5 Meal Prep Tips for Easier School Night Dinners
Grab a notebook and pencil and have a seat in Culinary.net’s Cookin’ Classroom! Every week, we’ll share cooking tips, kitchen hacks and easy ways you can become a better home cook. Whether you’re living on your own for the first time, starting a family or simply expanding your kitchen know-how, join us each week to learn how to sharpen your culinary skills.
It’s easy to let hectic school days catch up to you and your loved ones. Before you know it, you’re dining out or hitting a drive-thru multiple nights per week just to keep up.
With a little prep and a lot of teamwork, you can make cooking at home more often a reality, even during the busiest weeks. Make meal-planning part of your family’s routine with these simple steps.
Make a Menu
Choose one day each week to sit down and plan for the evenings ahead. Whether each family member chooses one dish or you draw recipes from a hat, planning the menu means no last-minute decisions and makes grocery shopping simpler.
Consider Recipes with Overlap
If possible, creating a “theme” for the week can help you limit the grocery bill while avoiding food waste. For example, soft tacos one night and chicken wraps another both call for tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese and other common toppings, making your grocery list shorter and cutting prep time in half as you can wash and veggies for multiple meals at the same time.
Create a Grocery List
Once the menu is set, write down everything you’ll need to make the upcoming week’s dinners. Go to the store (with an assistant!) and have a physical list in-hand to avoid impulse buys.
Cook Multiple Meals at Once
Just like recipes with common ingredients let you do double the prep all at one time, you can also save yourself a future weeknight by cooking multiple meals on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. If you’re lighting the grill for hamburgers, you may as well cook chicken for those wraps and reheat it later.
Aim for Leftovers
Cooking a little extra can save valuable time later. Leftovers can be packed in lunchboxes or, if you have enough for everyone, you can enjoy a “leftovers night” each week to enjoy a night without kitchen duty.
Find more family meal inspiration by visiting our Facebook and YouTube pages or subscribe to our free weekly newsletter.