I’m sure you’ve heard the terms meal planning and meal prepping and maybe even wondered “Is there a difference?” The answer is yes. Meal prepping refers to batching a meal, lunch for example, all at once to have prepared meals throughout the week (or whenever needed). Everything that goes before doing the prep is part of meal planning, which is why meal planning is so important.
Meal planning is deciding what you will make, writing a grocery list, shopping, and planning out a time to do the meal prep. Depending on how much food you need to prepare and how detailed you want to get with your meal plan, you could spend a few minutes or an hour.
There are times I’ve spent more than an hour meal planning because I get lost in cookbooks and go down rabbit holes on how to get more fiber in my diet. I think I probably enjoy the meal planning part just as much as the cooking part sometimes ?. There are so many recipes out there and I just want to try them all!
Meal Planning vs. Meal Prepping vs. Ingredient Prepping
Okay, let’s just get all these dang definitions out of the way so ya’ll know what the hell I’m talking about. It’s usually implied that meal planning is involved if someone is meal prepping, but I think there’s one key aspect that tends to be forgotten.
Meal prepping is usually only covering one or two meals that you batch ahead of time. Meal planning encompasses all the meals you will need to buy ingredients for, not just the ones you’re prepping. This is why meal planning is so important.
Since we’re talking about the difference between meal planning and meal prepping, I think it’s important to bring up ingredient prepping. This is another term that you might hear floating around. Ingredient prepping is preparing ingredients that you will use for future meals. For example, I make my own pizza crust so if I do this ahead of time then that would be considered ingredient prepping.
For the sake of simplicity and not overcomplicating things, when I talk about meal prepping it also includes any ingredient prepping that needs to be done too. I do a lot of both, and depending on your household needs then you might benefit from a bit of both too. I’m just not about to be like… separating the two constantly. They both imply that you’ll be spending a couple of hours in the kitchen cooking shit, so let’s keep it simple shall we?
Okay, just to reiterate what everything is. Meal planning is figuring out what you’re going to eat for all your meals for a set amount of days (usually 7 if you shop 1x week), and writing a shopping list. Meal prepping is batching meals ahead of time. Ingredient prepping is making any ingredients that are needed for a future meal.
Is it possible to meal prep without planning?
I guess the short answer would be, yes, technically. If you just sort through your fridge and pantry and put together some meals for the week, but my guess is that is not what’s happening for most people. So while it’s possible, I don’t recommend it as a go-to.
Most of the time, to be successful with meal prep, it takes figuring out what recipe to make and adding the ingredients you don’t have to a list. Even if it takes less than 5 minutes it’s still meal planning. The more you plan on meal prepping, the more planning is needed to avoid any setbacks.
If you want to get started with meal prepping, then read this post next – Master Meal Prep: Save Money, Time and Stress
The case for why meal planning is so important
There are weeks when I don’t have time to do any meal prep, but I will always prioritize my meal plan because that is what keeps me from scrambling for meals. Meal prepping is great and saves a ton of time throughout the week, but it all starts with a meal plan. Depending on where you’re at in life and what you struggle with, meal planning can be beneficial for several reasons.
Ensures you have enough food for the week
Who hates having to do a mid-week grocery run?? ?Yeah, me too. By spending some extra time going over all the food you currently have and all the food you will need for the week, you can skip that mid-week grocery trip.
When you meal plan, you can cover it all. Every week I make sure I have everything I need for breakfasts and lunches for my boyfriend and me, dinners for the week, and, of course, snacks are always a must too. I write it all down and then add what I need to buy to my grocery list.
Meal planning is also great for remembering to add those items you’re out of to the grocery list that usually go forgotten. Part of my meal plan routine is checking on items I use frequently like coffee and creamer, toothpaste, flour, etc.
Requires less brainwork during the week
How much time do you think you spend sorting through the fridge and pantry to see what kind of dinner you can whip up? Probably more than you’d like if I had to guess ? Sometimes it’s more exhausting just to try and figure out what to cook, than it is to do the actual cooking.
