Everything You Need to Be A Master Meal Prepper
Ever found yourself with too many berries but no jars to turn them into jam? Want to make your own cheesecake but don't know where to start? Welcome to Everything You Need, where the goal is to prevent these problems from occurring again. In this edition, we're telling you everything you'll need to learn how to make crème brûlée at home.
Like every trendy streamlining hack of the last decade (Kondo-ing, capsule wardrobes, glugging Soylent shakes) meal prep can feel like a spartan lifestyle that's just— well, boring. But if done thoughtfully and with the right tools, a little planning and work once or twice a week can save you from eating the same sad takeout salad everyday, or raiding the cheese drawer when you get home late and have nothing prepared. It's also good for you: in a French study of over 40,000 adults, meal prep was associated with a healthier, more varied diet and lower rates of obesity.
So, how do you steer towards abundance and variety and away from sad monotony? You find the right tools for the job. After your market shop, two or three hours of prepping and cooking time on a Sunday should get you set up for the majority of your week's meals. The equipment needed isn't fancy: just sturdy, reliable kitchen basics with one or two multi-tasking appliances thrown in there. So, use some of that hard-saved cash from the salad joint and get your kitchen ready for Sunday's meal prep bonanza.
A Notebook
All great plans start with putting a pen to paper. The easiest way to get ready for the week's meals is to jot down your ideas about what you want to cook, what groceries you need, and what components of your meals can be repurposed into totally new meals (also known as nextovers). That way, when you note the batch of slow cooker shredded chicken you plan on making, you can think about the ingredients for the tacos and the chicken noodle soup you're going to throw the leftover chicken into as well. I find that a small, plain notebook like the one below is best for total diagramming, list-making, meal-plotting freedom.
An Instant Pot
Speaking of slow-cooker chicken, you can make that in your Instant Pot. Right after you make perfectly jammy boiled eggs to top your egg salad tartine or niçoise, and cook up a batch of rice for one of our 25 favorite grain bowl breakfasts. Basically, this machine is a batch cooker's ultimate friend, allowing you to make meal components ahead of time in an almost completely hands-off manner. The six-quart DUO 60 is our pick for most home cooks—it's not too big, and it has slow-cooking, rice-cooking, and pressure-cooking features among others. Read our Instant Pot buying guide to find out if other models might be better for you.
A Versatile Cutting Board
You know what's a real bummer when you're trying to de-stem and chop a week's worth of greens? Running out of space. Upgrading to a bigger cutting board means you'll have plenty of room for big batches of ingredients: You'll be able to prep big batches of kale, chop up carrots, and slice cucumbers so they're ready to throw into any salad or grain bowl throughout the week.
One Good Knife
An affordable upgrade to that dull knife hanging around your kitchen, the direct-to-consumer Misen knife feels sturdy in your hand without being too heavy. It also has a precise, sharp blade—when you've consolidated all of your cooking into an afternoon, you'll notice the improvement. In a product test, our editor found it was the best for anyone who prefers a heftier, Western-style knife.
A Mini Food Processor
A favorite of our Senior Food Editor Anna Stockwell, this mini food processor is small enough to perch on your tabletop for frequent use. We love using it to blend dressings and dips for the week. Whip up a batch of creamy vinaigrette, and you've got a topping for grain bowls, salads, fish, and chicken for the next four or five days.
A Set of Mixing Bowls
Having a set of sturdy, versatile, and durable mixing bowls on hand is always a kitchen must. Reach for them when you’re beating eggs for omelets, stirring pasta, tossing a salad, or marinating chicken thighs. This set of three by Cuisinart impressed our product tester with their well-balanced feel and the attractive (and sticky fingerprint resistant) brushed stainless steel finish. The deep, smooth interiors of the bowls make them less prone to spills or splatters when you're whipping and whisking, and the handy plastic lids are perfect for storing a week's worth of Sunday stash sweet potatoes.
Hard-Working Lunch Containers
In order to really take advantage of the spread you're preparing on Sunday, pack your prepped food into these handy containers by Rubbermaid. Each one has three compartments, plus a separate small, round container for dressing. They are higher quality than your standard plastic storage containers, and they come in a variety of sizes, including a large 9.6 cup size for those of you who like big salads. The insert tray that contains the two smaller sections is removable, so you can use it for one-dish grain bowls, stir fry, or chili on non-salad days.
A Jug or Carafe
When I'm squeezed on time, I start my meal prep by blending up an easy vegetable based soup and a fresh batch of nut milk. That way, even if the week does become peppered with takeout and to-go containers, I know I'm starting my day with a creamy homemade latte and occasionally ending it with a bowl of nourishing soup. If neither of those sound like your cup of tea, what about, well, tea? Making a batch of iced tea to start off the week is a small chore that means Monday morning will start as caffeinated as can be. All of those things can be handily stored in one of these carafes in the fridge.
Originally Appeared on Epicurious
