If you want to know how to meal prep for bodybuilding, then this guide is for you. You will learn how to cook delicious meal prep recipes for building muscle, better heath, and more energy. All the while saving time, money and burning fat!

We cover a lot in this article. If you’re looking for something specific, use the table of contents below to jump to what you need:

- What is Meal Prep?
- The Benefits of Meal Prep
- How I Got Ripped with Meal Prep
- How to Meal Prep
  - Meal Prep Shopping List
  - Meal Prep Kitchen Tools
  - Cooking and Meal Prep Storage
- Meal Prep Ideas for Bodybuilding (healthy recipes)
- Meal Prep Tips

Today you will learn how to meal prep from beginning to end.

Meal prep is the single most important factor to building a great physique.

If you don’t get the nutrition you need, you will never get where you want to go.

Meal prep is a foolproof way to meet all your nutritional needs perfectly.

The benefits of meal prep are nearly infinite:

Eat better
Get healthier
Easy dieting
Ensures you hit your nutrition requirements
Reduces the urge to binge
Saves time
Saves money
More energy
Better mood
Lose fat and unwanted pounds
Gain lean muscle mass

All of these benefits carry over into other aspects of your life, making everything better.

I have been meal prepping for several years and probably will forever. It’s how I build a strong body, keep a clear mind, and always eat satisfying meals whenever I’m hungry.

Meal prep is especially effective when trying to gain muscle or lose weight.

I’ve meal prepped while clean bulking and while cutting for my bodybuilding competitions.

Whatever your fitness goal, a meal prep plan can be tailored to your exact requirements. Meal prep all but ensures success for your fitness goals.

Although meal prep is common for bodybuilders, anyone can benefits from it.

This post shows you why you should meal prep, and provides easy meal prep recipes to kickstart your meal prepping. (the faster you start, the faster you get results).

What is Meal Prep Exactly?

Meal Prep is simply cooking meals in advanced for eating later.

You cook enough meals at one time to last days or weeks or a month if you wish.

I usually cook six days worth of food each week.

Some people just prep their lunches, while others prep all their meals for a month, keep some in the fridge, and store the rest in the freezer.

You can prep breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks ahead of time. You can prep for any diet no matter what you eat or how often you eat.

Meal prep is a magnificent way to turn fat into muscle.

I transformed my blobby belly fat into slabs of muscle within weeks using meal prep.

Why would anyone meal prep?

Meal prep saves you time, saves money, improves your health and energy levels, and helps you reach your fitness goals.

There are many, many benefits to meal prep. Which makes me wonder why everyone doesn’t do it.

The Benefits of Meal Prep for Bodybuilding

Crock-Pot Shredded Chicken and Asparagus Meal Prep

I love everything about meal prep.

It’s a part of my weekly routine. I do it every Sunday without fail. It keeps me on track to meet my fitness goals at lightning speed.

Meal Prep is Easy

Meal prep makes life so much easier.

If you’re health conscience, meal prep means you never worry about where to get your next meal.

You don’t have to determine whether something your about to eat is good or bad for you. You already know exactly what you’re eating because you made it. No fuss, no debate, and no stress.

Meal Prep saves me time and saves me money every single week.

Meal Prep Saves Time

I’ll say this until I’m blue in the face.

Meal prep SAVES YOU TIME.

I’m a busy professional. Like most of you, I work a lot. I also workout 5+ days week, have a girlfriend that lives out of town that I go see, friends, family commitments, etc… The list goes on and on. I also live alone so do all my own chores, maintenance, upkeep, everything.

I used to come home after work and make dinner. After I ate dinner I had no time to do anything else before bed.

My days are busy and my time is valuable, as I’m sure yours is too. Meal prep saves me many hours each week.

Grocery shopping and meal prepping takes maximum 2.5 hours total, including clean up.

I know people that go to the grocery store 3 times a week and cook every night. How much time are you wasting?

Meal prep saves me at least 5 hours a week. I use those 5 hours to get 5 great workouts done. Or do 5 hours of great work elsewhere.

Meal prep is great for work too – I take my meals to work and finish it in the time it takes most people to order their food.

