Healthy Meal Prep Recipes | With CookingPal®

Healthy Meal Prep Recipes can make or break your efforts to eat the right way. I’m here to make it simple for you. And the CookingPal® Multo™ is here to make it easy for all of us! (All of these recipes can be made even if you don’t have the CookingPal®, so don’t worry! But this wonderful cooking machine does make it super easy!)

Lunch was problematic for me when it came to my clean eating diet. I had dinners nailed with things like this anti-inflammatory soup. And breakfast has been a cinch with my favorite steel cut oats!

But lunch? Gone are the days when I used to run around the corner to Taco Bell (I still miss it!!) or McDonald’s (gotta love those fries…) So what’s a girl to do? Come up with some healthy meal prep recipes! That’s what.

It took me a few months to figure it out. Making lunch for the entire week is the answer! But it has to be simple. So I pulled out my pen and paper (yes, I’m old school that way) and started planning. And now I’m sharing it with you.

Here are my go-to healthy meal prep recipes. Feel free to mix and match as you wish. Let’s get started, shall we?

What are the Best Foods for Meal Prepping?

• There are so many foods that are great for healthy meal prep recipes (see the full recipes below). Rice is a great place to start. I far prefer brown rice to white rice because of its nutritional value, but if white rice is your thing, go for it!
• Any kind of bean makes a great base for meal prep recipes. Feel free to use what you like best. I tend to favor chickpeas (garbanzo beans) along with black beans. They are all good cold, warm, or room temperature. Plus beans are loaded with protein! Win-win-win!

• Hard-boiled eggs are another great healthy meal prep staple. They’re easy to make and keep very well.
• Dark, leafy greens are another must-have in your weekly meal prep. The key to this one is to make those salads to be consumed early in the week. And go easy on the dressing so you don’t have a soggy mess on your hands.
• Steamed chicken is a great go-to, as well. It can be shredded, diced, or sliced to go on nearly any easy prep meal.

Is The CookingPal® Multo™ Worth It?

I get asked this question all the time. I have had my Multo for over a year now. I’ve loved it from the beginning. But the true test of a “new technology” (especially in the cooking space) is time. My CookingPal® Multo™ has most definitely withstood the test of time for me! I love it!

And the reason I love it is because it has made my clean eating life So. Much. Easier! I can pull healthy recipes together in a pinch. Plus I can make so many of my favorite ingredients from scratch now! (Hummus of all flavors, homemade tahini, chunky fresh guacamole… You name it. I make it!) Watch my video review of the CookingPal® here.

I have put these healthy meal prep recipes together with a lot of help from my CookingPal®. (Don’t worry though, you can make them all even if you don’t have one. It will just take a little more time.

So, to once and for all answer the question – is the CookingPal® Multo™ worth it? Yes!! Definitely! Absolutely!

Now, let’s get to the healthy meal prep recipes!

You’ll get five delicious and healthy lunches or dinners out of this meal prep. I mix and match the ingredients to pull together a variety of tasty meals.

What Basic Ingredients Do I Need for Meal Prep

• Rice – I use brown rice cooked according to the package directions
• Fully cooked Beans – black beans are my favorite
• Cooked Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) – I make them from dried, but you can use canned
• Chopped Veggies – carrots, celery, radishes, broccoli, zucchini, red onion, tomatoes
• Cooked Chicken – breast or tenders, cut into a medium dice and seasoned with salt, pepper, and paprika
• Hummus – store-bought or homemade
• Chopped greens – lettuce or spinach
• Salad Dressing – homemade vinaigrette is best (recipe below – you’ll need olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper, plus some dijon mustard and honey.
• Hard Boiled Eggs – 2 whole, 2 chopped

Healthy Meal Prep Recipes

Start with cooking and chopping all of the ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice – cook according to package directions
• 1 1/2 cups black beans – drained and rinsed (1 can or made from dry)
• 1 1/2 cups chickpeas – drained and rinsed (1 can or made from dry)
• 1 1/2 cups hummus
• 1 whole wheat pita – cut into fourths
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into strips
• 3 ribs celery – rinsed and sliced into strips
• 4 radishes – scrubbed and thinly sliced
• 1/2 pound chicken breasts – diced into 1″ pieces, seasoned with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1 teaspoon paprika and cooked (either saute in a pan with olive oil or in the Multo)
• 1 1/2 pounds vegetables such as zucchini, broccoli, or cauliflower – cut into bite sized pieces and steamed (either in a steamer basket for 10 minutes on the cooktop or in the Multo)
• 2 Roma tomatoes – diced
• 1/2 red onion – thinly sliced
• 4 eggs – hard boiled (or cooked in the Multo), peeled. Leave 2 whole and 2 chopped
• 4 lettuce leaves – chopped
• 1/2 cup vinaigrette, store bought or homemade. For homemade, whisk 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup white wine vinegar, 1 minced clove of garlic, and salt and pepper until blended.
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey

What to Prep in the CookingPal® Multo™:

All of these ingredients can be prepped even if you don’t have a Multo™, but there’s no question the Multo™ will save you time. For this meal prep series, I used the Multo™ to cook the brown rice first. (it’s SO good in the Multo™).

I also use the multi stacking function and cook the eggs, chicken, and steamed vegetables at the same time! This saves a ton of time. You can watch me do it here in my YouTube Cooking Show:

Hummus and Veggies

Assemble Hummus Dish – Place 1 cup of hummus into lunch container on one side. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Place sliced carrots, celery and radishes in the other side and place pita wedges on top. Close lid.

Hard Boiled Eggs and Steamed Vegetables

Assemble Hard Boiled Eggs with Steamed Veggies – place 2 peeled hard boiled eggs into large portion of lunch container. Add 1 cup steamed vegetables to the other half. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and close lid.

Diced Chicken with Rice and Vegetables

Assemble Chicken and Rice with Vegetables – place 1/2 of the cooked rice into the bottom of lunch container. Place remaining steamed vegetables on one side and 1/2 of the diced chicken on the other side. Top chicken with dollops of the remaining hummus. Close lid.

Baby Buddha Bowl

Pile on the Buddha Bowl – Place the remaining rice in the bottom of the bowl. Top with 1/2 of the black beans, then 1/2 of the chickpeas. Add 1/2 of the chopped tomatoes and 1/2 of the sliced red onion. Drizzle with 1/2 of the dressing and close lid.

Salad with Chicken, Chickpeas, and Beans

Put the Chicken Salad Together – Place chopped salad in a large lunch container. Top with remaining black beans, chickpeas, tomatoes and onions. Add remaining chicken and chopped egg. To the remaining half of the dressing, add mustard and honey and whisk well. Drizzle on top of the salad and close lid. It is best to eat the salad first out of all the dishes because the lettuce can get soggy.

Whew…! That’s a lot! But you’ll be so happy you spent the time doing all of this healthy meal prep. You can now sit back and feel good about treating yourself to healthy meals all week long!