One of my favorite reasons why meal planning is so important is that it’s convenient to be able to get to the end of the day and just know what I have to cook for dinner. And also know that I have everything I need for that dinner.
The same goes for breakfasts and lunches. I like rotating a couple of different meals and it makes eating throughout the day a breeze. Clear up some headspace and start meal planning!
Supports a healthier diet
This is my second favorite reason for meal planning (I saved my first for last). I think it’s probably safe to say that we all want to eat healthier. But it can be hard, especially when life gets busy. I have found that meal planning has significantly helped me eat healthier more consistently.
Meal planning can help you avoid unhealthy cravings and eating out, and it will inevitably support healthier choices. For example, by planning and prepping healthy snacks throughout the week, then you can avoid grabbing something unhealthy while on the go. Because snacking can be tough when trying to eat healthier, I put together this post on how to prepare healthy snacks on a budget.
When planning dinners for the week, you can make sure to include some healthy options in there, like salmon or a big healthy salad. Personally, I love a good nutritious lunch because it keeps me energized and feeling great, instead of encountering the afternoon slump that I hate so much.
If eating healthier is a top goal of yours, then I highly recommend spending time every week on meal planning. Meal prepping is great and all for a couple of meals, but it’s important to have healthy options for all of your eating. By planning more we can certainly start to make healthier choices.
Lastly and most importantly, it saves money
This is the big one in 2024 because I think we’re pretty much all broke and tired of the high cost of living. Meal planning will most definitely save you money. Whether it’s avoiding takeout or sticking to your grocery list, by planning all of your meals ahead of time you can be sure to save some extra bucks.
Recently, I just got done moving to a new place, and in all of the chaos and whirlwind of boxes and furniture, we spent a lot of money eating out. Yikes ??I won’t lie, it almost hurt my soul to spend that much on food for one meal. I still can’t get over the cost of delivery. Typically, we don’t eat out much and now I know for a fact that we save a ton by cooking our meals at home.
When life gets busy it’s a no-brainer that we opt for convenience, and that convenience will cost more money, unfortunately. Plan meals ahead of time, don’t stray from the grocery list, and stick to cooking the meals that you planned on cooking and you will save money.
My meal planning routine
Okay, hopefully, I’ve convinced you why meal planning is so important, but now you’re wondering where to start. I fully believe everyone needs to figure out a system that works for them because what works for me might not work for you. But that takes time, so for now here’s my routine as a starting point.
1. What do you have on hand that you need (or want) to use?
The absolute first thing I do is check if I have any food that is about to expire or go bad. Things like produce, dairy, protein, and any leftovers. If this list is huge then I’ll move on to the next step, but if I don’t have much then I’ll add things I might want to use to clear up my pantry or freezer. These are things like open boxes of pasta, open bags of lentils, or pulled pork that’s in the freezer.
2. What do you need to add to your list?
Technically, I do this at the same time as the first step. While I’m already going through the fridge to look for things that are about to go bad, I also take note of the things I use daily-ish that I need more of. Coffee creamer, bell peppers, lettuce, yogurt, almond milk. Basically, just check for whatever things that you’d be pretty sad about not having. Oh, and don’t forget to check the pantry and freezer too!
After you browse the kitchen, move on to the rest of the house. Are you almost out of laundry detergent? What about toothpaste? This is a good time to just double-check if there’s anything non-food related that you need to buy.
3. Save that money, honey! Check for weekly deals and coupons.
When I’m done going through my kitchen and figuring out what I need to use and what I need to buy, I grab my drink and get comfy. Sometimes meal planning is about getting shit done, but when I can I like to enjoy the process a bit more. Okay, next I check my Kroger app and see if there are any weekly deals worth planning a meal around and I clip my coupons.
