meal prep

Meaning

Short for 'meal preparation,' this casual term refers to the practice of planning, preparing, and portioning out meals or ingredients in advance (often on Sundays) to save time during busy weekdays. It is highly popular in fitness and busy lifestyle contexts.

Examples

• I usually spend about two hours on Sunday afternoon doing my meal prep for the week.

  I usually spend about two hours on Sunday afternoon doing my meal prep for the week.

• Her social media feed is full of colorful meal prep containers organized for the week.

  Her social media feed is full of colorful meal prep containers organized for the week.

• Meal prep helps me stay on track with my fitness goals and avoid buying fast food.

  Meal prep helps me stay on track with my fitness goals and avoid buying fast food.

• If you don't have time for full meal prep, just chopping your vegetables ahead of time helps.

  If you don't have time for full meal prep, just chopping your vegetables ahead of time helps.

• We bought a set of glass containers specifically designed for weekly meal prep.

  We bought a set of glass containers specifically designed for weekly meal prep.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ I am going to make meal prep.

  ✓ I am going to do some meal prep.

  'Meal prep' can be a noun (usually paired with the verb 'do') or used directly as a verb ('to meal prep'). We do not use 'make' with 'meal prep'.

• ✗ I did a meal prep for tonight's dinner.

  ✓ I prepped dinner for tonight.

  'Meal prep' typically refers to preparing multiple meals in advance for the upcoming days, not just preparing a single immediate dinner.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Sunday is my designated day for ___ so I don't have to cook during the busy week.

  💡 Preparing and portioning meals in advance.

  Show answer

  meal prep

• Buying containers in bulk makes weekly ___ much more organized.

  💡 The process of planning and pre-packaging meals for the future.

  Show answer

  meal prep