Forget the idea that you have to spend hours in the kitchen in order to meal prep healthy food. Today, I’m going to share with you my micro meal prep method that will help you easily stay on track with your clean eating and health goals, and for only a few minutes of meal prep a day. As a Nutritionist who’s spent years guiding clients, I know firsthand how a little strategic prep here and there—like whisking up a yummy raw cacao chia pudding while making dinner, or batch-cooking salad, quinoa or brown rice ingredients—can set you up for success. Let’s make eating a healthy breakfast recipes easy, and fun. Get your chopping boards ready...
When it comes to clean eating and saving time, there is a little meal prep hack that I cannot wait to share with you. So, if you've always thought meal prepping healthy meals means you have to spend hours in the kitchen prepping elaborate meals, it doesn't. In fact, you don’t even need to dedicate a day or whole weekend to meal prep, just a few minutes can make such a massive difference in the quality of food you eat each day. Ready? Let me introduce you to my famous, micro meal prep method...
What Is Micro Meal Prep?
As I mentioned, you don't have to spend hours slaving away in a hot kitchen to eat better at breakfast. Micro meal prep is my simple method that only requires a few minutes of time throughout the week to prep and plan ahead your meals instead of setting aside hours at once. Micro meal prep is perfect for busy mums and women who want to eat healthier, but don’t have the time for traditional time-intensive meal prep sessions. And if you are ADHD or a multi-tasking Queen like I am, preparing things in advance in the small pockets of time you can find each day, is the secret to always having healthy meals ready to go.
Benefits of Micro Meal Prep
Micro meal prep makes healthy, clean eating easy and convenient by maximising a few minutes here and there in the kitchen. You'll also save yourself time, and reduce decision overwhelm on what to eat for breakfast each day. Once you really get going with this, these micro efforts quickly stack up, leaving you with lots of healthy, quick to grab nutritious food options to start your day. It is a fabulous way to help avoid unhealthy choices when you are pressed for time in the mornings and just need something quick and easy for breakfast.
The micro meal prep method not only makes good use of your time, but it also supports better eating habits in the following ways:
portion control: prepping smaller, intentional portions helps you avoid overeating or snacking on unhealthy foods. You’re in better control of the ingredients quality if what goes into your meals, making it easier to stick to your health and weight loss goals.
reduces food waste: by planning ahead and prepping in small batches, you'll use up more fresh ingredients before they spoil. This way, you avoid wasting food and save money in the long run.
keeps you consistent: having nutritious, pre-prepped meals on hand means you're more likely to stay consistent with healthy eating habits. It eliminates the temptation to reach for processed snacks or convenience foods when you're short on time, or feeling tired and lazy.
nutrient variety: micro-prepping allows you to mix and match ingredients, ensuring you get a wide variety of nutrients. You can easily switch up veggies, proteins, and grains, so your meals stay flavourful, interesting, and super nourishing.
As you can now see, this healthy habit highlights just how easy and valuable micro meal prep can be as a simple practise to help you maintain clean eating, and pre-empt your mornings to run more stress-free.
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10 Quick & Easy Clean Eating Breakfasts
Ready to make 10+ healthy, clean eating breakfast recipes with me that only take a few minutes--if that? Then you'll first want to bookmark this page or email it to yourself for handy reference. I've rounded up some of my go-to Nutritionist-approved breakfasts ideas for those wanting to eat clean, meal prep, and focus on a more well-balanced, and wholefood based diet. These simple micro meal prep ideas will help you easily eat clean without needing to spend hours in the kitchen.
Chia Breakfast Pudding
Meal Prep: 2-3 minutes
One of the best micro meal prep hacks is to prepare breakfast while you’re cooking dinner. Chia pudding is an excellent choice for this, and makes a versatile, nutrient-dense breakfast for at home or on the go that requires just a few minutes to prepare. While you’re waiting for dinner to cook, whisk a few tablespoons of dry chia seeds with almond milk, vanilla extract, and a sweetener of your choice. Pour this mixture into small mason jars and let them sit overnight in the fridge to set. In the morning you’ll have a healthy breakfast ready to top with in-season fresh fruits, nut butter, or granola.
Breakfast Fruit Salad Jars
Meal Prep: 4-5 minutes
As soon as you get home from the grocery shops, meal prep a few of these easy breakfast fruit salad jars using some of the fresh fruits you bought. To make, simply chop the fruits into bite-sized pieces, and mix or layer in the varieties to fill small mason jars. You can add a little protein yoghurt and granola at the time of serving as delicious topping. The fruit salad jars will keep 2-3 days in the fridge in sealed containers providing a quick breakfast, lunch or snack option.
Green Smoothie (Freezer Drop Bags)
Meal Prep: 2-3 minutes
Nothing is faster than a nutrient-dense smoothie breakfast in the morning. You can make super quick work of this by spending 5-7 minutes the day before prepping a few "freezer drops bags". These are small, portion-sized Ziplock bags or single-serve, reusable containers filled with smoothie ingredients. You make them by simply adding a few handfuls of fresh greens, frozen berries or fruit to a Ziplock freezer bag. You can then spend a few extra minutes making "milk drops" so everything you need is tossed in one drop bag, and ready to go. To meal prep milk drops, simply fill an ice cube tray with your preferred milk and freeze. Add 2-3 of the milk drops to the freezer bags for a ready to blend breakfast smoothie made in seconds, not minutes!
