I’m a nutritionist and this is how I best meal prep for the week ahead

If there’s one thing that keeps my week running smoothly, it’s a Sunday spent in the kitchen. Not the stressful kind of cooking where you’re juggling three pans and wondering why you thought soufflé was a good idea, but calm, purposeful meal prep that sets my family up for a week of nourishing, stress-free dinners.

I like to think of it as my own little ritual,  the smell of a roast chicken in the oven, a loaf of sourdough rising on the counter, and my freezer gradually filling with ready-to-go meals. By the time Monday morning rolls around, I know that no matter how busy my days get, dinner is one less thing to worry about.

The Sunday cook-up

I always start with a roast chicken. It’s a family favourite, it cooks itself, and the leftovers are endlessly versatile. Once we’ve carved it for Sunday dinner, I’ll strip the remaining meat for salads, wraps or stir-fries. The carcass goes straight into a pot with onions, carrots, celery and herbs to simmer into a rich, golden bone broth. By Monday lunchtime, that broth becomes the base for a gut-friendly chicken miso soup,  light, nourishing and perfect with a handful of greens and soba noodles.

For a lighter protein option, I’ll often roast a side of salmon at the same time as the chicken. A drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of dill and a few lemon slices is all it needs. On Sunday night, we might enjoy it with roasted potatoes and steamed greens. The next day, the leftover salmon flakes beautifully into a creamy fish pie made with a cauliflower mash topping, or it can be tossed into a healthy rice bowl with edamame, avocado and a sesame dressing for a quick midweek dinner.

I also save the salmon bones and head (if I’ve bought it whole) to simmer into a delicate fish broth with onion, celery, fennel and bay leaf. The next day, that broth becomes a nourishing fish soup, I add back in some salmon flakes, a handful of greens and maybe some sweetcorn or soba noodles. It’s light, rich in minerals, and one of the best ways to get even more value from your Sunday cook-up.

While the mains are cooking, I’ll mix and knead a sourdough loaf. The joy of sourdough is that it’s as much about patience as it is about baking — and from the discard, I make a batch of chewy, lightly sweet cookies for my son’s lunchbox. They’re the kind of treat that makes him smile at school, and I know exactly what’s in them.

Next, I batch cook some base meals that can be transformed into multiple dishes through the week. A pot of slow-simmered chilli might become nachos one night and stuffed peppers another. Meatballs can be served with spaghetti or tucked into toasted subs. A slow-roast lamb shoulder on Sunday morphs into Greek wraps with tzatziki, and later in the week, the tender meat tops a hearty shepherd’s pie.

My fresh approach to meal prep

Over the years, I’ve learned that the key to consistent, healthy eating isn’t just about what you cook, it’s about how you think about cooking in the first place. These are the principles that have made Sunday prep an enjoyable habit rather than a chore.

Plan backwards, not forwards Instead of starting with a blank meal plan and trying to fill it, I look at what’s already in my fridge, freezer and pantry, then build my week around that. It cuts waste, saves money, and forces me to get creative with what I have.

Cook in “flavour families” If I make a big batch of Moroccan-spiced lamb, I know it can become wraps, couscous bowls, or a warm salad with roasted veg. Cooking with a unifying spice or flavour profile makes it easy to spin one ingredient into several completely different meals.

Prep components, not just full meals Sometimes it’s not about freezing a finished dish — it’s about having cooked grains, roasted vegetables, boiled eggs or a jar of homemade dressing ready. These little building blocks make weekday meals as quick as opening the fridge and mixing and matching.

Double up without doubling the work If I’m chopping onions for a soup, I’ll chop extra for a curry later in the week. If I’m roasting sweet potatoes, I’ll throw in an extra tray for salads and breakfast hashes. It’s the same effort for twice the reward.

Lean on “assembly meals” Not every dinner has to be cooked from scratch. A platter of wholemeal pitta, hummus, falafel, chopped veg and olives takes minutes to put together and is just as satisfying as a cooked dish.

Make friends with your freezer I treat my freezer like a savings account for time. Every portion of chilli, soup or sauce I add is a deposit,  and every night I can pull out dinner with zero cooking is a little dividend paid back.

Accept the imperfect weeks There are Sundays when meal prep doesn’t happen. When that’s the case, I have a few “quick rescues” up my sleeve,  omelettes with frozen veg, tuna pasta, or even a breakfast-for-dinner night. Skipping prep is not a failure, it’s just life.

The big shop

The weekly shop is where the planning pays off. I head out with a list grouped by section, fresh produce, pantry staples, proteins,  to avoid impulse buys and speed things up. I bulk-buy staples like oats, lentils and rice, and I’m not afraid to take shortcuts where it makes sense, like frozen chopped onions, tinned tomatoes or ready-washed salad leaves.

The payoff

Meal prepping isn’t about spending all Sunday cooking or eating the same thing every night. It’s about building a flexible toolkit of ingredients, flavours and ready-to-go meals that make healthy eating the easy choice. By treating Sunday as a relaxed kitchen session rather than a rigid chore, I not only save time and money, I actually look forward to it.

Because in the end, good nutrition is rarely about perfection,  it’s about setting yourself up to succeed, even on the busiest weeks. For me, that success starts with a roast chicken, a side of salmon, a loaf of sourdough, and a little planning.

Faye’s go-to meal ideas

One chicken, four meals

Sunday roast dinner – Roast chicken with seasonal veg and roast potatoes

Chicken miso soup – Bone broth base with miso paste, Chinese greens and soba noodles

Chicken salad wraps – Leftover chicken, homemade mayo with salad leaves, tomato and avocado in wholemeal wraps

Chicken and veg stir-fry – Quick wok-fried chicken with mixed vegetables and brown rice

One salmon, three meals

Sunday roast salmon – Oven-roasted salmon with lemon, dill, potatoes and greens

Healthy rice bowl – Flaked salmon with edamame, avocado, cucumber and sesame dressing

Nourishing fish soup – Salmon bone broth with added flakes of salmon, kale, barley and sweetcorn

Faye James is a Sydney-based accredited nutritionist and author of The 10:10 Diet, The Menopause Diet, The Long Life Plan and her latest book The Perimenopause Plan.