Easy High Protein Meal Prep In 1 hour

Learn how to assemble these easy 7 high protein meal prep ideas in 1 hour with simple recipes and minimal ingredients. When finished, you’ll have 3 high protein dishes, 2 cooked veggie sides and 2 fresh fruit and veggie salads!

Several important factors are involved in client’s achieving nutrition goals. However hands down one of the biggest obstacles to success is not being prepared! I can coach my clients through the latest nutrition and health science all day! But unless they can find a way to make eating healthy easy and tasty, success will be an uphill battle.

That’s why I aim to create healthy high protein and high fiber recipes that are uncomplicated and easy to execute. This same philosophy applies to weekly meal prep. Here’s the strategy I use to ensure I have plenty of healthy options on hand at any given time. This step is critical to nutrition success because I am always short on time!

how my high protein meal prep method is different

• Focuses on what you can accomplish in 1 solid hour of prep or within other reasonable timeframes, like 30 minutes.”
• We assemble dishes that combine into unique meals, rather than preparing multiple servings of the same dish. This allows you to easily assemble meals that match what you’re in the mood for that day.
• A more family-friendly approach to meal prep that can feed the entire family instead of just mom and/or dad.

The How-To for easy meal prep

Here are my easy steps to assembling several meal ingredients that you can make in an hour or less.

Pick 2-3 proteins

Start by choosing at least 2-3 protein sources to cook up. In today’s example we make baked sheet pan eggs, chicken thighs and a ground turkey skillet. Other great options would of course include:

• Chicken breasts or drumsticks – easy to season and marinate and you can cook them a variety of ways
• Lean ground beef or bison – preferably 90/10. You can make simple ground beef taco meat or a delicious one pan meal like ground beef picadillo.
• Salmon, tilapia, shrimp, mahi mahi or any of your other favorite seafood items
• Pork including pork tenderloin or pork chops are easy to cook and reheat well
• Ground turkey to make turkey meatballs or meatloaf, or a simple turkey breast.
• Egg bakes, egg bites or quiches, always great if you find breakfast prep particularly difficult.

choose a few fiber-rich fruits and veggies

Of course, man (and woman) cannot survive on protein alone! In addition to protein, we also need an adequate amount of fruits and vegetables to maximize our health and, ultimately, help us feel full and satisfied. Furthermore, fruits and veggies provide powerful antioxidants, essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and water, all while being low in calories.

This is why they are essential to any healthy diet; they can help improve a variety of health markers and maintain a healthy weight. In today’s meal prep we assembled a simple fruit salad and roasted some spicy sweet potatoes and mixed veggies. In addition, we assembled a mixed salad but added extra veggies and edamame. Save these ideas for your next meal prep:

• Roasted or boiled potatoes that can be eaten cold or hot.
• Prepared Salad mixes packed with added veggies, not just salad greens!
• Fruit and/or fresh veggies that are peeled, cut, washed and ready to be eaten!
• Sauteed or roasted veggie mix that can be used in a variety of dishes or eaten straight as-is.

How to make 7 dishes in 1 hour

Step-by-step, here’s how to organize your time to get 7 dishes assembled in just under an hour.

Begin with cooked foods

Start with the foods that will take the longest to bake or roast, and in today’s example that will be the roasted veggies and sweet potatoes.

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees f. While the oven is preheating, peel and chop the potatoes and veggies. Toss the potatoes first in olive oil and seasoning and transfer to a sheet pan. Then toss the mixed veggies in the same bowl with olive oil and seasoning, and transfer to a sheet pan.
2. Roast the potatoes and veggies for 20ish minutes each, removing the veggies first if done, letting the potatoes roast a bit longer if necessary.
3. While the veggies are roasting, season the chicken thighs and set aside. Then as soon as the potatoes and veggies are done roasting, remove and sort into meal prep containers. Transfer seasoned chicken thighs to one of the sheet pans and bake chicken for about 20-25 minutes.

What to prep while foods are roasting

While the potatoes and veggies are roasting, you’ll want to prep the chicken as noted above. But there’s a lot more you can get done while those are roasting!

1. Cook the ground turkey skillet on the stovetop. This dish is so easy and highly customizable! I simply heat up a large skillet and add the ground turkey, a generous sprinkle of taco seasoning and salt, and cook for a few minutes. Then I toss in 1 can of diced tomatoes (juices and all), and 1 can of drained beans. Cook for a few minutes more just until the ground turkey is cooked through, then portion into meal prep containers.
2. Assemble the salad mix by taking bagged salad greens and then adding a bunch of your favorite chopped fresh veggies and drained beans of choice. Garbanzo beans, great northern beans and edamame are my favorite bean choices to add fiber and protein to salads.
3. Get fruity by prepping your favorite fruits. Wash and then cut up whatever you have on hand and either assemble into a salad, serving platter or individual snack containers.

key tips to save time while meal prepping

There are a number of strategies you can utilize while assembling your high protein easy meal prep. Following are a few of my favorites:

• Have a plan and assemble all your ingredients before starting. Sounds pretty obvious, but it’s worth stating. Make a list of what you plan to prepare ahead of time, then take 5 minutes gathering all ingredients on the counter before you even begin cooking.
• Use the same pans for multiple dishes. For example, use the same large mixing bowl to season and toss the sweet potatoes and assorted veggies. Working in rotations, then use the same sheet pan to roast them. This will save time when cleaning up your dishes.
• Utilize multiple appliances at the same time. When meal prepping, I am often working multiple appliances at once; the air fryer, countertop convection oven, and maybe even the indoor or outdoor grill. And of course you can’t forget to make good use of the stove top for things like sautéing veggies and one-pan protein meals.
• Make sure you include a couple of no-cook items in the menu. This tip mainly applies to fruits and veggies, but could also include protein foods like canned tuna salad and simple deli-meat wraps.
• Don’t be shy using convenience items like store-bought and pre-cut foods. Think pre-diced onions, shredded carrots, and of course proteins like frozen meatballs and shredded chicken. I also love to save time by adding veggies and cooked beans to bagged salad greens.

Easy to prepare high protein (and high fiber) meal ideas

Using the foods I’ve prepared as our template, let’s put together some meals! I love how easy it is to get breakfast, lunch or dinner on the table when you’ve got some delicious components already made!

• High protein breakfast ideas: Make a delicious breakfast sandwich out of the sheet pan eggs and serve with 2 cups of the fruit salad. Or make a simple breakfast plate with the eggs, roasted sweet potatoes and a cup of the fruit salad.
• High Protein lunch ideas: Serve yourself a big bowl of the premixed salad greens and top with a baked chicken thigh and serve with a small cup of fruit salad for a sweet treat. Or pack up a serving of the ground turkey and bean skillet along with a tortilla and make an easy burrito or taco(s). Make sure to check out my other post with some great high protein lunch ideas!
• High protein dinner ideas: Baked chicken thighs and roasted vegetables and sweet potatoes make for the ultimate high protein, high fiber dinner! Or make a couple of baked potatoes and top with the ground turkey skillet meal for a satiating, fiber rich dinner.

No matter what combo you assemble with these great options, you’re going to be eating a nutritious and delicious meal! Packed with protein, fiber, essential vitamins and minerals, you can’t go wrong prepping any of the ideas shared today.

Storage tips

Pre-assemble meals in individual meal prep containers (these are my favorite), or simply transfer to storage containers and dish out as needed. Store prepped foods in the fridge in airtight containers for 3-5 days, and reheat as needed.

More Meal prep ideas