The Complete Guide to Meal Prep — Beginner to Pro
Sunday 2pm: one hour, five dinners, zero regrets. Monday through Friday me is SO grateful to Sunday me. Meal prep saved my weeknight sanity — it took me from 5:30pm panic every night to a calm, efficient 15-minute assembly routine. This page covers everything I’ve learned from two years of weekly meal prepping for a family of six: the system, the shortcuts, the mistakes, and the recipes that make the whole thing work.
My meal prep isn’t about cooking five complete meals on Sunday — that takes 3+ hours and leaves you exhausted before the week even starts. Instead, I prep the TIME-CONSUMING components (proteins, sauces, grains, chopped vegetables) and leave the fast stuff (assembly, fresh additions, heating) for weeknights. The result: 15-20 minutes of weeknight cooking instead of 45-60 minutes, using ingredients that are already prepped and waiting.
The Core Recipes
5 Dinners in 1 Hour — Weekly Meal Prep
The complete system: one Sunday hour produces five weeknight dinners spanning four cuisines. Includes my actual grocery list, the prep timeline, and the weeknight assembly instructions. This is the article that explains the HOW of meal prep. Start here if you’re new.
5-Flavour Crockpot Chicken Thighs
One base method, five global marinades. Prep the sauce on Sunday, load the crockpot Monday morning, come home to dinner. Korean, Mexican, Italian, Thai, and Polish mustard-dill — rotate weekly and nobody gets bored.
30-Minute Ground Beef Dinners (10 Ways)
Ground beef is the ultimate meal prep protein: cheap, versatile, fast-cooking. Ten variations from tacos to Korean bowls to smash burgers. Brown a big batch on Sunday, portion, and use differently each night.
Sweet Potato Meal Prep Bowls (4 Ways)
Batch-roast sweet potatoes, then top four different ways: Mexican, Mediterranean, Asian, BBQ. Same base, four personalities. This is how meal prep survives the week instead of dying on Wednesday — variety from a single batch.
Make-Ahead & Freezer Friendly
Freezer-Friendly Pierogi Batch (100 at a Time)
The ultimate make-ahead: 100 pierogi in one Saturday session, frozen individually, ready to cook from frozen any weeknight. Babcia’s weekend batch-cooking method applied to the modern freezer. They cook from frozen in 5 minutes.
High-Protein Lunch Prep (5 Days)
30g+ protein per meal, five different cuisines, all reheat-friendly. The “no sad desk lunch” philosophy in action: bold flavours, varied textures, enough protein to power through the afternoon.
Chicken Breast 5 Ways (Never Dry)
Five cooking methods that produce juicy chicken breast every time. The brining tutorial alone is worth the click — 2 minutes of active work for 30-40% juicier chicken. Meal prep chicken that actually tastes good on day 4.
Freezer-Friendly Breakfast Burritos
Make 10 on Sunday, freeze individually, microwave for 2 minutes on school mornings. Between getting four humans dressed, fed, and out the door, these burritos are the only reason everyone arrives fed.
Budget Planning
Budget Grocery Haul + Meal Plan ($75/Week)
Real prices, real meals, real grocery list. How I feed a family of six for $75/week using ingredient overlap, sale-driven menu planning, and babcia’s “nic się nie marnuje” philosophy. Every zloty counts. Every dollar too.
How to Start
Don’t try to meal prep five dinners your first week. Start with ONE: prep a protein and a grain on Sunday. Cook rice and marinate chicken. That’s it. Notice how much calmer Monday evening feels. Then add one more task the following Sunday. Within a month, you’ll have a system. Within two months, you won’t be able to imagine going back to the 5:30pm panic.
More resources: crockpot recipes that basically cook themselves, and budget dinners under $10 that prove frugality and flavour aren’t mutually exclusive.