Meal prepping in India: I tried it out and here’s what happened! 

I never understood the concept of meal preps. I always felt that cooking meals a week ahead was anything but healthy. All it took to dispel my conviction was a visit to my bother’s house in Texas where they ardently believe in meal prepping. My brother and sister-in-law would prepare most of the meals for the upcoming week over the weekend and I was shocked at how healthy and delicious these meals actually were. I realised that this method not only saved them time but they also didn’t have to worry about what to cook every day, that’s a burden we could all do without. Even though meal prepping in India is quite an alien concept, I decided to give it a try when I returned to India. So did I manage to ace it or did I end up starving my family? Scroll down to find out!

Stepping into the world of meal prepping!

It took me a while to actually implement the meal plan. While the jetlag took over the first week, work had me occupied for the next two weeks. So after about one month of my trip, I finally got around to planning. The first step to meal prepping was deciding what meals I’d want to prepare for the week and believe it or not, it was the hardest part. When you are prepping meals for the week, you need to be very particular about the meals you choose as they have to be something that can be cooked way ahead of time and still stay fresh.

I won’t lie, coming up with meal ideas that were healthy, delicious, and liked by both the husband and kids wasn’t easy. It took me a whole day and a bit of my husband’s help to finally come up with the meal ideas. Once we decided on the meals, I sent my husband on a grocery run to get the produce and ingredients to cook meals worth a whole week.

Most of my dishes were Indian but I did include a few continental dishes including pasta and spicy chicken wraps. My husband and I slogged it off in the kitchen the whole of Sunday and meal prepped for the whole week. Our prep included a combination of fully-prepared meals and partially-prepared meals and most of it went into the freezer. Even though we were quite tired by the end of all the prep, we were just as excited to find out how it would turn out.

Did it work?

When I woke up on Monday, I felt a lot calmer since I didn’t have to sit and decide what I’d cook for that day. The breakfast for Monday was overnight oat bowls which required no cooking whatsoever. The only thing I had to cook for that day was rice for lunch and dinner since the dal was already cooked as a part of the meal prep. We also had an assortment of chopped vegetables and salad dressing in the fridge to accompany our meals. I got to work about an hour early that Monday and didn’t have to rush to the kitchen as soon as I got back home. Even though it was only the first day, I could already tell that it was going to be a success.

For the next four days, we alternated between chapati, dosa, and idlis for breakfast. The chapati and dosa/idli batter were prepared on Sunday. All I had to do was cook some curry which again, lasted for two days.

For lunch and dinner, we indulged in puilogre, vaangibaath, and pasta. I had to cook rice and pasta right then but the gojju (for the rice dishes) and the pasta sauce were already in the fridge.

On Wednesday night we dug into some delicious veg Chili (prepared on Sunday night and refrigerated) accompanied with freshly made garlic bread.

The next four days went by just as smoothly spare a few instances where my kids craved for something else and ended up ordering in. 

All in all, the meal prep idea was absolutely successful and I plan on implementing it at least two weeks in a month. It’s sure a bummer that you’ll have to sacrifice some time over the weekend to prep for the meals but it’s definitely worth it.

Tips for meal prepping in India

• Stick to simple ingredients and spices that go well with a variety of recipes.
• Instead of preparing full meals, prepare a part of the meal such as chutney, gojju, sambhar, cooking pastes, and curry base.
• If you are preparing a complete meal, make sure to freeze it and cook it within the first three days.
• Chapathis are an absolute life-saver. They stay fresh for a long time and can be paired with a variety of side dishes.
• Idli and dosa batter stays fresh for up to 4 days if stored properly. Perfect for families who prefer a typical South Indian breakfast.

Have you ever tried meal prepping? How did it go? Let me know in the comments below!

Ps: Let me know if you need me to do an in-depth review of my meal prep, recipes et al. I’ll be more than happy to do so!