I tried meal prepping four times before it stuck. The first three attempts failed the same way: on Sunday I would cook five identical containers of chicken, rice, and broccoli. By Tuesday lunch I was already tired of it. By Wednesday the containers sat untouched in the fridge while I ordered a burrito. On Friday I threw away two sad meals and felt guilty about the wasted money and food.

The fourth attempt worked. I have been meal prepping consistently for over a year now and I actually look forward to my lunches. The secret is simple: do not prep identical meals.

Prep ingredients, not meals

Instead of assembling five identical containers, cook components separately and mix them differently each day. Make a batch of grilled chicken, a batch of roasted vegetables, a pot of quinoa, and a few different sauces — pesto, salsa, a yogurt-based dressing. On Monday you combine chicken, quinoa, roasted peppers, and pesto in a bowl. On Tuesday the same chicken goes into a wrap with different vegetables and salsa. It tastes like a completely different meal but the cooking time is the same.

This approach takes about the same amount of Sunday time as the “five identical containers” method and you actually eat the food.

Two proteins, two grains, three vegetables

That is my formula. On Sunday I cook two proteins (chicken thighs and ground turkey), two grains (rice and quinoa), and three vegetables (roasted broccoli, sauteed peppers, and raw spinach). With different combinations and sauces you have enough variety for five days without repeating a meal. The upfront cooking takes about 90 minutes. The weekday assembly takes two minutes per meal.

Freeze one day’s worth

By Thursday, anything in the fridge has been there for four days and is approaching the danger zone. I freeze Thursday and Friday portions on Sunday — assemble them into containers, label with the date, and freeze. Pull one out the night before and it thaws in the fridge. This also means that if something comes up midweek and you eat out, you have not wasted a meal — it is safely frozen for next week.

I spend about sixty dollars a week on meal prep ingredients and I do not buy lunch anymore. That is roughly two hundred dollars a month saved compared to my old burrito habit. And nothing goes in the trash on Friday.