Then I’m back to work without wasting any time and without spending a dime.

Consistency and Sustainable Dieting

Consistency gets results. Period.

Diets fail because they are hard to keep up with.

Meal prep keeps you CONSISTENT. Meal prep makes dieting SUSTAINABLE.

Consistent eating, consistent nutrients. It’s impossible to not make progress with the right meal prep plan.

Results don’t happen overnight. Results take time. Daily effort compounded over time is what gets results.

It’s easy to get side tracked without a plan. Meal prep keeps you on track and keeps you in control of your diet. Not the other way around.

Meal Prep Saves You Money

Meal prep saves me money because I eat out less.

Which is great because now I don’t overpay for garbage restaurant food. (Seriously check the nutrition facts for your favorite restaurant. I haven’t been to Taco Bell since looking at what’s in a burrito.)

I know people that eat out twice a day. Which means they are throwing their money and health in the toilet.

Each prepped meal cost less than $5. Go out to lunch and you will spend $10 minimum.

I spend half as much on food and eat twice as healthy (and at my convenience) with meal prep.

Oh, and by the way –

Healthy food is not expensive

Lazy people say this as an excuse. Healthy food goes on sale all the time. Fresh food spoils so they ALWAYS have sales to get it out the door before it goes bad.

You just need to look. If it’s not on sale this week, try again next week.

Or just buy the healthy food. Ya gotta eat, so you might as well fill your tank with premium. You’ll get more milage out of it.

If you’re on a budget, you could easily meal prep for under $50 a week and still eat very well.

Eating clean pays off. You’ll have more energy and better health. Which equals more productivity and better well being.

Learn How to Cook

Cooking is a skill everyone must master. You cannot be healthy eating out all the time.

Take this opportunity to learn the valuable skill of cooking.

After a few weeks you’ll be a meal prep Pro. You’ll feel like Bobby fuck*n Flay in the kitchen.

Weight and Fat Loss

Meal prepping for weight loss and fat loss is fantastic. You will get results fast.

You’re less likely to give into cravings or make poor eating decisions if you have a healthy meal ready to eat.

You already put your blood, sweat and tears into making meals, so you’ll be obligated to eat it or else it will go to waste.

All you do is eat your meals and watch the weight fall off.

Build Muscle

Bodybuilders meal prep because they have their diet down to a science.

Building muscle requires the right amount of nutrients to grow.

Just cook your perfect ratio of protein, carbohydrates and fat into every meal.

Meal prep helps you bulk up clean to stay healthy and trim while building quality muscle.

It’s a more strategic approach to weight gain as apposed to dirty bulking.

Meal Prep is the Only Guaranteed way Eat Healthy

You cook everything yourself so you know exactly what you’re eating. All the nutrition is cooked right in. No processed or frozen crap.

Home-cooked meals are infinitely better than any meal bought from a store or restaurant.

If you didn’t cook it yourself, you have no idea what’s in it.

99.99% of foods today are processed, modified or bastardized in some way.

The only guaranteed way to eat healthy is with meal prep.

Less Food Waste

A fringe benefit of meal prep is that my kitchen is way more organized.

I also have less food waste and spoilage.

I don’t buy ‘one-off’ food items that sit in the fridge forever taking up space and adding clutter.

Ultimately, I throw these items away, which is like tossing money in the trash.

Clean Kitchen

My kitchen is also much cleaner all the time because I cook once a week. So, no mess or time spent cleaning the kitchen during the week.

This saves a lot of time in the long run and my kitchen is spotless all week.

Meal Prep Works with Any Diet

Meal prep works for any diet and every fitness goal.

Gaining weight, losing weight, building muscle, getting huge, whatever the goal -meal prep will help you reach it.

You can be vegan, vegetarian, or eating a full-blown carnivore diet. Meal prep has you covered.

Less Stress and ‘Diet Anxiety’

Work is stressful, being out of shape is stressful, eating right can be stressful.

You need a plan to handle chaotic days. Avoid caving under pressure by meal prepping.

Meal prep’s got your back. Meals are ready when you are so you can relax.

If you don’t have food that fits your diet it can be stressful.

