When the week is going to be busy, take a few weekend hours to cook some of the week’s meals in advance. This
has become a real trend in recent years and is more commonly known as meal prep. Since it requires some
organization, we explain how to plan your menu and prep schedule efficiently.
Meal prep vs cooking in batches
Batch cooking involves preparing several complete meals to keep in the freezer to simply reheat later, such as lasagna or chicken pot pies, for
example. Meal prep is aimed at preparing ingredients to get a head start on the different recipes to be made
during the week. We seek to maximize efficiency and to simplify the preparation of meals on a daily basis,
rather than cooking a large volume of dishes.
Rule #1: Get organized
Even if preparing meals during the week is easier, organizing your menu and schedule for preparation requires some
forethought. First, think about the meals to cook, make a complete grocery list for dinners, lunches and snacks,
plan the number of portions to cook for each recipe and make purchases before you start cooking.
Rule #2: Establish a logical menu
Since meal prep consists of preparing food a few days in advance, the menu should be planned according to the
ingredients that should be consumed in a logical order for safe storage in the refrigerator. You can also consult
your grocery store flyer to get inspired by the featured products and select foods on sale. At the beginning
of the week, plan for fresh foods such as fish, fruits and vegetables, and meat. Towards the
end of the week, opt instead for vegetable proteins, such as tofu or legumes, which keep for a long time, or pasta dishes. And most importantly,
plan meals that you know and love so that you feel like eating them 2 or 3 days after you start
cooking them.
Rule #3: Cook efficiently
Before you roll up your sleeves, a careful reading of all the recipes is essential. Gather all the ingredients from a
recipe that you can cut at the same time to maximize the work. As long as you’re cutting a pepper for a
stir-fry, take the opportunity to also prepare the pepper for snacks—this is the meal prep principle.
Here is a list of ingredients and steps you can do in advance:
- Prepare meats that require long cooking times, such as roast
chicken or pork
shoulder or braised beef
pallet.
- Cut and chop all the vegetables of the week, such as onions to flavour the dishes, but also
trim and wash the accompanying vegetables.
- Pre-wash the lettuce.
- Form meatballs. You
can also cook them to save even more time.
- Cook rice to keep for a few days in the refrigerator (see below).
- Mix the ingredients of your sauces in advance, but cook them just before the meal, so they will
be at their best.
- Prepare breadcrumbs and toppings for meals.
- Blanch vegetables that will be used for stir-fries and salads.
Rule #4: Don’t cook everything in advance
Although you want to save time on weekdays, you don’t want to lose flavours and textures in foods prepared too
early. Some become dry or pasty if made in advance. Pasta, pan-fried meats and
seafood, for example, should be cooked at the last minute.
Rule #5: Follow good food conservation practices
To ensure that everything you serve over the week is still safe to eat, keep the food in airtight containers in the
refrigerator, respecting these shelf-life rules of thumb:
- Cooked meats: 3 days
- Raw meats in a marinade: 12 to 24 hours
- Cooked rice: 2 days
- Dressings: 2 to 4 days
- Blanched vegetables: 3 days