13 Meal Prep Essentials That Make Healthy Eating Easy

I’m an enormous fan of meal prepping. By cooking meals upfront, it makes it a lot simpler to eat healthy all through the week, even while you’re pressed for time. It may also assist prevent cash, particularly for those who get takeout frequently, and guarantee much less food goes to waste in your kitchen. Plus, with the fitting meal prep necessities — and my free weekly meal plans — it’s straightforward to prepare dinner a variety of healthy recipes upfront. 

I’ve been meal prepping for years, and there are a number of instruments I all the time attain for to make the duty quicker and simpler. I’ve listed 12 of my must-have meal prep necessities beneath, together with my favourite meal prep containers, must-have freezer trays, the most effective food scale, and several other different useful instruments that make cooking a breeze. 

My Top Picks

1. Best Meal Prep Containers: Ello Glass Meal Prep Container Set – $31.22 at Walmart
2. Best Food Scale: OXO Good Grips 11-Pound Food Scale – $55.95 at Amazon
3. Best Freezer Trays: Souper Cubes – $34.99 at Amazon
4. Best Salad Dressing Containers: Salad Dressing Containers – $12.99 at Amazon
5. Best Vegetable Chopper: OXO Good Grips Vegetable and Onion Chopper – $22.95 at Amazon

Reviews of Meal Prep Essentials

1. Best Meal Prep Containers: Ello Glass Meal Prep Container Set

If you’re going to prepare dinner meals upfront, the meal prep containers are essential. I’ve tried out a number of choices over time, and my present favourite are the Ello Glass Meal Prep Containers, which are available a set of 5. They’re constituted of sturdy glass with colourful silicone sleeves to guard the fabric, and the lids are hermetic and leak-proof, making it doable to take your meal on the go if wanted. Plus, the entire thing can go proper within the dishwasher for straightforward cleansing. 

However, for those who desire to maintain the elements of your meal separate, you would possibly like these 3-compartment containers from Bentgo. They’re cheap and are available a set of 10, and the BPA-free plastic may be put within the microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safely. The containers have one giant compartment in your most important dish, in addition to two smaller sections the place you may put sides, snacks, or dressings. 

For common food storage, I additionally love this glass container set from Pyrex. It comes with 9 completely different class containers of various sizes which are nice for saving leftovers and can be utilized to prep completely different elements in your meals for the week. Plus, the colourful lids are freezer, microwave, and top-rack dishwasher protected.

Buy the Ello Glass Meal Prep Container Set:

Buy the Bentgo Prep 3-Compartment Meal-Prep Containers:

Buy the Pyrex Meal Prep Simply Store Glass Rectangular and Round Food Container Set:

2. Best Food Scale: OXO Good Grips 11-Pound Food Scale

It may be difficult to eyeball equal parts while you’re meal prepping, so I all the time prefer to have my kitchen scale close by to verify each container will get the identical quantity of food. I personally love the OXO Good Grips Food Scale, which has a big measuring plate and easy-to-read show. It can measure in ounces, kilos, grams, or kilograms, and the show really pulls away from the bottom to make it simpler to learn for those who’re measuring into an enormous bowl or container. 

3. Best Freezer Trays: Souper Cubes

Whenever I make considered one of my soup recipes or a bunch of rice, I like to save lots of the leftovers utilizing my Souper Cubes. These silicone trays are extremely helpful—they’ve pre-portioned trays that maintain a single cup of food, and you may put the entire tray proper into the freezer. The lids are sturdy plastic, permitting them to be stacked on prime of one another, and while you need to take a serving out, the versatile silicone makes it straightforward to come out the frozen food and reheat it. 

4. Best Salad Dressing Containers: VITEVER Salad Dressing Containers

Salads are a fast and straightforward meal to make upfront, however I don’t advocate placing on the dressing, as it may possibly make the elements mushy. Instead, I prefer to maintain the dressing separate, and these cute salad dressing containers are the proper dimension. They’re constituted of dishwasher-safe stainless-steel with silicone caps, they usually every maintain round 2.4 ounces. You can simply tuck the little cups into your meal prep containers, they usually’re additionally nice for condiments like mayonnaise or ketchup. 

5. Best Vegetable Chopper: Cuisinart Core Custom 4-Cup Mini Chopper

Some meal prep recipes, resembling my Rainbow Quinoa Salad, require fairly a little bit of chopping, and if you wish to pace up the method, the Cuisinart Core Custom 4-Cup Mini Chopper is a useful instrument to have within the kitchen. Instead of dicing the elements along with your chef’s knife, you may merely place them inside this small food processor and whirl away for completely sized items. It’s vital instrument to save lots of time for those who like making chopped salads, sauces, salsa, or any dishes with lots of chopped greens. 

