Make-Ahead Meal & Snack Recipes
By Nutritional Weight and Wellness Staff
July 30, 2024
We all know what a struggle it can be to fit everything in one day. And on top of everything, you want to make sure you feed yourself well.
And when the going gets tough, healthy eating often goes straight out the window. The schedule gets busy and commitments pull you in many different directions, mostly away from the kitchen.
When motivation strikes or the schedule clears and you find yourself back in the kitchen ready to make a healthy meal for yourself or your family, make the most of your time!
Why not make two, three or four meals? With the help of your freezer, and a good podcast or music to listen to as you cook, you can easily stockpile healthy food to pull out for feeding the entire family.
In this article, we'll first go over a few basic tips for meal planning and then we've gathered tons of our favorite easy make ahead and freeze meal options for you to add to your make ahead meals routine.
Meal Prep Tips
Having healthy make ahead meals available when you have busy weeknights starts with a little meal prep and here are a few tips to make your time easier:
Prefer to listen as you learn? Tune into this Fresh Ideas for Healthy Meal Prep – Ask a Nutritionist episode.
- Schedule in time to plan your recipes and when to grocery shop: sometimes this is the hardest part of the meal planning process! Utilize ordering groceries online if getting to the store is your biggest road block.
- Use leftovers! Not the most exciting thing, but when deciding on healthy make ahead meals for the week, remember to use leftovers to reduce the number of meals you need to cook. We have a dietitian that calls them "encores" instead of leftovers!
- Choose similar ingredients: planning make ahead dinners and snacks with similar ingredients will help make the prep and cooking a lot easier.
(Example: if two of your healthy dinner ideas for the week contain garlic, onions, and the same fresh herbs or favorite toppings, you can chop up enough for both dishes and save the other half for the next day). - Buy prep-chopped or frozen veggies: grocery stores have done a lot of the chopping, mincing, and dicing for you! The pre-chopped veggies and fruit might cost a little extra, but it's worth it to have a little help with the cooking process on a busy weeknight.
- Get food storage containers you enjoy: if you don't already have a style of airtight container or a freezer safe container that you love, invest in a variety of glass containers that are oven-safe, freezer-friendly, and with leak-proof lids.
The see-through quality of glass helps you store leftovers or munching veggies that are less likely to get lost at the back of your fridge.
Many of our dietitians and nutritionists love mason jars for storing soups, curries, salad dressings, and protein shakes. - Use silicon muffin tins for freezing portion sizes: once you make a double batch of something ahead of time, freeze it in silicon muffin tins before transferring it to an airtight container, like a freezer bag. That way your freezer meals are all ready to go in the perfect portions.
Learn More: Tips For Meal Planning And Prep article
Benefits of Batch Cooking
Batch cooking just means that you're using a method where you cook large quantities of food at one time to eat over the next few days. This reduces the amount of time spent in the kitchen, minimizes the amount of cleaning and dishwashing, and creates those healthy make ahead meals ready for a healthy dinner.
This can look like whipping up to three days worth of chicken salad to bring with you to lunch or prepping a chili or pulled pork in the slow cooker. You can batch cook multiple meals at one time by throwing some sheet pans in the oven while tossing the ingredients to a ground turkey quinoa stew in the Instant Pot.
Learn More: Take the Instant Pot Basics cooking demonstration class for $25 to learn how to cook healthy make ahead meals in your Instant Pot!
Healthy Breakfast Recipe Inspiration
Crustless Spinach Quiche
Make on a weekend and heat up portions all week long to set you up for a good day. Serve with ½ cup of blueberries or sliced strawberries and two ounces of sausage or bacon.
Grab the Crustless Spinach Quiche recipe here
Turkey Breakfast Sausage
This sheet pan meal is great for meal prep as you can throw a couple sheet pans in the oven at once (mix up the spices in the ground meat for a variety of flavors) and then store in a freezer bag to heat up in the air fryer or toaster oven on those busy mornings.
Grab the Turkey Breakfast Sausage recipe here
Breakfast Burrito
A balanced breakfast that's delicious and tasty. Make ahead and freeze in individual servings for busy weeks when you need breakfast freezer meals to reheat in the air fryer, toaster oven, stove top, or even the microwave at work!
Grab the Breakfast Burrito recipe here
Salmon Cakes
Can't do eggs or get sick of them for busy mornings? Make a double batch of these salmon cakes to hit your morning protein needs and pair with some leftover roasted veggies from the healthy dinner the night before.
Grab the Salmon Cakes recipe here
Healthy Meals For Lunch & Dinner
Wild Rice Meatballs
Pair with some roasted Brussel sprouts or broccoli with butter and ½ cup sweet potatoes and you’re set. Meatballs are great freezer meals because you can freeze them individually and then store them in freezer bags in portion sizes to be pulled out for a tasty dinner on busy nights or as a healthy lunch.
