How to Meal Prep for Two (and Stick to It)

If you and your partner have wondered how to meal prep for two, you've landed on the right page. Although meal prepping for couples can sound complicated, it doesn't have to be. "When both people are busy, meal prep can be a great way to share responsibilities and can also be a fun way to spend time together," says Tracey Brigman, EdD, MS, RDN, LD, clinical associate professor at the University of Georgia. After all, prepping meals in a way that feels right to you and your partner is key.

To learn more about meal planning for two—including the benefits, and the steps to take to successfully (and consistently) do so while sticking to your budget—we tapped Brigman, along with Meggie Connelly, MS, RDN, LDN, PCOS dietitian and owner of Be Balanced Nutrition Services; Megan K. Ramaika, MA, RD, LDN, bariatric dietitian at Medstar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC; Gianna Totillo, MS, RD, CDN, registered dietitian and founder of The Diva Dietitian; and Mariana Dineen, MS, RDN, registered dietitian and founder of Elemento Health. Read on for tips to follow when it comes to meal prep for couples and how you can avoid the common obstacles that often cause people to veer off track.

In this article:

• Why Should You Meal Prep as a Couple?
• How to Meal Prep for Two
• How to Consistently Meal Prep for Two

Why Should You Meal Prep as a Couple?

There are many reasons why you should meal prep as a couple, with the first being to ensure you're both consuming a balanced and healthy diet. "As a couple, you can eat healthier by having control over ingredients such as sodium, fat and added sugars," Brigman explains. You're less likely to quickly opt for those unhealthy snacks after you feel satiated, energized and nourished by the high-quality meals you've prepped, Dineen adds.

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Meal prep for two people can be one of the easiest things to do together, allowing you to spend more quality time with each other. "Meal prepping as a couple creates a balance in the responsibility of meal preparation, and it allows for time for connection with your partner. Both partners are busy, and it's important to balance the load of meal planning and prep in a relationship," Connelly explains. Whether it's splitting the grocery list (and/or splitting expenses) or dividing and conquering recipe steps, you'll work together toward a shared goal. Furthermore, you can use the extra time together to engage in meaningful conversations that your schedule may not permit otherwise during the week.

Meal prepping can save you and your partner money, especially if you purchase your ingredients in bulk or buy them when they're on sale (or with coupons). The more you cook at home (and do so according to your budget), the less likely you will be to spend money dining out or on delivery dining services.

How to Meal Prep for Two

Now that you've learned more about the benefits of meal prepping, it's time to learn how to meal prep for two adults. Read on for some best practices and steps you can take to make your meal prep experience enjoyable and seamless.

1. Set Your Meal Prep Goals

Whether you're looking to increase your protein or fiber intake or simply want to eat meals with ingredients you can pronounce, ensuring that you and your partner are on the same page with your meal prep goals is key. Although you can meal prep all of your meals for a set period, starting small with a couple of meals per week may help you ease into this new lifestyle change (especially if you haven't meal-prepped before).

2. Decide on Your Recipes and When You'll Cook Them

There are endless possibilities for recipes you can meal prep with your partner, which is good, but can feel overwhelming. With this in mind, narrowing down and making note of the meals you'd like to prepare within a specific timeframe can help you be methodical and plan your budget.

"I suggest couples create a 'database' of their favorite meals where each person brings 10 or so recipes to the database that can then be used each week to make meal selections," Connelly advises. Brigman adds that your and your partner's food preferences should be considered during this step, so both parties are content with their future meals.

3. Create Your Budget (and Stick to It)

Once you've solidified how frequently you'd like to meal prep, the types of meals you'll cook in advance and the ingredients you need, setting your grocery budget for two is the next (and arguably most important) step in the meal prep process. Whether you and your partner are working with combined finances or splitting expenses, you can utilize resources, including budget apps or traditional stationery planners, to stay organized and prevent overspending.

