I use the Notes app on my phone to make a checklist!

Step 1: Make a List

You can use a meal planning service or you can find a couple of recipes you want to make and figure out what you need.

I personally take a look at the sales at my local Whole Foods and base my produce off of that, but I have a pretty basic grocery shopping list that I always use. Coming in prepared helps save you time and money.

Budget Tip: Take advantage of coupons (manufacturer and/or digital coupons like Whole Foods has) and rebate apps like Ibotta to save extra money on things you’re buying anyway. See more details on that below.

Step 2: Grocery Shop

Whole Foods haul — everything here was on sale!

Try to get in and out as quickly as you can and make this your one trip for the week. I do my grocery shopping while I’m doing my laundry, so I only have 45 minutes while my clothes are drying to walk to the store, shop, walk back, put my groceries away, and pick up my laundry.

Try to go at off times so you’re not stuck in a crowd. And it’s true — never shop while hungry. At least make yourself a snack before so you don’t feel tempted to buy everything.

Budget Tip: Estimate how much you’ll spend and only bring that much cash. If you’re using a credit card (which I do), take advantage of cash-back offers like the Uber/Visa deal, if it’s available.

Step 3: Pre-Cut Veggies

Trader Joe's haul — they have pretty cheap organic veggies!

I find that the thing that takes me the longest if I don’t meal prep is cooking or cutting veggies. So either buy pre-cut kale/veggies (more expensive), salad mix, or take the time to cut all the veggies at once. This saves a ton of time and makes for easy salad-making later!

Step 4: Batch Cook and Assemble

Hard boiled eggs (for breakfast), lunch (greens, skate wing, cranberries, roasted veggies), chia seed pudding (for snack/breakfast), apples & RXBars (for snacks)

I like to cook a bunch of protein and roast veggies at the beginning of the week — that way I can mix and match to make a meal. It’s like a DIY salad bar!

If you’ve chosen recipes, make a big batch so that it’ll last you all week. I like pre-portioning them into Tupperware right after I make it so I can just grab and go in the morning or reheat it after a long day.

An example of an assembled lunch + breakfast: salad with chicken + tahini sauce (lunch), hard boiled eggs with avocado + VT Smoke pepperoni

Step 5: Clean Up + Keep Dinner Simple

Do the dishes and put everything away right after you meal prep. This will save you from a huge mess (and headache) the day after.

For dinner, I personally don’t like eating meals I’ve prepped and don’t want to do extra cleaning, so I do a super simple dinner that involves minimal prep/cleanup, like throwing roasted veggies and some eggs into a bowl or doing a cauli "oat" bowl. Or, for an extra treat, I buy dinner from Whole Foods or a healthy fast-casual place like Sweetgreen, Dig Inn, or Noon Mediterranean. (Though definitely doing less of that now to save some extra $$$.)

Bonus: Rely on Easy Proteins

I always keep some Wild Planet salmon and tuna, 100% grass-fed ground beef, VT Smoke Pepperoni and meat sticks, frozen salmon, and turkey burgers on hand — they're super easy sources of protein won't go bad and are life-savers when you really don't have anything in your fridge or don't have time to batch-cook protein!

Kale with fruit, defrosted Trader Joe's turkey burger, Trader Joe's guac packet, VT Smoke mini meat stick, sliced apple

Resources I Use:

Ibotta (free app for rebates). Use 8qqumw to be invited!
Whole Foods app or website (to check sales)
Vitacost (for pantry staples)
ButcherBox (for meat and fish delivered to my door)

Basic Grocery List

Organic spinach (fresh + frozen)
Organic kale (fresh + frozen)
Frozen organic berries
Frozen organic broccoli
Frozen organic cauliflower
Frozen organic veggie mix
Frozen organic cauliflower rice
Frozen sweet potatoes
Frozen organic mushrooms
Sweet potatoes
Lemon juice
Non-dairy milk
Non-dairy yogurt
Cage-free eggs
Organic apples
Bananas
Avocados
Organic carrots
Hummus/non-dairy spreadable cheese
Protein (hemp tofu, wild salmon, grass-fed beef, organic & free-range chicken)

Things I Keep in My Pantry & Restock as Needed:

Chia seeds
Collagen
Nutritional yeast
Protein powder (no sugar added)
Flaxseed meal
Coconut flakes (unsweetened)
Nuts/seeds (dry roasted or raw)
Nut/seed butter
Hemp seeds
Clean protein bars
Beef jerky & meat sticks
Canned wild salmon or tuna
Coconut oil
Avocado oil spray (great for roasting veggies)
All the spices (most used are cayenne, pink Himalayan sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, turmeric)

meal prep 101