Say goodbye to waiting around for eggs to boil. This egg cooker cooks six hard-boiled eggs in 16 minutes, plus it has an auto-shutoff. You can also poach eggs, scramble eggs, and make omelettes.

Cook vegetables, fish, pot stickers, and dim sum all at the same time with this steam basket. This can be used in the microwave or on the stove and is dishwasher safe. Glasslock Piece Set.

Store and transport your meals with this set of storage containers. The glass is BPA free, plus the lids lock in place to avoid any spills. The containers are also microwave and oven safe. Silicone Baking Cups. They can also be used to hold nuts or other small snacks within storage containers.

Instant Pot. This appliance is a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, yogurt maker, and egg cooker all in one. And it also sautés food. Reusable Food Bags. Forget about the plastic bags you currently own, and invest in these non-toxic reusable silicone bags.

They are dishwasher and microwave safe and come in a variety of sizes. Weekly Meal Planner. Get prepared for the week with this portable meal planner. Make your menu, grocery list, and store your recipe inspiration in this journal. Plus, a flexible cutting board can be bent and curved to easily transfer ingredients into pots and pans.

Investing in a few quality cutting boards will make your meal prep experience so much smoother. Here are some recipes that will put your board to work:. Post-Workout Plantains With Maple Syrup.

Spicy Wasabi Salmon Salad Wrap. Some of my favorite kitchen gadgets for meal prep are silicone muffin cups and silicone baking liners. Say goodbye to the frustration of scrubbing muffin tins and sheet pans and hello to convenient and hassle-free meal prep with silicone muffin cups and sheet pan liners.

Enjoy these recipes without the headache of cleanup:. Apple Cinnamon Ginger Coffee Cake Muffins. Herb Roasted Spatchcock Chicken With Veggies.

As a cook, you know how crucial it is to have accurate measurements for ingredients. You can easily portion out everything from flour to spices, ensuring consistent results every time you cook.

I personally love using magnetic measuring cups and spoons, which stay together and are super easy to clean. They make it so much easier to measure and pour out liquids like oil and water with precision, helping you nail your recipes every time. And while I definitely cook without measuring… ALL.

with a little of this and a little of that… Baking is a different story. To make sure you get these baking recipes right, put your measuring tools to work:. Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Brownie Waffles. At first, you might think food scales are just for people who are really into baking, but hear me out.

A digital food kitchen scale is actually super helpful for cooking in general. You can weigh out your ingredients for a recipe so you get everything just right. But, even beyond that, one of the greatest benefits of a food scale when it comes to healthy eating is for portion control.

It takes the guesswork out of portioning and helps you stay on track with your goals. Here are a few recipes that benefit from a food scale, but also be sure to give portioning a try!

Cheesecake Factory Chocolate Cheesecake. A high-quality blender is an essential kitchen tool for meal prep, especially for those who love smoothies. Investing in a high-powered blender is important because it can make a huge difference in the texture and consistency of your blends.

Try these recipes with a blender:. A spiralizer vegetable slicer is a great tool for a gluten-free or low-carb diet. Not only can you make delicious veggie noodles that are a healthy alternative to traditional pasta, but you can also spiralize other veggies like zucchini, sweet potato, and cucumber for salads or as a crunchy addition to wraps and sandwiches.

Spiralizing veggies also allows them to cook faster, making meal prep a breeze. Try out your spiralizer on these recipes:.

Shrimp Marinara Zucchini Pasta. Silicone freezing trays are a total lifesaver when it comes to meal prep, especially for those of us who like to make smoothies or juices.

These trays are so versatile, and you can use them to freeze pretty much anything you want — from pureed fruits and veggies to homemade bone broth or broth-based soups.

Use these trays for perfect smoothie meal prep:. They keep your meals fresh and ready to grab on the go. Steel containers are durable and can keep your meals hot or cold for longer periods of time.

Food processors can help you save so much time and energy in the kitchen. With a food processor, you can chop vegetables, shred cheese, make hummus, pesto, or nut butter, and even make your own energy balls or granola bars. I use my food processor on recipes like these:.

Superfood Raw Energy Bars With Cacao. Easy Chickpea Blondies With Macadamia. Ultimately, there are many essential kitchen items to consider if you want to make healthy meal prep a regular part of your routine.