4. Purchase Your Ingredients

You can shop for groceries in person at your local grocery store, use a mobile delivery service (such as Instacart or DoorDash) or order them online. It is also important to determine whether one or both of you will shop and for which items. This is the time to decide when to shop, how you'll shop and how often. "It's important to review the budget, look to where you shop and see if there are any deals on protein, look to see what's seasonal to save additional money, and start the planning process to get your grocery list set up," Ramaika says.

How you and your partner purchase your ingredients is up to you, but it is important to be aware of the pros and cons of each option before deciding. "If you are meal prepping more, I find ordering groceries online helpful because it reduces impulse buys as I can easily research prices for items and adjust meal plans when I see sale items," Connelly says.

5. Get Cooking

Now that you have your ingredients prepped and ready, it's time to start cooking. "When meal prepping for two, you could scale the recipe down to just two servings, but if you are going to be in the kitchen, you might as well make use of your time and make the full recipe or double it and get even more meals," Connelly explains.

The amount of time you've allotted to meal prepping can influence how you and your partner approach it. You can either work on each meal together or strategically assign tasks. If you choose the latter, Brigman recommends that each partner identify their cooking strengths and weaknesses to allocate tasks most effectively. You can pretend it's a cooking class!

Cooking does not have to be boring. You can use it as a time to jam out to some music with your partner (while still paying attention to any appliances you may be using), or use the time to participate in a couples workout. "In our house, we blast dance music while we cook, and if I haven't made time for exercise, I'll put on some ankle weights while I am dancing and cooking," Brigman says.

6. Store Your Prepped Meals

After you've cooked your meals, you need to store them. "Having a fun lunch box or bag can make it enticing, and ordering glass Tupperware containers with split sections can make it easy to visually plate up your meals," Ramaika says. Don't forget to refrigerate or freeze them afterward, depending on how soon you plan on enjoying them.

7. Enjoy Your Food

It's time to enjoy the food you put your effort into making. Whether you plan on enjoying your food at work, home or with each other, make sure to be proud of yourselves as cooking is not an easy feat and should be celebrated.

How to Consistently Meal Prep for Two

It'd be wrong of us to say that meal prepping for couples is always easy because it's not and requires time and commitment from both people. That said, there are ways you can stay motivated and committed to consistently sticking with your meal prep plan to reach your personal, health-oriented or financial goals.

Start Simple

If you and your partner are new to meal prepping, Brigman recommends starting with simpler meals, as you'll likely become less discouraged and therefore keep your motivation high to continue with your meal prep plan each week. You want to make sure you're making meals that excite both of you, especially if you or your partner is a picky eater.

Be Flexible With Your Plan

There's a good chance that you and your partner have pretty busy schedules, which can cause life to get in the way of your plans. As frustrating as that can be, it's important to adjust as needed. "Being flexible and adjusting your plan as needed is key to consistent meal prep. Maybe the store is out of a critical ingredient or your schedule changed for the week. Regardless of the reason, find a way to adjust and stick to your plan as best you can," Brigman says. Although you may be set on a certain meal schedule, don't be afraid to change up your meals every so often to keep things interesting if you find that your current regimen is feeling a bit redundant.

Save Your Grocery List

Since you'll be making the same meals repeatedly, having an idea of what you'll need each time (and the quantity) is essential. Dineen recommends saving a note on your phone with the ingredients for your most frequent (if not all) meals.

Freeze Leftovers

Freezing any leftovers can ensure you have meals to come and prevent food spoilage and waste. "When you first start out meal prep planning, choose big batch recipes that you can refrigerate or freeze. While it may take longer to make the original meal, you have several meals saved for later that can save you time down the road," Brigman notes.

Make One-Pan Meals

Keeping meals to one-pan or cooking appliances can help minimize the clean-up process, so you can spend more time cooking and less time cleaning (it's a win-win, right?). "One-pan meals save time, create minimal mess requiring minimal cleanup, and allow you to easily create balanced meals in bulk," Totillo adds.