Sticking to a ketogenic lifestyle becomes significantly more manageable when you have a plan in place, eliminating the nightly fridge-staring contest. Keto meal prep is the answer, but it doesn't have to mean eating the same thing every day.
The ketogenic diet, in essence, is a very low-carb diet, typically suggesting an intake of only 20 grams of carbs or less per day, while also emphasizing a high fat intake. The majority of your calories on a keto meal plan should come from fat. Achieving ketosis can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on the individual. Therefore, planning your meals to ensure you stay below 20 grams of carbs per day is essential.
Whether you're an experienced home cook or just beginning your meal prep journey, there are steps anyone can take to save time and money and avoid meal prep burnout. Two of the best ways to approach meal prep include batch cooking complete recipes or bulk prepping ingredients. Batch cooking involves cooking complete keto recipes in large batches and then dividing them into individual meals. Bulk prepping ingredients means cooking individual ingredients separately and then portioning them out to build your meals for the week.
Breakfast Keto Meal Prep Ideas
Breakfast doesn't have to take a lot of time out of your day, whether you're rushing out the door or taking your time each morning. Here are some ideas:
- Blueberry Muffins: A classic breakfast choice, perfect for a quick morning meal. These muffins are made with almond flour, fresh blueberries, and a touch of granulated erythritol as a sugar substitute. They’re moist, fluffy, and naturally sweet.
- Cream Cheese Pancakes: A keto lifestyle doesn’t mean you have to give up a good ol’ stack of pancakes. These keto-friendly cream cheese pancakes combine a few ingredients, like cream cheese, eggs, almond flour, and a dash of vanilla, for a light and sweet breakfast that’s perfect for meal prep.
- Keto Oatmeal: If you’re missing traditional oatmeal on keto, this creamy, low-carb option is the way to go. Preparing low-carb and gluten-free oatmeal is simple, swap out the starchy oats for keto-friendly nuts and seeds!
- Chaffles (Cheesy Waffles): These are a keto meal prep must. Made with mozzarella cheese and eggs, they’re crispy and versatile, making your mornings easier.
- Egg Muffins: If you’re looking for a savory, grab-and-go keto breakfast, egg muffins are a great choice. Filled with eggs, cheese, and whatever veggies or meat your heart desires, these muffins make for a perfect keto meal prep idea for a tasty breakfast. This recipe is packed with protein to help you meet your keto macros, and the pre-portioned size makes them the perfect on-the-go meal.
- Keto Breakfast Sandwich: This is the perfect meal prep to start your day right.
- Keto Yogurt Parfaits: These make meal prep feel like a treat. This is another simple but highly delicious meal prep recipe that takes no time to make and can be stored in the fridge as a quick grab-and-go breakfast option.
- Keto Bread Sandwich: Enjoy a sandwich made any way you like with keto bread. This bread is a keto-friendly, low-carb option made with almond flour.
- Keto Egg Bites: This recipe is composed of two amazing recipes: beyond-fluffy keto cloud bread, and famous and delicious keto egg bites (say goodbye to store-bought egg bites after you've tasted these!). If you are looking for a quick and easy meal prep recipe for your breakfast that is both keto and easy to prepare, you're in luck, because this recipe was made exactly for you.
- Keto Pancakes: Pancakes are a delicious breakfast staple and one of the best items to meal prep ahead of time. This is no different for pancakes that fit into your keto diet.
- Chia Seed Pudding: Learn how to prepare a simple chia seed pudding recipe and customize it to your taste!
Lunch Keto Meal Prep Ideas
- Chicken Salad: A hearty chicken salad loaded with mixed greens, avocado, tomatoes, and a simple vinaigrette makes for an easy, protein-packed lunch. Prepare the chicken ahead of time and assemble your salad base. Then, mix your dressing in a small mason jar for easy storage.
- Keto Vegetable Soup: This is a hearty and comforting meal that makes six servings - perfect for a week’s worth of keto meal prep. This flavorful soup is packed with veggies like cauliflower, bell peppers, and zucchini, with some added heavy cream to make it extra rich. The easy recipes can be batch-cooked and portioned out for the week.
- Keto-Friendly Pizza: If you’re looking for a keto-friendly pizza that still tastes delicious, this recipe will become a staple in your meal prep rotation. Using almond flour for the crust, you can prep personal pizzas in advance and load them with your favorite toppings. Our favorite use of cauliflower as a culinary master of disguise is in pizza crust. It might sound crazy, but it can be a delicious and healthy alternative to the classic. Try this easy, gluten-free pizza recipe once, and you’ll see why we’re cauliflower obsessed.
- Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps: Looking for a light lunch to meal prep? These Asian turkey lettuce wraps are packed with flavor and make around four servings. Enjoy a tangy and hearty lemon parmesan kale salad topped with omega-3-packed salmon! This simple recipe is a must-make for your weekly keto meal prep, perfect for lunch or dinner. Guacatillo is a bright creamy sauce that coats proteins incredibly well. These salad wraps are incredibly tasty and simple to make. Use this recipe as a base for a solid keto chicken salad, adding any extra toppings as desired!
- Keto Coleslaw: This is a creamy, crunchy salad option that stays fresh in the fridge for days.
- Salmon Cakes: These salmon cakes are incredibly simple to make and a great use of our Trifecta salmon. This is another recipe that is simple to make, and that takes its inspiration out of coastal Peruvian and Mexican ceviche dishes. This recipe is a perfect option to be cooked in a 2 or 3x batch recipe to use throughout your week with various other vegetables and keto-approved foods.
- Avocado Toast: This keto avocado toast recipe is going to be your new go-to low-carb breakfast or snack.
Dinner Keto Meal Prep Ideas
- Stuffed Bell Peppers: These are balanced, satisfying, and hearty. Packed with ground beef and topped with cheese, this recipe makes six servings and is super easy to make in advance.
- No-Bean Chili: This filling chili recipe is filled with ground beef, peppers, and yummy spices for a comforting meal with lots of protein. Classic chili recipes are usually bean-heavy, and unfortunately, beans are starchy vegetables that are not so keto-friendly. To make a simple low-carb chili recipe, drop the beans and purchase more meat than you would normally.
- Spaghetti Squash: This is a keto favorite, putting a spin on traditional pasta. This recipe features a homemade tomato sauce that’s delicious and filling. Cheesy Broccoli Cheddar Spaghetti Squash.
- Beef Stroganoff: Keto Beef Stroganoff
- Quick Beef Stir-Fry: This features ground beef, lots of broccoli, and a flavorful soy sauce base.
- Garlic Lemon Chicken Breast: Packed with garlic and lemon flavors, this juicy chicken breast recipe is a flavorful and easy dinner idea.
- Keto Taco Casserole: This is filled with ground beef, bell peppers, tomatoes, cheese, and tons of seasoning for a flavor-packed meal. Cheesy, scoopable, and endlessly decadent; this keto taco casserole recipe will be your new favorite Tex-Mex recipe for meal prep.
- Classic Keto Beef Stew: This is a hearty, comforting meal perfect to prep. Preparing a hearty and delicious keto beef stew is as simple as making a few minor swaps. This one-pot recipe is perfect for your slow cooker or instant pot. PSA: Making beef stew keto-friendly only means a couple simple swaps. It's still silky and every bit as comforting as the original. In this keto recipe, we make up for the lack of thickener by ensuring that we really reduce the stew to create something rich and stick-to-your-ribs good.
- Ground Beef Casserole: This is another hearty, cheesy dish that’s great for meal prep.
- Keto Chicken Parm: This delivers the same classic flavors minus the carbs. The chicken breasts are covered in a crispy Parmesan almond crust, smothered in tomato sauce, and topped with mozzarella cheese. Chicken parmesan is a delicious classic crowd-pleasing recipe that is insanely easy to meal prep ahead of time. This keto diet-friendly recipe is no different.
- Keto Taco Soup: This is a warm, comforting meal packed with savory flavors, ground beef, bell peppers, and diced tomatoes. It’s rich, hearty, and perfect for meal prep.
- Broccoli Casserole: Casseroles are the way to go if you’re looking for easy meal prep options. This casserole dish is loaded with broccoli, cheese, garlic, and onions - it tastes great alone or paired with a protein.
- Garlic Parmesan Chicken: This recipe features tender chicken breasts coated in fresh garlic, Parmesan, and cream for the ultimate savory dinner.
- Cheesy Bacon Ranch Chicken: Bacon and ranch is an absolute match made in heaven. If you’re as obsessed with this flavor combination as we are (how could you not be?), then this chicken dinner should be your new weeknight staple.
- Cauliflower Fried Rice: Fried rice is a classic and comforting recipe that everyone loves…except maybe those who are trying to eat less rice. Whether you’re skipping carbs, trying to eat more vegetables, or are just looking for a lighter side dish so you can eat more orange chicken (relatable!), this cauliflower fried rice is for you.
