Last Updated on January 17, 2022 by TheMealPrepNinja

How To Meal Prep Vegetables: Prepping Veggies

A sure-fire way to ensure that your family eats healthy and that you get your daily veggie macros is meal prepping vegetables once you get home from the market. Plus, it’s one of the easiest ways to ensure that your family enjoys the veggies before it turns into refrigeration goo.

Well, Jim, It’s hard and….ugh… I don’t have the time to do all that stuff, plus. What’s in it for me, anyway? I could always order a take out, right?

I don’t blame you and won’t judge you. Maybe you are a working mum with three kids, bulging under the heavy workload of incoming projects that you don’t have time for a decent, healthy meal. Best believe, eating fast food isn’t an ideal option either.

For starters, you’ll save a tonne of money by limiting your take out orders, and what’s more, it’s not as hard as you think. Luckily for you, we delve deep and shed light on meal prepping vegetables and what there is to it. Read along: your sanity needs it.

How to Meal Prep Fresh Vegetables

Many people miss the point when it comes to meal prepping. They go all-out with their meal prep, cooking entire meals for the week. There’s a quicker method for the busy dad or mom out there to save you time on those busy weekdays and nights. An easier way is to prep up your veggies (some or all of it anyway!) It’s less time consuming than cooking full meals. 

It’s been found that meal prepping vegetables cuts a solid 20-30 minutes during meal preparation.

Below are just some of the few ways in which you could meal prep your veggies;

• Pre-chopping and storing your veggies as a meal component – to be used in wraps, salads, sandwiches, and sheet pan meals, among many other forms.

• You can pre-cook your veggies as part of a complete meal, thereby reheating and enjoying it through the week.

• Freeze the veggies as part of your freezer crockpot, oven recipe, or skillet.

You’ll have to decide which methods fit what since some veggies subscribe to certain preparation methods… well, others, not too much.

How Many Days in Advance Can You Prep Vegetables?

An essential factor to consider is the longevity of your vegetables before meal prepping them. Chances of food poisoning can be rife if your vegetables stay too long in the fridge. Worse still, they may turn into goo, thereby forcing you to discard them due to unpalatability. However, it’s important to note that storage time greatly varies with the individual. However, when in doubt, you could always check in with Still Tasty, which is run by a food safety expert and pulls its data from the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) 

Firstly, you need to develop a concrete plan and know what type of veggies qualify to be prepared, how far ahead they can be prepped, and those that require last-minute preparation. As a rule of thumb, the following timelines should be considered when meal prepping vegetables in advance;

• Root veggies such as onions, carrots, beets, and sweet potatoes can be peeled 2-3 days before.

• Potatoes, parsnips, potatoes, and others in the root vegetable categories tend to darken when peeled. Therefore, they should be prepped at the last minute. However, mashed potatoes can be prepared 2-3 days before, reheated right before serving. You could add a splash of cream or a swirl of butter to rejuvenate it.

• Cauliflowers, cucumbers, kales, all types of peppers, cabbages, spinach and radishes can be prepped 2-3 days in advance.

Note

You should store your prepped veggies in zipped food-storage plastic bags and squeeze out as much air as possible to ensure the contents stay longer.

There are two ways to go about the moisture issue. Others prefer prepping and storing them and only wash when they are about to cook them since moisture tends to make them spoil faster. Some prefer washing, drying, and covering them with a paper towel to suck off excess moisture. It all boils down to your preference.

Finding it hard to come up with any veggie meal preps to tackle your hectic week? Look no further.

What Are Good Meals for Meal Prepping? 

You could bring out your vegetable recipe as a dinner time strategy. That doesn’t mean you have to be vegan. You just need to make your veggies the star of the show by making your mealtime as easy as possible. Well, you could throw in a few bits and pieces of beef and fish. However, making your dish with more veggies and less meat makes you have a more wholesome meal without making more radical changes. Well, some nights could entail having meals with no meat at all. Below are just some of the few examples of veggie prepped meals that you could indulge in;

Healthy Kung Pao Chicken Panda Express Copycat

Slow Cooker Olive Garden Chicken Pasta

Vegetable Stir Fry

You can turn any vegetable into a stir fry instantly. Though you could add some meat, veggies constitute a better part of the meal. You’ll want to keep it on a regular rotation due to its easy mode of preparation (under 20 minutes) and its sweet, savory taste. Its fresh medley of crunchy, crisps veggies will keep you indulging in it on an on.

Just like vegetables, another pertinent question that lingers in most people’s minds is whether one can meal prep fruits. In case you are in a hurry, the answer is a big YES! Well, if you have more time on your hands, continue reading to know more.

Meal Prepping Fruits

As with vegetables, moisture is the biggest enemy with fruits. We all love some fruit portions accompanying our meals. We would all eat healthily and partake of fruits if only they were available and within our reach. But the main question remains, how do we keep them fresh?

