The food trend Meal Prep (English: meal = meal; prep from preparation = preparation) has spilled over from the USA to Germany and is becoming more and more popular. Not only because the prepared lunch boxes look good, but also because Meal-Prep is smart and healthy. The idea behind it: You cook the food for several days in advance, so you always have a healthy and delicious meal on hand – at work and at home.
Meal Prep: Why should I pre-cook?
There are two good reasons to prepare your own food and take it with you. One, because you’ll know exactly what’s in it. “Especially for athletes, it’s a great way to check your macronutrient intake and adjust it depending on your training goals,” explains Marcus Schall, author of ‘Super Good Food: Happy Recipes for More Power’.
On the other hand, thanks to Meal-Prep you avoid the danger of eating low-quality food just because nothing else is available at the moment. “You know where the food comes from, and you can put it together according to your own tastes,” explains the nutrition coach.
Another plus: you are independent of canteens, delivery services or the kebab store near your work. With Meal-Prep, it is not important how often you feed yourself. Many people only pack the box in their bag on some days in order to go out to eat with colleagues or friends on other days.
Which Meal Prep boxes are good?
Basically, you can use any regular lunch box for transporting your meals. However, make sure that plastic boxes are free of harmful substances. Discarded yogurt or jam jars are even cheaper. On the other hand, you should avoid aluminum, foam and cardboard trays – because they not only look like delivery services, but also cause a lot of waste.
Once you have acquired a taste for meal prep, you can invest in a high-quality lunch box, also known as a bento box. These are designed to meet the exact needs of meal-preppers. That is, they are sufficiently large, leak-proof and have several partitions.
The best foods for meal prepping
The first rule of meal prep is to ensure variety, because boredom is the greatest enemy of pleasure. With a little planning, you can prepare the tastiest lunch boxes tomorrow that will make all your colleagues green with envy. With these building blocks, you can fill your lunchbox well for several days:
1. Protein sources for the lunchbox
Pre-cooked meat or fish, leftovers from the day before, cheese, yogurt or tofu are ideal for your lunchbox.
2. Cereals and Co. as a meal prep base
Protein source includes one or two of these carb sources:
3. Fruits and vegetables are mandatory
It is essential to buy seasonally, otherwise you can also use frozen food. The smaller the fruit and vegetables, the more practical they are.
4. Snack ideas
For in between or as a supplement to the lunch boxes:
Of course, not all ingredients should go in raw and individually. Jens Glatz, food and fitness blogger advises: “Fruits, vegetables, nuts or foods such as smoked salmon may be packed directly. But also a quick mix of tomato and mozzarella does not hold up long in the morning.” To the filling lends itself besides everything, which remains in the evening with the meal. “Steak, cauliflower or broccoli, perhaps baked briefly with a slice of cheese in the microwave, and also pasta, which becomes a salad with a few cherry tomatoes, feta cubes and basil leaves, simply taste delicious the next day,” Glatz reveals.
The great advantage of Meal-Prep is that leftovers are no longer wasted, but eaten the next day. This saves time and money. Once the fridge has been properly prepared, it only takes between 3 and 15 minutes to put together a meal, depending on the type and size. This guarantees variety and still allows favorite ingredients to be used regularly. The only disadvantage: It costs a little time every day, even if it’s only a few minutes.
How to cook cleverly in advance
Another way of catering: always have something home-cooked for the microwave. The easiest way to do this is to cook a double portion every night and take the rest with you the next day. The disadvantage of this is that you have to think of a new dish every day, buy it, cook it and of course wash it up.
Unless you do intensive meal prep. Then it’s: Saturday bulk shopping, Sunday bulk cooking day. But before you start cooking, it’s worth calculating how many calories and what nutrient distribution you need for your training goal. Then you can prepare 7 meals for lunch and 7 meals for dinner on Sundays. The huge advantage is that you don’t have to worry about meal preparation at all during the week. The time saving is immense. Additionally, rice stoves, pressure stoves or frozen vegetables help to prepare meals quickly.
Meal-Prep sample week with recipes
You want to start with Meal-Prep and still need some inspiration? We’ve put together a sample week of different recipes for you:
Monday
Ingredients:
- 5 baby carrots
- 5 black olives
- 6 meatballs
- 5 tablespoons couscous salad with vegetables
- 3 tablespoons of pickled seafood
- 1 apple in wedges, drizzled with a little lemon juice
Tip: You can prepare meatballs and couscous salad the day before. Seafood is also available there, at the delicatessen counter.
Tuesday
Ingredients:
- 5 tablespoons bean salad with onions
- 100 g ham with cherry tomatoes
- 5 tablespoons lentils
- 2 figs
- 3 tablespoons of trail mix
Tip: Beans from the previous evening can be made into a light bean salad with onions and vinegar-oil dressing.
Wednesday
Ingredients:
- Arugula and romaine lettuce with feta
- 100 g smoked salmon and a little lime
- ¼ cucumber
- 2 pieces of grilled corn on the cob
- 2 tablespoons white beans in tomato sauce, canned or jarred
Tip: Always wash the lettuce completely after buying it and store it slightly moistened in a salad bowl. This way it stays crisp for several days. Instead of beans, you can also use lentils, chickpeas or similar in the box.
Thursday
Ingredients:
- 2-3 florets each of cauliflower and broccoli and cherry tomatoes
- 100 g tofu, sliced and fried in a little rapeseed oil
- 1 boiled egg
- 3 tablespoons kidney beans
- 2 tbsp. pickled olives
Tip: When you prepare a meal with vegetables, cook some more of them and keep them separately without sauce. It tastes good the next day with vinegar and oil, but you can also bake it with cheese in the microwave.
Friday
Ingredients:
- 150 g Waldorf salad with apples, celery, carrots and nuts
- 125 g grilled chicken breast fillet
- 80 g berries
- 3 tablespoons Asian glass noodle salad with vegetables and black sesame seeds
- 4 Maki rolls
Tip: For sushi or other perishable items, always make sure the box is refrigerated until ready to eat. For salads or cooked food it is also possible to do without it.
Conclusion: Meal Prep is ideal for athletes
If you cook your food for several days in advance, you not only save a lot of time, but also money. For example, you can ideally prepare your post-workout meal in advance and provide your body with exactly the right food and nutrients it needs now after exercise.