Meal planning is one of the few areas where shortcuts are your friend — as long as the food is healthy, take all the shortcuts you want! Here are some easy options, centered around the 3 key components of any macro-friendly meal…
1. Proteins
One of the best meal planning hacks is thinking in proteins. Choose one to be the star of the dish and build around it — whether that’s chicken, fish, tofu, beef, seitan, or anything else you choose. You can use multiple proteins in a dish, of course, but if you want to keep things simple, one is more than enough. Pick something lean to make your life easy, that way you have more flexibility when planning out your sauces and sides. This will make it simple to hit your protein, carb, and fat macros while feeling great throughout the day!
2. Starches & Veggies
Once you’ve chosen your protein, think about what starches will pair well with it — potatoes, rice, beans, English muffins, anything. This is your main carb source; you can cook it with butter or any oils you choose, just make sure to factor them into your macros! When in doubt, boiling / simmering / baking work great and generally require very few steps. Strike a balance of simplicity and flavor, then add in raw or cooked veggies to the mix. Veggies do have calories, meaning they also have macros to track, but they’re generally low in this area so you won’t have much work to do!
3. Sauces
You can make tons of great sauces with only a few ingredients! Choose nutrient-rich sauces and spreads like marinara, hummus, red pepper spread, peanut sauce, you name it — there are plenty of simple options, and once you nail down a recipe you like, you can use it as often as you like. Don’t feel like prepping anything from scratch? Check the macros of a store-bought sauce you love and adjust the rest of your meal accordingly.