If you’re in a pinch and need to eat, you’re more likely to make a poor decision if you don’t have a prepped meal on hand.

This is where meal prep reduces diet anxiety by having a healthy, wholesome meal ready to eat when you are hungry.

Meal Prep Is a Game Changer

Meal prep is a game changer for me for the reasons above.

I cook all my meals Sunday night, then pack them neatly in storage containers. My kitchen is super clean and organized and my life is much more efficient.

How I Got Ripped with Meal Prep

Meal prep helped me get ripped.

Without meal prep, I would have failed. It would have been frustrating endeavor to reach my fitness goal.

Meal Prep was a game changer:

It helped me burn belly fat and build muscle at the same time.

Before meal prepping, I was fat and overweight. I lost 30 pounds of fat and got ripped with meal prep.

bodybuilding meal prep ideas — Meal Prep helped me get ripped.

I’ve been meal prepping over 3 years and will never stop. It’s part of my lifestyle.

I’ve gotten leaner, stronger, healthier and have more energy. I also reduced my cholesterol and got in the best shape of my life. Meal prep played large part in achieving that.

Get Lean with Meal Prep

You must eat ‘clean’ to be lean.

Eating clean means you avoid processed foods. Processed foods contain any of the following:

Artificial ingredient
Preservative
Food additive

I would go a step further and consider the following unclean:

Anything genetically modified (If an item is genetically modified it will state ‘GMO’ on the package. GMO means ‘Genetically Modified Organism’.)
Anything non-Kosher (Read about the Kosher Food Laws here)
Anything injected with hormones

Clean foods are lean, natural, organic, and fresh.

Dirty foods slow your metabolism and steal your energy while making you fat and sick.

Clean food, on the other hand, provide energy and nutrients while making you healthy and strong.

A slow metabolism and low energy means you won’t burn fat and won’t workout. A double whammy that will impede your progress and hurt your health.

Eating clean will give you energy all day, fuel you through tough workouts, and provide you with nutrients to recover and build muscle.

This is tried and trued. I’ve experienced it myself. The way you eat directly impacts your quality of life. No question about it.

Meal Prep Keeps My Diet on Track

Not only must you eat clean to get lean, you must eat clean consistently to get and stay lean.

It takes many months to build a great physique. Steady progress made daily is how you get in shape.

For every clean food item there are 100 bad food items. Temptation to eat poorly is everywhere and you will fail to eat clean without a plan.

Meal prep is the best plan I’ve found to get and stay on track with my diet by ensuring I always have a healthy meal ready to eat.

Meal Prep Makes it Easy to Hit My Macros

Consistency is the name of the game. Meal prep is predicated on consistency. I’m able to hit my macros every single day with meal prep.

No matter where you’re starting from, your desired result can be met with meal prep.

I’ve gained weight, lost fat, and completely changed my physique with meal prep.

To make lean gains, I put myself in a slight calorie surplus. I eat 1.25 grams of protein per bodyweight, 75-100 grams of fat, and enough carbs to feel 100% for workouts.

When I’m cutting and want to lose belly fat and body fat, I increase protein to 1.5 grams per bodyweight, reduce fat to 50-60 grams, and reduce carbs to 100-300 grams a day depending on how fast I want to burn fat.

Meal prep makes it super easy to hit my macros every day. I keep my meals simple weight everything and portion my meals according my my nutrition needs.

Once you get the hang of it, this process becomes automatic and super fast.

Guilt-Free Binging

Some days I say to Hell with meal prep and eat anything and everything I want. I enjoy every bite and relish the experience.

I know that this binding can actually BENEFIT me if I meal prep all the time.

It’s good for the soul.

Every once in while, I’ll eat 3 donuts or half a cheesecake and feel great about it. I know I’ll still be ripped afterwords because I’m so disciplined with my meal prep. plus the flavor and intensity and joy I get out of the experience in enhanced by 1000 times.

My tastebuds are so acute the flavor is unmatched. Unlike if your taste buds are dulled by eating treats constantly. The more you eat it, the less you enjoy it. (The Law of Familiarity).

Plus, nothing tastes as good as being ripped feels.