Experienced Meal Preppers Share Their Must-Have Kitchen Tools ; Ninja Foodi Smoothie Bowl Maker | $ ; ONCE FOR ALL Safe Mandoline Food Slicer | If you're new to meal prep, mason or Weck jars are great storage containers to start with. They're cheap and can store pretty much anything! Easy meal prep tools? · A good cookie sheet and a silicone mat or parchment paper will cover you for baked foods (chicken, veg). · I always

Cheap meal prep equipment - BLENDER. A high-quality blender is an essential kitchen tool for meal prep, especially for those who love smoothies. Investing in a high-powered Experienced Meal Preppers Share Their Must-Have Kitchen Tools ; Ninja Foodi Smoothie Bowl Maker | $ ; ONCE FOR ALL Safe Mandoline Food Slicer | If you're new to meal prep, mason or Weck jars are great storage containers to start with. They're cheap and can store pretty much anything! Easy meal prep tools? · A good cookie sheet and a silicone mat or parchment paper will cover you for baked foods (chicken, veg). · I always

And I highly recommend freezing extra portions of comfort food in Souper Cubes to save for those rainy days when you don't feel like cooking—the silicone molds are absolutely worth the hype. Since I write about products for a living, brands often send me samples to test. But all of the kitchen gadgets below are things I actually bought myself, so these are my tried-and-true recommendations.

Whether you're a long-time meal prepper or just testing the waters with make-ahead recipes , these 10 meal prep tools will save you so much time and energy. Hard-boiled eggs are one of my go-to breakfasts, but making them on the stove involves a lot of guesswork.

This compact appliance from Dash cooks up to 12 eggs at once and is incredibly easy to use—no need to wait for a pot of water to boil. Just poke a small hole on the bottom of each egg with the included tool, then pour the proper amount of water into the tray it depends on the number of eggs and how well-done you want them.

Once the music goes off indicating they're ready, simply remove and place them in a bowl of ice water for perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs every time.

I use these reusable silicone bags for practically everything, whether that's storing leftover produce in the fridge like cucumber slices and avocado halves or taking snacks on the go. I love that they come in plenty of fun colors and sizes, ranging from 4 ounces to a half-gallon.

Plus, they can go in the dishwasher, microwave, and freezer. The Stasher storage bags might seem pricey at first, but they've probably saved me money since I don't need to regularly buy plastic sandwich bags.

I've always hated chopping onions and peppers into tiny pieces, so I used to buy pre-cut veggies at the grocery store. That habit got expensive pretty quickly, so finding this Oxo veggie chopper on Amazon was a game-changer. Now, all I need to do is cut the produce in half or in quarters, depending on the size so it fits on the metal grid and then push down.

The container on the bottom holds 2. It's pretty easy to clean by hand, but it's also dishwasher-safe. Bonus: Chopping onions with this tool doesn't make me cry.

The silicone trays are basically molds that turn extra portions of food into meals I can freeze and save for a later date. Once the food is frozen, I pop out the cubes and put them in a freezer-safe bag so I can reuse the trays.

The only downside I've found is that they stain easily from red sauces, but since they stay out of sight in my freezer or cabinet, it doesn't really bother me. I cook in my microwave more often than I'd like to admit, especially when it comes to vegetables.

So when another Real Simple editor wrote about Anyday's microwavable cookware last summer, I immediately purchased two to try out. I went for the large version of the starter set , which comes with a deep dish, shallow dish, and vented lids for each. The glass cookware is perfect for steaming veggies both fresh and frozen and making various types of grains, soups, and proteins.

The lids are my favorite part: Just pull the knob up to vent steam while cooking or push it down to create an airtight seal while storing food. The brand even has a handy guide on its site that I reference for cooking times. You're probably familiar with Instant Pot by now, but if you haven't snagged one yet, this is your sign.

The popular multicooker it's an Amazon best-seller with more than , five-star ratings is one of my favorite kitchen appliances because it's a hands-off way to make so many staples. I use it most frequently for grains like rice and quinoa, but it's also great for making thick soups and other Instant Pot-specific meals.

The appliance works as a pressure cooker, slow cooker, steamer, and more, so the number of ways to use it is practically endless. I used to keep all my dry goods in Mason jars, but the limited sizing options and lack of availability to buy online made me rethink my pantry storage methods.

