Everyday Cheapskate: Meal Prep for People Who Hate Meal Prep

Mary Hunt on Sep 15, 2025

Some people love meal prep. They plan every meal, color-code containers, and smile as they portion out grilled chicken and broccoli like a seasoned chef. This article is not for them.

This is for the rest of us. The folks who want dinner on the table but without surrendering their entire weekend to a week's worth of meals all neatly loaded into labeled Tupperware.

If the words "meal prep" make you want to lie down with a bag of chips, keep reading. This is meal prep for people who hate meal prep.

Before you toss the whole idea out the window, let's get practical. Eating out is expensive. The average restaurant meal in the U.S. now costs over $20 per person once you add tax and tip -- and that's if you skip the appetizer, soda and dessert.

A fast-casual dinner for a family of four? Easily $60 or more. Do that a few times a week, and you're spending like it's vacation, only you're still at home and now the dishwasher's full.

On the flipside, making meals at home can bring your cost down to as little as $3 to $7 per person. Over the course of a month, that can translate into hundreds of dollars in savings -- enough to pay down debt or stash away for a rainy day.

Forget about prepping every bite of every meal for the entire week. Instead, think in terms of components. Cook up a few basic ingredients you can mix and match throughout the week:

-- Grains (rice, pasta, quinoa)

-- Protein (rotisserie chicken, beans, hardboiled eggs)

-- Vegetables (chopped, roasted or raw)

-- Extras like shredded cheese, salad dressing or tortillas

You don't need a meal plan spreadsheet. Just a few building blocks to make your weeknights less frantic.

Batch while you cook. This means just double up while you're already cooking. If you're chopping onions for tonight's dinner, chop a few extras and store them. Making chili? Freeze half for next week. Boiling eggs? Make six instead of two. It's efficient, painless, and makes future you very happy.

Lunch doesn't need to be a four-star experience. Some days it's a sandwich and some carrot sticks. Other days it's last night's leftover stir-fry. The goal is to avoid the "What's for dinner?" panic that leads to overpriced drive-thru regret.

There is no award for doing everything from scratch. Buy the bagged salad. Use the pre-chopped onions. Let your slow cooker or sheet pan do the heavy lifting. Use frozen vegetables. Rely on that $5 rotisserie chicken like it's your kitchen intern.

Take five minutes and make a list of meals your household likes and that you actually know how to cook: tacos, stir-fry, pasta and sauce, sheet pan chicken. Rotate those. Don't try to become the Barefoot Contessa overnight.

You don't need a label maker, but a Sharpie and masking tape can save your future self from defrosting something that turns out to be soup when you were hoping for enchiladas. Write what it is and when you made it.

This isn't a contest. Some weeks you'll prep more. Some less. Some meals will be creative masterpieces. Others will be peanut butter toast with apple slices. It's all OK.

The goal isn't perfection -- it's to stop dreading dinner and avoid feeling like the only options are expensive takeout or cereal.

Meal prep doesn't need to be a lifestyle. It just needs to make your life a little easier. That's a win in my book.

For even more info, links and the opportunity to make comments, I'd love to meet up with you at EverydayCheapskate.com/mealprep. See you there!

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Mary invites you to visit her at EverydayCheapskate.com, where this column is archived complete with links and resources for all recommended products and services. Mary invites questions and comments at https://www.everydaycheapskate.com/contact/, "Ask Mary." This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of EverydayCheapskate.com, a frugal living blog, and the author of the book "Debt-Proof Living."