I’m a large fan of meal prepping. By means of cooking foods prematurely, it makes it a lot more uncomplicated to devour wholesome all over the week, even while you’re pressed for time. It might probably additionally lend a hand prevent cash, particularly when you get takeout continuously, and make sure much less meals is going to waste for your kitchen. Plus, with the correct meal prep necessities — and my loose weekly meal plans — it’s clean to cook dinner a variety of wholesome recipes prematurely. 

I’ve been meal prepping for years, and there are a number of gear I all the time achieve for to make the duty quicker and more uncomplicated. I’ve indexed 12 of my must-have meal prep necessities beneath, together with my favourite meal prep bins, must-have freezer trays, the most efficient meals scale, and a number of other different to hand gear that make cooking a breeze. 

My Best Alternatives

1. Very best Meal Prep Packing containers: Ello Glass Meal Prep Container Set – $31.22 at Walmart
2. Very best Meals Scale: OXO Excellent Grips 11-Pound Meals Scale – $55.95 at Amazon
3. Very best Freezer Trays: Souper Cubes – $34.99 at Amazon
4. Very best Salad Dressing Packing containers: Salad Dressing Packing containers – $12.99 at Amazon
5. Very best Vegetable Chopper: OXO Excellent Grips Vegetable and Onion Chopper – $22.95 at Amazon

Critiques of Meal Prep Necessities

1. Very best Meal Prep Packing containers: Ello Glass Meal Prep Container Set

In case you’re going to cook dinner foods prematurely, the meal prep bins are very important. I’ve attempted out a number of choices through the years, and my present favourite are the Ello Glass Meal Prep Packing containers, which are available a collection of 5. They’re constructed from sturdy glass with colourful silicone sleeves to offer protection to the fabric, and the lids are hermetic and leak-proof, making it imaginable to take your meal at the pass if wanted. Plus, the entire thing can pass proper within the dishwasher for simple cleansing. 

Alternatively, if you want to stay the portions of your meal separate, you could like those 3-compartment bins from Bentgo. They’re reasonably priced and are available a collection of 10, and the BPA-free plastic may also be put within the microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safely. The bins have one huge compartment to your major dish, in addition to two smaller sections the place you’ll be able to put aspects, snacks, or dressings. 

For common meals garage, I additionally love this glass container set from Pyrex. It comes with 9 other magnificence bins of various sizes which can be nice for saving leftovers and can be utilized to prep other parts to your foods for the week. Plus, the colourful lids are freezer, microwave, and top-rack dishwasher secure.

Purchase the Ello Glass Meal Prep Container Set:

Purchase the Bentgo Prep 3-Compartment Meal-Prep Packing containers:

Purchase the Pyrex Meal Prep Merely Retailer Glass Oblong and Spherical Meals Container Set:

2. Very best Meals Scale: OXO Excellent Grips 11-Pound Meals Scale

It may be tough to eyeball equivalent parts while you’re meal prepping, so I all the time love to have my kitchen scale within sight to ensure each container will get the same quantity of meals. I individually love the OXO Excellent Grips Meals Scale, which has a big measuring plate and easy-to-read show. It might probably measure in oz., kilos, grams, or kilograms, and the show in fact pulls clear of the bottom to show you how to learn when you’re measuring into a large bowl or container. 

3. Very best Freezer Trays: Souper Cubes

Every time I make one among my soup recipes or a host of rice, I really like to save lots of the leftovers the use of my Souper Cubes. Those silicone trays are extremely helpful—they’ve pre-portioned trays that grasp a unmarried cup of meals, and you’ll be able to put the entire tray proper into the freezer. The lids are robust plastic, letting them be stacked on height of one another, and when you wish to have to take a serving out, the versatile silicone makes it clean to come out the frozen meals and reheat it. 

4. Very best Salad Dressing Packing containers: VITEVER Salad Dressing Packing containers

Salads are a handy guide a rough and clean meal to make prematurely, however I don’t counsel striking at the dressing, as it might probably make the components delicate. As a substitute, I love to stay the dressing separate, and those adorable salad dressing bins are the easiest dimension. They’re constructed from dishwasher-safe stainless-steel with silicone caps, they usually every grasp round 2.4 oz.. You’ll be able to simply tuck the little cups into your meal prep bins, they usually’re additionally nice for condiments like mayonnaise or ketchup. 

5. Very best Vegetable Chopper: Cuisinart Core Customized 4-Cup Mini Chopper

Some meal prep recipes, akin to my Rainbow Quinoa Salad, require relatively a little bit of reducing, and if you wish to accelerate the method, the Cuisinart Core Customized 4-Cup Mini Chopper is a great tool to have within the kitchen. As a substitute of dicing the components together with your chef’s knife, you’ll be able to merely position them inside of this small meals processor and whirl away for completely sized items. It’s vital instrument to save lots of time when you like making chopped salads, sauces, salsa, or any dishes with numerous chopped greens. 

