Our 50 Best Meal Prep Recipes of All Time

If you love eggs in the morning, often buy breakfast on the way to work, wouldn’t mind saving a few bucks, or all of the above, then boy oh boy, freezer-friendly breakfast sandwiches are about to make you very happy. Here’s what to do.

This is your classic ham, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich reimagined into a freezer-friendly quesadilla. Creamy scrambled eggs are piled between slices of deli ham, along with a layer of mild, nutty Gruyère and a swipe of Dijon, for a hot, make-ahead breakfast that will get you excited for the morning meal.

For a vegan breakfast sandwich that will power you through the morning, look to this pita pocket stuffed with a blend of spiced chickpeas and sautéed veggies. It’s prepared in advance, then stashed in the freezer, ready to be reheated in the oven while you buzz through your morning routine.

With a short ingredient list and only a few key steps, it’s a simple recipe that works for a basic breakfast, a celebratory office treat, or even an improvised dinner roll. Here’s the most basic muffin recipe — one to know by heart.

Freezer club sandwiches take that concept and make them hot and satisfying and available on demand from the freezer. You do a little prep work at home, and then take your friends a quick meal that they can reheat and enjoy any time of day or night. A freezer club sandwich requires just two considerations and a handful of ingredients.

Spread this garbanzo mixture in a whole-wheat tortilla; add crunchy cucumber sticks, baby spinach leaves, and roasted red peppers; and roll the whole thing up, burrito-style. These sturdy wraps are full of protein, but also contain a hefty dose of fresh vegetables. They’re perfect for lunch, dinner, or anytime in between.

I mixed the tuna with a generous quantity of finely chopped cabbage, which makes up the bulk of the salad. The tuna adds protein, and it’s all dressed with just a touch of mayonnaise helped out by Greek yogurt. This lighter approach to tuna salad is simple and fresh; it benefits from a healthy helping of black pepper, too.

This salad, which makes a generous amount, is great warm or at room temperature, and to be honest, tastes even better a day or two later. Pack it up for lunch, or serve the salad with some grilled seafood or meat for dinner.

If you’ve neglected lentils in light of rising temperatures, give this refreshing, filling salad a try to bring them back on your culinary radar.

It’s a little taste of hippie hipster desert paradise in the depths of winter, and one to make you say of kale and quinoa, “Delicious and satisfying.”

Behold the single food that has revolutionized my weekly meal plan! From tacos to salads to grain bowls, the simplicity and versatility of shredded chicken really can’t be beat. Thanks to the slow cooker and a foolproof ratio, making a large quantity of shredded chicken at once is possible. Here’s how you do it.

This “poached” salmon recipe isn’t necessarily about long cooking but it definitely highlights a slow cooker’s other abilities — like putting something into the pot and walking away. What you get is a moist, flavorful salmon without the usual worries of dry, overcooked fish.

It is a rich, herby sauce made from what feels like a whole garden’s worth of herbs, along with red wine vinegar, garlic, and shallots — has no time for illusions. It’s so intensely green it’s almost glowing, and it tastes just as bright and bold as it looks.

Forget the bottled stuff. Homemade ranch dressing is one of the most refreshing ways to dress any salad recipe. A touch of cool, creamy buttermilk ranch, speckled with fresh herbs, drizzled over fresh greens? Heavenly. And making ranch dressing is literally a 2-minute affair. But first, we need to talk about mayonnaise.