The Ultimate Meal-Prep Cookbook

25 meal plans and 130 recipes strike just the right balance of guidance and flexibility for simple (but realistic) meal planning. With minimal shopping and no food waste, these meals are easier, healthier, less expensive, and full of fresh modern flavors.

Meal prep and planning have become critical skills for our busy lives, but often the meal-prep promise doesn't deliver, with rigid rules for what to buy and cook or vague, unhelpful instruction. Our game plans change all that, teaching you practical meal-prep that makes your life easier: Prep all your vegetables and grains for the week in a Sunday "power hour," make and freeze full meals, double meal components to freeze half for later, and more. Follow one of 25 weekly plans (complete with shopping lists, five-meal menus, and prep and substitution guides) to grocery-shop and strategize delicious meals that everyone will enjoy. With a shopping list of a dozen items and on-hand pantry ingredients, you can make Crispy Chicken with Spiced Carrot, Orange, and Chickpea Salad; Greek Meatballs with Lemon-Herb Orzo; Teriyaki Stir-Fried Beef with Green Beans and Shiitakes; Herb-Poached Salmon with Cucumber-Dill Salad; and Skillet-Baked Mac and Cheese. Every recipe minimizes active kitchen time so that you can have dinner on the table with a minimum of last-minute cooking. And a pantry chapter offers 30 meals that can be made as the week's fifth meal (or anytime), without adding anything to your weekly grocery list.

If you don't want to commit to a full meal plan, each recipe offers complete prep-ahead and cook-ahead tips so you can mix and match according to your needs. The thorough introduction shows you how to create a strong pantry and make the most of it, plus walks you through what ingredients can be prepped ahead (and how to do it), food storage and safety, portioning, reheating, essential equipment, and more.