'I meal prepped all of my meals for a week, here's what I learnt…'

While I love to plan meals and often eat leftovers, I wouldn't call myself a meal prepper. Meal prepping usually means planning, cooking and storing meals in advance, to save time, external, reduce stress, external and make healthier eating easier, external.

But I've been seduced by aesthetic fridges stacked with rows of food containers on social media. On Instagram alone, the hashtag #mealprep has more than 16 million posts.

As someone who struggles fitting everything into my day, I was keen to save time. Here's what I learnt …

I came up with a meal plan that would use as many of the same ingredients as possible, thanks to advice from expert food prepper and influencer, Mimi Harrison, external.

As well as keeping food waste down, this "can really help to save money," she says.

I add hidden veg tomato sauce, beetroot burgers and roasted green veg to the plan, which all include courgettes.

Harrison also recommends making "versatile bases – you don't always have to meal prep a dish that seems the same throughout the week, you can mix it up!"

This is great as I was worried I'd be bored of eating the same thing by day seven. I plan for my tomato sauce to be served with butter beans and pasta, then for it to evolve into a topping for pitta pizzas and soup.

I bought 10 extra food containers to match my menu.

Harrison says to store salad, leafy veg and boiled eggs in airtight containers lined with damp kitchen roll, to keep them fresh. Keep carbs and sauces separate to maximise the flavour and textures when reheating. And, to make your meal prep last as long as possible, use the fridge and freezer.

I choose Sunday as my meal prep day. I head to the supermarket and already things are looking up – I spend £40 less than usual.

I get home and despite setting aside three hours to cook, I quickly realise it's not achievable.

I don't have enough oven trays or oven space to make roast aubergine and potato curry and chickpea traybake pittas simultaneously.

Even after recruiting my housemates to help cook and wash up, we end up cooking for nine hours.

One of the biggest meal prep mistakes I made was forgetting snacks. I buy honey-roasted cashews and kombucha for a quick fix, then pop to the shops again after work for grapes, dark chocolate and crackers.

Sitting down for dinner with my second batch of curry, it's even tastier than the first time. Dishes like curries, stews and ragus, whose flavours develop as they sit, are perfectly suited to meal prep.

A few days in and I'm desperate to have instant ramen for dinner instead. Harrison had warned me this would happen: "You don't want to dive straight into having every single meal planned and prepped as it will feel too regimented and you'll get bored easily."

The issue arises again when my friend suggests a last-minute dinner out. I tuck into Sichuan hot pot while my poor little pitta pizza sits at home neglected.

I finish the week with very little food waste. There's a couple of breakfast wraps and a portion of tomato sauce still in the freezer, but they'll help me with next week's meals.

I gained time – it was much easier to fit in the gym knowing I'd have dinner ready in minutes. I also avoided impulse food shops.

The time, cost and health benefits are undeniable but the rigidity wasn't for me. And I missed the wind-down benefits of cooking.

I don't think I'll be prepping all of my meals going forward, but I'll continue to make breakfast wraps and granola, so I have a healthy start to the day. And I'll try to have a few frozen emergency meals batch cooked, so I avoid takeaway apps.

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Originally published October 2024. Updated February 2026.

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