As individuals and families nationwide continue to face a cost-of-living crisis, rising inflation, and growing food insecurity in 2025, many people’s household budgets don’t stretch as far as they used to. But if you’re able to carve out a few hours each week for meal prep, you’ll likely spend less, save time, and eat more nutritiously. If you’re wondering how to meal prep for the week without feeling overwhelmed, we’ve compiled a list of tips to help you prepare and plan your family’s meals — so you can make the most of every dollar you spend and every bite you take.
Do Your Research
Resources for shopping smart and eating healthy abound online, but specialized nutrition guidelines and interactive meal planning apps are some of the best for planning a week of healthy, balanced meals.
Harvard Health’s Healthy Eating Plate guidelines offer helpful recommendations for maintaining a healthy, balanced diet, while the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) MyPlate guidelines and Shop Simple app provide budget-friendly recipes as well as assistance for locating stores that accept federal food assistance benefits like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). In addition, the SNAP program’s SNAP-Ed page offers a range of educational materials for meal planning, cooking and storing food, and shopping on a budget.
Create Your Shopping List
As you consider how to meal prep for the week, be sure to take inventory of the ingredients you already have so you won’t accidentally double up on your purchases. Many times, a quick glance around the pantry, refrigerator, or freezer will save you a lot of time and trouble!
When drafting your shopping list, MyPlate’s Shop Smart guidelines recommend focusing on nutritious, budget-friendly ingredients so you can stick to a few easy recipes and rotate through weekly. This is especially helpful when learning how to meal prep for the week, as it ensures variety without overcomplicating your routine. And luckily, some of the cheapest ingredients are often some of the most nutritious! Think grains like brown rice and oats; proteins like beans, canned tuna, and canned chicken; vegetables like carrots, potatoes, and onions; and fruit like bananas, apples, and oranges.
Visit the Grocery Store
Creating a budget is arguably the most important step before heading out to the grocery store. And one way to make your grocery budget stretch further is to look in the local newspaper or the store’s app for weekly deals. That way, you can plan your meals around store sales. Once you get to the store, try to stay out of the aisles that don’t have items on your list so it’s easier to avoid impulse buying. If you can, purchase some longer-lasting ingredients in bulk, like rice, beans, oats, or frozen vegetables, so you can incorporate them into multiple meals.
Another way to keep your costs low is by making sure the fruits and vegetables you buy are in season, since these are generally cheaper. Check out this seasonal produce guide from SNAP-Ed for detailed guidelines. Also, try to buy more frozen and canned foods, which tend to be budget-friendly and last longer (and are just as nutritious if not more so than fresh!), and store-brand products, which usually offer the same quality, only at a lower price.
Prep Quick, Healthy Meals
Once you have everything ready to start meal prepping for the week, you’ll need to designate a few hours’ time to cook and prepare your meals. That’s one reason shopping the day before is so helpful — you can start prepping right away! Many people choose to do their meal prep on a Sunday or a quiet weekday night, but you can choose whichever day works for your schedule. If you’re wondering how to meal prep for the week efficiently, start by making large batches of a recipe that stores well, like soups or stews; rice or pasta to serve with your protein of choice; or vegetables roasted in the oven with a bit of oil, salt, and pepper. Check out the National Institutes of Health (NIH) website for more helpful tips for batch cooking.
Once you’re finished cooking, divide your meals into balanced portions for the week in reusable containers. And remember, successful meal planning means using time to your advantage! If you’re expecting a busy night, you can always defrost a meal you prepared the night before.
Repurpose Your Leftovers
Finally, as you think about how to meal prep for the week, consider how you will repurpose your leftovers safely so they last throughout the week. The keyword here, though, is “safely.” This cold storage food chart from the United States Department of Health and Human Safety offers tips for preparing, storing, and enjoying leftovers for as long as possible to avoid foodborne illness. Simple ideas for repurposing include using stale bread for croutons, turning leftover rice into stir-fried rice, or blending overripe fruit into smoothies. Inexpensive cuts of meat like pork shoulder or chuck roast can serve as dinner one night and be shredded for sandwiches at lunch, and the scraps and bones boiled for soup later in the week.
Learning How to Meal Prep for the Week
Meal prepping means planning your week a good deal ahead of time: researching store deals, creating a strategic grocery list, shopping smart, cooking with intention, and reusing your leftovers with creativity — all time well spent if you’re hoping to spend less, save valuable time, and improve your and your family’s health. If you’re new to the process and just starting to learn how to meal prep for the week, start with a simple plan and build from there. Happy prepping!
Thanks to the support of our volunteers, supporters, and more than 800 Hunger Relief Partners across Colorado and Wyoming, in 2024, Food Bank of the Rockies distributed the equivalent of 76 million meals to individuals and families facing food insecurity and hunger in the area. Making a donation or signing up for a volunteer shift helps support our mission to distribute nutritious meals to neighbors in the community. Thank you again for your support!
