winter ingredient prep guide

spend about $50, prep 7 simple components, & assemble 3 different meal options

I started sharing ingredient prep guides as part of the newsletter back in April and since then they’ve consistently been some of the most popular plans I’ve done. And I think I know why: ingredient prep allows you to get ahead without getting stuck.

For those of you that like having options, prepping some proteins, grains, veggies, or sauces without actually assembling full meals means you have a stock of components ready to be made into different meals. Still, ingredient saves you time, money, and energy because you just have to assemble and enjoy at meal time.

In this post I’ll show you how to utilize a simple ingredient prep to get ahead on dinners (or lunches) and have your components prepped for easy assembly during the week. I’ve included a grocery list and PDF prep guide for everything you’ll need!

All in, I spent about $50 on groceries and about 90 minutes on prep.

Using the prepped components, I developed three winter-inspired recipes. Each one makes four servings (12 meals total), and you decide whether you want to use them for work lunches, dinners for the fam, or whatever you need! If you want to go ahead and assemble the meals ahead of time, just follow the entire guide and do it all at once.

I’ll walk you through how to prepare these seven components:

1. Shredded chicken breast

2. Roasted sweet potatoes

3. Bone broth rice

4. Marinated white bean and artichoke salad

5. Lemon vinaigrette

6. Roasted red pepper sauce

7. Maple chili pumpkin seeds

By the end, you’ll have ingredient prep done to assemble and enjoy four servings each of these three recipes:

• Sweet potato and black bean tacos with maple chili pumpkin seeds

• Marinated white bean and artichoke salad with lemon vinaigrette

• Winter protein grain bowls with roasted red pepper sauce

If any of this doesn’t sound like your jam, don’t worry, I’ve got substitution options below, including plant-based options. Or ask me in the comments 😊 Let’s get into it!

If you like this meal prep strategy, check out my 90 minute ingredient prep guide from September for more, which you can access along with the entire archive of posts.

your fall inspired ingredient prep guide