Meal Prep Ideas

KosmosKitten
KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
edited November 2024 in Recipes
Looking for meals/recipe ideas that are under 500 cal. per serving. Currently, I'm on 1600ish calories a day and I still sometimes find it difficult to cook meals that are healthy (I do a lot of cooking from scratch), but under 500 calories and filling. Under 400 is optimal, but I'll look at meal prep bowls and recipes that are under 500, too. :)

I specifically am more interested in breakfast and lunch ideas (especially meal prep!) that I can prepare ahead of time, are tasty and will keep me fuller longer so that I don't feel the desire to snack as much on foods.

If you have pictures/links = that's a bonus! Thanks so much, guys!

Replies

  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    I'm assuming you eat snacks too as meals less than 300 calories aren't really meals.
  • KosmosKitten
    KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
    singingflutelady wrote: »
    I'm assuming you eat snacks too as meals less than 300 calories aren't really meals.

    Yes, I eat snacks as I tend to get extremely snippy when I haven't eaten in a couple of hours. :) I like to keep my major meal (largest percentage of calories) around dinner time so I don't engage in late night snacking.
  • dklibert
    dklibert Posts: 1,196 Member
    edited February 2017
    I like the Domestic Geek's Baked Oatmeal and Hungry Girl's Egg Mugs for breakfast. I like to have a pot of soup made and bags of salad or mason jar salads for lunch. I did a chopped salad last week with cabbage, lettuce, carrots, purple cabbage, celery, green onions and cilantro. I made the salad two ways during the week 1) w/ Asian dressing and almonds 2) w/ Mexican dressing, pepitas and crushed corn chips. I don't meal prep dinner often. I like sheet pan meals or grilling. I like to watch the Domestic Geek's You Tube channel she has tons of ideas.

    Here is what I do to make the egg mugs ahead of time. soupspiceeverythingnice.blogspot.com/2016/08/masonable-mondays-2-scrambles.html

    Check out the Domestic Geek she has lots of great meal prep videos. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLziprGSUFGYRTyyekMqcBiYsTJCwR6Q3X

    I like the Fit Couple Cooks YouTube channel too. They do a lot of meal prep videos.
  • AlyssaPetsDogs
    AlyssaPetsDogs Posts: 421 Member
    I make taco/fajita bowls. Usually start with shredded chicken (I make salsa chicken) and then I "steam" some onions and peppers in chicken broth. I serve the peppers/onions on top of the chicken and then sprinkle a serving of cheese. The more veggies, the more filling. Great, simple, and definitely lower than 500 calories (usually between 300 and 400 for me depending on how much chicken or beef I use). Great for meal prepping too!
  • AlyssaPetsDogs
    AlyssaPetsDogs Posts: 421 Member
    Also for breakfast, I make these muffins. If you google/Pinterest "full moon sausage muffins" they should come up, otherwise I can dig up the recipe for you. Just feeling lazy right now.

    They are muffins made with almond flour, golden flax meal, and have cheese, cream cheese, and sausage in them. I make a batch of 24 and freeze them and heat one in the over each morning for 15 min right from the freezer!

    Mine come out to 191 calories each, but it varies depending on the kind of cheese!
  • lucys1225
    lucys1225 Posts: 597 Member
    I make a roasted vegetable and egg casserole for breakfast. I top it with shredded chicken, salsa and kimchi.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    I cook soups, stews, chilis, stir fries, curries, stuffed peppers, meatloaf muffins, meatballs, frittatas/egg bakes and either freeze in portions or flash freeze. I just heat and eat what I want.
  • adeel_mohamedi
    adeel_mohamedi Posts: 2 Member
    alilmessedup wrote: »
    I've had great luck on Pinterest for recipes

    Yes, same here! :)
  • readytobeatfat54
    readytobeatfat54 Posts: 91 Member
    Have you tried crockpotting? It is an easy way to make meals for the week and takes little effort.
  • KosmosKitten
    KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
    monetlisasmile wrote: »
    I've been cooking from the "Skinnytaste Fast and Slow " cookbook. It has great low calorie recipes that are easy to make. I do one slow (crockpot) meal Mondays, have the leftovers on Wednesday and make the fast meals on the other days. We've been doing this for a month now and everything has been delicious. With that and working out, I've lost 15lbs.

