Inside: Steal my easy family-friendly meal prep plan! Realistic, healthy ideas for Sunday meal prep for my family of 5.
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I’ve been sharing my weekly meal prep on my Instagram for a while now and many of you have asked for a more permanent place for all of my ideas…
So consider this your Ultimate Guide to Family-Friendly Meal Prep Ideas.
It’s starting to feel like Meal Prep is a course we should have taken in school right?
There’s so much to know and it can be overwhelming when you’re trying to figure out where to start.
But luckily you’re in the right place to learn my doable ideas for a Sunday meal prep session.
Let’s get started!
How to Meal Prep for the Week with Kids
This has to be the question on everyone’s minds.
How do you actually prep food in advance with a toddler at your heels and a baby who wants to be held (and maybe even a dog or two under your feet).
While it may not be realistic to spend 3 hours in the kitchen making a bunch of food, it’s probably easier to double a recipe you’re already making, or dedicate 25 minutes while your toddler watches a show.
I’ve had my kids in the kitchen helping out in different ways since they were little and it’s fun to see some of the skills they’ve learned over the years.
Of course, it’s not always easy or practical to have extra little helpers and often it is faster to do a meal prep session on your own, but when it is semi-convenient, I do recommend getting your kids in the kitchen to help (and investing in a good baby-wearer).
How to Meal Prep for the Week on Sunday
On Sunday morning my kids watch TV while I make breakfast.
Typically I’ll make sheet pan pancakes, muffins or waffles – something that is easily doubled or tripled.
This way I know I’ll have easy breakfasts I can just reheat during the school week.
Meal prepping doesn’t have to take up a lot of extra time or headspace.
While the pancakes are cooking I can make a batch of cheesy waffle eggs or boil water for hard-boiled eggs.
Then I can put some chicken thighs in the slow cooker, which is mostly hands-off!
All of this might take an hour and leaves me with several things ready-to-go for the week, no special degree in Meal Prep required 😀
I think a common misconception is that we need to be putting together whole meals in advance or prepping a component of each meal.
At least with my family, I find it easier to have things like energy balls, mini muffins, eggs, and taquitos prepped in advance rather than something like a whole casserole.
Really take a minute and consider what would be most helpful to you in your current season of life with your kids:
- Make smoothie packs
- Wash & prep fruit
- Prep a batch of quesadillas
- Make ranch dip for veggies
- Wash & prep cucumbers & carrots
These are all simple tasks, some that kids can help with, that can free up some precious time during a busy week when everyone is hungry.
Freezer-Friendly Meal Prep Recipes You’ll Love:
- SO Easy 3 Ingredient Taquitos
- Mini Waffle Maker Omelets (so fun!!)
- Healthy Kid-Friendly Chicken & Broccoli Meatballs
- Back-to-School Freezer-Friendly Family Meal Ideas
Everything I Meal Prepped for My Family of 5 This Week
Sunday meal prep ideas – kid-friendly – healthy
Find all of my meal prep essentials here
First & Foremost: how to properly freeze the food you’re prepping (if that’s what you want to do)
What is the best way to store food in the freezer?
When it comes to the freezer, air is really the enemy, and that’s the main way you’ll get freezer burn.
To avoid that, make sure all the air is pressed out of your freezer bags before sealing tightly.
Here are a few more helpful freezer food tips that have worked well for me:
- Store food in glass containers
- Wrap food in plastic wrap and then wrap in foil
- Use blue tape (painter’s tape) to label freezer meals & write the date + contents or quick instructions
- Flash freeze items like pancakes, waffles or muffins so they don’t stick together
How to flash freeze food:
- Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper
- Add food in a single layer
- Freeze until set
- Store in a glass container or freezer-safe bag
Put your baby in the baby-wearer, and put on a show for your toddler or break out your busy bins and let’s do this. Pick & choose from the ideas shared below!
Make-Ahead Kid-Friendly Breakfast Ideas
Egg Cups or Egg Waffles
These silicone muffin pans are a must for making egg cups (like a Starbucks copycat) at home.
