From open-faced sandwiches to saucy noodles, we’ve got tons of options to ensure your meal preps are full of flavor.

Rotisserie Chicken Salad
Photo: Aubrie Pick; Styling: Fanny Pan

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As we approach the new year and set goals to eat better and, in some cases, more efficiently, meal prepping is an easy way to ensure you eat well on busy days. When you find yourself feeling a little too tired to make midday meals, try taking an hour or two on the weekend to meal prep your lunches for the week to come.

Here, we’ve gathered all of our favorite recipes that are easily made in advance and in some cases even taste better on day two or three. Dishes like chicken dan-dan noodles deepen in flavor as the peanut and soy-based sauce soaks into fresh egg noodles. You can even swap out the chicken for a bit of added variation; maybe tofu one day and roasted mushrooms another? 

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For an easy-to-pack lunch that makes for a great option for eating outdoors, try our recipe for chicken salad toasts. The toasts come together by tossing fresh herbs with celery, dijon mustard, and diced onions; plus easy-to-carve rotisserie chicken for their base.

As you start to find recipes that pique your meal-prepping interest, you’ll want to invest in proper containers to make sure your food stays as fresh as possible. There are so many modern takes on the lunchboxes we used to carry as kids (or pack for ours now). A waxed, reusable lunch bag makes for a simple and sleek way to carry your lunch from home to the office or wherever you like to eat lunch—I try to get to the park or a nearby beach whenever possible.

If you find it difficult to motivate yourself to make breakfast, make a big batch of overnight oats or put together some smoothie packs to expedite your morning meal. While meal prepping can be boring and monotonous when you are forcing yourself to eat the same things every day, the recipes below will allow you to create different dishes for each day of the week. To make your meal prep even easier, organize your recipes into a master grocery list and pick up everything you’ll need for the week in one haul so you don’t have to worry about having more ingredients than you do fridge space.

However you choose to meal prep, we’ve got breakfast and lunch recipes to add some contrast to your lineup of daily dishes. 

Breakfast Recipes

Lunch Recipes


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