The biggest game-changer for actually getting healthy food on the table each night? For me, it all clicked once I nailed down the habit of “meal prep light.” This batch prep technique has been my ritual for years now, and it works far better than picking random recipes or even planning weekly menus.

Don’t get me wrong, you know I love a good recipe – you can find my favorites in my book or on Pinterest! But I needed a realistic method for feeding my family multiple healthy meals (throw in a few snacks, too!) every. single. day.

The solution? Meal prep light.

What is “meal prep light” and why does it work so well?

Meal prep light consists of batch prepping proteins (and/or veggies, a fat dip, or dressing as well) while you’re already in the kitchen making a meal, brewing your coffee, or blending a smoothie.

I’ve found this method works just as well for my Hollywood A-listers as it does for busy moms as it does for me. Why?

1. It’s efficient. 

Meal prep light doesn’t require a ton more time in the kitchen. It just means you get more results for the time you’re already spending there. If you’ve already planned to roast some veggies for dinner, why not add another tray plus extra protein? If you’re spending ten minutes brewing a coffee, why not throw some protein and veggies on a sheet pan and into the oven at the same time? Now, you’ve got a quick lunch and dinner for tomorrow, too!

1. It’s adaptable. 

Meal prep light works for different lifestyles (single, married, mom, work from home, on-the-go…), different eating styles (paleo, plant-based, allergen-friendly…), and you can do it on your own terms and schedule. It’s the ultimate choose your own adventure. Go with the veggies and protein you love. Sunday prep sound miserable? Go with Monday evening while you make dinner! Make it work for you so that you can get consistent!

How does “meal prep light” work?

It normally looks like a couple of sheet pans of veggies and protein thrown into the oven whenever it works into your normal flow. For me, it’s often a Saturday or Sunday lunch with benefits. While I’m making my salad from farmer’s market fare, I’m throwing a protein or two and a bunch of veggies into the oven at the same time. Beyond the sheet pan, meal prep light can include prepping protein-rich salads, fat dips, or other easy lunches or grab-and-go items.

Time: When to meal prep

When should you meal prep light? Well, whenever it works for you!

Take advantage of the natural time slots you’re already spending in the kitchen. Sunday afternoon after the farmer’s market while washing veggies? Me too! Sunday night dinner prep? Double bang for your buck. Weekday mornings while brewing coffee? Extra productive. Maybe you’re someone who’s home for lunch or during a child’s nap, and those times feel natural to throw a few things in the oven or mix up a couple batches of something yummy.

Moral of the story, don’t work your schedule around meal prep. Find the spaces when meal prep works into your schedule!

Supplies: What you need for meal prep

Stay stocked with all the goods so when you do have a few minutes in the kitchen, you’ll already have what you need!

These are the food and pantry items I always keep on hand so I can meal prep light anytime: 

• Plenty of vegetables. Your tried-and-true favorites, but also some unexpected choices to keep it fresh and interesting!
• High quality meats and seafood from Butcher Box, Force of Nature (use code KELLY10), Thrive Market, or Pasturebird (use code BEWELLBYKELLY). 
• Primal Kitchen sauces or dressings are great to throw in a slow cooker with your meat. Otherwise, they’re the perfect accessory to up the flavor profile of any meal (use code KELLYSFAVORITES). 
• Fab Four Smoothie staples stocked and ready to go. A couple bags of protein – plant-based, grassfed, vanilla, chocolate, or unflavored. Amazon makes it easy to subscribe and save on healthy fat, fiber, greens, and superfoods. 
• More inspo on how to stock up for effortless healthy eating? Check out how I stock my fridge and some of my grocery staples.
  

My go-to supplies for non-toxic cooking and easy cleanup include:

• Stainless steel baking sheets for roasting sans heavy metals, which are found in aluminum sheets. 
• If You Care pre-cut parchment sheets make non-toxic roasting easy with minimal cleanup. 
• Glass Pyrex for safe storage. 

