In this post, I am sharing eight delicious meal prep beef recipes. They will help you quickly get a nourishing meal on the table for your family on even the busiest night. You will also find my top tips for meal planning and prep.
If you have been around here for a bit, you know that I love meal planning and prep! It allows meals to come together with ease. A great thing when you have hit the end of the day and the whole family is hungry and tired…cooking with a hangry kiddo is no fun!!
The meal planning and prep processes provide many benefits.
I believe the biggest benefit is that it reduces stress. When you have a meal plan or weekly menu in place, you know what will be eating at each meal. You are not scrambling around to find things to pack for lunch or a meal to make for dinner. You have a plan and all the items needed to execute it!
Another significant benefit is that meal planning and prep helps you stick to a grocery budget. This happens because you know what you need so you are not purchasing extra items that will not be used.
Most importantly, meal planning and prep help you eat a nourishing real food diet. Being able to stick with eating whole foods will improve or maintain health. And if you are a busy parent like me, there is no time for health struggles and you want your family to be healthy too!
What is meal planning and prep?
Meal planning is simply creating a list of meals that will be cooked and eaten within a week. You are creating a menu. It can be just for dinner each night or can include breakfast, lunch, and snacks too. I highly suggest including all meals when meal planning so that you always have nutritious food available.
Meal prep is preparing food in advance during a set block of time to be cooked and eaten later. It can be done in multiple ways:
- Ingredient prep: ingredients are washed, peeled, diced, and chopped but are not cooked.
- Batch cooking: dishes are made entirely and reheated at mealtime
- Assembly: dishes are assembled but not cooked until mealtime.
Tips for Meal Planning and Prep
My top tip for being consistent and successful with meal planning and prep is to make the process work for you and your current season of life!!
If planning seven days of meals is too taxing for your brain, plan just three or four days in advance instead.
If carving out three hours to meal prep just doesn’t work with your schedule, then break it up into multiple mini sessions throughout the week.
Don’t have room to store a week’s worth of food, then do grocery shopping in two trips a week instead of one.
Again, the point here is to make this tool work for you. There is no true right or wrong way.
My other tips include:
- Add meal planning and prep to your schedule once you have determined how you will do it.
- Have a few family favorite meals that you rotated through
- Try new recipes on days you have extra time, like the weekend.
- Be sure you have plenty of storage containers available for storing the prepped ingredients and prepared meals.
You can find all my pointers by reading the following blog posts:
- How to make a meal plan and prep with success
- Top tips for successful meal planning
- Tips for efficient meal prep
Meal Prep Beef Recipes
Crockpot Hamburger Soup Recipe (Freezer Friendly)
This delicious soup is so hearty! And is truly freezer friendly. To meal prep, make the meal completely then store as needed.
Easy Sloppy Joe Recipe: Spicy Cheeseburger
Sloppy joes are typically a meal that can be made quickly. With a little time during meal prep, they are on the table even faster!
Slow Cooker Beef Barbacoa (15-Minute Prep)
For this meal prep beef recipe, make the beef during meal prep and reheat.
Liver Recipes |Ground Beef & Liver Meatloaf
Liver is nutritious but rarely eaten in our modern world. Adding it to other foods is a great way to include it so your family reaps the benefits. Meatloaf works great to make ahead of time and reheat.
Italian Zucchini Boats With Ground Beef
To meal prep these, I would make the sauce in advance. Then on the day you want will be having this meal cut the zucchini, assemble them, and bake.
Sweet Potato Ground Beef Shepherd's Pie
Shepard's pie is such a warm and comforting meal. To meal prep this recipe you can make the dish during meal prep and reheat it in a 350-degree oven. Or you could prep all the ingredients so assembly is quick on the day you want to eat it.
The Best Beef Stew
Beef stew is such a satisfying meal to enjoy on a crisp fall or cold winter day. Plus, stew works great to reheat as the flavors tend to meld together. For this recipe you can either prep all the ingredients or make the recipe entirely during meal prep.
Shepherds Pie Fall Edition with Mushrooms and Squash
This twist on comforting shepherd's pie sounds so very delicious! Plus, it is a great choice if you are looking for a lower carb option. Prepping the ingredients so assembly is fast would work best for this recipe.
Save this post to your meal prep interest board! I have an entire board dedicated to healthy and nourishing dishes that are perfect for meal prep, you can find it here.
What is your favorite meal prep tip? Let me know in the comments!
