5 Weekly Meal Prep Recipes Using 5 Ingredients - Cotter Crunch (2024)

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This may surprise you to hear this, but we don’t always eat perfectly. Gasp! I know. This coming from a food blogger and nutritionist. How is this even possible? Haha, well my friends, it’s called REAL life. And to be honest, I sometimes get so caught up in work and other FOODIE projects, that my meal planning goes out the window. Thankfully, I have a job where I can confess my meal prep sins and ask for accountability. That’s exactly what happened when we launched the anti-inflammatory meal prep challenge. It was AWESOME and hard at the same time. But we were all in it together!

I had this idea of sharing another MINIMALIST meal prep post. That way it would hold me accountable to actually doing it as well as helping you all. We’ve taken MEAL PREP meals and SIMPLIFIED it. Because let’s face it, half the battle when it comes to eating a whole foods gluten free diet is simply planning and meal prepping A TON a once. Actually, it’s quite a resourceful round of up of meal prep recipes so I think you’ll save a ton of money (and time) too.

What food is good to meal prep?

The key to make ahead meals and freezer friendly casseroles is to keep it simple. And when I say simple, I mean so simple that all you need are 5 different types of ingredients. No more than 10-12 TOTAL. Protein (plant based included), starchy vegetables and leafy vegetables, gluten free grains, and a binding agent or healthy sauce.

Can you weekly meal prep for your family if everyone has different dietary needs?

Yes, yes you can! I’ve created these meals to not only feed the whole family, but to also tailor to just about any diet or food allergy out there. All with just 5 ingredients! Trust me, that took work. But OH SO WORTH IT!

Each meal has been tested by family and a few picky friends in particular. But that’s a good thing because now you know that these make ahead meals will be perfect for picky eater kids too.

We’ve narrowed it down to 4- 5 different dietary needs. Vegetarian, low carb/keto, gluten free and dairy free, vegan, and paleo. I told you I don’t mess around with meal prep and accountability.

So lets get started. Let me explain how this whole Five ingredients, five ways of meals for the weeks works. You ready to taken notes?

Easy Make-Ahead Meals with just 5 ingredients

Two EASY MAKE AHEAD PREP options here folks.

First option – Meal prep each casserole/bake, place them in fridge for the week. When ready to bake, just pop them in the oven for 30 minutes. Yes, 30 minutes, that’s all! And I highly recommend these 12×8 glass casserole dishes for larger meal prep meals.

Second option – Bake each 5 ingredient meal, then freeze for later. BAM! Done! Bake when ready to eat. No rush, these meals last up to 3-4 months in freezer.

So now you must be wondering. What the heck are the 5 ingredients??? How do you even simplify each meal like that? Oh glad you asked!

You see, there are more than 5 ingredient options. Actually, we’re focusing a mix and match of 5 TYPES OF INGREDIENTS to make 5 MEALS…. in less than 30 minutes.

The chart below identifies each TYPE OF MEAL PREP INGREDIENT. Then all you do is mix and match for your dietary needs. I PROMISE THIS WORKS! But let’s discuss a little more. Mmm k?

WEEKLY MEAL PREP RECIPE Ingredients (MIX and MATCH).

Choose one from each line or skip a whole line and double up on two in another line!

• INGREDIENT 1 – Fiber filled vegetable bases (perfect for veggie rice, casseroles, etc.)
  • cauliflower or broccoli
• INGREDIENT 2 – Vegetable toppings or mix ins. Vegetables that are not as starchy but add a lot of flavor or texture.
  • zucchini, tomatoes, or greens (kale/spinach)
• INGREDIENT 3 – Gluten free cooked grains
  • Quinoa, Rice, or lentil (GF) pasta
• INGREDIENT 4 – Binding agents/Mix ins
  • Natural Cheese, cultured yogurt or sour cream, paleo mayo, hummus
• INGREDIENT 5 – Protein (meat and vegan based)
  • Cooked/Canned drained Chickpeas, Canned Tuna, leftover chicken , or eggs

(Extra spices and olive oil not included)

• Chili powder and or cumin
• Curry powder or curry paste
• Salt/pepper
• Italian seasoning

So all we are going to do is mix and match and create 5 meals. Make sense?

I’ve put my together my favorite 5 meals as samples. Measurements below. Each casserole/bake serves around 4 people. And I highly recommend you check out THESE LARGE MEAL PREP CONTAINERS that you can MAKE and BAKE right in the pan.

Go to gluten free Meal Prep Recipes using 5 types of Ingredients

Creamy Tuna Noodle & Broccoli Prep Casserole (Grain Free and Dairy Free)

No dairy needed. Just mix the gluten free pasta and tuna with hummus! Yes, I said hummus. Then bake with vegetables and herbs.

Click here for the TUNA NOODLE CASSEROLE MEAL PREP RECIPE.

Click here for the VEGAN MEAL PREP CHICKPEA CAULIFLOWER BAKE recipe.

CLICK HERE FOR THE ITALIAN CHICKEN MEAL PREP RECIPE

And I’m sure you’re wondering what the fifth weekly meal prep recipe looks like. Right? Well, I’ll show you my trick. UTILIZE those leftovers for EACH ingredient.

You take an ingredient from each list (just double or triple the greens) and toss. It’s one EPIC MEAL PREP BOWL or SALAD!

Phew! That’s it! Told you it was a long one! But these meals have saved me when we’ve come home from a road trip (aka no food in house) or when I’ve been busy with work but not actually making real food. Real food (freezable) ingredients that actually taste DELISH. I may be bias.