8 High Protein Meal Prep Ideas

Here are eight hot and cold high protein meal prep ideas that are healthy, nourishing and delicious. All are well balanced, lower in calories than takeout, and prioritize protein, fruits and veggies, with plenty of flavor!

All eight of these lunches are easy to prep and are a good mix of hot meals that reheat well, or cold packed lunches you can eat on the go. Easy, convenient, affordable and healthy, these high protein meal ideas will be added to your regular rotations!

Jump to:

• Why you’ll love these high protein meal prep lunches
• Cold healthy meal prep ideas
• Don’t neglect pre-made foods!
• How much protein are we talking here?
• Hot high protein meal prep ideas
• Want a FREE Protein Guide?
• Serving sizes and suggestions
• The value of home-made
• Tips for packing healthy meal prep lunches
• Need more high protein meal prep ideas?
• High Protein Meal Prep Ideas

Why you’ll love these high protein meal prep lunches

• Convenient and easy to prepare, so you won’t spend your entire Sunday afternoon in the kitchen.
• All meals are satiating and nourishing, centered around protein, fruits and veggies, with a balanced mix of carbs and healthy fats.
• Meals are thoughtfully assembled so that you can either eat the entire meal prep hot or cold. No removing some foods so you can reheat others! It’s the little things that make life nice 🙂
• Mix of homemade and store-bought foods so you can spend more time doing what mattes.

Cold healthy meal prep ideas

All these meals are curated so that you can just grab and eat straight from the fridge. No need to heat some foods separately. And I will reference Costco grocery finds several times in this post. You can read my favorite must-haves from Costco here.

The first option is one of my favorite meals to enjoy post-workout, as more of a brunch. I make the oatmeal ahead of time, add it to the container alongside the Greek yogurt and eggs, then refrigerate. By the time I go to eat it, the oatmeal is nice and cold, so it’s more like overnight oats. I always add pumpkin seeds since they are one of the highest in fiber of nuts and seeds.

Option number 2 is more of an Italian style picnic lunch. I purchase the provolone and cured meat rolls from Costco, throw a few in the container alongside other fresh fruits and veggies, as well as a bit of hummus.

Option 3 is a Greek/Mediterranean inspired high meal prep, made with the pre-cooked chicken skewers I love to buy from Costco. I personally think they taste great cold, but if you *hate* cold chicken, then remove and warm. Paired with kalamata olives, fresh veggies, pita bread and both hummus and tzatziki.

Meal prep Option 4 is an American style picnic lunch with turkey deli meat, cubed cheddar cheese, fresh fruit and veggies, and of course classic Ritz crackers. This is a grownup version of a healthy Lunchable.

My favorite high protein meal prep is option 5! It’s my take on an affordable tuna niçoise salad, featuring my No Mayo Tuna Salad recipe, and I love that it includes a hardboiled egg! Add a few boiled baby potatoes, green beans and tomatoes, as well as a few olives, and you have the most *delicious* and satiating lunch!

Last of my cold high protein meal prep ideas is option 6, a classic turkey, provolone and avocado wrap. Feel free to add other spreads and veggies like hummus, carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers. Mine is pretty quick and effortless though with just some lettuce, turkey and cheese. Serve alongside fresh veggies and apple, and it’s the perfect easy and tasty lunch!

Hot high protein meal prep ideas

To round out these healthy meal prep ideas, here are a couple of warm lunches that are all conveniently curated so you can stick the whole container in the microwave and reheat!

Option 7 is one of my favorite hot lunches; ground beef taco bowls. You can cook up a large portion of ground beef (or turkey), seasoned with taco mix, and have a healthy high protein meal ready in minutes! Served alongside canned black beans and sauteed veggies, this is a super flavorful and hearty lunch!

And finally, option 8 is classic pasta and meatballs with roasted veggies (peppers, zucchini, tomatoes and red onion). I made a batch of my homemade healthy turkey meatballs, but you can use store-bought, and served it alongside protein pasta. Banza and Barilla have both done a great job making high protein pastas with great taste and texture. But if you’re unconvinced, feel free to enjoy regular pasta!

Serving sizes and suggestions

All of these high protein meal prep ideas contain around 30 grams of protein, if not more. Protein serving sizes are around 4 ounces (or ¾ cup for the Greek yogurt), which yields about 28 grams of protein. Then when combined with the other foods in the lunch, we are looking at 30+ grams.

Suggested serving size for cheese is 1 ounce, which will yield about 7 grams of protein. Dips and dressing serving size suggestions is 2 tablespoons, but adjust as needed.

Each meal is around 400-500 calories. This however, is not meant to be a recommendation for how much each individual person should be eating! Based off your own energy needs and appetites, activity levels, etc. you may want to adjust portion sizes or enjoy an additional snack to feel satiated.

The glass meal prep containers pictured hold about 30 ounces of food, however that is if you are packing every food to the brim.

Tips for packing healthy meal prep lunches

• Curate meals that are meant to be eaten either hot or cold, so you don’t have to separate some foods when reheating.
• Use options that make meal prep more convenient. Things like microwave rice, canned beans, pre-cooked store bought proteins, and even pre-chopped veggies. Food made at home will usually always be more affordable and healthier than take-out, even when using “convenience” foods.
• Batch cook foods like ground meat, roasted and sauteed veggies so that you have plenty for the week.

Need more high protein meal prep ideas?