6. Very best In a single day Oats Packing containers: Ball Common Mouth Mason Jars

I like making Cinnamon-Raisin In a single day Oats or Apple Pie In a single day Oats for a very simple, high-fiber breakfast on busy mornings, and Ball Mason Jars are ideal for portioning out unmarried servings. Those reasonably priced jars, which are available a pack of 2, grasp 8 oz. every—good for one breakfast—and include screw-on lids that create a leak-proof seal. In addition they can be utilized for different meal prep recipes, like my Watermelon Feta Arugula Salad. 

I additionally like the use of those thicker plastic lids for my mason jars as an alternative of the lids they arrive with. No longer simplest do I believe that they’re extra robust, however in addition they glance tremendous beautiful!

7. Very best Garage Baggage: Stasher Reusable Silicone Garage Bag

In case you like to cut up veggies prematurely or portion out snacks to clutch and pass, Stasher’s silicone garage luggage are a perfect choice to single-use plastic luggage. They’re constructed from a thick layer of silicone that is available in a rainbow of colours, they usually shape a decent, leak-free seal to stay the contents from dripping into your lunch field. The most productive section is the baggage are dishwasher-safe, so you’ll be able to simply wash them and reuse them each week. 

8. Very best Muffin Pan: Wilton Recipe Proper Muffin Pan

Muffin pans may now not appear to be a meal prep very important, however they’re in fact relatively flexible. I take advantage of them to make handy unmarried servings of recipes like Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal Cups, Loaded Egg Truffles, and Mini Quiche, all of which can be easy, wholesome breakfast choices for busy mornings. In case you don’t have already got a muffin pan, I really like this set from Wilton, which contains two pans and has a nonstick end that guarantees your meals comes out simply. Each and every of the trays holds six cakes, which is superb while you don’t want to make a complete dozen. 

9. Very best Salad Spinner: OXO Excellent Grips Massive Salad Spinner

I really like to clean my lettuce after reducing it up, and the OXO Excellent Grips Salad Spinner can maintain huge amounts — best when you’re prepping salad for the entire week. The bowl can grasp greater than 6 quarts (kind of 24 cups), and it’s clean to perform due to its non-slip backside and massive pump button. It has a brake that may prevent the interior bowl from spinning immediately, and the lid comes aside so you’ll be able to blank it simply. The outer bowl too can double as a salad bowl!

10. Very best Power Cooker: Quick Pot Duo 7-in-1 

A few of my favourite meal prep recipes, akin to Baked Oatmeal Bars and Rooster Noodle Soup, may also be made in an Quick Pot. Those flexible drive cookers are ready to cook dinner recipes tremendous speedy in comparison to different cooking strategies. It’s additionally purposeful and has different cooking purposes, together with a sluggish cooker, rice maker, steamer, and extra. The Quick Pot Duo has a 6-quart capability that may get ready as much as six servings without delay, and I nonetheless use mine on a weekly foundation, which makes it completely value it.. 

11. Very best Egg Cooker: Sprint Speedy Egg Cooker

Exhausting-boiled eggs are a excellent supply of protein while you’re meal prepping, and I love to devour them for breakfast, upload them to my salads, or use them to make Egg Salad. There are a number of ways in which you’ll be able to make boiled eggs, however the Sprint Egg Cooker is among the quicker and absolute best choices. This adorable little equipment holds as much as six eggs at a time, and it’s going to cook dinner them to cushy, medium, or laborious boiled firmness in only some mins. It might probably additionally make different varieties of eggs, together with scrambled, poached, or even omelets. 

12. Very best Blending Bowls: Pyrex Good Necessities Blending Bowl Set

If you wish to get ready large batches of meals to retailer within the refrigerator, those blending bowls have tight-fitting lids. The goass are available a collection of four that nest in combination, they usually vary size-wise from 1-quart to 4-quart. The lids and bowls are colour coordinated, so you’ll be able to all the time in finding the correct one, and I really like that the bins are see-through, so you already know what’s inside of. Plus, each the bowls and lids may also be put within the microwave, freezer, and dishwasher. 

13. Very best Sheet Pans: Nordic Ware 3 Piece Baker’s Satisfaction Set

Bulk roasting greens at first of the week is tremendous useful for meal prepping. In a while, you’ll be able to retailer them in bins and upload them to grain bowls or salads for speedy wholesome foods. I really like this set from Nordic Ware, which comes with 1 / 4 sheet, jelly roll, and part sheet pan, and the number of sizes may also be useful for various parts.

Why You Can Accept as true with Me

I’m Gina, the writer and recipe developer in the back of Skinnytaste, which is devoted to sharing wholesome, family-friendly recipes made with seasonal, blank, complete meals. Along with posting my newest recipes, I additionally put up loose weekly 7-day meal plans to help you plan forward and make scrumptious recipes to your relations, together with choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Whilst you’ll be able to make the foods as you pass, the plans also are absolute best for meal prepping — particularly you probably have a hectic week arising. 

I put in combination this record of meal prep necessities the use of my very own reviews. Most of the merchandise are ones that I take advantage of in my very own kitchen, and I like that they make meal prepping quicker, more uncomplicated, and extra handy. The pieces I haven’t individually examined are highly-rated choices that come really useful by means of different cooking professionals and 1000’s of evaluations. 

Costs have been correct at time of newsletter.