I invested in a set of these Rubbermaid Brilliance containers last year, and I'm never going back. They're durable, airtight, and leakproof, and they come in enough sizes and shapes for everything in my pantry. I use them to store cereal, pasta, grains, nuts, oats, and protein powder—and I even keep individually packaged snacks like granola bars in a large version to keep my cabinets tidy.

Even though they're plastic, they feel high-end and give my pantry a cohesive look. I love that I can easily see how much I have left of each ingredient, so I waste no time opening various containers trying to figure out what needs to be restocked.

Evenly dividing my food between containers has always been a challenge. Whether I tried to eyeball it or use measuring cups, one bowl always ended up with significantly more or less food.

But that's what makes food scales so helpful; I can set the tare weight of the empty dishes and make sure they all weigh around the same amount once filled with food. I recently traded in my hand-me-down food scale for this sleek option from Etekcity that even comes with batteries.

I've been using these durable glass containers from Pyrex for as long as I can remember. It's so easy to quickly grab a meal from the fridge and pop it in the microwave at home or throw it in my bag when I'm going to work.

Even though I've purchased additional pieces over the years, my collection started with a variety pack like this piece starter set. The 2-cup containers are the perfect size for overnight oats and side dishes, while the 4-cup version—which I reach for most often—is ideal for complete meals with lots of veggies.

The set also comes with a large 7-cup option as well as rectangular-shaped containers, which are just as versatile. Meal prep is any preparation of your food that is done ahead of time and saves you time later. Any amount of prep at any time counts.

It can be your whole week of meals or just pre-cutting your veggies. Meal prep does not necessarily mean preparing entire meals, though that is usually the case.

Anything that saves you time counts as meal prep. The best part about meal prep is you get to decide how it works for you. There are unlimited recipes and ways to prepare meals ahead of time in your kitchen. A meal prep tool is any piece of equipment that makes preparing food easier or saves you time during or after your meal prep session.

Your oven is a meal prep tool. Your cooking spatula is also a meal prep tool. Your compost bin is a meal prep tool.

The hardest part can be navigating all the mediocre tools to find the most helpful items. The most basic and necessary meal prep tool you should own before starting your meal prep journey are airtight containers. In my opinion, all containers should be completely airtight , made of glass , and they should be freezer, oven and dishwasher safe for maximum benefits.

If your goal is to take individual meals to work or school, look for 3- or 4- cup containers. I love these 2 Compartment Glass Meal Prep Containers affiliate link! If your goal is to prepare ingredients for future meals like a buffet style meal prep! I always like Pyrex brand containers — they usually have sets at my local Target for a good price.

In that post, I walk you through an easy progression of meal prep ideas and recipes. Pick one recipe or food item you know you like, but instead of eating it right away, use airtight containers to portion it out and store in the refrigerator for later. Most foods will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator in airtight containers.

And there you go, you just meal prepped! Now that you have a basic definition of meal prep and meal prep tools, I want to share my Top 5 Favorite Meal Prep Tools I Use Every Week! What is it: First of all, I consider a sharp knife and a good cutting board to go hand in hand, since you should use a cutting board anytime you cut with sharp knife.

A sharp knife and cutting board are absolutely the most important and versatile tools you can have in your kitchen. To improve your knife skills and knowledge, I absolutely recommend this free resource from The New York Times on Basic Knife Skills.

Tons of helpful videos and information! I use an Instant Pot Duo Plus 6 Qt affiliate link! How do you use it for meal prep: For me, the best part about the Instant Pot is the ability to set the cook time and walk away to get other stuff done.

You can use your Instant Pot to batch prep soups, proteins and even steam vegetables. What is it: Souper Cubes are food-grade silicone trays which allow you to freeze perfectly measured portions of food for later.

They come in multiple sizes — the ones I use the most are the 1-Cup Souper Cubes Trays affiliate link! and the 2-Cup Souper Cubes Trays affiliate link! How do you use it for meal prep: This meal prep tool is specifically made to freeze food for later. You can freeze almost any leftovers, and Souper Cubes are the best tool to make it happen!

The frozen cubes fit perfectly into a freezer gallon Ziploc bag. What is it: Stasher Bags are another food-grade silicone tool I keep in my kitchen. Essentially, these food storage bags replace Ziploc plastic baggies and cut down on plastic waste.

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