How to meal prep chicken for the entire week, including an easy chicken breast recipe, all for under $5 per meal! Cook once and eat all week!
Alright, let me guess. You want to eat healthy, but every time you go to grab something from the fridge, nothing is ready to eat and you really, really, REALLY don’t feel like cooking a full healthy, well-balanced dinner.
If that sounds like you, I so feel you.
To be honest, I don’t really like cooking dinner at...dinner time. When I’m tired and hungry and just want sustenance that’s good for me, I usually don’t ALSO feel like cooking in that moment.
That’s what makes meal prep so super duper awesome. I choose the time and day I actually have energy and time and prep my meals ahead of time. I love making my Healthy Chicken Parmesan Meal Prep - (Under 350 Calories!) and my How To Meal Prep - Korean Beef Bowl (6 Meals/Under $4) it's just so good and so easy.
If you need some extra help figuring out meal prep check out my post on Ultimate Guide On How To Meal Prep.
I know it’s cliche, but failing to plan really is planning to fail. By learning how to meal prep, you’re gonna make your life and healthy eating lifestyle SO MUCH EASIER.
How to Meal Prep - Chicken (7 Meals/Under $5)
Okay, so how do we start to meal prep chicken? First, we need to decide on the chicken recipe because not all chicken meal prep recipes are created equal. Because chicken breast is lower in fat and a great lean protein, I usually use chicken breast over chicken thigh in my meal prep chicken recipes if I'm looking to cut extra fat in my macros. If not, chicken thighs are also a great option.
The big trick with meal prepping chicken breast is to marinade it. Seriously. Take the 30 minutes it requires to infuse all that flavor into the chicken. Your chicken breast will wind up being so much more flavorful, tender, and juicy. All good things. Your meal plan will be so much more successful, I promise.
In this meal prep chicken recipe, I use my Cilantro Lime Chicken. If you’re looking for other great marinades for easy chicken recipes, I have you covered.
The next big tip for how to meal prep chicken breast is how to cook it. I don’t know about you, but I’m not a huge fan of chewy, dry chicken in my meals. Just because it’s prepped ahead doesn’t mean it has to taste bad.
So, instead of dicing the chicken ahead of time and then cooking it, I cook it whole. This helps keep so much of the juices inside the chicken and keeps it from overcooking.
Once it’s cooked, I dice it into bite sized cubes. I do this because it will make it so much easier and quicker to reheat when it’s time to eat later. The worst is overcooking all the other food in the meal prep container just to get the chicken to heat through. Trust me on this one.
How To Save Time With Chicken Meal Prep
The whole point of meal prep is to take a little bit of time AHEAD of time to make it easier on you LATER.
Most people have one or two days each week where there is no work and the day is set aside to relax and catch up on errands. These are perfect days to add in your meal prep for the week ahead. The idea behind meal prep is to spend an hour or so, whatever you have, prepping out your meals so you have all your food prepped for the week ahead. Depending on your goals and schedule, you can meal prep your breakfasts, snacks, lunches, and dinners — all of them or just a few, whatever helps you reach your goals. I've got a ton of meal prep ideas for you on the blog to help you get started.
Meal prep is only going to last for you if it feels manageable. If Sunday doesn't work, split meal prep into two days. This will cut down on the session length and definitely preserve the quality of your food. Sunday and Wednesday are usually a good pair, but find any two days that work best for you. Many people find meal prep Sunday to be helpful and that’s what we do in our house as well. We mostly prep out our lunches and dinners for the week, but also add in prepped snacks as we need them.
If you're going to be starting to meal prep consistently, then cutting out unnecessary hassles is essential! Make it easy, make it yours, and make it last. I use these awesome glass meal storage containers that you can buy on Amazon, or you could use tupperware - as long as it keeps food fresh, you can use it. I prefer the glass because it reheats well and, for whatever reason, makes me feel good when I'm eating my meal.
How Long Can You Keep Meal Prep in the Fridge?
If you are using meal prep containers and have stored your chicken meal prep well, these babies will last in the fridge for up to 7 days. Awesome, right? So you'll have one of these amazingly healthy and delicious meals waiting for you al week!
If you have freezer-safe meal prep containers, you can also freeze these meals to have them store even longer. Frozen, they’ll save for about 3 months.
How To Reheat Chicken Meal Prep
When you’re ready to eat them, you can either let them thaw overnight in the fridge and then reheat in the microwave for 2 minutes or reheat them while frozen for 4-5 minutes.
I also like to leave a wedge of lime for just a bit of extra juice on the chicken, just in case it dries out too much from reheating. Just remove the lime before reheating because eww.
Can You Eat Cold Cooked Chicken?