How to Batch Prep for Healthy Meals

It’s so simple you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it earlier. While my go-to move for meal prep is a couple of extra sheet pans of roasted protein and veggies, sometimes I’ll make a big batch of tuna salad or salmon salad. And other times, I’ll bake protein-rich muffins or breads on a slow weekend morning to freeze for quick defrost-and-go breakfasts or snacks on busy weekdays. Doubling up a soup or stew and freezing the extras or saving for later in the week is another staple meal prep move in the LeVeque home.

Start here: What are the proteins and veggies you want to have on hand for easy leftover dinners and quick throw-together lunches? Once you’ve determined those and stocked up, it’s a matter of finding natural cooking windows and doubling down on productivity. 

How to roast veggies and protein for meal prep:

1. Preheat oven between 375 to 425 F depending on what you’re cooking. 
2. Wash and chop your veggies of choice. 
3. Oil and season both your protein and veggies. 
4. After adding parchment paper to your sheet pans, arrange items that cook a similar length of time on one sheet pan together. Arrange a second batch of similar length cooking items on a second sheet pan if desired. Alternatively, you might choose to roast your heartier veggies, and then add items that cook for a shorter length of time (such as salmon and more delicate veggies) to the pan halfway through. 

Be Well Tip: Tricks and hacks for easier meal prep

• Butterfly chicken breasts so they cook quickly and evenly. This improves the seasoning ratio. And they’re easier to cut for salads, bowls, or kid’s lunches.
• Roast butterflied chicken breast for approximately 20-25 minutes at 400 F. Check to make sure the internal temperature reaches 165 F.
• Bake salmon for 10-15 minutes at 400 F. Adjust time according to size of salmon pieces and desired doneness. 
• Veggies such as summer squash, zucchini, asparagus, peppers, and mushrooms, will cook in about half the time of heartier root and winter vegetables – winter squash, Brussels sprouts, carrots, parsnip, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. In general, I roast the former for 20-30 minutes at 400-425 F. And the latter for 40-50 minutes at the same temperature. Stir every 10-15 minutes for even roasting.
• Cut veggies into equal-sized pieces in order to cook uniformly. 
• Store proteins in the fridge for 3-4 days after prepping (if they last!). 
• Remove fish skin before storing in glass Pyrex to prevent a strong fishy smell!
• For tuna or salmon salad, keep it interesting by adding fresh herbs, tangy pickles, or sneaking in other veggies. 
• Use healthy-option box mixes to make prep super easy. Birch Benders Paleo Grain-Free Pancake Mix, Wild Rye Pancake Mix and Sweet Laurel Pancake Mix are good options – add a scoop of protein powder, extra chia, flax, or eggs for more fiber, fat, and protein!
• Whenever barbecuing, let the grill do twice the work. Let’s say we’re making my chimichurri chicken bowls, I’ll have my husband Chris make twice as much chicken, or I’ll even give him a simply seasoned steak to have red meat for the next day.

What to make after meal prepping

Just like the Fab Four Smoothie, I often make meals by hitting my marks – protein, fat, fiber, and greens – rather than following specific recipes. This ensures I have a nourishing, blood sugar-balancing meal. And it gives me freedom to use what I have on hand instead of making a last-minute trip to the store to grab an ingredient (or just get takeout!).

Fab Four = Protein + Fat + Fiber + Greens

Batched protein and veggies can easily be thrown into a child’s lunchbox, eaten for breakfast, heated with bone broth for a quick soup hack, or thrown over greens or grains for a nourishing bowl. On occasion, I’ve even been known to eat them cold right out of a glass container to stave away cravings.

