20 meal-prepping tips to follow so your food doesn’t get boring

Whether you’re meal-prepping or not, it’s easy to get into a rut of cooking the same recipes over and over. Keep yourself out of that by creating a meal-prepping schedule. It gives you a visual of when you’ve last had a meal so you don’t eat it too often and tire of it.

Follow seasonal produce guides to determine which vegetables and fruits you’re going to use in your prepped meals. You can build meals based on what’s in season, and once that produce is out of season, you’ll be finished using it for several months, ensuring variety. 

Rotate through your proteins to avoid getting into a meal-prepping rut. Use chicken for one meal and pork for another. Having the same protein over and over might not seem like a big deal, but when you switch it up, you’ll notice a huge difference. 

Rotate your grains regularly, too. Sticking to just white rice or quinoa can get very tiresome. Incorporate barley, pasta, oats, or another type of rice for some flavor and texture variety. 

Be sure to rotate your vegetables, too, even when using what’s in season. Don’t go three months only eating root vegetables. Have carrots in one meal and broccoli in another. The variety will keep your meals interesting. 

Seasoning mixes are vastly underrated. Rather than just buying some garlic powder and cumin, opt for a taco mix or a sweet and smoky blend. Having spice blends adds loads of flavors to your meals and takes the pressure off you to have to mix them yourself. 

Condiments can make a world of difference when it comes to eating meal-prepped food. Keep a rotation of condiments on standby, and be sure to try new ones, too. Having something flavorful to dip your food in will help your meals stay fresh. 

Try new meals, too, and incorporate them into your meal schedule. The more meals you have in your arsenal, the fewer you have to use each. The fewer you use each, the more exciting your food stays. 

Don’t forget to try new ingredients, too. If you’ve never had pork chops before, try them. If you’ve never had parsnips before, try those. Having new ingredients to try will get you excited about eating, too. 

To prevent food waste and keep your meal prepping fresh, freeze some of your food. If you’ve made more than a few servings of a meal, freeze some of it. You can thaw it for a meal at a later date when you’re strapped for time, and it’ll keep you from burning out on one meal. 

If you don’t want to freeze your food, get more accustomed to cooking meals in two- or three-serving amounts. It can be tricky because of how food is packaged, but learning how to cook smaller batches will help you avoid eating the same meal for days on end. 

Some foods naturally lend themselves to variety, like salad. Learn how to properly prep salads for the week so that your meals are full of different ingredients that you look forward to eating. 

Prep a variety of stir-fries for the week, too. Like salad, stir fry has a penchant for variety, and you can keep certain elements of stir fry separate from each other until you’re ready to eat so you can mix things up. You can have pork and peppers one day, then beef and broccoli the next. 

If you’re struggling to find inspiration for meals and are tempted to revert to your old faithfuls, pick a theme. It can be a type of food, a spice, or a country. Following a theme will help you choose interesting and potentially new foods to eat for the week.  

It’s definitely easier to just make a protein, vegetable, and grain for your prepped meals, but that can get so monotonous. Add some flavor by adding some of your favorite sides. It’s a little bit of extra work, but it’ll be worth it to keep your meals from getting boring. 

Be sure to add snacks or desserts to your prepped meals, too. They don’t have to be elaborate, but having some flavored nuts or a cookie along with your meal shakes things up nicely. 

Sometimes, switching up your cooking method to make your food more interesting is all it takes. If you’ve been using the oven a lot lately, opt for the grill. If you’re sick of your stovetop, use your slow cooker. The same ingredients taste totally different depending on how they’re cooked. 

If you have a friend or co-worker who preps their meals, ask if they’d be willing to switch one day. It can be a spontaneous ask or something you planned, but it’ll add some intrigue to your meal. Sometimes, having other people’s food tastes better than whatever you cooked yourself. 

Don’t cook a singular meal and eat only that until it’s gone. That’s a surefire way to get bored of your food. On your cooking day, cook a few different meals in smaller portions that you can rotate throughout the week. 

It’s amazing what a simple marinade can do for your food. The night before your meal-prepping day, marinate your proteins so that they’re super flavorful when you cook them. It’ll make a huge difference in the taste of your food.