Get the Wild Rice Meatballs recipe here
Quinoa Chicken Salad
Made with chicken breasts, quinoa, garbanzo beans, fresh veggies, and a homemade dressing this healthy recipe has your protein, fat, and carbohydrate all in one fresh dish. This quick and easy meal is great for hot summer days when you want refreshing lunch and dinner recipes.
Get the Quinoa Chicken Salad recipe here
Chili
Add a dollop of full-fat sour cream or avocado slices and you’ve got a balanced meal! Freeze half in ready to go lunch containers for true ease on busy days. And dare we suggest you can also have chili for breakfast? You can!
Shepard’s Pie
A perfect weeknight meal for cold winter nights and is easy to pack for a lunch too! Use sweet potatoes for that creamy mashed potatoes topping the whole family will enjoy.
Get the Shepard's Pie recipe here
Garlic Herb Chicken
Healthy make ahead recipe for an easy weeknight dinner or as your protein on top a salad for lunch. This meal prep recipe uses an Instant Pot or slow cooker to make a big batch of chicken breasts or chicken thighs, which makes meal planning easy.
The flavor profile is great for putting into soups, stews, or a chicken salad, but mix up your spice mix to make shredded chicken for tacos!
Get the Instant Pot Garlic Herb Chicken recipe here (slow cooker option listed)
Chicken Wild Rice Soup
A hearty soup recipe to be made in a big batch and stored in airtight containers for lunch the next day or for those busy weeknights. Make a double batch and freeze half in muffin tin portions to have healthy freezer meals later.
Get the Chicken Wild Rice Soup recipe here
Healthy Make Ahead Snacks
Oatmeal Almond Balls
A balanced snack, nothing else needed! Naturally gluten free when made with gluten free oats, this perfect recipe calls for almonds, protein powder, your favorite dried fruit (we like cherries!), nut butter, and maple syrup for a touch of sweet. Optional step: roll in some unsweetened coconut to make it fancy!
Get the Oatmeal Almond Balls recipe here
Lil’ Dipper Veggie Dip
Use up some vegetables in the fridge with this family favorite dip. We promise kiddos will consume more veggies than you think possible with the help of this dip. This great recipe can be made with dried or fresh herbs from your garden or the farmer's market.
Get the Lil' Dipper Veggie Dip recipe here
Fresh Veggies & Fruits
Having washed and prepped produce ready for meals and snacks is an important part of meal prep. Store them in jars or glass containers so you can see what's in them.
Some of our favorite options are bell peppers, pea pods, cucumbers, carrots, jicama sticks, cherry tomatoes, berries, and melon. Easily paired with a protein and fat for a healthy meal or snack.
Hard Boiled Eggs
Eggs are so quick and easy to make for yourself ahead of time. Make a bunch of hard boiled eggs for the week to have as a quick protein snack or to put into a healthy make ahead egg salad for breakfast or lunch.
Bulk Berry Protein Shake
Protein shakes are a great way to get in all the nutrients you need - protein, fat, carbohydrate - in a quick, on-the-go method. (This can also be used as a quick and easy meal when you're in a pinch!)
We pulled together ten of our favorite healthy protein smoothie recipesso you have variety, but we also have a bulk Berry Protein Shake recipe you can make ahead to have four ready to go in the fridge or as freezer meals. Just take out the night before or the morning of and it will be thawed by snack time!
Get the Bulk Berry Protein Shake recipe here
Homemade Muffins
Sometimes you need a little baked good and with these upgraded recipes of comfort food classics, these muffins are a favorite the whole family will love. We've got a blueberry muffin recipe, banana muffin recipe, and a pumpkin muffin recipe. All gluten free and can be stored in an airtight container for the week.
To balance the snack, serve with one hard-boiled egg or 1 ounce of meat.
Recap On Healthy Make Ahead Meals
For many people, cooking and preparing meals can seem overwhelming. There are some shortcuts, like buying pre-chopped or frozen ingredients. Most make ahead meals will require a little work up front, but we think you’ll find the payoff to be well worth it in time saved during your week.
Schedule time to plan, grocery shop (or order groceries online), and when you'll cook. Pick some of these recipes to try that have similar ingredients and you'll have food on hand in the fridge and freezer the entire family will enjoy during busy weeks.
Online Class: Slow Cooker Savvy
Learn to save time and master your slow cooker in this online cooking class demonstration with healthy make ahead recipes included.
Learn More: Slow Cooker Savvy online cooking class
For more healthy recipes and information on what we mean by “balanced” check out our Weight & Wellness Way Cookbook and Nutrition Guide.
READ: 6 Freezer Food Tips! - Follow these six freezer tips to save time and decrease the stress of worrying about what you’re going to eat and when you’re going to find time to cook.
READ: Why Do We Need Snacks? (And How To Make Them Healthy) - Ideas on healthy snack ideas for you and the whole family will love.
LISTEN: Fresh Ideas For Healthy Meals & Snacks - Ask A Nutritionist - Tune in to this special follow-up to our episode about meal prep where registered and licensed dietitian Brandy shares simple and fun ideas for breakfast that the whole family will enjoy.