Tip: Always buy fruits when they are in season. They’ll be cheaper and more in the long run, pushing you for longer. You could always freeze up the excess and use them to make smoothies, thereby retaining their nutritional value. 

Berries and Grapes

When prepping fruits, a typical hack is mixing a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a cup of cold water when rinsing them. Apple cider is an excellent cleaning agent that will prolong the berries’ life. Rinse the vinegar solution and thoroughly dry them before storing them in a dried glass jar. Further, you could line the glass jar with paper towels to absorb any excess moisture. 

You are more likely to throw a few berries in your morning oatmeal or carry them as a snack if they are readily prepped. 

When stored correctly, such berries usually last 4-5 days.

Apple Slices

Soak your apple slices in a bowl of lemonized water. Squeezing lemon in water is an excellent tip than directly squeezing it on your sliced apples. Furthermore, your cuts won’t be super lemony. They usually last up to a week when properly stored.

Other popular fruits such as peaches, bananas, and pears usually turn brown within a few hours after cutting them. To avoid this, have them cut at the last minute before consumption. While sprinkling them with an acidic solution such as lemon juice may prevent this, they usually turn spotty; therefore, it’s not worth taking the chance.

Other fruits such as melons, citruses such as oranges, lemons, and lime can be prepped well several days ahead of time.

How to Prep and Store Fresh Produce

You are probably wondering what happens when you bring home fresh produce, stash them in the fridge, and then end up turning limp, shrivel, or worse, rotting. The primary culprit is the way we store them. Storing fresh produce is quick and easy. You can either freeze, refrigerate, or store them on the countertop, depending on their nature. Below are some of the tips and tricks that will ensure that your fresh produce pushes you longer.

Cool Dry Place

Fresh produce such as tomatoes, bananas, and potatoes shouldn’t be stored in the fridge. Produce such as mushrooms should be stored in cool, dry places and only washed when they are to be cooked. Eggplants should be placed in such dry places and consumed within a couple of days.

Fridge

Most fruits and veggies can be stored in the fridge. Such fruits like apples soften ten times faster at room temperature than when in the refrigerator. Having a crisper drawer will aid you in keeping your produce fresher for longer by holding in moisture.

Furthermore, plastic bags with tiny vents help keep produce fresh by allowing them to expel more moisture. They come in handy for fruits such as grapes, cherries, and strawberries.

When it comes to lettuce, they should be thoroughly washed and dried before storing them in a plastic bag and refrigerating. 

Freezer

Most vegetables and fruits can be frozen to maintain their nutritional value and longevity. However, other vegetables such as potatoes ( other than mashed), eggplants, artichokes, and Belgian endive aren’t suitable for such storage methods.

At Room Temperature

Garlic, tomatoes, and onions should be stored at room temperature in a well-ventilated area. Fruits such as peaches, plums, and mangoes can be ripened at room temperature and refrigerated for longer storage.

Tip: Store fruits such as pineapple upside down for a day or two to allow for even spreading of sweetness.

Below is a visual guide that could serve as an aid on the general guidelines of storing fresh produce 

What Are The Best Vegetables and Fruits For Meal Prep

There isn’t quite a set that rules over the other when it comes to some of the best fruits and veggies for meal prep. Any form of veggies and fruits can be a great source of meal prep. It all boils down to how fresh they are, well prepared, and how they are stored. You’ll also have to consider the oxidative levels of different products and how they affect you. Some items such as cucumbers, mushrooms, and bell peppers are best left until they are needed or consumed within two days.

A quality knife

Since meal prepping is a simple and more straightforward way to eat healthy throughout the week, it would further help to have a few kitchen tools to run to in aiding you with the process. 

4 Kitchen Tools to Make Meal Prep Easier

A larger cutting board

Your ordinary size chopping board won’t cut it. Sure, maybe you have room to slice garlic or even an onion. But when you have to chop up four huge chunks of potatoes and bell peppers for your meal prep, your small size chopping board won’t do you good. It would be an appropriate time to invest in a large one.

Your ordinary $20 kitchen knife won’t be of much help either. Just like the large, heavy, chopping board, a quality knife is worth the investment and goes hand in hand with your board. Once you get to experience what a quality knife does, you’ll understand why chefs are overly protective of their stash. 

Multicooker

An instant pot cooker is a must-have. It makes large batches in minutes and tenderizes cuts of meat and other ingredients in half the time an ordinary cooking stove would take.

Storage containers.

They help contain your ingredients and prevent cross-contamination, keeping you and your food safe from poisoning. If you are on the lookout for storage containers, it would be prudent to buy glass ones with lids since they are the safest (BPA free).

Conclusion

When it comes to meal prepping your veggies, your guess is as good as mine; cleanliness is critical, an essential factor for both the ingredients and our overall health. Understanding how to prep and store your veggies will further ensure that you have a productive, healthy week ahead. At this point, you now have an idea of how to play around and handle your veggies. Have a healthy week ahead, won’t you? Don’t forget to check out meal prep freeze or refrigerate.

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