Having a recipe variety in your home-cooked meals means using a wide range of recipes with entirely different ingredients. For example, if you’ve decided to incorporate the three-bean casserole for Monday, you’ll have another main dish on Tuesday and a different one again on Wednesday.

But this could be incredibly wasteful and worse—if you go to the grocery store thrice a week, this will cost you extra money. No worries because there is a way around this. One tip for this scenario is to coordinate your meal prep schedule to best use your time and ingredients.

Here are some ways to coordinate your meal plan:

Choose a Weekly Spice, Taste Profile, or Cuisine to Focus On

Whatever cuisine you’re in the mood for this week, stick to it. This technique will make it easier to plan your meals because everything will have the same taste and appearance. You can follow the same process for different cuisines, depending on the specifics of your kind of diet. 

For example, if you’re a vegetarian, you can narrow down the food choices and choose your favourite cuisine. You can also consider mixing a vegetarian-friendly recipe with another recipe depending on your preferences.

Back-To-Back Dishes Should Use the Same Major Component

If you’re on a tight budget, try creating different recipes using one main component. For example, your chief ingredient is tomato, and you’re already making a salad recipe. Then, for your next one, you could make a soup using it to save money and effort.

Similarly, if you have a large amount of meat, create a meat stew one day, put them in a pasta sauce the next or use it in a meatloaf. That way, you’ll be able to maximize the use of your ingredients.

Take the Easy Route: Protein + Sides

You can make meal planning easier by picking a protein and then choosing sides to go with it. So, if you eat chicken all week, buy different chicken parts to eat daily.

For the side dishes, you can opt to mix and match the veggies and fruits you have on hand. You can also make a budget-friendly low-calorie dish with different veggies and fruits by combining them. For example, you can combine avocado, tomato, cucumber, and red pepper and spread it with a sauce made from olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Make Use of Leftovers

Leftovers aren’t just for weekends and special occasions. They can be a great way to make your week’s meal plan more manageable and enjoyable. If you already have a halfway-prepared meal, use its leftovers for your next meal.

For example, make a chicken salad from the chicken in the casserole. If you’re in the process of making pasta, save the leftover pasta for the next day’s lunch.

Final Thoughts

Coordinating recipes in your meal prep plan can be daunting, especially for the first time. But once you get the hang of it, you will look forward to creating various meals with minimum effort. With a wide range of recipes, you won’t get bored and feel like having takeout every other day. However, if you really want to save yourself some time and effort, consider getting a meal prep service.

If you’re short on time but still want to eat healthily, Prep’d Fresh can help. We provide meal prep and delivery in Mississauga and nearby areas. Our healthy, ready-to-eat meal plans are filled with delicious food free of additives and preservatives. Order from us today!