Family Meal Prep

Eat healthier, save money, and enjoy delicious food with family meal prep. This is the best way to cut grocery and restaurant costs while ensuring the whole family is getting the nutrients that they need. 

Besides money, it can save you a ton of time during the week. If you’re constantly finding yourself exhausted on a weeknight but still having to cook a full meal, a little planning ahead can be a game changer. You don’t have to meal prep every meal for the week either. Even two or three meals prepared ahead of time will make your life so much easier.

Family meal prep can even become a rewarding experience for the whole family. Engage with your loved ones and teach them how to cook in the process.

Why You Should Family Meal Prep

Time-Saving: Family meal prep can be a big project but trust us, it will still save you time. A once a week big meal is much easier than multiple smaller meals when the whole process is considered. Give yourself a break during the busy weeks and spend a little time upfront. There are many tips and tricks to speed up the process. (make a grocery list ahead of time)

Money-Saving: Eating at home and cooking in bulk is always going to be cheaper than restaurants. Even some home cooked meals can get expensive but if you plan and prepare purposefully you can save a ton with the right recipes. Cook in bulk and be sure to eat the food you make.

Healthier Eating: Just because you cook doesn’t mean it’s healthy although it’s far more likely to be healthier than fast food no matter what. Take it a step further and make nutritious meals. They don’t have to be all nutrition and no fun but remember that you’re setting the standards for your children with every meal. Teach healthy choices and it’ll make a world of difference.

Family Bonding: Finding engaging activities as a family can be tough but food brings people together and forms lasting memories. These will be the times that your kids will remember when they’re grown up. Cooking together works so well because there is something for everyone to do, it’s lively, and everyone’s efforts contribute to food you’ll enjoy as a family.

How To Start Family Meal Prepping

Start small: Start with a single meal that is pre-made and ready to reheat and serve or even smaller and start with snacks. Home-made snacks are a fantastic way to save a ton on overpriced sweet and salty foods. The added benefit is that they’re easy to make and they’ll probably go fast so you can test different foods easily. Try using low-sodium alternatives or natural sugar foods to improve nutrition without making the snacks bland. Work your way up to multiple meals a week. Go slowly as most people get excited and then end up wasting food and getting discouraged. Be very purposeful with your meal prep.

Schedule time: Family meal prep saves time but it takes time. Make sure you have adequate time to buy groceries, prepare, cook, and clean up. It could be a big meal so allow for more time than is on the recipe. Also, if you do have help in the kitchen that is less skilled or experienced expect the whole process to take longer. Expect it and embrace it since this is the only way they learn. They’ll get faster.

Prepare a list: Many people can grocery shop with their eyes closed but if you’re trying something new then plan appropriately. Biggest time waste is making multiple trips to the grocery store. Pick out a recipe, identify the ingredients that you need, and actually check them off the list.

Picking Family Meal Prep Recipes

When picking recipes for family meal prep the first thing is “will people eat it?”. If you’re just starting out in meal prep, start with a winner. Get everyone excited out of the gate. Something delicious and easy. (tacos or spaghetti are both good choices) Use this as an opportunity to engage the family and ask for input, especially if they’ll be helping you cook. Let someone else pick a side or two.

Look for versatility. Whether you’re meal prepping snacks or a four course meal, look for ingredients that can be easily adapted to other recipes. Meal prepping for one is tough enough, meal prepping for a whole family brings with it a lot of unforeseen curves. Stick with the core proteins, chicken, ground beef or turkey, or pork chops/tenderloins. These proteins can be used in a million different recipes so they’re easy to pivot at the last minute.

Start small but also start simple. Don’t start with an overly complicated recipe but instead focus on getting a recipe that you and your family can learn together on. Start with the basics of cooking. Choose recipes that are forgiving (again tacos or spaghetti). 

Family Meal Prep Tips

Plan as a family – Cook as a family

Batch cook: consider doubling or tripling a recipe to match your family’s needs or to have leftovers for handling additional meals the next day.

Label, Date, and Clean: Keep your fridge tidy by labeling and dating your meal prep containers. This will save you a ton of time later on. For the rest of the kitchen, keep it clean. Many people avoid cooking because of the mess but if you clean as you go and make sure to completely clean at the end you’ll be much happier. Get help from the family with this as well.

Make food and memories with your family and start family meal prepping. It’s an incredibly rewarding experience that saves money and time, teaches good nutrition, and can produce much tastier food then the same old fast food. Explore new cuisines and have fun with it.

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