- Recipes
Power Hour Meal Prep
Sheela Prakash
Sheela PrakashSenior Contributing Food Editor
Sheela is the Senior Contributing Food Editor at Kitchn and the author of Mediterranean Every Day: Simple, Inspired Recipes for Feel-Good Food. She received her master's degree from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy and is also a Registered Dietitian.
updated Aug 11, 2022
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The Mediterranean diet is less of a diet in the traditional sense and more like a series of general healthy eating guidelines. It encourages you to put whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, and healthy fats like olive oil, seafood, nuts, and avocado at the center of your plate. It also allows for a moderate amount of dairy, eggs, and lean protein like chicken. Red meat, sweets, and processed foods are not 100% restricted, but instead they are considered “sometimes” foods to enjoy on occasion.
This weekend’s Power Hour Meal Prep Plan celebrates this feel-good diet. Carve out about two hours for meal prep on Sunday, and you’ll be rewarded with an entire week of wholesome breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
This meal prep plan is for anyone who is either already following the Mediterranean diet or curious about giving it a try. It focuses on the foods the diet encourages you to consume the most of — whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, and healthy fats like fish and olive oil — and includes a moderate amount of dairy, eggs, and chicken.
My Meal Prep Goals
- Breakfast: An easy grab-and-go option that can be mixed and matched throughout the week to limit boredom (five days).
- Lunch: Vegetable-focused meals that have enough protein and fiber in them to make them satisfying. They also need to be packable (five days).
- Dinner: Quick, colorful meals that include healthy fats, whole grains, and more veggies (four days).
- Nutritional Goals: A well-balanced week of eating that’s full of feel-good ingredients but doesn’t feel restrictive.
Meal Prep Plan Snapshot
- Feeds: Two people
- Prep Time: About 2 hours
- Meals Covered: About 75% (no Friday night dinner or weekend meals)
- Weeknight Cooking Required? Moderate (25 to 30 minutes of light cooking to bring dinner together)
Meal Plan
Breakfast
- How To Make Easy Muesli
- Mix-and-match additions: Greek yogurt, whole milk or almond milk, fresh fruit
Lunch
- Sourdough Mushroom Portobello Mushroom Sandwiches
- Cauliflower Rice Lunch Bowl with Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas
- Greek Salad topped with a Hard-Boiled Egg
Dinner
- over Creamy Polenta
- Easy, Healthy Greek Salmon Salad
- Roasted Tomatoes & Mushrooms tossed with whole-wheat pasta
Shopping List
This week’s shopping list is full of feel-good ingredients that are key parts of the Mediterranean diet like vegetables, whole grains, beans, and seafood. It assumes staples like olive oil, salt, and pepper are already on hand.
- Produce: 5 bananas, sweet potatoes (1 1/2 pounds), 1 bag cauliflower rice, 1 bunch cilantro, 2 limes, 1 avocado, 4 portobello mushrooms (about 1 pound total), 1 box baby spinach, garlic, 3 pints cherry tomatoes, 1 bunch parsley, 1 bunch thyme, 1 pound cremini mushrooms, 1 lemon, 1 small red onion, 2 medium heads butter lettuce, 1 medium English cucumber
- Meat & Seafood: 2 frozen (6-ounce) salmon fillets, 1/2 pound frozen shrimp
- Refrigerated: 1 large plain whole-milk, Greek yogurt, 1/2 gallon whole milk, 1 pound feta cheese, 4 ounces goat cheese, small wedge of Parmesan cheese, unsalted butter
- Pantry: Old-fashioned rolled oats, wheat bran, ground cinnamon, sliced almonds, pecans, pepitas, unsweetened coconut flakes, dried apricots, dried cherries, ground turmeric, 1 can chickpeas, 1 (16-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, red pepper flakes, 1 can white beans, balsamic vinegar, polenta, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, kalamata olives, whole-wheat pasta
- Other: Dry white wine, loaf of whole-grain sourdough bread
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Power Hour: How I Get the Prep Done
- Make the muesli: Heat the oven to 350°F and make the muesli according to recipe instructions.
- Prep sandwiches: While the nuts toast for the muesli, cook the mushrooms for the sandwiches on the stovetop according to recipe instructions.
- Prep and roast the tomatoes & mushrooms: Increase the oven temperature to 375°F. Prep and roast the tomatoes and mushrooms according to recipe instructions.
- Prep sweet potatoes: While the tomatoes and mushrooms roast, cut the sweet potatoes for the cauliflower rice bowls; toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper; and place on a baking sheet.
- Roast sweet potatoes: Increase the oven temperature to 425°F and place the sweet potatoes in the oven.
- Boil a couple of eggs: While the sweet potatoes roast, hard-boil two eggs.
- Make lunch bowls: Continue following instructions for the cauliflower rice bowls, placing the cauliflower rice on another baking sheet and adding the pepitas and feta to the baking sheet of sweet potatoes. Prepare the chickpeas and avocado and assemble the bowls in four lidded containers.
- Defrost shrimp: Transfer 1/2 pound shrimp from the freezer to the fridge to defrost overnight and be ready to go for dinner Monday night.
A Week of Simple Mediterranean-Style Meals
Breakfast
We alternate between sprinkling the muesli over Greek yogurt, simmering it with milk for a quick oatmeal, and just eating with cold milk as cereal. All variations get topped with half a banana.
Lunch
Monday and Wednesday, Sourdough Portobello Mushroom Sandwiches: In the morning, I assemble two sandwiches using the cooked mushrooms and remaining ingredients called for in the recipe. I spread goat cheese on the bread in place of mayo to add more protein and flavor. Both sandwiches get wrapped up; one goes to my husband and one stays in the fridge for me to grab later.
Tuesday and Friday, Cauliflower Rice Lunch Bowl with Sweet Potatoes and Chickpeas: We each reach for a pre-packed cauliflower rice lunch bowl.
Thursday, Greek Salad topped with a Hard-Boiled Egg: I pack a container with half the remaining undressed salad from the previous night’s dinner. I peel a hard-boiled egg, slice it in half, and add it to the container. I also pack up some of the leftover Greek vinaigrette in a small jar. My husband takes the two containers and assembles his salad at his desk. I’ll take the remaining salad, egg, and vinaigrette and make the same at home.
Dinner
Monday, : I make a half recipe of the shrimp skillet and we enjoy it with a couple of slices of the sourdough bread.
Tuesday, over Creamy Polenta: I make a half recipe of creamy polenta. I re-warm half the roasted tomatoes and mushrooms and serve it on top. At the end of the night, I transfer the salmon from the freezer to the fridge to let it defrost overnight for dinner tomorrow.
Wednesday, Easy, Healthy Greek Salmon Salad: I make the full salad but bake just two pieces of salmon. I reserve half of the salad, undressed, and remaining vinaigrette to be used for lunch the next day.
Thursday, Roasted Tomatoes & Mushrooms tossed with whole-wheat pasta: I boil some whole-wheat pasta, rewarm the remaining tomatoes and mushrooms, and toss it together for a lazy dinner.
Friday: It’s pizza night! We head out to our favorite neighborhood spot.
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Power Hour Meal Prep is the series where we help you put it all together. We show you how to eat well during the week with an hour or two of Power Hour prep over the weekend. Every plan is different; mix and match to find your own personal sweet spot.
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mediterranean
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