Protein is a big one for weekly deals. I don’t like paying full price for meat, and usually only buy what’s on sale (besides salmon… I feel like salmon is never on sale, which is sad). Kroger loves their buy one get one free deals. I’ve gotten pork tenderloin, ribs, tri-tip, and a pork butt on a BOGO sale. Use one for that week’s meals and the other goes in the freezer for later.
I love saving money on groceries, and if you’re looking for tips then I’ve got them right here in this post you can read next: 10 Ways to Save Money on Groceries in 2024.
4. Plan the meals
Once I have a good idea of what food I already have and what food I might want to buy because it’s on sale (or I have a coupon for), then I start planning meals. I always focus on creating meals around ingredients that are about to expire first. For example, maybe I have some lettuce that’s looking a little sad and some chicken that’s about to go bad (I did not mean to rhyme there but I’m keeping it ?), then my first meal for the week would be a chicken salad.
I always include leftovers first too and space it out when I can because no one wants to eat the same thing three nights in a row. Or if I can make it work then I will transform the leftovers into something else so that it’s not as repetitive.
After including meals that use up almost expired ingredients, I fill in the rest of the blanks for dinner with things on sale or things I want to use up. I always write out my dinner meals, but for breakfasts and lunches, I tend to just make sure I have the ingredients I need. I make lunch for Oscar in the mornings, and because I work from home I usually don’t meal prep lunches for myself. And I never forget to have some sort of healthy snack throughout the week.
Do whatever feels best for you and prioritize the meals that matter the most.
5. Write the grocery list
This part is pretty self-explanatory. I use a combination of a notebook and my computer for my meal planning. I used to write my grocery list as I went but found myself missing ingredients and taking longer than needed. Now, I wait till I have everything planned out to write my shopping list.
I hate running around the store with a notebook and prefer my list to be on my phone, so I use Notion but definitely use whatever feels right to you. Oh, and remember, you went through all this work to write this list, so stick to it!
Tips for success
I feel like I’ve already gone on and on about why meal planning is so important (I just love the topic so much), so I’ll keep my tips for success short and sweet.
- Experiment with different methods. I used to use the Notes app for everything, moved to Notion, and then eventually settled on a combination of Notion and a simple notebook. You won’t know what works for you until you try a couple of things out.
- Don’t plan an entire week of meals that take forever to make. I like having at least two dinner meals planned for the week that are super quick to put together. Life happens and the last thing you want to do is spend all night cooking.
- You don’t have to do it all at once. If planning all of your meals for an entire week seems overwhelming, then start small.
- Focus on using about-to-expire food more than anything. I always say that throwing away leftovers and expired food is like throwing money in the trash. If you can’t imagine another night of eating lasagna, then freeze it for later. But don’t leave it in the fridge for it to die a sad, wasteful death.
- If you’re short on time for meal planning, stick with your go-to meals. For me, that’s salmon and roasted veggies and tacos of any kind (shrimp, pulled pork, etc.).
Final thoughts
There are a bunch of reasons why meal planning is so important, and it has helped me a ton as I become more conscious of the food I’m putting in my body. There’s this quote that I saw online that has really spoken to me about where I’m at with cooking and food and this particular season of life that I’m in.
“The more you cook, the better you eat. The more you cook, the more money you save. And the more you cook, the healthier you will be.” – Michael Pollan, well-known food journalist
I have always had a love of cooking, but I think it has also been something that our current food culture has said is a waste of time. We thrive off of being busy and doing as much as possible, which in turn has made us consume more convenience food.
Cooking forces you to slow down, and be present with the ingredients, and if we’re lucky we get to enjoy good food with the people who matter. I don’t think we should ever feel like that is a waste of time.
So with that, I urge you to slow down a little and put more care and thought into your food choices. Food is what fuels us, it is what makes us feel good or bad, and it affects us a whole lot more than we think.
And of course, a great starting point is always a plan. Maybe even a meal plan. ?
Talk again soon! –Annie
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