    I have both of her books. They are definitely go-to's in my house. :D
  • KosmosKitten
    KosmosKitten Posts: 10,476 Member
    readytobeatfat54 wrote: »
    Have you tried crockpotting? It is an easy way to make meals for the week and takes little effort.

    My crockpot is usually preoccupied during the week for dinner. :D I mostly want things besides taco bowls or salads to eat for lunch and more choices than oatmeal or breads for breakfast. :)
  • vikinglander
    vikinglander Posts: 1,547 Member
    Three 450 calorie meals, and two 75 calorie snacks (or one 150 calorie snack).

    In each meal:
    3 to 5 handfuls (one-cup servings) of vegetables, raw or cooked
    1 palm-sized (4 to 7 oz) serving of protein
    1 to 2 thumb-sized (tablespoon) servings of healthy fats...oils, nuts, avocado

    In each snack:
    .5 to 1 oz of nuts, olives, avocado, dark chocolate

    I use the 'cook for a day, eat for a week' method. 3 to 6 hours in the kitchen on a Saturday or Sunday let's me finish with three to six dishes that I can interchange all week. Sometimes it's a crockpot of stew, a caldron of chili, a pan of chicken breasts, a bin of roasted root vegetables, etc.
  • Butts_Boys_and_Burgers_ohmy
    Butts_Boys_and_Burgers_ohmy Posts: 83 Member
    adeel_mohamedi wrote: »
    alilmessedup wrote: »
    I've had great luck on Pinterest for recipes

    Yes, same here! :)

    I third this. I meal prep once/week. I usually make a breakfast casserole of some sorts and another for lunch. Most of them are under 500 calories.

    Today's breakfast was a ham, egg and cheese omelet and lunch was a Chicken Alfredo Ziti Bake coming in at 466 calories for a large serving
  • JennyHsavage
    JennyHsavage Posts: 123 Member
    CanesGalactica wrote: »
    Looking for meals/recipe ideas that are under 500 cal. per serving. Currently, I'm on 1600ish calories a day and I still sometimes find it difficult to cook meals that are healthy (I do a lot of cooking from scratch), but under 500 calories and filling. Under 400 is optimal, but I'll look at meal prep bowls and recipes that are under 500, too. :)

    I specifically am more interested in breakfast and lunch ideas (especially meal prep!) that I can prepare ahead of time, are tasty and will keep me fuller longer so that I don't feel the desire to snack as much on foods.

    If you have pictures/links = that's a bonus! Thanks so much, guys!

    I make a large pot of soup and portion it up then il add sweet corn and chicken to it to bulk it up for my lunch. Around 300 calories and fills me up
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
    muffin tin. line each one with a slice of GOOD deli ham, few leaves of spinach in the ham "cup" sprinkle of your choice of cheese (from feta to cheddar yum), 1 whole egg, sprinkle of garlic and smoked salt (or your choice). 350 for 20 minutes. Microwaves in 1 minute from the fridge or 2 minutes from the freezer. aprox 130 cals each. 2 fill me up, but I like small breafasts

    Meatloaf in muffin tins works similarly. great for portioning and making ahead, freeze/thaw.

    Saute your choice of veg (particularly in summer out of garden/farmers market) until not QUITE donewith lots of yummy seasoning, put in snack bags. Freeze

    Marinate and cook your choice of meat (I try to have chicken breast, lean pork loin, and ham on hand). Snack bags. freeze.

    Meat and veg can be heated and added to a wrap for a taco, to a salad, a bit of rice, by themselves, or (most common for me) paired with a appropriate can of soup. Microwaves in 3 mins.

    Last weekend I cooked at least 30lbs of food just for me.
  • Wadeeee
    Wadeeee Posts: 70 Member
    I totally made this up...but I make a quick, single-portion chicken noodle soup by boiling 1.25 cups of light egg noodles in 2 cups chicken broth, which I season to taste with poultry seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper. I personally add 0.5 tbsp real butter to give it more depth, but you wouldn't have to. Boil until noodles are done. Separately, I mix 0.25 cup milk with 1 tbsp cornstarch, and add to the noodles at the end, which slightly thickens the broth. It's like a quick chicken noodle soup. You could also add in frozen veggies to make it extra hearty. I serve mine with half of a grilled cheese sandwich. An entire bowl, which is a fairly large portion, is about 300 calories, and with half of a grilled cheese, ends up at 470 calories.
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