How to:
- Whisk 4 eggs with ¼ cup milk
- Season with salt and pepper
- Add in chopped veggies (my kids like broccoli)
- Whisk and add ¼ cup shredded cheese
- And ¼ cup cottage cheese (optional)
Mix it all together, pour evenly into your muffin pan and bake until set at 375 F for about 10-12 minutes.
If you’re dairy-free, leave out the cheese & cottage cheese.
Get my mini egg waffle recipe, here.
Muffins
If there’s one thing I prep every week, it’s muffins!
I use the same silicone muffin pan (shared above) for egg cups and regular muffins.
My kids also love mini muffins, which I make in this pan
3 favorite muffin recipes:
Pancakes (sheet pan & pancake muffins)
After trying sheet pan pancakes you’ll never go back to flipping individual pancakes again.
I use The Pioneer Woman’s recipe and it never disappoints.
To make pancake muffins I use Kodiak Cakes mix (regular or gluten-free) and follow the instructions on the back of the box.
You can add toppings as shown below!
This is an easy kid-friendly meal prep recipe that kids can help make as well!
Busy Mom Slow Cooker Ideas
Easiest Shredded Chicken
See how I make my crockpot shredded chicken on IG, here.
How to:
- Add 1 lb of chicken thighs to the slow cooker
- Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil
- Season with desired seasonings
- Pour about ½ cup of water or chicken stock in the bottom of the slow cooker around the chicken
- Cook on HIGH for about 4-5 hours (depending on how hot your slow cooker runs)
- Once cooked, shred the chicken and store in glass containers until ready to use – freeze if necessary!
Taco or Salsa Chicken
For taco seasoned chicken: follow the recipe above, except add taco seasoning to chicken, and add 1 – 8oz can of plain tomato sauce in addition to the water.
For salsa chicken: follow the recipe above except add 1 jar of salsa to the slow cooker instead of water.
It’s such a relief to have any kind of shredded chicken on hand because it means I can make a quick dinner any night: tacos, burrito bowls, chicken noodle soup, etc.
This is the slow cooker I’ve had for years and absolutely love!
Reheat & Eat
Easy Taquitos
This “recipe” has been a go-to for years.
It’s an easy vegetarian-friendly meal that’s great for lunch or dinner (and you can easily add shredded chicken from the recipe above if you want!)
Get the quick step-by-step and freezing instructions, here.
Chicken & Broccoli Meatballs
An easy way to add more veggies, and the recipe makes a bunch of mini meatballs, making it the perfect thing to prep in advance.
Imagine that busy school night next week but you only have to boil water for pasta because you already made the meatballs on Sunday!
Recipe: Healthy Chicken Meatballs
Snacks & Sides
No-Bake Energy Balls
This is hands-down my favorite recipe from the My Little Food Critic app.
I double the recipe and store half in the freezer – my kids really like them frozen as well!
Easiest Ranch Dip (for veggies)
How to:
- Mix equal parts mayo, sour cream, and Greek yogurt
- Season with salt and pepper and ranch seasoning
- Store in a glass container in the fridge
- Serve with veggies!
I use Chosen Foods Mayo and Trader Joe’s Ranch seasoning!
Shredded Cheese
This is one new habit I picked up this year that I am actually enjoying.
I buy a big block of cheese at Costco or Sam’s and grate it using my box grater. You could also do this with a food processor attachment if you have one.
This definitely isn’t a new-baby-clingy-toddler-era task 🙂 at that point just buy the bag of shredded cheese and call it a day.
But in our current stage of life, I find this task to be doable and the results with melting cheese are so much better!
Snack Boxes
I don’t always prep snack boxes in advance, but when I do, I am always thankful that “Sunday Me” was thinking of “Monday Me”.
If you grab this pack of 4 snack boxes you can prep several in advance.
Here’s my list of favorite toddler & kid snack box ideas.
I hope these ideas were helpful to you! Remember that it’s not about trying to prep a million things while in the kitchen all day.
Start by picking one or two ideas that would be really helpful for the week ahead and see how it goes!
Don’t forget I’ve saved all of my Meal Prep tools here (like my slow cooker, muffin pans, cookie scoops, and favorite glass storage containers).
Share your thoughts!