6. Best Overnight Oats Containers: Ball Regular Mouth Mason Jars

I really like making Cinnamon-Raisin Overnight Oats or Apple Pie Overnight Oats for a simple, high-fiber breakfast on busy mornings, and Ball Mason Jars are excellent for portioning out single servings. These cheap jars, which are available a pack of two, maintain 8 ounces every—excellent for one breakfast—and include screw-on lids that create a leak-proof seal. They additionally can be utilized for different meal prep recipes, like my Watermelon Feta Arugula Salad. 

I additionally like utilizing these thicker plastic lids for my mason jars as a substitute of the lids they arrive with. Not solely do I really feel that they’re extra sturdy, however in addition they look tremendous fairly!

7. Best Storage Bags: Stasher Reusable Silicone Storage Bag

If you want to cut up veggies upfront or portion out snacks to seize and go, Stasher’s silicone storage luggage are an excellent different to single-use plastic luggage. They’re constituted of a thick layer of silicone that is available in a rainbow of colours, they usually kind a decent, leak-free seal to maintain the contents from dripping into your lunch field. The better part is the baggage are dishwasher-safe, so you may simply wash them and reuse them each week. 

8. Best Muffin Pan: Wilton Recipe Right Muffin Pan

Muffin pans won’t appear to be a meal prep essential, however they’re really fairly versatile. I take advantage of them to make handy single servings of recipes like Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal Cups, Loaded Egg Muffins, and Mini Quiche, all of that are easy, healthy breakfast choices for busy mornings. If you don’t have already got a muffin pan, I like this set from Wilton, which incorporates two pans and has a nonstick end that ensures your food comes out simply. Each of the trays holds six muffins, which is nice while you don’t must make a full dozen. 

9. Best Salad Spinner: OXO Good Grips Large Salad Spinner

I like to clean my lettuce after chopping it up, and the OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner can deal with giant portions — excellent for those who’re prepping salad for the entire week. The bowl can maintain greater than 6 quarts (roughly 24 cups), and it’s straightforward to function because of its non-slip backside and huge pump button. It has a brake that may cease the inside bowl from spinning immediately, and the lid comes aside so you may clear it simply. The outer bowl may also double as a salad bowl!

10. Best Pressure Cooker: Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 

Some of my favourite meal prep recipes, resembling Baked Oatmeal Bars and Chicken Noodle Soup, may be made in an Instant Pot. These versatile pressure cookers are capable of prepare dinner recipes tremendous quick in comparison with different cooking strategies. It’s additionally purposeful and has different cooking features, together with a gradual cooker, rice maker, steamer, and extra. The Instant Pot Duo has a 6-quart capability that may put together as much as six servings without delay, and I nonetheless use mine on a weekly foundation, which makes it completely value it.. 

11. Best Egg Cooker: Dash Rapid Egg Cooker

Hard-boiled eggs are supply of protein while you’re meal prepping, and I prefer to eat them for breakfast, add them to my salads, or use them to make Egg Salad. There are a number of methods which you can make boiled eggs, however the Dash Egg Cooker is among the quicker and best choices. This cute little equipment holds as much as six eggs at a time, and it’ll prepare dinner them to gentle, medium, or onerous boiled firmness in just some minutes. It may also make different sorts of eggs, together with scrambled, poached, and even omelets. 

12. Best Mixing Bowls: Pyrex Smart Essentials Mixing Bowl Set

If you need to put together huge batches of food to retailer within the fridge, these mixing bowls have tight-fitting lids. The goass are available a set of 4 that nest collectively, they usually vary in dimension from 1-quart to 4-quart. The lids and bowls are colour coordinated, so you may all the time discover the fitting one, and I like that the containers are see-through, so you recognize what’s inside. Plus, each the bowls and lids may be put within the microwave, freezer, and dishwasher. 

13. Best Sheet Pans: Nordic Ware 3 Piece Baker’s Delight Set

Bulk roasting greens firstly of the week is tremendous useful for meal prepping. Afterward, you may retailer them in containers and add them to grain bowls or salads for fast healthy meals. I like this set from Nordic Ware, which comes with 1 / 4 sheet, jelly roll, and half sheet pan, and the number of sizes may be useful for various parts.

Why You Can Trust Me

I’m Gina, the creator and recipe developer behind Skinnytaste, which is devoted to sharing healthy, family-friendly recipes made with seasonal, clear, entire meals. In addition to posting my newest recipes, I additionally publish free weekly 7-day meal plans that may make it easier to plan forward and make scrumptious recipes for your loved ones, together with choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. While you may make the meals as you go, the plans are additionally excellent for meal prepping — particularly when you have a busy week arising. 

I put collectively this record of meal prep necessities utilizing my very own experiences. Many of the merchandise are ones that I take advantage of in my very own kitchen, and I really like that they make meal prepping quicker, simpler, and extra handy. The gadgets I haven’t personally examined are highly-rated choices that come really helpful by different cooking professionals and 1000’s of critiques. 

Prices have been correct at time of publication.