Calling all the frazzled, weary mums... you need these super-simple, meal prep hacks in your life, and I am about to spill the tea. These helpful kitchen and meal prep tips will mean you only have to spend a few minutes—not hours in kitchen—while putting delicious, healthy meals on the table for the family. So, grab your notepad, bookmark this page, and let’s dive into the meal prep hacks that will have you feeling back in control—even if you’re still in your pyjamas.
Let’s be real honest—meal prep can be great in theory with a heap of nutritious grab-and-go meals—but who really has the time and energy to spend chopping, dicing, and planning out every single meal? As a mum and household of seven, I certainly struggle to keep on top of it all. That’s why I came up with the "micro meal prep method", and use it every single week without fail, because it works!
What Is 'Micro Meal' Prep Exactly?
The short answer—it's a health habit born from my own kitchen. The longer answer, I created "micro meal prep" to help my clinic clients prepare nutritious meals with very little effort. This method is something I religiously practise myself, and in sharing it, I was so please to see it helping my clients grab brief moments during the day for meal prepping and planning, instead of long hours at once.
Honestly, micro meal prep is ideal for anyone, but for especially for us mums with scattered and hectic schedules, its a gamechanger. For those who want to eat healthier, but lack the time commitment for longer, more traditional meal prep sessions, micro meal prep is just the thing for you. By purposely finding ways to multitask, and prepare ingredients beforehand, cooking healthier meals each week becomes so much easier, and almost effortless.
'Micro Meal Prep' For Busy Mums
Not only does micro meal prep save time and effort, it also ensures that you always have at least a few nutritious, portion-controlled meals readily and available at any given time. By preparing your meals in advance, you and your family will be able to make healthier food choices, and avoid the temptation to just grab fast food or a packet of chips on hectic days.
Micro meal prep can also help you save money, if you buy ingredients in bulk, and will also help you avoid wasting food by using up everything you have bought. No more leftovers going to waste. Practicing this, also allows you to experiment with new recipes and flavours, making your meals more fresh, exciting and enjoyable. The benefits of adopting this health habits are:
reduce food waste by using leftover ingredients you already have on hand
make healthier choices your default by having nutritious food already ready to go
portion control becomes so much easier, which is crucial for weight loss
ditch those last-minute unhealthy choices by preventing you from reaching for processed or fast foods
As you can see there are many benefits to having prepped and make-ahead meals on hand by practicing a little micro meal prepping. It can also help reduce the stress and anxiety of what to eat when you rushed or short on time with a hungry family at your heels. When practiced regularly, micro meal prep will give you more time to relax and unwind after a long day, instead of stress and fuss in the kitchen. It really is such a simple, yet effective way to regain control over your eating habits, maintain a balanced diet, and make the most of your time in the kitchen.
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10 Quick & Easy Meal Prep Hacks
This is probably the part you've been waiting for—the simple micro meal prep ideas that will help you provide healthy meals without needing to spend hours in the kitchen. Grab a notepad or screen shot these tips to help you get started:
Batch-Cook Grains & Proteins
Prepare a big batch of healthy, high-fibre grains such as quinoa, rice, or couscous, and lean proteins like chicken, hard-boiled eggs, seasoned tofu, or baked beans at the start of the week. You can use the air-fryer, electric egg steamer, slow cooker or rice cooker to make this task only take a few minutes. The cookers will do all the heavy lifting, and pouring in the ingredients and seasonings literally take less than a minute or two. Once cooked, store the ingredients or meal in individual, pre-portioned containers as ready-made meals, or as easy prepared ingredients to use up throughout the week.
Pre-Chop Veggies For Snacks & Dinners
That old saying that if you have only healthy food in the house, you'll eat healthy food, couldn't be more true. So, slice up carrots, capsicums, cucumbers, and other fresh, in-season veggies to keep in the fridge, and all ready for snacking or tossing in a salad, stir-fry or other meal. You can store chopped and sliced veggie sticks in mason jars filled with water to keep things fresh tasting where they'll keep 3-4 days. Prepped veggies are perfect for grab-and-go snacks, and will save you heaps of time when you’re throwing together a last minute dinner on a stressful day.
Use Rotisserie "Hot" Chicken
A "hot chook" as us Aussies call them, rotisserie chicken is your best friend! You can pick one up from Coles or Woolies for $12-14 steaming hot and ready to eat. Hot chicken is easy to shred and serve any number of ways as soon as you get home. From chicken sandwiches, summer rolls, and wraps, to topping salads, or shredded into a cheesy pasta bake for the kids, vegetable casseroles, or stir-fry. Just one cooked chicken provides you with ready-to-go protein for many healthy meals, and the leftovers are easily tossed in a soup pot with vegetables that need using up, for a nutritious freezer-friendly, chicken soup.