How to Meal Prep: Meal Prep Shopping List

Ok, so you’re pumped up and ready to meal prep but don’t know where to start.

It’s cool, I got you. Here’s what you do:

Buy all the foods you need for the week. (For this example we’re going to meal prep 10 meals. Lunch and Dinner for a 5 day work week. This is a good place to start to get the hang of meal prep without being overwhelmed.)

#1. Buy your protein

Get a lean meat like chicken, turkey, white fish, salmon and beef.

How much do you get?

6-10 ounces per meal is enough for most people. Let’s say you eat a pound of meat a day. Get 3 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast and 3 pounds of 95% lean ground beef. (always buy a little more than you plan on eating because your food will weight less after cooking. Cooking removes fat and moisture.)

#2. Now, go buy your vegetables

Broccoli, asparagus and spinach are the best. Salads with dark, leafy greens are good too.

Go heavy on the veggies to be safe. They help fill you up because you can eat a lot without adding too many calories.

I eat 300-400 grams of vegetables per meal. This equals 6.5-8 pounds of vegetables over 10 meals. Sounds like a lot. It’s really not. Veggies contain a lot of water so buy closer to 10 pounds total.

#3. Buy your breakfast foods and snacks

Keep it healthy. I recommend:

Greek yogurt with honey and chia seeds
Free range chicken eggs
Egg whites in a carton
Old style oatmeal
Quest Bars (The best tasting protein bar I’ve ever had.)
Protein shakes
Seasonal Fruit
Tuna Fish
Celery
Natural Peanut Butter (High quality peanut butter will change your life).
Almonds, cashews or peanuts
Beans – Kidney, black or garbanzo
Cottage Cheese
Pineapple
and my personal favorite, Peanut Butter Chocolate Cream Pie (under 300 calories a slice and 20+ grams of protein!)

Pay for your food and hurry on home to cook!

How to Meal Prep: Part #2 – Meal Prep Kitchen Tools

If you’re going to pull this off, you need the right tools: Pots, pans, utensils, etc. having the right tools will make meal prep effortless. Not having the right tools for any job is infuriating.

I suggest investing in good cookware. It will last a very long time and be worth every penny.

Here’s everything I use for meal prep and what I use it for. Pick and chose what makes sense for you.

Steam Pot – for steamed veggies like broccoli and cauliflower.

3-Quart Pot – for boiling eggs, potatoes, etc.

Large Non-Stick Fry Pan – I cannot stress LARGE enough. Meal prepping a ton of food with small tools is frustrating. I use two large frying pans when meal prepping. Double duty, baby, means I cook twice the amount of food fast. Oh, get the cover. It keeps splatter contained.

Baking tray – for cooking vegetables like asparagus and chopped potato in the oven.

KitchenAid Crock-Pot – Crock pots are awesome. Easy to cook huge amount of food and super easy to clean. (Full disclosure I work for the company that owns Kitchen Aid.)

Big glass tray – For baking chicken, fish, etc.

Digital Food Scale – Super important. Weigh out your food if you want to take your weight loss to the next level.

Meal Prep Storage Containers

Anchor 6-cup glass containers – For lunch and dinner

Pyrex 3-cup glass containers – for breakfast and snacks

Rubbermaid Food Storage Containers – Get rectangle storage pins. It makes storage way easier.

How to Meal Prep: Part #3 – Meal Prep Cooking and Storage

Every Sunday I buy groceries and cook.

To start meal prepping all you need is ingredients to cook meals and storage containers for your cooked meals.

Busy professionals like me can prep 10 meals per week – 2 meals for each day. This gives me lunch and dinner Monday-Friday.

I found this works best for my fitness goals and lifestyle. I also eat 2snacks or small meals throughout the day.

Sunday’s are great because the food I want is stocked an on sale on Sunday and I want my prepped meals fresh for the workweek.

I buy large 10 chicken breasts, vegetables and stuff to make salad. Pre marinated, pre-seasoned chicken breast is usually on special, so that’s what I get. Or I’ll get plain chicken breast and add seasoning.

After that, I’ll pick up a few other items that make up the rest of my diet and pay for my food then go home and start cooking.

