpeas — protein for vegetarians, salad additions

Vegetables (Last 4-5 days)

• Sheet pan roasted vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, zucchini, sweet potato
• Washed and chopped salad greens (store with paper towel to absorb moisture)
• Steamed or blanched broccoli, green beans, asparagus

Sauces and Dressings (Last 1-2 weeks)

• Classic vinaigrette, tahini dressing, pesto, green herb sauce

The 2-Hour Sunday Session

1. Start grain in the rice cooker or pot first — it cooks itself
2. Roast two sheet pans of vegetables at 425°F — 25-30 minutes
3. Cook protein simultaneously — oven or stovetop
4. Hard-boil eggs while everything cooks
5. Make one sauce
6. Cool, portion, and store everything in labeled containers