7 Brilliantly Simple Meal-Prepping Hacks That Could Save You A Ton Of Time And Money In 2025
Too tired to make dinner when you get home from a long day of work? Don’t have enough time to make yourself breakfast before you run out the door in the morning? Spending hundreds of dollars a month on fast-food lunches because it’s easier than making them yourself? Meal prepping could change your life.
That’s what fitness expert and chef Kevin Curry told us — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, the co-hosts of HuffPost’s “Am I Doing It Wrong?” podcast — when he recently dropped by our studio.
Listen to the full episode by pressing play:
The popular method of preparing meals in advance can save you a ton of time and money, and potentially make your life a lot easier. And, because you’re the one choosing all of the ingredients and making everything yourself, you know exactly what is going into your meals, which means you’re probably going to be healthier than dining out or ordering takeout.
We asked Curry, who regularly offers tips to his 1.6 million Instagram followers, to share some of his best meal-prepping secrets with us, and he did not disappoint.
1. Invest in some good storage containers
“I always do the BPA free [plastic containers]. Glass is good, but glass just tends to be really heavy if you’re toting that around,” Curry said.
Mason jars are a great option for storing and transporting layered salads. Put the dressing on the bottom of the jar and then load it up with all of your favorite ingredients. Shake it just before you’re ready to dig in.
Whatever container you choose, make sure it has a tight seal to keep your food from going bad.
2. Choose two days a week to prep your meals
“I used to be of the school of thought, like, you just need to prep one day of the week,” said Curry, the founder of Fit Men Cook. “And I’ll be honest with you, a lot of these people who said that they do that, I’ll tell you what’s happening behind the scenes. By like Thursday or Friday, they’re hating the food.”
Instead, Curry preps twice a week, which allows him to mix up what he’s making and the meals are fresher than if they’ve been sitting in the fridge for days.
“I would prep about three days worth,” Curry said. “I know people are like, ’Oh my God, that’s so much work, but actually, you’re cutting down your time because [for] three meals, that’s about 45 minutes in the kitchen.”
3. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing
You can prep components of meals rather than entire meals, which still saves you time and gives you options.
“I call that mix-and-match meal prep — you make like batches of different foods,” Curry explained. “So you make a batch of protein or just chicken or turkey, and then a batch of some grains, some beans and salad. And then you just mix and match throughout the week.”
This gives you a great foundation, which you can use each day based on how you’re feeling, but you don’t have to start from scratch.
“You can make tacos one night or [use the ingredients] to make pizza one night,” Michelson offered.
“Right, or put it over rice the next night,” Curry added.
“You have options, but the bulk of the work has already been done,” Michelson said.
4. Don’t try to make too many changes too quickly
“Don’t do everything on day one,” Curry advised. “I don’t think it’s necessary, and I also think you set yourself up for failure because you’re going to get burnt out.”
Instead, making small changes can lead to creating habits that stick and results you can see — and understand.
“You also want to know what’s working for you, right?” he said. “So whenever you make too many changes [at once], you don’t know if it’s coming because of this change over here or this change over there, right? So as you grow into things, you will find out what works for you.”
5. Your freezer is your friend
If you’re making a meal, say a lasagna or a pot of soup, you can make two at the same time and freeze one of them to eat later. You can also freeze components of meals — like bananas and berries for smoothies — and pull them out when you need them.
“If you’re making marinara, you can put that into a Ziploc bag,” Curry said. “That’s your rainy day food, and those things too can lay flat in a freezer, so you can stack them.”
Multiple batches means you’ve always got a meal waiting in the freezer and you’re potentially saving money by buying ingredients in bulk.
6. Beware of “aspirational buying”
“When you walk into the grocery store, you’ll see the produce section, and you’re like, ’All right, this is the week I’m gonna just eat this and that and this arugula and this,” Curry said. “And then fast forward, it’s a science project in your fridge by Friday because you just didn’t [use] it and you don’t want that.”
Instead, Curry recommends that people write down what they’re already eating and then “back solve that way.”
“That way you’re eating foods that you like and you’re also not contributing to food waste,” he noted.
You’re also not spending money on foods you never end up eating.
7. Trying something new is always a good idea
“Each week — each Saturday — I would find one ingredient that I have never cooked with before, and find a recipe on the internet,” Curry said. “And then that led me to discovering these different flavors.”
Never had tahini? Buy a small bottle and find a delicious-sounding recipe to use it in. Wondering what butter beans taste like? Grab a can and see what you’ve been missing.
“Those things can inform your future decisions about food,” he added.
Curry shared a ton of other ideas for meal prepping with us, including the foods he’d never meal prep, how eating out can provide inspiration and lots more.
After you’ve had a listen to the full episode above or wherever you get your podcasts, subscribe to “Am I Doing It Wrong?” so you don’t miss a single episode, including how to score the best deals on airline tickets, how to find love online or overcome anxiety, tips for online shopping, taking care of your teeth and pooping like a pro, secrets to booking and staying in a hotel, how to deal with an angry person, shocking laundry secrets, ways to experience more awe and wonder in your life, taking your best shower ever, protecting your privacy online, and much more.
For more from Curry, visit his website and follow him on Instagram.
Need some help with something you might be doing wrong? Email us at AmIDoingItWrong@HuffPost.com, and we may investigate the topic in an upcoming episode.
