You do not need to cook from scratch every night. A few prepared ingredients and reliable backup foods can give you several ways to put a meal together.
Keep a few easy meals ready
- Rotisserie chickens (keep 2 on-hand)
- Cold cuts or grilled chicken over premade salads
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Pepperoni/Salami/Cheese packs
- Fast food
Keep convenient backup foods
Choose shelf-stable options for your office, bag or home, and follow each package’s storage instructions.
- Chomps beef jerky (no sugar)
- Individual packets of nuts
- Moon cheese, Parmesan Crisps or Whisps
- Quest chips
- Quest bars
Cook once and save extra portions
- When you do have time, batch cook 1-2 dishes for the week and freeze leftovers in individual servings – always make enough for 2-3 leftovers!
- Do this once a week and after a few weeks you will have a rotation of home-cooked meals so you don’t need to cook from scratch every night
Prepare vegetables ahead of time
- Once a week: wash and cut up vegetables or buy pre-cleaned/cut-up vegetables
- Store a dry paper towel in with washed vegetables to soak up moisture. The vegetables will last longer.
- Lightly cook to reduce time later. Don’t overcook – cook al dente to avoid vegetables getting mushy when reheating
A few ideas (store separate in airtight containers and assemble as needed):
- Salad ingredients: lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers
- Peppers
- Onions
- Cauliflower
- Cabbage
- Mushrooms
Prepare a versatile protein
- Cook up a few pounds of protein and keep spices simple – just some salt and pepper
- Use pre-cut/cooked vegetables and spices to change up the flavor profile of the protein each night
- Adding cauliflower and cabbage are easy ways to bulk up your meals if you need more volume
- Alternatively, you can buy precooked protein (chicken breast, burgers, etc.) to have on hand
A few quick meal assembly ideas:
- Meatza in a bowl: throw some no-sugar tomato sauce (like Rao’s) in a pan with a scoop or two of the precooked protein, add some of the precooked onions, mushrooms. Add a sprinkle of parmesan over it and/or cut up a few pieces of pepperoni over the top.
- Taco salad: add some no-sugar taco seasoning to the meat, throw it over a bed of lettuce, add some salsa or pico de gallo, a dollop of guacamole, a little sour cream and/or cheese. Serve with some quest chips.
- Cheesesteak: saute some onions, peppers and mushrooms with spices of your choice and throw under the broiler with some cheese on top
More Resources
Quick keto recipes from Diet Doctor
View the meal-prep checklist