Make Smoothie Blender Drops
Freezer "blender drops" are one of my all-time favourite to meal prep as a busy mum. They simply consist of pre-chopped fruit, veggies and milk ice cubes in a pre-portioned freezer bag. I share how to make blender drops in this smoothie making post, but the idea behind them is to have ready to go smoothie recipes that only take a minute to drop in a blender and process. Make blender drops with your favourite smoothie ingredients—berries, fruits, greens, seeds, and frozen milk cubes. In the morning, just dump one into the blender with your protein powder and liquid of choice, and breakfast or lunch is served.
Freeze Portions of Soup & Stew
Reducing the stress and problem of decision fatigue over what's for dinner each week, is solved by batch cooking larger portions of easy to reheat meals like soups, stew and baked casseroles. These meals are simply pulled from the freezer, straight to the pan or oven, and make serving up a healthy, but low stress meal a snap. To meal prep, make an extra large pot of soup or stew using up all the leftover veggies and food from the fridge, and then freeze serving portions in individual containers ready to heat up. You can also meal prep oven baked or crockpot meals such as lasagne, pasta bake and stews by portioning out all the ingredients into large freezer bags that will feed the family. On busy nights, you simply pop the contents of one bag into the crockpot, add water or milk, set it, and forget until dinner time. This always makes for a quick, and nutritious meal.
Prep Overnight Oats & Chia Seed Pudding
The ambition behind this Lazy Cook Series, is about spending less time in the kitchen, and more time with your family. One healthy breakfast or snack the whole family will love, and may even want to help you batch cook, is overnight oats or chia pudding. Both recipes are the ultimate no-cook breakfast, and only take 2-3 minutes to meal prep next time you're already in the kitchen. To make, you combine oats, chia seeds, milk or plain yogurt, and protein powder (optional) individual mason jars, giving them a little whisk before setting in the fridge overnight. Literally, your fridge does most of the work. To serve, top with chopped fruits, homemade granola, nuts, seeds and enjoy a grab-and-go breakfast right from the jar!
Stock Up & Prep Frozen Veggies
Frozen veggies are a great way to save money, eat healthy on a budget, and always have goodness on hand. After shopping, rinse and pre-chop veggies into bite-sized piece to use in salad, soup, stew, pasta bakes or casseroles. You can make extra quick work of this by using a food processor, madeleine or a veggie slice-dicer like this one (pictured below). Chop and store the individual or mixed veggies in pre-portioned freeze bags or containers like mason jars or sealable, tupperware tubs. To cook, all you need to do is toss the prepped into your stir-fries, pasta, or soups for a quick veggie boost.
MY FAVOURITE KITCHEN AIDS & TOOLS:
Make Salad Jars, Easy Lunch & Dinner
While you are meal prepping the above, make up some salad jars for the week ahead. To make, begin with a glass 250ml or 500ml mason jar. Starting with the dressing on the bottom, and then add in the crunchiest ingredients such as chopped carrots and celery. Top this layer with the softer ingredients like cucumber, tomato, beans, lentils and pasta or quinoa. Lastly, finish the mason jar off with the most delicate salad ingredients; think shredded lettuce, cabbage, herbs and micro greens. Seal and store for 2-3 days in the fridge. When you are ready to eat, just shake it up to combine all the ingredients or dump into a bowl, ready to go!
Sheet Pans For Minimal-Clean Up Dinners
If you are a lazy cook, or just pressed for time in the kitchen, sheet pan dinners are a fabulous way to have only one baking dish to clean up. Since you have already meal prepped the veggies as above, to make sheet pan meals, all you need to do is dump a bag of pre-cut veggies in a large sheet pan with chopped sausage, chicken, beef, or vegan meat alternatives. Then sprinkle with your favourite dry seasoning blend like Fajita, Cajun, Italian or lemon pepper. Add a little water or milk if required, or try a simmer sauce, and simply just bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Sheet pan meals only ever take 2-3 minutes to throw together, especially when you have all the main ingredients all ready to go. Bonus: line the pan with foil for even easier clean up!
Slow Cooker Meals
My life is so much simpler with a slower cooker on my kitchen bench. A slow cooker is a large electric pot with a lid where you can throw in your ingredients and walk away. For the lazy cook and frazzled mum, this is the perfect meal prep because you get to come back hours later to a ready-made meal. You can use slower cooker for all kinds of soups, stews, curries, meatballs, shredded chicken or wings. The list is endless really, and again provides you with a quick option that only has one pan to clean up.
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Nutritionist's Note
If you'd like to learn more about micro meal prep and enjoy free recipe ideas, then come and join my Facebook Community where I share heaps of healthy, wholefood recipes and nutritional advice every week. This topic is something I regularly teach in clinic and on Zoom workshops. See my events page for the next masterclass on this topic or drop a comment below for me to answer your personal questions.
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, always in her test kitchen and garden. She lives in Sydney, Australia.
Healthy + happiness,
Emma Lisa xx
HEALTH & NUTRITION PRACTITIONER
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