I want to be upfront about my cooking credentials: I have none. Before starting meal prep, my culinary range was frozen pizza, scrambled eggs, and calling DoorDash. I once set off the smoke alarm making grilled cheese. My roommate in college banned me from using the stove.
So when I say meal prepping is doable for anyone, I mean anyone.
I started because I was spending $400+ a month on takeout and eating like garbage. Not because I wanted to — because cooking felt like this intimidating thing that “other people” did. People with knife skills and spice racks and opinions about olive oil.
Four months in, I prep every Sunday. It takes me about 90 minutes. I spend roughly $60-70 per week on groceries. And I eat better than I have in my entire adult life. Here’s what actually worked for a complete beginner.
Start with exactly three recipes
Not five. Not ten. Three. One protein you bake in the oven (chicken thighs are the most forgiving — they’re almost impossible to dry out). One grain you cook on the stove (rice or quinoa). One vegetable you roast on a sheet pan (broccoli, sweet potatoes, or bell peppers — just toss with oil and salt, 400°F, 25 minutes).
That’s it. Mix and match those three things into containers. Add different sauces during the week so it doesn’t taste the same every day. Soy sauce Monday, hot sauce Tuesday, pesto Wednesday. Done.
Buy containers before groceries
My first attempt at meal prep failed because I didn’t have containers. I cooked everything, then stood in my kitchen looking at a pile of food with no way to store it. I ended up using mixing bowls covered in plastic wrap, which leaked all over my fridge. Learn from my mistakes. Get a 10-pack of glass containers with snap lids. They’re like $25 and they change everything.
The “two things cooking at once” hack
This cut my prep time in half. While chicken bakes in the oven (35 min), rice cooks on the stove (20 min) and veggies roast on the rack below the chicken. Everything finishes around the same time. You’re not cooking three separate meals — you’re running three timers simultaneously.
My actual Sunday timeline
12:00 — Preheat oven, season chicken, start rice
12:10 — Chicken and veggies go in the oven
12:15 — Chop anything that needs chopping for the week (onions, peppers for eggs)
12:35 — Rice is done, fluff and set aside
12:45 — Everything out of oven, let it cool 10 min
12:55 — Portion into containers
1:15 — Clean up, done
The best part isn’t the money saved (though going from $400 to $280 a month is nice). It’s Tuesday at 12:30 when everyone at work is debating where to order lunch, and I just pop open a container that’s already done. That feeling of having it handled — that’s the real payoff.
And yes, I burned rice the first two times. Use a timer. Seriously.
