It can be extremely difficult to try and eat a certain way while being a full-time student. We put less thought into what we eat, and end up spending copious amounts of money on fast-food at school. As I’ve struggled with this before, I learned from it, and have compiled a list of twenty meal prep ideas for school!
In my opinion, wraps are the most underrated food of all-time. They are literally the easiest food in the world to make! When I make my chicken and avocado wraps, I usually make for about three days of school. I make a guacamole with lemon and peppers, and use that as a spread for my wrap. If you use chicken (you could put pretty much any protein you’d like), I suggest buying a rotisserie one, as you can use the chicken for other meals during the week.
Taco bowls hit all the right spots. They are also super easy to make and them put in a tubberware for on the go students!
Depending on what you prefer in your bowls, it usually includes minced ground beef (or turkey), and an array of tomatoes, onions, lettuce and rice. Put some sriracha on top and you’re ready to go!
The term “stir-fry” may sound intimidating, but essentially, this dish is simply a protein and veggies. You cook the chicken/beef first (I use a honey garlic cooking sauce), and then in the same pan, add in chopped up veggies of your choice. Anything from zucchinis to peppers will work. The more colorful the plate it, the more appetizing!
Make a larger portion and place it in three separate tubberwares, for three different meals.
Yes, it is literally the same exact thing, except with tofu this time for my vegetarian people. The beauty in tofu is that you can make it taste like absolutely anything you’d like, so heres your chance to get create with the sauces and spices.
Spinach and humus is one of my favorite flavor combinations. You can add other veggies of your choice here – I think red peppers are the best addition. As this is a light meal prep idea, make more than one if you plan this for lunch.
Quinoa makes meal prep easy, as you can buy it already made.
Quinoa salad is extremely versatile. I find adding sweet potato cubes and beans compliment it nicely and make for a filling meal. Quinoa itself is very quick to make, and you can prep a big batch for the week.
Not eating breakfast is a big problem among students. We run to our coffee machines, but completely neglect breakfast. The solution? Make your breakfast the night before, and take it with you to school.
All you need for this recipe is some oats, almond milk, any nut butter of your choice, and a fruit (blueberries go best in my opinion). Refrigerate overnight in a tubberware and pack it the next morning.
If you have any protein powder at home, get yourself a nice reusable drink container. Make the protein shake from home, add a banana and some almond milk to it, and bring it to school with you. It’ll keep you energized until you get back home!
Mybodymykitchen.com has a great tilapia recipe – an extremely simple one, where lemon is essentially your main ingredient. Top off this fish wish a nice bed of rice and some steamed broccoli, and you have yourself a meal prepped lunch!
Roast some sliced zucchini and tomatoes in the oven with cayenne pepper. Boil any pasta of your choice, add some olive oil and butter, and throw in the veggies. This whole meal prep takes about ten minutes to make, and it can very easily be thrown into a tubberware for school.
Eggs are not exclusive to breakfast. Omelettes take five minutes to make, and once again, you can add virtually any veggie or protein you’d like to it! Usually, when there is leftover sausage from dinner, I add it to my omelette with some asparagus.
As I already mentioned with the shakes, drinks are great meal prep ideas for people who prefer quicker meal times than others and less of the prep work. Smoothies are fun, because it’s really up to each person to decide what they prefer in his or her smoothies.
My personal favorite: as many greens as you can find, some almond milk, and a banana. Tastes better than it sounds, believe me.
Lentils are a great source of iron, and for students who are constantly stressed and may forget meals, these are a power food.
Chickpeas and beans are the easiest thing to prepare. Buy them canned from your local grocery store, mixed them together in a tubberware and bring some olive oil in a small container.
For those of you trying to cut down on your carb intake, zucchini noodles satisfy you the same way a regular noodle would, but with all the nutrients of a vegetable.
Zucchini noodles are a good meal prep option as they are sold at most grocery stores already made. All you have to do it boil them and add some soy sauce.
Continuing on with starchless meals, cauliflower rice is one of the newer options I’ve discovered.
I buy it at my local IGA, and it comes mixed in with vegetables. Cooking time is about ten minutes, and it serves enough for two. Two portions = two meals ready and prepped for school.
Tuna is a very underrated protein. It can be put in your salads, wraps, and bowls.
My favorite way to use tuna is in a melt with some cheese and mayonnaise. When it’s all in your pita, place it on a pan and press down as you would a grilled cheese. You won’t regret it, believe me.
While this may seem obvious, salads are overlooked as an easy meal prep.
Break it down the way I do, and you’ll see they aren’t that difficult. Place shreds of lettuce in your tubberware, choose a protein, add a veggie, and pack a sauce or a vinegrette into a smaller container. In terms of different meal prep ideas for salads, it depends on your individual tastes, but I recommend changing it up every two days or so.
The easiest soup there ever was; chicken noodle soup. In order to meal prep soup, I recommend a thermos to keep the heat in. Make sure your thermos is spill-proof and can be trusted; I’ve had my fair share of soup disasters at school.
Another meal prep idea for those of you who skip breakfast; yogurt parfait. Get yourself a mason jar and place as much yogurt as you see fit at the bottom. Layer it with granola/oats, and some berries.
When you pull it out in the morning, add a drizzle of honey on top. Voila, morning nutrients!
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