Paleo, Whole30 Meal Prep Chicken and Vegetables is great for work lunches or dinners throughout the week! This recipe makes 5 to 7 generous-sized meals for the hungry health-conscious individual!
Meal prepping is a great way to de-load your stress before the week even begins! …Because food needn’t cause stress!
Welcome to the only meal prep recipe you’ll ever need!
Okay, maybe not the only one, but you’re picking up what I’m putting down, I can see it in your hand 😉
My partner meal preps his lunches for the week by cooking huge batches of food and dividing it between meal prep bowls so that he can just grab one and go in the morning.
The meals typically involve chicken or ground elk/beef with rice and vegetables. This approach is filling, clean, super easy to prepare in bulk, well-balanced and provides quality fuel.
Keeping meals protein-forward with complex carbohydrate (and minimal to no refined carbohydrate or sugar) ensures even energy throughout the day. It keeps you feeling sharp and energetic without energy troughs.
It may seem minimalist or boring, but I truly believe food shouldn’t be a source of stress in life and maintaining a simple whole food diet is a great way of sticking to a nutrient-dense lifestyle. Not to mention, it is budget-friendly!
If you aren’t leaving the house for work, this is still a great way of keeping your weekdays or evening dinners simple and clean. Entertaining guests who love a good whole food meal? This is fabulous for that application as well!
Let’s hop to it!
What You Need To Know Before Making This Recipe:
If you follow the recipe using the exact portions of chicken and vegetables, you’ll need two large pots or pans with lids. If you scale the recipe down, you can use one large pot.
Another reason I like keeping the chicken and vegetables separate when we’re batch cooking in high volume is because a great deal of liquid cooks out of the chicken. This can make the vegetables mushy when cooked together. In addition, cooking them separately ensures even cooking of the chicken and prevents it from becoming over-cooked and less tender.
If you’re making a smaller batch (scaling down the recipe), feel free to prepare the whole thing in one pot!
Tip For Preparing This Recipe:
Either chop everything ahead of time or chop as you go. My instructions take a chop as you go approach. I find this expedites the prep time and also works out with the heartier vegetables that need more cook time versus the less hearty vegetables that require less cook time.
How to Make Meal Prep Chicken and Vegetables:
Let’s play a little game called chop as you go!
Chop the onion, garlic, sweet potato and carrots.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the avocado oil in a large (SUPER large) skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the onion, garlic, sweet potato and carrots. Stir well.
Chop the broccoli and add it to the skillet. Stir well to combine.
Add half of the seasonings and sea salt. Stir well.
Chop the zucchini and add it to the skillet. Stir well.
Once all of the vegetables are in the pot/skillet, cover and cook 5 minutes.
Remove cover, stir and cook 3 minutes.
Bite into one of the pieces of sweet potato and decide if you want to cook longer. In my experience, the vegetables are good to go at this point, but if necessary, continue cooking to desired doneness.
Add 1 tablespoon of avocado oil to a separate large pot or dutch oven and heat to medium-high.
Add the raw chicken and remaining seasonings. Allow the chicken to sit undisturbed for 3 minutes to brown.
Stir chicken well, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
Remove the cover and drain any liquid from the pot.
Fill meal prep bowls with chicken and vegetables, using your own discretion for portions of both.
What Type of Meal Prep Bowls to Use:
My partner uses Corelle Soup/Cereal Bowls with the corresponding Round White Plastic Lids. The bowls seal very well and are easy for him to pop in the microwave at work. Plus, they hold a great deal of food for us hungry people!
In the past, I have used these Glass Meal Prep Containers, which have two sections. This is nice if you are bringing along food you want to keep separate. I also find they hold a good amount of food.
Any type of sealable containers you have on hand that will fit enough food for you will work! You don’t have to be fancy.
Recipe Adaptations:
- Incorporate your favorite vegetables. Cauliflower, bell pepper, and yellow squash are all great choices.
- Make the recipe low-FODMAP by omitting the onion and garlic.
- Add steamed rice to your meal prep bowls for more carbohydrate. You can also omit the sweet potato to replace it with rice or carb of choice.
- If you prefer whole chicken or bone-in chicken rather than boneless chicken breasts, follow my Instant Pot Garlic and Herb Rotisserie Chicken recipe.
- Incorporate your favorite spices, herbs, or spice blends. In total, aim for 3 to 4 tablespoons total of spices for adequate flavoring. I like using dried basil, parsley, and ground cumin. Chili powder, Cajun seasoning, lemon pepper, curry powder, and oregano are all great additions.
Happy brain-power food, here we go!
My cookbook, Paleo Power Bowls, is now available! CLICK HERE to check it out. Thank you for your support!
If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp avocado oil, divided
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 large sweet potatoes, chopped (800 g total)
- 3 large carrots, chopped
- 3 bunches broccolini, or 2 crowns broccoli
- 4 medium = zucchini
- 4 Tbsp spices and herbs of choice, I use ground cumin, dried basil and parsley
- 1 tsp sea salt, to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, to taste
- 4 to 5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped
Instructions
- Chop the onion, sweet potato and carrots.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the avocado oil in a large (SUPER large) skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion, garlic, sweet potato and carrots. Stir well. Chop the broccoli and add it to the skillet. Stir well to combine.
- Add half of the seasonings and sea salt. Stir well.
- Chop the zucchini and add it to the skillet. Stir well.
- Once all of the vegetables are in the pot/skillet, cover and cook 5 minutes.
- Remove cover, stir and cook 3 minutes.
- Bite into one of the pieces of sweet potato and decide if you want to cook longer. In my experience, the vegetables are good to go at this point, but if necessary, continue cooking to desired doneness.
- Add 1 tablespoon of avocado oil to a separate large pot or dutch oven and heat to medium-high.
- Add the raw chicken and seasonings. Allow the chicken to sit undisturbed for 3 minutes to brown.
- Stir chicken well, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
- Remove the cover and drain any liquid from the pot.
- Fill meal prep bowls with chicken and vegetables, using your own discretion for portions of both.
