Busy days, low energy, and everyday responsibilities can make it hard to plan meals. You may want to follow your eating plan but don’t always have the time or mental space to think about what to cook. When prepping meals feels stressful, it can be harder to enjoy food or make food choices that help you reach your health goals. Here are a few simple tips that can help ease the pressure.
Meal Prep Tips
These tips can help you make meals faster, so you have more time to enjoy them.
1. Add quick-meal staples to your grocery list.
Keeping a few basic foods on hand makes it easier to put together a healthy meal when you’re short on time. Think about what you need for the Diabetes Plate:
- Fill half your plate with non‑starchy vegetables. Examples include:
- Fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables with no added salt
- Pre-washed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, and bell peppers
- Pre‑cut bagged vegetables
- Canned artichoke hearts or roasted red peppers
- Fill one‑quarter of your plate with lean protein. Examples include:
- Rotisserie chicken
- Fresh or frozen fish fillets
- Fresh or frozen chicken breasts
- Low‑fat cheese
- Canned tuna
- Eggs (hard boiled)
- Fill one‑quarter of your plate with quality carbohydrates. Examples include:
- No‑salt‑added or reduced sodium canned beans
- Pre-washed baking potatoes
- Canned potatoes or corn
- Pre‑cooked or quick‑cooking brown rice
- Whole wheat or corn tortillas
- Whole grain crackers
- Fresh, frozen, or canned fruit in its own juice
- Low-fat milk or yogurt
2. Use a slow cooker or crock pot.
If you have these appliances, put them to work for you—it can save you a lot of time.
- Slow cooker: Cook your dinner while you enjoy your day. Try this Slow Cooker Butter Chicken with Vegetables on Brown Rice recipe.
- Crock pot: As an added time saver, you can chop your vegetables ahead of the recipe prep time. Try this Crock Pot Veggie Soup recipe.
3. Scan recipes for prep-ahead steps.
Many recipes include steps you can do ahead of time. Preparing these parts early can make cooking much faster. You can prep ahead portions of a recipe by:
- Washing, peeling, and chopping vegetables
- Thawing or marinating protein foods
- Cooking whole grains and storing them in the fridge
- Cooking and refrigerating chicken to quickly add protein to meals, like salads or wraps
- Shredding cheese
- Toasting nuts and seeds
Choose the approach that works best for you, whether that’s prepping parts of a recipe or cooking the whole dish at once.
Ready, Set, Prep!
Ready to start meal prepping? Explore the recipes on Diabetes Food Hub and create a free account to save your favorites and build your meal plan. You can also create and print a grocery list to save time at the store.
