Make my own 'prep meals'

Hi all
All these companies that sell prepped meals for you with all the macros done etc, there's quite a few now.. I'm sure you know some

I've tried a few now and they're all basically just rice and chicken, with different flavoured sauces.

My question is what type sauce do you think it would be as I'm up for making my own.

Would it just be sauces in a jar, the stir fry sachets etc? Or something else 🤔

Replies

  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
    If you have the time to make a sauce from scratch, then that's almost always going to taste better than something from a jar or mix, especially if you can use fresh herbs and spices (as opposed to the dried/powdered ones you've had in the cabinet for ages). You can also meal-prep a huge variety of foods beyond just rice and chicken with a sauce. I will say, though, that that formula (a grain + a protein + a vegetable + a sauce) is not a bad basic framework for meal prep, and you can just about roll some dice or throw some darts to pick one of each of those and come up with something tasty no matter what.
  • COGypsy
    COGypsy Posts: 1,353 Member
    Caveat: I hate cooking, so convenience factors highly into my kitchen duties

    I do a lot of protein + rice + veg + sauce. I usually use frozen grilled chicken or frozen shrimp, frozen rice, and some kind of frozen vegetable. Sometimes I'll air fry a steak or a pork tenderloin for the week or use fresh vegetables if I've got some. You can either buy bags of rice frozen, but I often cook a whole bag of rice in the crockpot and freeze individual portions of 50 - 100 grams in a muffin tin and keep those in a ziplock bag. Upside--you can cram it all in a bowl and only have one dish to wash! I then add any number of flavors: green chile sauce, salsa, stir fry (or any Asian) sauce, cheeseburger sauce, all kinds of salad dressing, Buffalo sauce (watch out for ones with butter added!)... Sometimes I use dry spices like harissa, Nashville Hot seasoning, salt and vinegar, zaatar, or chile flakes. I just mix well and let things sit a little longer before I eat them when I use dry stuff, just to give it a chance for the flavors to bloom a little.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Whatever sauces you like! :smiley:

    Here's the Buff Dudes' Beginner's Meal Prep Guide

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOPs3zUIMwU&t=533s
  • ChaoticMoira
    ChaoticMoira Posts: 103 Member
    edited September 2021
    I have been trying to find a good store bought sauce for basically the same thing for a while now. I tried several stir fry ones, and they just tastes like soy sauce to me - no sweet, or tangyness to them at all. I don't want to have to make a sauce, I hate cooking as it is. People have said to use salad dressing, but I have no idea what salad dressing would taste good used this way. The idea of Ranch or Italian dressing on my vegetables, let alone on rice, sounds really unpleasant to me.

    I recently bought Lawry's Pineapple Teriyaki, and a packet of McCormick One Pot Stir Fry seasoning. So I am going to try those next.


    EDIT: Sorry, I just realized you said you ARE up for making your own, lol.

    When I do bother to put in more effort, a really good sauce I make is
    • 1/4 cup sugar free jam ( I usually do orange marmalade or apricot).*
    • !/4 cup honey
    • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
    • and a pinch or two of pepper flakes.
    • Dashes of salt and black pepper.
    Just throw it into a pan and simmer a few minutes until it just starts to thicken.
    Not too long because it will thicken as it cools even more.
    I use it on chicken and veg.

    *I have also replaced the jam, for dijan mustard for a whole nother sauce flavour.



    Another good one that is ridiculous in simplicity, and really yummy is an orange reduction sauce.

    About 1 cup orange juice into a skillet. Bring to a simmer, and stir as needed while it reduces and thickens. It becomes very tangy. I have done this for years to put on green beans, and asparagus. People can never believe it is just orange juice. But I have thrown in cherries a few times with it too.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    Prepared/jarred sauces are fine, if they fit your calorie/nutrition needs. But it's pretty simple to make some good ones on your own, have more control over flavor and calories.

    If you like a little heat, try gochujang or other chili sauce, peanut butter powder (defatted or semi-defatted peanut flour), rice wine vinegar. To that, if you like, you can optionally add one or more of minced garlic, chopped scallions, a few drops per serving of toasted sesame oil if you can spare the calories, or any other similar thing you enjoy.

    Many foods do nicely with a mustard vinaigrette, which is just prepared mustard (flavored ones are fine, if you like), plus decent vinegar (red wine or white wine vinegar are fine, plain old white vinegar is a little flat for the purpose). Normally, vinaigrette would have some oil (like olive or avocado oil), but in most cases I prefer to leave that out, add some fats in the form of toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds, or nuts, for more flavor. Add anything else you like: Garlic, onions, peppercorns, capers, herbs . . . .

    Miso (fermented grains/beans) is also a nice base for a sauce or marinade. There are different types, from hearty brown (hacho) to moderate red to sweeter white (shiro). You can thin with broth, vinegar, or just warm water depending on what you're going for; and add any other seasonings that sound tasty. If you can find live-culture miso, that's a plus for probiotics. But even others are tasty.

    I don't know where you live, but here in the US there's a type of broth base (paste form, in a jar) called "Better Than Bouillon" that comes in a wide range of flavors, from various meat bases to veggies, mushrooms, or garlic. There are lower-sodium types, but even those are salty. However, it's IMO more flavorful/tastier than bouillon cubes or crystals, and keeps a very long time if refrigerated. There's a lot of flavor for few calories.
  • MargaretYakoda
    MargaretYakoda Posts: 2,994 Member
    edited September 2021
    Some super tasty potential sauce ingredients:

    • Cooking burgundy (we buy ours by the gallon at a restaurant supply store)
    • A1 (ditto restaurant supply store)
    • Finely chopped, then glazed onions.
    • Roasted garlic
    • Low sodium beef or chicken broth
    • Liquid smoke
    • Bragg liquid aminos
    • Nutritional yeast