One thing that puts people off food prep is the idea of boredom — eating the same thing every day. Whilst I’m personally very happy with a Monday–Friday menu and switching things up at the weekend, I completely get that diet fatigue is real, and that variety can really help keep meals enjoyable.
So here’s what I suggest instead: partial prep.
Rather than prepping full meals, batch cook a component of your meals (protein is usually the easiest and most versatile), then change what it’s served with throughout the week. And by ‘change-up’ I don’t mean, ‘make it complicated’. Keeping it as simple as possible, and adapting for your situation - eating on the road, in the office, availability of kitchen facilities - can all be taken into account.
Chicken is the obvious choice!
(Sorry to my non-meat-eating followers — but the principle still applies.)
Below is how I batch cook my chicken, and a few easy ways I use it during the week to keep things simple but not completely soul-destroying.
Sunday session: Batch-cook chicken
Adjust quantities based on your own needs.
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Dice 5 chicken breasts
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Season to taste (I’m using Aldi chicken seasoning plus a pinch of chilli powder at the moment)
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Oven bake at 180°C for ~40 minutes
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Leave to cool, then cover and store in the fridge, or divide into portions and freeze
Weekday super-easy meals using batch-cooked chicken
Keep-it-boring Chicken & Rice
Ingredients
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1 portion cooked chicken
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1 microwave rice pot (I use VeeTee sticky rice)
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Diced veg: tomato, pepper, baby corn, frozen peas
Method
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Microwave rice for 2 minutes.
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Put chicken and vegetables in a bowl and microwave for 3 minutes.
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Combine with rice and season to taste.
Chicken Salad & Pitta
Ingredients
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1 portion cooked chicken
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1 pitta
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Mixed salad
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Optional: cheese, hummus, avocado, nuts
Method
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Toast pitta.
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Throw everything else in a bowl.
The M&S Sides Lunch
Ingredients
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1 portion cooked chicken
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Ready made salad from your food shop of choice
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Portion of fruit
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Small bag of fruit & nut or 2 chocolate coated rice cakes.
Method
Add the chicken to the salad. Eat the rest at your convenience. Because sometimes we need to eat on the road!
The leftovers lunch
Ingredients
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1 portion cooked chicken
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A small leftover portion of whatever you had the night before.
Method
Add the chicken to the leftovers and reheat as appropriate. Reduces food waste, keeps it simple!
And for when you have more time:
Fruit & Nut Chicken
Ingredients
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1 portion cooked chicken
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2–3 carrots
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Optional: 200g sweet potato
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3 garlic cloves
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2 sweet bell peppers
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25g dried raisins or cranberries
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25g crushed walnuts
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1 tbsp 0% fat Greek yoghurt
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1 tbsp reduced-fat cream cheese
Method
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Preheat oven to 180°C.
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Cut carrots into sticks (and sweet potato into chunks if using) and blanch in boiling water.
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Drain, transfer to a lined baking tray, spray with 1-kcal olive oil, season with salt, pepper and crushed garlic. Bake for 20 minutes.
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Fry finely chopped peppers and cooked chicken in a non-stick pan over medium heat.
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Add dried fruit and walnuts.
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Stir in Greek yoghurt and cream cheese, with a few grinds of salt.
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Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
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Layer chicken over the roasted veg and serve.
Greek Yoghurt Flatbreads
Ingredients
Flatbread
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100g 0% fat Greek yoghurt
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100g plain flour
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Salt
Toppings
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1 portion cooked chicken
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½ avocado or 40–50g hummus
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Salad (cherry tomatoes, red peppers, spinach, etc.)
Method
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Mix yoghurt, flour and salt. Knead into a dough ball and rest for 10 minutes.
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Halve the dough and roll out one portion.
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Heat a non-stick pan, spray with oil, and cook for 3–4 minutes per side.
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Cling-film the second dough ball for tomorrow, or cook it now.
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Top with chicken and salad. Serve.
Are these meals exciting? Well 2 of them are, the others… not particularly.
Are they easy and time-saving? Absolutely.
Are some of them minimal-cook, high-convenience options? Hell yes.
Because making things easy is how you make them sustainable.