Yes! Dustin and I often will pack our meal prepped chicken into our cooler and bring it with us. You may not always have access to a microwave, but that doesn't mean you have to forgo your healthy lifestyle. As long as the chicken has been fully cooked and refrigerated appropriately, you can absolutely eat your cooked chicken cold.
FYI if you're looking for a great on-the-go cooler that holds your meal prep containers, this one is what we use and it's awesome!
Want More Easy Chicken Breast Recipes?
Okay, I hope you've now become convinced about how awesome meal prepped chicken can be and you can't wait to get started figuring out how to meal prep chicken and incorporate it into your own healthy lifestyle. To get you started, here are some of my absolute favorite easy chicken breast recipes that are perfect for meal prep.
Remember to cook them whole and dice them for easy reheating for best results!
How to Meal Prep Chicken (Video)
How To Meal Prep Chicken
*This post may contain affiliate links for products I use often and highly recommend.
Ingredients
For the Cilantro Lime Chicken:
- 8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 4 limes, juiced (approx. 4 tbsp. juice)
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
For the Roasted Sweet Potatoes:
- 6 medium sweet potatoes, diced into cubes
- 3 tablespoon coconut oil
- 3 tablespoon raw honey
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the Sautéed Broccoli:
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 cups broccoli florets
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the boneless, skinless chicken breasts, lime juice, ground cumin, sea salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and fresh cilantro. Toss this all together to coat evenly. Then, top with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to marinate. (You could also place everything in a large sealable bag if you'd prefer.)
- While the chicken is marinating, start on the sweet potatoes by preheating your oven to 375 degrees F and lining a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the diced sweet potatoes, coconut oil, raw honey, sea salt, and ground cinnamon and toss to coat evenly.
- Spread the sweet potatoes out evenly over the prepared baking sheet and, when the oven is preheated, place into the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.
- To make our easy sautéed broccoli, heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.
- Once hot, add raw broccoli florets, followed by sea salt, garlic powder, and black pepper. Toss to coat.
- Cover the pan and cook 6-8 minutes, tossing regularly until the broccoli is almost tender and is bright green. (You can add a little low sodium chicken broth or water to help it along if you’d like.)
- To cook the chicken, heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet and then transfer the cilantro lime marinated chicken into the hot pan, spaced evenly.
- Cook 4-6 minutes per side, until well browned and fully cooked.
- Remove from the heat and dice into cubes.
- To assemble, I recommend using meal prep containers. Start by adding the diced chicken, followed by the sautéed broccoli, and then the sweet potatoes. Top everything off with a wedge of lime and you’re good to go.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
What's your favorite chicken recipe to use for meal prep? Share in the comments below!
Aaron Johnston
Important question I have - I was under the impression 4 days for chicken in the fridge is the maximum?
Karl
I'm wondering this too. This guide/recipe says 7 days in the refridgerator for cooked chicken. The going advice from my past research online is 4 days for cooked chicken in the fridge, and 3 months in the freezer.
Lacey Baier
I find that chicken recipes last up to 7 days when properly stored in an airtight container in the fridge. If you find this is not the case or prefer to err on the side of caution, you can also opt to freeze a few portions of this meal prep beforehand. I hope this helps!
jessie MAYER
This was amazing, I was just wondering-the nutrition table, is that accurate? The carbs seemed low for sweet potatoes (not complaining) just want to make sure I am not eating too many while trying to maintain my keto diet.
Lacey Baier
If you're needing to understand exact carbs, I'd recommend weighing them out, as they may vary in size. In general, 6 medium sweet potatoes divided into these will be what is listed, however. Hope that helps!
Deon
Really would like weight specifications on the chicken breast. I tried this recipe and my chicken was raw on the inside still (breasts were pretty large)
David
I had the same question. If you look at the recipe in the "show more" section of the corresponding YouTube video, you will see she puts 3.5lbs instead of 8 chicken breasts in the recipe. That works out to eight 7oz chicken breasts.
Lacey Baier
Since chicken breasts can vary quite a bit, I use an average of 6-oz chicken breasts for the recipe. I hope that helps.
Leanne
I find that chicken breast size can vary. Approximately how may pounds of chicken for this recipe?
Lacey Baier
It will be 8 6-oz chicken breasts.
Esther
Thank you!
Sara
I made this tonight. Great recipies! I skipped the cilantro and added some pico de gallo with its juices. So delicious, all of it.
Lacey Baier
Love that idea!
Twanda Turner
Are the calories for the whole meal including sweet potatoes and broccoli???
Lacey Baier
Yes 🙂
Holly cary
This is so helpful. I'm going to go by this for my first meal prep. I am wondering what exact containers that you use. Are they glass or plastic? Is there a store that Carrie's them?
Lacey Baier
I get mine on Amazon. I have listed all the meal prep containers I recommend for you in this post (with links): https://www.asweetpeachef.com/best-meal-prep-containers/. I hope that helps!