20 Make-Ahead Meals for Busy or Tiring Days

We’ve all been there: dinnertime rolls around and you’re way too exhausted to put a healthy meal on the table.

Whether you push through the fatigue to cook or you end up having takeout, the fact remains that making a nourishing breakfast, lunch and dinner every day can take up more time and energy than we have.

That’s why make-ahead meals can be a lifesaver to stay on track with healthy eating when you’re dealing with challenging circumstances.

Why are make-ahead meals so helpful when you’re chronically ill? 

Depending on your situation, there are several reasons why you may find make-ahead meals a useful tool while managing a chronic illness:

• You’re too sick, exhausted and in pain to cook dinner every night, but you’d still like to eat healthily and not turn to frozen pizza every time you feel bad.
• You have a specific diet you have to stick to for medical reasons (like allergies, eating gluten-free for coeliakie or low-glycemic foods for diabetes), but you don’t always have enough time or energy to cook. Make-ahead meals also make it easier to bring your own safe foods to work or social gatherings.
• You have busy days ahead with doctor’s appointments, therapies and life stuff… and you still – or especially! – want to have nourishing meals on those days.
• You can do your meal prepping on days when you feel relatively energetic and focused, instead of standing by the stove with shaky legs, an aching stomach or oncoming migraine.

No matter if you want to save time or energy or manage your health better, make ahead dinners – but also breakfasts, lunches or even snacks – can help you out.

What’s the right meal-prep strategy for you?

There are several different ways that you can make meals ahead of time:

1. Cook once, eat twice. Make a double batch of your meal and have the same food two days in a row. If that sounds boring to you, you could also do a little planning and transform those intentional leftovers into a new meal, like CookSmarts does!

2. Make meals for the upcoming week.  Do all of your cooking on Sunday – or any day that you have some time and energy – and simply reheat those meals or enjoy them cold the next days. The Kitchn shares some great recipes and strategies to get you started.

3. Prepare freezer-friendly meals that you can pull out when you’re too busy or tired to cook. You can set some time apart each month to cook and stock up your freezer, or you just make extra portions of soup, stews and lasagna during your normal cooking routine that go into your deep freezer. No matter what works best for you, Pinch of Yum has tasty ideas for your next freezer meals!

4. Prep meal components to pull together an easy meal more spontaneously. Instead of cooking a full meal, you prepare some protein, starches and vegetables so you mix and match different meals throughout the week. Take inspiration from Walderness Wellness if you’re looking for variety in your meal prepping.

Choose what works best for your situation, or simply mix and match. For every meal prep strategy, you can find tons of delicious and healthy recipes online.

To get started, take inspiration from these 20 make-ahead meals for busy or tiring days. 

Make-Ahead Breakfasts

• Apple Pie Overnight Oats from Minimalist Baker
• Gut Healthy Pumpkin Morning Glory Muffins from KaleJunkie
• The Best Spinach Banana Blender Pancakes by KaleJunkie
• Raspberry Pomegranate Chia Pudding Parfait from Choosing Chia
• Quiche Cups with Tomato and Prosciutto from Seasonal Cravings

Make-Ahead Lunches

• 4 Fresh and Healthy Meal Prep Salads by Ambitious Kitchen
• 3 Healthy Homemade Instant Noodles by Sweet Peas and Saffron
• Grab & Go Vegetarian Minestrone Jars by The Girl on Bloor
• Italian Chicken Wrap from FoodieCrush

Make-Ahead Dinners

• The Best Healthy Turkey Chili by Ambitious Kitchen
• 15-Minute Meal-Prep Salmon and Asparagus from Eat Well 101
• Freezer Meal Hawaiian Chicken Tacos by Pinch of Yum
• Best Vegetarian Lasagna by Love and Lemons
• Meal Prep Chicken Shawarma and Sweet Potato Fry Bowls from Half Baked Harvest
• Loaded Mashed Potato Bowls from Budget Bytes
• Easy Vegetarian Tikka Masala from The Kitchn
• Slow Cooker Beef Ragu Pasta Meal Prep by Meal Prep on Fleek
• Spinach and Feta Turkey Meatballs from Eating Well 101
• Shrimp Fried Rice Meal Prep from Damn Delicious
• Freezer Meal Stuffed Quinoa Peppers by Pinch of Yum

Do you have any go-to meal prep strategies or healthy make-ahead meals for days when you’re too busy or tired to cook? 

For more tips on more effortless cooking with chronic illness, check out 18 Quick Dinner Ideas After a Long Day and The Secret Tool for Healthy Eating with Chronic Illness.