Meal prep used to be something you either did religiously or had no idea about. Or at least that’s how it used to be. While the basic concept behind this trend has been around forever, it’s certainly picked up steam in recent years as regular meal preppers say that they’ve saved money and time and have generally been eating healthier since they adopted the habit (more on that later). If you’re looking at photos of colorful and satisfyingly divvied up meals that your friends have posted—don’t be intimidated, it’s actually pretty easy to get started yourself.

What is meal prepping?

Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like! Basically, meal prepping is dedicating a chunk of time every week to preparing for your upcoming meals in advance. The most popular types of meal prep include:

• Batch cooking: This is when you prepare recipes that would typically feed five or six people, portion out and freeze the meal directly after cooking, then defrost and eat throughout the week.
• Meals for one: This is when your prepare your meals and store them in individual containers to eat throughout the week. (Unlike batch cooking, you usually create different recipes for each day and don’t freeze them). People usually use this method for lunches.
• Ingredient prep: Despite what you might have thought, if you like cooking and serving your meals at once, you can still meal prep! Just do all your chopping, slicing and dicing beforehand, and refrigerate your ingredients until it’s time to use them.

The biggest backlash to meal prep boils down to one idea: Some people just get sick of leftovers. However, meal prep has gained popularity in recent years because fans of it have noticed that it helps them save money, reduce waste, and if you’re on a diet—it helps you stick to it!

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