Cook everything you can all at once to save time: Bake chicken breast in a big glass tray and sweet potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil. Sometimes I’ll load a baking sheet full of asparagus in the oven and boil a dozen eggs on the stove top.

Set a timer or multiple timers to keep track of everything so you don’t burn the house down.

Muscles require protein to grow. And you should aim for 1 gram of protein per pound of (desired) body weight.

That’s why every meal I prep has a quality protein source like skinless chicken breast or lean beef.

Then I add vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, beans and salad to each meal as well to provide fiber, for gut health, and essential vitamins and minerals.

Meal prep Tips to save time and ease clean up

Tin foil – use it to line baking sheet to make clean up a breeze.

Don’t use metal utensils they scratch pans and make food stick. Seriously, don’t you heathen.

Meal Prep Recipe Ideas for Bodybuilding

I’ve meal prepped for a while and experimented with lots of different meals. I encourage you to do the same.

Here are a few of good ones to get you started:

Chicken and Mixed Vegetable Meal Prep

This is one of my personal favorites. It has a ton of flavor and is good for you.

Here’s how you make it.

Ingredients:

4-5 chicken breasts
6-8 bell peppers
1 onion
water chestnuts
broccoli crown

Cooking Instructions:

Bake chicken breasts in the oven until cooked thoroughly.

Chop up the peppers, onion and broccoli and place in a big frying pan, pre- heated, with melted real butter or olive oil.

Sauté your vegetables until they are the desired cooked-ness.

I like mine al dente so they have a crunch to them, not all limp and stringy which happens when overcooked.

Cut chicken into chunks and toss in the veggies. Add seasoning or stir fry sauce for extra flavor.

Portion out into meal prep containers and store in the fridge. They will last you 4-5 days.

Balanced Meal Prep: Chicken, broccoli and sweet potatoes

This is the lean gainer’s meal of choice. (to be perfectly honest, all of these meals are perfect for lean gains or cutting fat).

You’ll notice a trend in my meal prep meals, There’s always a protein source and something green.

Potatoes are a great source of carbohydrates and have a wealth of other nutrients that are good for you.

Bake the chicken in the oven like normal.

You can steam or saute the broccoli.

The sweet potatoes you can cook whole or chopped. Just wrap the whole potatoes in tin foil or cover the cookware containing the chopped potatoes with foil. This holds the natural moisture in the sweet potatoes so it gets tender. If you forget the tinfoil, the potatoes will feel like you’re biting into a carrot.

Beef and Broccoli

A.K.A. Greens and Ground (Beef).

This is a simple and delicious bodybuilding meal.

I use 90-95% lean ground beef and brown it in a pan.

When the beef is done, drain the fat and add seasoning. Garlic, salt and pepper should do the trick. Or drizzle some Sriracha or barbecue sauce.

Cook the broccoli and snow peas in a pan with butter or olive oil.

Cooking vegetables in butter does something amazing – it makes them taste hearty, savory and delicious. It brings out their natural, very faint, sweetness.

Oh, you’ll also notice that when you eat clean your taste buds will get extremely sensitive.

When you’re not constantly bombarding them with artificial flavor (chemicals) and refined sugar, you’ll notice subtle flavors like never before.

You’ll start to crave simple healthy foods after dieting a while – almost like you have a new acquired taste.

You can add rice, quinoa or baked potatoes if you need carbs or substitute ground turkey instead of beef if you want to mix it up.

Bodybuilder Meal Prep Special: Fish, Vegetables and Rice

Any type of fish will work for this dish. It comes down to personal preference and taste

Salmon is fattier and rich in omega oils. Omega is good for your brain and joints, and cell membranes.

Cod is a white fish with a lighter taste that’s less fatty but still provides a lot of quality protein.

Cod is easier to cook than salmon, and is less expensive so Cod is probably your best bet for meal prep if you don’t want to ring up a hefty bill.

I generally avoid anything farm raised. I only buy wild caught fish from North America.

Stay away from tilapia and shell fish. They are dirty bottom feeders.

I bake my fish in the oven. For Cod, I add garlic, salt, and crushed red pepper.