Here are some ideas for how to use your proteins:

Beef: Batch burgers to eat over salads, batch ground beef to throw on salads or in tacos, Ground beef tostadas, Buffalo Chili, Shredded Beef Tacos

Salmon: Turn into salmon cakes, put in tacos, throw over a bed of greens and create your own salad with a homemade or Primal Kitchen dressing, mix with curry veggies for a quick weeknight dinner, Spicy Salmon Nori Rolls with Brown Rice and Veggies, French Salmon Salad, Herbaceous Salmon Salad

Chicken: Slice and throw on top of a salad with a bunch of fresh veggies and a dressing, throw in grain-free tacos with your favorite toppings, with Feta and olives in a Greek bowl, Chicken Taquitos, Lemon Basil Chicken Salad, Green Curry Cashew Chicken and Broccoli Bowl, Breakfast Chicken and Veggie Soup, Coconut Cauliflower Rice with Sweet Coconut Chicken and Broccoli, Clean Kale Chicken Cobb Salad, Bone Broth Chicken Curry, Viral Green Goddess Salad 

Meal prep light saves me on busy workdays, preventing another night of takeout or eating from my pantry at 3 pm. I’ve found for most of my clients, and myself, that when you have the healthy foods on hand, eating them is effortless. Make it easy to make nourishing decisions!

Batch Meal Prep Recipes

Maybe you prefer specific recipes for batch-prepping your healthy foods? I totally understand, and that’s why I have a website full of attainable, everyday recipes that can be easily prepped in minutes. These are a few of my personal favorites:

• Omelette Egg Cups
• French Salmon Salad 
• Herbaceous Salmon Salad (you can always sub for tuna!)
• Avocado Bean Salad (Fake Egg Salad)
• Sheet Pan Salmon with Sesame and Ginger
• Lemon and Garlic Whole Roast Chicken
• Shredded Chicken Slaw
• Paleo Homemade Italian Meatballs
• Super Quick Homemade Chicken Nuggets
• Soups! Creamy Pumpkin Soup, Vegetable Minestrone Soup, Creamy Cashew Carrot Ginger, Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup, Kale and White Bean Veggie Soup
• Muffins and breads! Protein Packed Pumpkin Spice Muffins, Sugar Free Blueberry Muffins, Grain Free Walnut Banana Bread

An Example: Meal Prep at the LeVeques

I’m already in my kitchen making breakfast and brewing coffee. Maybe even packing lunches. We’re running low on proteins and veggies, and I know re-upping will only take an extra 5-10 minutes of work.

I set my oven to 425 F. Raw broccoli and Brussels sprouts are in the refrigerator – washed and chopped – from an earlier trip to the Ecology Center. I simply drizzle them in olive oil and add a little salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder.

I quickly chop a Delicata squash, drizzle in olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, cinnamon, and turmeric powder. I throw all of the veggies onto two sheet pans and set the time for 40 minutes.

At 20-25 minutes, I flip the veggies and add the salmon (drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with salt - simple and yum!) to one of the pans. Pop them back in and keep an eye on the broccoli, as it may need to be removed earlier.

Boom! Ten minutes of prep work and let the oven do the rest while I’m sipping coffee and hanging with my boys over breakfast. The result is a full two trays of veggies and a big batch of protein to set us up for a couple days!

More of a visual person? Here’s a real-life look at my meal prep light!

Final Thoughts on Meal Prep Light

All you need is one new habit to totally transform the way you eat. Meal prep light is a less effortful method for those who want to spend less time in the kitchen but still experience the benefits of eating body-loving and blood sugar-balancing foods on the regular. 

What would it feel like for you to open your fridge and have it stocked with foods that love you back?!

Meal Prep Resources For You

Meal prep motivation at its finest → Learn the why and how behind the Fab Four – my easy-to-follow widely loved formula for creating blood sugar balancing meals that shed pounds, curb cravings, and fuel focus. 

• Fab Four Fundamentals - Nail the basics for the ultimate move in self-nourishment!
• Fab Four Parenting - Littles? Me, too! Let ‘s grow adventurous eaters!
• Fab Four Smoothie Basics - Smoothies that satisfy…and then some. 
• Fab Four Pregnancy - Grow your little and get your *glow* on.