Need quick and easy weeknight dinners? Learn how to use food prep effectively to make it easy to throw together healthy and delicious weeknight meals!
Hi Friends!
My apologies for not posting a food prep post for the past couple of weekends! Hubby was traveling a few weeks ago so my prep was smaller than normal and then two weekends we were heading out of town so I didn’t prep. But have no fear! I got back on track last weekend so I’ll have prep to share with you on Sunday. In the meantime, I thought I’d make it up to you by showing you how I use some of my food prep to make easy weeknight dinners.
I was planning to share a Weekly Eats post today but decided this might be a fun way to change it up. Hopefully it’ll show you why I think food prep can be so helpful. I don’t share pics of my dinner nearly as much as I used to but these are all meals we eat regularly and my Sunday food prep definitely makes them easy to throw together!
Curry with Rice & Naan
Food Prep Options:
- Prep the whole dish and just reheat to eat throughout the week.
- Roast a chicken
- Cook some lentils (don’t forget you can cook extra and freeze them for later!)
- Cook some rice
During the week:
- Simply throw some frozen veggies in a pan, add some coconut milk, curry paste, chicken and/or lentils and heat through. Warm up some rice and some frozen naan from the freezer (I like Trader Joe’s) and dinner is ready in 15 minutes or so!
Recipes:
- Lentil Veggie Curry (add chicken or another meat if you desire)
- Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken
Mac & Cheese with Chicken Sausage
Food Prep Options:
- Prep the whole dish and just reheat to eat throughout the week.
- Cook some lentils (don’t forget you can cook extra and freeze them for later!)
- Cook some quinoa, farro, wheatberries, etc if you don’t want pasta.
- Prep your favorite meat (chicken, pork, etc)
During the week:
- Cook pasta (or get out another grain you’ve prepared) according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, saute veggies (fresh or frozen). Add some of the pre-cooked lentils or meat you prepped, along with a little milk and cheese and stir to combine. Or simply pan-sear a pre-cooked chicken sausage to heat it up and serve on the side.
Recipes:
Chicken Tenders with Veggies & Fruit
Food Prep Options:
- Prep several batches of chicken tenders and freeze them.
- Prep some fresh veggies.
During the week:
- Simply take out a batch of chicken tenders and throw them in the oven. Serve with fruits and veggies and your favorite dipping sauce.
Recipes:
Nachos
Food Prep Options:
- Prep your protein of choice – beans, chicken, pork, ground beef or turkey.
- Chop peppers and onions.
- Prep a bag of Crockpot Cilantro Lime Chicken and Freeze
- Make homemade salsa or guacamole
During the week:
- Top tortilla chips with protein of choice, pre-chopped veggies and cheese and heat in the microwave or oven. Add salsa and avocado and serve!
- Or, pull the cilantro lime chicken out one morning and let it cook in the crockpot all day, then serve over chips and top with cheese and salsa.
Recipes:
- Beer Braised Pulled Pork
- How To Cook & Freeze Beans
- Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken
- Crockpot Cilantro Lime Chicken
- Black Bean Guacamole
Burrito Salad Bowls
Food Prep Options:
- Prep your protein of choice – beans, chicken, pork, ground beef or turkey.
- Chop peppers, onions or any other veggies that you want to add raw.
- Roast a pan of veggies to add (try sweet potatoes!)
- Make Salsa Yogurt Dressing
- Cook rice
- Wash and chop lettuce
- Make some guacamole
During the week:
- Put lettuce in a large bowl and add rice, beans, meat, veggies, cheese and avocado. Top with dressing. You could probably make this faster than the amount of time you’d spend standing in line at Chipotle.
Recipes:
Most of these meals can easily be made to fit your dietary needs and habits – ie, make them paleo-friendly, gluten-free, vegetarian etc! If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll give food prep a try!
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For more easy dinner ideas check out this post: 12 Ways To Use Leftovers
Enjoy!
–Lindsay–
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You’ve basically taken all of the post that I love and put them into one spot. Thank you. xoxo
i’m all about the crockpot and then eating leftovers for a couple days/nights – i have no problem with that! 🙂
I like easy! Thanks for the meal inspiration. I’m having a super-easy meal tonight of salsa chicken in the crock pot. Sadly, when working from home that means I have to smell the deliciousness all day though! 😉
I STILL need to try adding tons and tons of veggies to mac and cheese. It always looks so good when you post it. I love the idea of the chicken sausage, too. Now that I am eating meat again, I’ll have to try that out with my mac and cheese!
This great! Thanks so much for sharing Lindsay! 🙂
This is great! Definitely going to try out the Lentil & Vegetable Curry sometime this week!
That curry dish looks really good!
Omg that curry looks amazing! Want want want!
Great suggestions! I have been slacking on any kind of prep but these are some good ideas 🙂
Wow. These all look so good and super simple to prepare! Love them!
These tips are so helpful! I’ve been trying to incorporate more food prep but sometimes I don’t know where to start and what will last throughout the week.
I would love to know how to make my own curry with rice and Naan. There is absolutely nowhere to get Indian food around here and I absolutely love it.