3 Easy recipes for Whole30 that make meal prep a breeze!

A successful Whole30 lies heavily in preparation; having essentials on hand, meal prepping as much as possible, and having some quick recipes in your wheelhouse. I’ve covered the essentials and quick meals previously, so now it’s time for some of my favorite, flavorful meals! These are easy to make and perfect for meal prepping.

I do my best to make them look good in the photos, but I am no food photographer! 🙂 Trust me, they are flavor packed! I enjoy these both on and off Whole30.

Meatballs with Zoodles and Garlic Spaghetti Sauce

I always make these with beef but I have substituted ground turkey, pork, and chicken in them, usually whatever is in the store and then whatever is cheapest. I can’t tell the difference in the taste! The only difference I have found is in handling and assembling the meatballs, ground chicken is very sticky. I prefer ground turkey in mine, usually because it is always available. I use this spiralizer I bought from amazon for cheap.

Makes 5 meals and takes about 25 minutes start to finish.

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground turkey
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp dried italian seasonings
2 tsp garlic powder
Salt & pepper to taste
3 large zucchini
1 jar Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic Spaghetti Sauce (or any whole30 compliant sauce you prefer)

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Assemble meatballs by combining beef, turkey, parsley, italian seasonings, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Combine by hand until well mixed, not overworking the meat too much. Using hands or a ⅓ cup measuring cup, form meatballs and place on a foil lined baking sheet (I use foil to make cleanup easy). You should have about 15 meatballs.
3. Bake meatballs for 20 minutes or until cooked through.
4. While meatballs bake, use a spiralizer (or chop by hand) zucchinis into zoodles.
5. Next steps are determined by when you plan to eat the meal: If you are meal prepping, place the zoodles right into the containers and top with 1/5 of the jar of sauce into each container. If you are serving immediately, heat a large saute pan on medium high with a light coating of olive oil. Heat the zoodles for 3 minutes and stir in the spaghetti sauce.
6. Top dishes or containers with cooked meatballs. I usually always have 15 meatballs, so 3 per container. To reheat cook in microwave for 3 minutes.

Pan Seared Pork Chop with Thyme Red Potatoes

I got the pork chop part of this recipe from a Blue Apron box a year or two ago, it was the first time I had made a pan sauce and I loved how easy it was and how sophisticated it made me feel! 🙂 Make sure you check the mustard and chicken broth for whole30 compliance.

Makes 4 meals and takes about 45 minutes start to finish.

Ingredients:
4 pork chops
6-8 red potatoes
1 tbsp fresh or dried thyme (thinly dice fresh)
2 shallots, minced
½ cup chicken broth
2 tbsp dijon mustard
Olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cut the potatoes into ½ inch pieces. Coat potatoes in olive oil and season with ½ tbsp of thyme, salt and pepper to taste and place on a foil lined baking sheet and roast for 30-40 minutes, or until tender.
3. After potatoes have been roasting for 20 minutes, begin pan searing the pork chops. Pat chops dry with a paper towel and generously season with salt and pepper. Heat a saute pan on medium-high heat, lightly coated with olive oil. Place seasoned pork chops in the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes per side.
4. Remove potatoes from oven and transfer to a plate, set aside. Place seared pork chops on baking sheet and bake in oven 6-7 minutes or until cooked through.
5. In the same pan you seared the pork chops, heat about 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced shallots and remaining thyme. Cook until tender, about a minute. Stir in chicken broth and dijon mustard until combined. Boil and simmer sauce until it has reduced by half.
6. Serve pork chops and potatoes, topping pork chops with mustard sauce. If you are meal prepping, I do this right in the containers.
   

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Lemon Herb Chicken Breast with Roasted Vegetables

I am not exaggerating when I say I eat this a lot. It’s easy and flavorful and relatively cheap to make. I usually eat this for my lunches 2 or 3 weeks out of a month! I am one of those people who can eat the same thing and not get bored. It’s so easy, it will make a great intro to meal prepping if you’ve never done it before. Feel free to change up which veggies you roast! I usually roast two of the following: brussel sprouts, broccoli, bell peppers, cauliflower, red potatoes, sweet potatoes.

Makes 5 meals and takes about an hour start to finish.

Ingredients:
5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pound brussel sprouts
1 large head cauliflower
½ a large lemon
Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute
Olive oil
Garlic salt
Salt & pepper to taste

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and adjust the racks so you can easily place two baking sheets in at once.
2. Tear off enough foil to make 1 large wrap pouch for the 5 chicken breasts and place on a baking sheet so you can easily handle. Place chicken on the foil and season each side generously with 21 Seasoning Salute, salt and pepper. Juice ½ lemon and drizzle over top of the chicken breasts. Wrap the foil around the chicken, sealing the pouch by folding the sides. Place in the oven and bake 45-60 minutes until cooked through.
3. Clean and chop the brussel sprouts in half and chop the cauliflower into large pieces. Lightly oil a foil lined baking sheet and place the vegetables on the sheet. Season with pepper and garlic salt to taste. Bake for 15 minutes, toss and flip and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until roasted and tender.
4. Once the chicken and vegetables are done, place in meal prep containers or serve!