Eggs & Hashbrowns
Meal Prep: 5-7 minutes
Want a healthy, high fibre, high protein breakfast to start your day, then you need to take 5-minutes to meal prep some sweet potatoes. By chopping up a sweet potato into bite-sized chunks and tossing into a freezer bag or reusable container with seasonings and little olive oil, you've just made ready-to-go hashbrowns that are high in dietary fibre. In the mornings, sauté them in the pan before frying or scrambling 1-2 eggs for a filling breakfast. I recommend adding a side of greens, or a little leftover salad to this to really power a healthy start to your day.
Protein Burritos Wraps
Meal Prep: 5-7 minutes
If you want a quick and easy morning meal, breakfast burritos stuffed with leftovers or meal prepped ingredients, is a great way to fuel your day. Whenever you cook grains like quinoa, brown rice, or farro, make extra and use them to fill a burrito with scrambled eggs, spiced tomatoes and cheese. Batch cooking high fibre grains takes no additional time when you are already making some, and provides the foundation for several other healthy meals. You can store cooked grains for a few days in the fridge for easy access, or freeze them in servings sized portions. Use a serving in wraps, sprinkle over salad bowls, or use to bulk up stir-fries.
Fruity Overnight Oats
Meal Prep: 5-7 minutes
As soon as you unpack your groceries, get in the habit of washing and chopping up your fruit. Add the chopped fruit to sealed containers, or freeze to preserve, and lock-in the goodness. You can use meal prepped fruit in so many ways from smoothies to top and flavour oats. This small meal prep habit will save you so much time later, and ensures you always have something healthy to eat. To make fruity overnight oats, add a few tablespoons of rolled oats to a few mason jars, top with your milk or yoghurt of choice, and add the fresh or frozen fruit. Combine well, and store overnight in the fridge to set into a pudding you can enjoy throughout the week for breakfast.
High Protein Breakfast Salads
Meal Prep: 2-3 minutes
These are a Monday favourite in my household and are fabulous way to use up any leftovers. Make a quick protein breakfast bowl with leftover salad and meat like BBQ sausages, roast chicken or beef from the weekend. Fry or scramble an egg and serve at home, or pack it as takeaway breakfast or brunch for the office. If you are more plantbased, you can still make these with canned beans, chickpeas and scrambled egg substitute.
Protein Mug Cake
Meal Prep: 1-3 minutes
Yes, you can eat cake for breakfast and it be healthy for you! Mug cakes are made with only a few ingredients and ready in less than 2-3 minutes. They are high in protein to help start your day with all-day energy, and can be topped with all kinds of fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, yoghurt and nut butters to make a filling, gourmet meal. To meal prep mug cakes, make drop bags filled with different dry ingredients and simply tip into a mug with milk or water, an egg, and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to cook in the microwave. Love chocolate? Add a scoop of chocolate protein, raw cacao powder, cinnamon and stevia granules for the dry ingredients. For a cinnamon bun flavour, try vanilla protein, cinnamon, and finely chopped walnuts. Experiment with strawberry, salted caramel and other protein powder flavours, and don't forget to add healthy, wholefood toppings to make it a full meal.
Protein Yoghurt Parfaits
Meal Prep: 2-3 minutes
Yoghurt parfaits are such a quick and easy breakfast recipe to meal prep ahead of time. All you need to do is stir a scoop of your favourite plain or flavoured protein powder into Greek or coconut yoghurt. Add a few flavourful spices like raw cacao, cinnamon or vanilla. Then, portion the mixture into mason jars, building layers of yoghurt, granola and fruit like berries, chopped mango, kiwi or spiced apples. With a sealed lid, the parfaits will last 2-3 days in the fridge. and provide you with a delicious, clean breakfast for at home or on the go.
Flavoured Oatmeal
Meal Prep: 5-7 minutes
Oats are such a healthy, high fibre start to the day, especially if you combine them with protein. An easy way to do this is to micro meal prep some drop bags which include a cup of raw oats, a scoop or two of protein powder, and your favourite spices. To use, drop the contents into a pan with milk of choice and cook as usual. You can honestly meal prep so many flavours simply by mixing up the protein powder you use, extra ingredients, and spices. Try chocolate protein powder, toasted coconut flakes, and chia seeds. Cook in milk or water, and then serve topped with fresh berries and nut butter. Another easy to meal prep recipe is vanilla protein, cinnamon and all-spice cooked with a little pumpkin puree, maple syrup and walnuts. You could literally create a different flavoured drop bag of ingredients for each day of the week and never get bored!
These easy micro meal prep tips can help you make healthy, clean breakfasts in a matter of minutes (not hours) and ensure you stick to your health goals. Just a few minutes a day or even just once or twice a week can make a big difference int he food you have on hand to choose from. If you have enjoyed the, you'll find more ideas and support inside the Facebook Community, click here.
Emma Lisa, Nutritionist & Women's Practitioner
Emma Lisa is a Nutritionist & Women's Health Practitioner with over 14+ years experience in wholefood nutrition, meal planning and health coaching. She is a published cookbook author, passionate food recipe creator and lifestyle blogger, and an advocate for women's health and anti-diet culture. When she's not in clinic, Emma is mum to five kids, cooking in her test kitchen and a wellness digital creator. She lives in Sydney, Australia.
Healthy + happiness,
Emma Lisa xx
HEALTH & NUTRITION PRACTITIONER
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That mug cake sounds very interesting, will try it this week. Thank you for sharing!