Fish stays good in the fridge for 4-5 days but I usually only do 3 days with because I get sick of it after three days.

More Meal Prep Ideas and Recipes

Here are a few articles that show you how to cook other amazing meal prep recipes:

Easy Bodybuilding Meal Prep: Spinach Feta Stuffed Chicken

Breakfast Meal Prep for Bodybuilding: 20-Egg Quiche

London Broil Slow-Cooker Recipe

Vegetarian Meal Prep: High-Protein Bean and Vegetable Meal

Mason Jar Meal Prep

Mason jars are perfect storage containers for bodybuilding meal prep.

Perfect if you’re on the go. I like mason jar meals because they are durable, leak proof and easy to clean.

I can throw one in my backpack and not worry about making a mess. Mason jars are also cheap, easy to clean, and microwave and dishwasher safe because they’re made of glass.

For a while I was on a Mason jar meal kick. I ate this for lunch for a few months straight while cutting for summer.

Try one of my famous Mason Jar Meals was Beef, carrots, broccoli, beans and rice/quinoa.

You can make salads in the mason jar as well:

Put the dressing at the bottom, add the lettuce, then layer your toppings like cheese, beans and sunflower seeds until you have the desired amount.

Close the lid tight and place in the fridge. These meals stay good for 4-5 days in the fridge.

Crock Pot Meal Prep

Crock pot meal prep is the easiest way to meal prep.

You throw everything in raw, turn it on, then come back hours later and everything is cooked.

Clean up is easy because all you have to clean is the crock pot reservoir. No pots, pans or cooking sheets.

With a crock pot, you can make beef stew, chili, and pot roast super easy.

A great crock pot meal is chicken, potatoes, green beans, carrots and onions.

Seriously any meat and vegetables will work in a crock pot. So go nuts and try all kinds of things.

Throw all the ingredients in the crock pot before you leave in the morning and come home to a hot meal.

Just make sure you get a crock pot big enough to make food for the entire week.

Meal Prep Tips

Add Some Flavor with Seasoning and Sauce

Always have condiments and sauces like Sriracha sauce, tabasco, barbecue sauce, mustard, and stir fry sauce.

Have some spices and seasoning in your kitchen like garlic, salt, pepper, and any spice blends you might like.

Keep it simple

Keep meal prep simple: pick a protein source and a carb and veggie for each meal. Easy, wholesome, healthy.

The idea is to eat clean and save time. Simplicity is key when planning your meals:

I have a protein source like chicken, beef or fish and vegetables like broccoli or asparagus. Sometimes I’ll add starchy carbs like rice or quinoa but I rarely do any more. I’ve been cutting down on carbs including potatoes.

Do All Your Bodybuilding Meal Prep at Once

Go shopping once. Cook it all at once. Clean it all at once and be done with it so you can take care of business all week and not worry about what to eat.

Buy in Bulk

Stock up on meat and can goods when there’s a good deal. You’ll save money in the long run. If it’s a great deal on can or dry goods that are non perishable I will stock up big time.

For example I bought 20+ cans of tuna for 50 cents each. It lasted a long time, saved money and I always had a protein-packed snack on hand.

Meal Prep Works For Flexible Dieting (IIFYM)

If you count macros, meal prep will ensure you reach your nutrition requirements. It also makes it less of a hassle because you don’t need do constantly research your food.

Once you make a meal you know exactly what’s in it every time you eat it. Just measure it on a food scale.

The point of IIFYM is to be a flexible diet and eat anything you want, and you can, but meal prep can ensure you get at least 1-2 meals a day as a nutritional foundation.

Meal prep works for getting lean, just put yourself in a calorie deficit. If you want to bulk up, you should be in a calorie surplus.

You should also eat healthy and get the right amount of protein, fat, and carbs to achieve the body composition you’re looking for.

The first thing you do is determine your fitness goal:

Do you want to lose fat? (How much and how fast?)

Are you a skinny guy trying to build muscle?

Just want to eat clean?

Whatever it is, determining your goal is important. You need a target to hit to prep correctly.

BONUS: Here’s a video of me meal prepping for the week!