How to Meal Prep in College Like a Pro

If you are a busy college student, or just a busy person in general and are looking for ways to save time every day, you have got to give college meal prep a try!

I love to cook, but I don’t love to cook every single day. Cooking typically takes me about an hour to an hour and a half every night. I just don’t have that time everyday.

I have learned to set aside time on Sunday evenings to cook everything that I want to eat for the week and meal prep it for later.

Meal prepping in college has saved me so much time, and it also allows me to continue to eat healthy without having to put a whole lot of effort during the weekend.

Let’s face it, there are always those days when you know you want to eat healthy, but you don’t have time to cook so you end up in the Chick-fil-A line instead….. multiple times a week.

Well I’m here to tell you, not anymore girl! Keep on reading for my best tips on meal prepping, and some easy college meal prep ideas to help you get started.

Meal Prepping in College Tips For Beginners

Plan out your meals for the week

You will want to sit down on Saturday or Sunday and plan out what you want to eat for the week.

Planning it out makes it a whole lot easier to make a grocery list and helps you to get a better idea of what items you will need.

You also want to plan out your meal prepping so that you are able to clearly see an outline of what you will be eating for a week.

I used to think that I would struggle with not being in the mood for what I have planned for that particular day. But so far haven’t really run into that problem and everything works out!

Make your grocery list and head to the store

Go through each recipe that you are going to make ,and make a grocery list with all of the items that you will need for those recipes.

I tried to pick meals that have common ingredients in them so I am able to avoid buying so many ingredients at once.

Related: A Healthy Grocery List For One

Time to get cooking

I’m going to let you know right now that meal prepping does take some time. Block out two to three hours on meal prep day (probably Sunday) to cook your food for the week.

I like to do two dinners, two snacks, and one lunch to last me throughout the week.

Pro tip: It’s better to be slightly underprepared than heavily over prepared when it comes to meal prepping.

You don’t want to have too much food that you end up wasting it or goes bad. And let’s be real, if you are in college there’s going to be days throughout the week that your friends are going to want to go out to eat at some point. So be sure to plan for that as well.

Here are some things you may need……

Meal Prep Containers

There are so many different meal prep containers out there. None are to much different than the other, it really all comes down to preference.

There are glass meal prep containers, bento boxes, plastic meal prep containers, and more! Choose which one works best for you and your needs. Here are some you can try!

Mason Jars

Mason jars are a great way to store any looser food items such as overnight oats, oatmeal, parfaits, mashed potatoes, etc.

9 Best College Meal Prep Ideas

College Meal Prep : Breakfast Ideas

Overnight Oats

One of my favorite things to make are overnight oats. They will keep you so full throughout the morning and are packed with nutrients!

This easy to make breakfast meal prep even works if you happen to live in a dorm room and don’t have easy access to a kitchen.

Overnight Oats Recipe

Breakfast Burritos

You can never go wrong with a good ole’ breakfast burrito. I love breakfast burritos because you can fill them with all of your favorite breakfast foods!

Breakfast Burrito Recipe

College Meal Prep : Lunch Ideas

Chicken & Spinach Pasta

This yummy meal prep is super easy to make and perfect for on the go! This cold served dish will be sure to satisfy your needs during the day.

Chicken & Spinach Pasta Recipe

Tuna Salad

Tuna salad is a classic lunch that will never let you down! This lunch is healthy, will keep you full, and will keep your energy up throughout the day.

Tuna salad meal prep recipe

College Meal Prep : Dinner Ideas

Chicken & Veggies

Chicken and veggies have to be on the list of your meal prep recipes! This easy dinner is jam packed with much needed nutrients and you can pair it with your favorite sides.

Chicken and veggies recipe

Taco Lettuce Wraps

This is a fun spin on one of my all time favorite foods: Tacos!!! But just a tad bit healthier. You can use ground turkey, ground beef, or even chicken. (Or maybe all three if you’re feeling fancy.)

Taco lettuce wrap recipe

College Meal Prep : Snack Ideas

Veggie

Your veggie meal prep box can contain all of your favorite vegetables. Some good veggie types to go into your box would be baby carrots, sliced cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes.

You can also pair your veggies with your favorite dip such as ranch or hummus.

Fruit

I love a good fruit meal prep box. Slice up your favorite fruits and pair them with some yogurt and granola or even nuts and cheese.

Protein

The protein meal prep box is where you can throw in all your favorites all of your favorites and call it day!

Here are some ideas for you protein meal prep:

Egg, Grapes, Nuts, Shredded Chicken
Eggs, Nuts, Tomatoes Cheese Squares
Nut butter, Apples, Crackers, Egg

If you are looking for more meal prep recipes, check out this post here.