- Lemon-Brown Butter Salmon
- Cowboy Butter Steak: Not to be confused with our equally delicious cowboy steak, this recipe calls for searing a bone-in ribeye, then basting it with a zesty, smoky butter until the outside has a perfectly brown crust, and the inside is tender and medium-rare.
- Garlicky Greek Chicken
- Keto Pork Chops
- Cacio E Pepe Egg Noodles: Cacio e pepe is one of our all time FAVORITE pasta dishes. This lightened-up version calls for making your pasta from scratch-the good news is it's SO much easier than it sounds. All you need is a good nonstick pan. It's so simple and yet so fun to make and, of course, absolutely delicious.
- Philly Cheesesteak Lettuce Wraps
- French Onion Pot Roast
- Feta & Herb-Crusted Salmon
- Keto Bacon Chicken Thighs With Garlic Cream Sauce
- Keto Mac & Cheese: If you're on a keto diet, you know there are a lot of no-nos in classic mac & cheese. This version takes out all the trouble children (ahem, PASTA) without sacrificing flavor. The pork rind topping is totally optional, but we think it adds a pleasant crunch.
- Keto Coconut Cashew Fried Chicken: Much like the keto chicken parm, this keto coconut cashew fried chicken recipe uses a unique blend of low-carb flours to make a delicious crust and give you another great recipe to meal prep in 2x or 3x batches to have them available for an easy meal any day of the week.
Keto Snack and Sauce Meal Prep Ideas
- Keto Ranch and Veggies: This is a simple and flavorful snack that’s perfect for meal prep. The ranch combines mayonnaise, sour cream, heavy cream, and different herbs for a low-carb version of the classic dipping sauce.
- Parmesan Keto Brussels Sprouts: These are a tasty and crunchy snack that’s easy to prep in advance. They’re coated with olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and spices, and with crispy bacon on top, you’ll be craving this snack over and over again.
- Parmesan Crisps: These are the perfect alternative for chips and are highly versatile. Eat these crunchy snacks alone or use them as a topping for salads and other lunches.
- Keto Biscuits: These are a game-changer for your meal prep, especially when you’re craving something warm and fluffy. Made with almond flour, these biscuits are soft on the inside with a slightly crispy outside layer.
- Keto-Friendly Hot Chocolate: Who doesn’t love a warm mug of hot chocolate? This keto-friendly hot chocolate combines cream and chocolatey flavors for a rich drink perfect for cold days. Make a large batch, store it in the fridge, and pop it in the microwave for a warm drink to end your day.
- Keto Mug Cake: Can you believe this cake only takes 15 minutes to prep? If you’re craving a sweet treat fast, this keto mug cake is the perfect option.
- Keto Snack Mix: This recipe can either be used as a keto snack or a keto breakfast.
- Keto Fat Bombs: These fat bombs have to be some of the most popular keto snacks ever developed by our culinary team. Follow the recipe and feel free to make any version your heart desires.
- Spiced Nuts: Even though you may see the recipe as a 'paleo' recipe, these spiced nuts qualify 100% as keto as well. Find a fun recipe that explains how to make any mixed nuts taste better all while making them tons more interesting. Adjust the spices to your own creativity if you so desire!
- Keto Egg Salad: Whether you're just not a fan of mayo or looking for a healthy keto egg salad recipe to add to your meal prep, we've got you. This recipe is a combination as if the guacamole and egg salad had a baby, creating a delicious result. With little to no prep time and a ton of flavor, you'll never want to go back to boring traditional chicken salad ever again.
- Romesco Sauce: Romesco is a popular is Spanish sauce that is typically made with bread. This smoky, and peppery sauce uses almonds instead making it great when following a keto diet.
- Keto Zhoug Sauce: Pronounced like "zoog", this exotic-sounding sauce is easier to make than you'd think! It's highly flavorful, super simple, and a perfect pairing for just about any protein. Much like chimichurri, this sauce goes incredibly well with some flat iron steak and rice.
- Classic Pesto: Another Herb based sauce that's delicious on just about everything! Chimichurri sauce is one of those sauces that goes well with most proteins and dishes.
- Tabbouleh: This refreshing almond and walnut tabbouleh recipe is a vegan, keto, paleo, and clean-eating friendly twist on the classic Lebanese tabbouleh salad.
Mastering Meal Prep
The key to conquering meal prep is to master the art of mise en place, a French term that means "everything in its place". This means not only planning your recipes or making a grocery list ahead of time but coming home from the store and getting organized in your kitchen before starting the cooking process. Use this time to get organized and make sure you have all of the ingredients you need.
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