Weekly Meal Prep Doesn’t Have To Take a Full Day—Here Are 10 Top Time-Saving Tips

Catherine McCord of 'Weelicious' is a pro at meal-prepping weeknight dinners.

Whether you're a family of one, two, three, or four-plus, weekly meal prep can be a saving grace when it comes to quicker, more convenient weeknight dinners. Whether it's doubling a chicken burrito recipe or freezing meals ahead of time, Catherine McCord of Weelicious is the absolute queen of meal prep and with her new cookbook Meal Prep Magic: Time-Saving Tips for Stress-Free Cooking coming out on April 4, McCord gave Parade the scoop on how she simplifies meal prep so that it doesn't take a full day to sort out the rest of the week.

"The second that I realized I had three children and had to feed five mouths, [I] was like, 'How am I going to pull this off every day?'" McCord says of her meal prep origin story. "So, meal prep became essential for me for my peace of mind."

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McCord adds, "I stress the importance of meal prep for anyone who wants to eat real food, like homemade food, but with ease. You don't have to feel like you're creating, you know, a four-course, four-star meal every single night. If you're meal prepping, you know that you have real, delicious food waiting in your refrigerator or your slow cooker. If you're meal prepping, you're automatically saving time and money."

Saving time and money? Sounds like a dream!

Keep reading for 10 of McCord's best time-saving tips that make meal prep (and therefore, weeknight meals) not a dream, but a reality.

Related: Hey, Parents! We've Got 6 Weeks of Family Meal Plans To Make Weeknights Easier

10 Ways to save time while meal prepping

1. Pick your 10 favorite meals

Start with what you love and what you know—that's the base layer of starting to meal prep.

"Whether you write it on a piece of paper or in your phone, keep a list of your top 10 favorite foods and always have them on hand," McCord says.

Maybe pick out two to three vegetables or fruits that you love to eat, plus a certain pasta, beans, lentils or chicken. Whatever it is that you enjoy eating! Keep the ingredients for these 10 meals on hand at all times.

"You know you have 10 foods that you absolutely love," McCord says. "You feel confident in the kitchen using them and you'd be shocked at how many different ways they can be cross-pollinated to make different meals."

2. Serve half, freeze half

The golden rule of meal prep? Serve half, freeze half.

"Let's say you make burritos," McCord says. "You can freeze half and serve half that night."

Now, you already have a second, pre-planned meal ready to go in your freezer.

"I always do that. A lot of the recipes in Meal Prep Magic are very much encouraged to serve half and freeze half—whether it comes to soups, muffins, burritos, scones, anything like that."

3. Double up

McCord's next tip goes hand-in-hand with the serve half, freeze half rule and that's doubling up on a recipe.

"It's always, 'make one,' I'm like no, no, you make two," McCord says.

This can be applied to just about any recipe. Simply double up the ingredients so you have two servings instead of one.

"I double up on everything," McCord says. "There's a grilled pork tenderloin recipe in the book and I will marinate it and I will cook one for tenderloin and then I'll either freeze or refrigerate the other one marinated."

It cuts down on time and effort since you only have to cook once. It also reduces your time spent chopping and preparing since it's already ready to go.

Related: 15 Better-for-You Snacks, Drinks & Meal Prep Food Items We're Obsessed With Right Now

4. Make two go-to marinades

Let's talk marinades. This is another quick and dirty "recipe," if you will, that can easily be prepared ahead of time.

"If you love a marinade for a recipe, make extra marinade and keep it in the fridge to use in a different way," McCord explains. "So, if you make a homemade teriyaki that you use to boil salmon, you could also use it to marinate chicken."

5. Use vinegarette as a marinade too

And don't forget about dressing. It can easily moonlight as a marinade too.

"People don't think about it, but often vinegarettes can be used as marinades," McCord says. "They're not just for salads, they're also for proteins or grains."

