Meal Prep Chicken and Vegetables (Paleo, Whole30)

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 husband 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 or ground 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. No afternoon slump here!

Why You’ll Love Meal Prepping:

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!

This versatile approach is a great way of keeping your weekday lunches or weeknight dinners simple and clean.

Entertaining guests who love a good whole food meal? This is fabulous for that application as well!

Formula For Healthy Meal Prep Ideas:

Lean Protein: Pick your favorite lean protein like chicken breasts, ground turkey, ground chicken, or lean fish. Multiply what you would normally eat in one meal by how many meals you would like to cook.

Fresh Vegetables: Choose your favorite seasonal vegetables to cook in bulk. You can also make my Big Batch Roasted Vegetables recipe if you prefer roasting over cooking on the stove top.

I like including starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, butternut squash (or other winter squash), and carrots for carbohydrates.

Swap out the starchy veggies for cooked brown rice if you prefer!

Cooking Oil: I always use avocado oil because it contains omega 3 fatty acids, and it is ideal for cooking at high temperatures.

Seasonings: Pick seasonings you know you love! I like Italian seasoning, but chili powder, Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and curry powder are all great choices.

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 5 to 7 meal prep containers with cooked chicken, using your own discretion for what portions you’re aiming for.

Similarly, add your desired amount of vegetables to each bowl. Seal the bowls and refrigerate for up to 8 days.

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.

What I love about this versatile recipe is you can use it as a base recipe for all of your weekly meal prep. Simply choose your favorite protein, veggies, and seasonings!

Love meal prep recipes? Also try out these gems.

More Meal Prep Recipes:

• Sweet Potato Ground Beef Taco Bowl
• One Pan Salmon and Vegetables
• Ground Turkey Taco Casserole
• One-Pot Mediterranean Chicken and Rice
• Instant Pot Shredded Beef Tacos

Happy brain-power food, here we go!