Related: 32 Cheap and Easy Meals That Start With a Basic Can of Black Beans

6. Peel and chop on Sundays

Contrary to popular belief, meal prep doesn't have to take up an entire day's worth of your time. In McCord's house, Sunday equals meal prep day, but the key to not having it take all day long is to think of your foods as batches that can be mixed and matched.

"Meal batching, to me, when you're trying to cook a bunch of individual foods and then mix and match them," McCord says.

A big part of that is peeling and chopping everything on meal prep day. Later in the week, you can pick which foods go into which meal.

"For saving time on Sundays, I always meal batch," McCord explains. "I do cooked rice, cooked pasta, roasted vegetables or air-fried vegetables, and roasted chicken. Then you know you have the most simple ingredients that you can mix and match or turn into different recipes."

In fact, it's actually become a kind of self-care moment for McCord.

"I spend about two hours [meal batching] on Sundays, but it's really like my religious zen time to do it in my kitchen and I look forward to it," McCord adds."There is a great satisfaction [in] knowing that you've made all this food and you know exactly how it's going to mix and match to eat on a specific day."

Related: 50 Quick and Easy Breakfast Ideas That Don't Involve Eggs

7. Get the kids involved

Who says meal prepping is exclusively for the adults? Getting the whole family involved isn't just a way to spend time together; it can also be helpful for teaching children about nutrition, cooking and how to prepare a meal.

"I get my kids in on the act too. I'll be like, 'You want to peel 10 carrots right now?'" McCord says. "There's a recipe in the book for freezer stash breakfast burritos and it's like an assembly line."

Everyone gets a job as the burrito goes down the line.

"You just put out the tortillas, you make bowls of the beans, some hashbrowns, some eggs and I'll get my kids to help me assemble them. Then they like to then fold them up with foil and write their name on them. Then they made their own burrito and then you can freeze them."

It also makes for less confusion and less fighting over who ate whose leftovers.

8. Freeze cookie dough

Here's a secret no one's probably told you before: You don't have to bake (or eat) cookies all at once.

"Whoever came up with the idea that you have to bake four dozen cookies in one sitting was cruel because having them around is not fair," McCord says. "But if you do bake them, go ahead and freeze half. What we like to do is make the raw cookie dough and I'll bake half, then use parchment paper to mold them into cylinders, wrap them up in parchment so that they're true slice and bake cookies."

Pop 'em in the freezer and when you're ready to bake more of the dough, the batter's ready.

Related: 42 Super Simple Rice Bowl Recipes To Use Up Whatever Ingredients You Have On Hand

9. Prepare ready-to-go smoothie jars

Meal prepping isn't just for weeknight dinners. It also comes in handy for mornings on the go if your breakfast is already made.

"We have smoothies most mornings, so you just take hemp, chia seeds, protein powders—you make jars," McCord explains. "Then just dump them in the blender with your frozen fruit or vegetable and liquid and it makes it really fast."

If you don't have any jars at the ready, you can do the same with Stasher bags in the freezer.

"I'll use Stasher bags and fill them with frozen strawberries or frozen cauliflower, different kinds of seeds, or even nut butters," McCord adds. "I just dump everything right in with milk and you have a smoothie in seconds."

10. Turn pasta leftovers into pasta chips

Last but certainly not least, McCord says that pasta isn't just for Italian night. It doesn't even have to be served with marinara and parmesan cheese. No, it can also be served as a snack—as in, a chip.

"I make a lot of pasta chips. I keep the boiled pasta in the refrigerator and then I'll just air fry it," McCord explains. "All you do is put some salt or olive oil or vinegar if you want to make salt and vinegar pasta chips."

After a minute or two in the air fryer, you'll have a crunchy, seasoned chip.

"The same thing goes with a can of chickpeas," McCord adds. "I make a bunch of those and air frying them takes literally 30 seconds of effort. Having healthier snacks that are still crunchy, smooth or texturized is what makes snack foods, I think. You know that they're not just empty calories."

Next up, ‘I’m the Queen of Budgeting: Here’s the One Thing I Do To Feed My Family of 5 for $80 a Week'