My favorite chicken meal prep recipes make it easy to replace the boring old meal prep with something flavor-packed! I don’t want my weekly lunches to be the same chicken and rice day after day. I crave variety and flavor! So I’ve rounded up these meal prep ideas to inspire you (and myself) to make chicken recipes that are healthy, delicious, vibrant, and exciting.
Easy Meal Prep Recipes with Chicken
There are two different ways I approach meal prepping chicken recipes:
Make easy, all-in-one meals (like sheet pan meals, one pot recipes, etc.) and then portion them out into containers for each day of the week. This is great when I want some really exciting meal prep recipes to spice things up during the work week, especially if I’m planning family dinners.
The other way is to prep chicken breast or chicken thighs with one of my favorite methods, then make some simple veggies, rice, or grains to go with it. This works well when I’m trying to be extra healthy and consistent with my weekly lunches.
Either way, these chicken meal prep ideas are all easy, delicious, and sure to make meal time a breeze!
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Chicken Breast Meal Prep Ideas
Spice up your usual chicken, rice, and veggie meal prep formula with these flavor-packed chicken breast recipes!
- Honey Garlic Chicken Breast: This simple chicken breast recipe has a sweet and savory flavor that I love to pair with white rice and steamed veggies for easy meal prep.
- Baked Chicken Breast: Seasoned with the most amazing brown sugar spice mix, my go-to baked chicken recipe comes out perfectly juicy and ready for any meal!
- Maple Bourbon Chicken Breasts: Marinated in a lip-smacking maple, brown sugar, and bourbon mixture, this chicken adds tons of flavor to any meal.
- Baked Lemon Pepper Chicken: A marinade gives this chicken breast a bright and peppery taste, and it cooks in about 15 minutes — easy!
- Marinated Chipotle Chicken: This chicken is smoky, spicy, and zesty, thanks to a marinade made with lime, adobo sauce, honey, and chipotle peppers.
Sheet Pan Meal Prep
Sheet pan meals make the perfect meal prep recipes, because I can cook chicken and vegetables all in one pan. Throw these tasty meals in the oven, and you’ll have dinners ready for days!
- Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies: A simple mix of chicken breast, asparagus, grape tomatoes, and potatoes is covered in a garlic-herb marinade, then roasted to perfection.
- Sheet Pan Chicken and Broccoli: Chicken and broccoli is a healthy meal prep combo, but this recipe makes it even better by adding a delicious marinade.
- Sheet Pan Maple Dijon Chicken: Maple Dijon chicken breast, brussels sprouts, and sweet potatoes make a hearty yet healthy meal prep recipe. I serve it with wild rice when I want to add some whole grains.
- Apple Chicken Sheet Pan Meal: Baked chicken breast, fresh apples, savory onions, and lip-smacking brown sugar butter make up this amazing one pan meal!
- Honey Mustard Chicken and Potatoes: This chicken thighs sheet pan meal with baby potatoes is filled with flavor! I love prepping this one for dinners so I don’t have to cook at the end of the day.
- Chicken Sausage Sheet Pan Meal: Juicy chicken sausage, brussels sprouts, red onions, and sweet potatoes roast on a single sheet pan in under an hour. This recipe can easily be portioned into 2-4 meals!
Not Boring Chicken and Rice Meals
Why settle for plain rice and bland chicken when you can meal prep these yummy recipes instead?
- Vietnamese Chicken and Rice: Savory lemongrass chicken thighs are paired with coconut rice, herbs, and cucumber slices for a fresh and healthy meal prep idea.
- Cajun Chicken and Rice: This one-pan stovetop recipe adds some spice to the typical chicken breast and rice combo. It’s a great lunch to liven up the workday.
- Tex Mex Chicken and Rice: Cubes of chicken breast are mixed right into a cheesy rice casserole, along with black beans, corn, green chiles, and more. It’s a flavorful and filling all-in-one meal!
- Cheesy Chicken and Rice: A cheesy one pan meal filled with chicken breast, broccoli, and rice is the perfect dinner recipe to make ahead of time.
One Pan Recipes for Meal Prep
These one pan chicken recipes make meal prep a breeze! Throw everything into a pan, let it cook, then portion it out into individual meals. This method saves me so much prep time.
- Roast Chicken and Veggies: Juicy chicken tenders, a range of colorful veggies, and a delicious chimichurri sauce cook up in one baking dish. I love how vibrant this meal prep idea is!
- Lemon Chicken and Zucchini: Crispy chicken thighs, zucchini, and cannellini beans are coated in a zesty lemon herb dressing then roasted together for a well-balanced, protein-forward meal.
- Hibachi Chicken and Veggies: This exciting one-pan dish makes it easy to skip lunchtime takeout! Bites of chicken with an array of veggies, served with creamy yum yum sauce. This is so easy to meal prep for weekdays!
Healthy Chicken Meal Prep Lunches
These chicken meal prep ideas check all of my boxes: they’re all healthy, delicious, and easy to pack up for weekday lunches!
- Chicken Burrito Bowl: This is one of the best meal prep chicken recipes for work lunches, because it tastes like Chipotle, but it’s much fresher and more affordable to make at home.
- Napa Almond Chicken Salad: Here’s another copycat recipe that helps me skip the delivery or drive-thru. This creamy chicken salad is great for sandwiches, wraps, or dipping with rice crackers.
- Chicken Lettuce Wraps: Make a delicious ground chicken mix with the flavor of sesame, ginger, and garlic sauce, combine it with rice, pack it up for lunch, then serve in fresh lettuce leaves to eat.
- Chicken Tzatziki Bowl: This fresh and flavorful mix of chicken, steamed rice, veggies, feta, and Tzatziki sauce makes a beautiful mediterranean-inspired lunch!
- Air Fryer Chicken Fajitas: I love how quick and easy it is to throw together a seasoned fajita filling in the air fryer. Pack it up in meal prep containers, then bring some tortillas on the side to serve!
- Poached Chicken: Poaching is a simple way to get healthy chicken breasts prepped and ready for a variety of meals. I love using this sliced up on top of salads or inside wraps.
Staple Chicken Recipes for Meal Prepping
These are my favorite easy chicken recipes to use as a base for weekly meal prep. Simply cook some chicken breast, chicken thighs, or shredded chicken, then add it to containers with your favorite rice and veggies!
- Crockpot Shredded Chicken: Shredded chicken is an easy and healthy option, and I prefer using my slow cooker to make the process hands-off while I work on other meal prepping.
- Baked Bone-in Chicken Breast: Cooking bone-in chicken is an easy way to add a richer, juicier meat to weekly meals. I love the simple rosemary flavor that pairs well with everything!
- Grilled Chicken Breast: Meal prep chicken breast with a flavor-packed mix of spices, then grill it up for a healthy cooking option.
- Instant Pot Chicken Thighs: Boldly-seasoned thighs cook in just 15 minutes, so you can have a week’s worth of chicken ready fast!
- Rotisserie Chicken: Cooking a whole chicken is a must if you want versatile meal prep potential. You get a little bit of every piece plus shredded meat to use as you please. This easily turns into a week of meals for 1-2 people.
- Air Fryer Chicken Thighs: Made with a simple seasoning mix, these crispy thighs cook up in just 25 minutes! They’re easy to pair with any grain or vegetables.
Protein-packed Meal Prep
Since chicken is such a good source of protein, these easy meal prep recipes are a great way to make sure you hit your goals.
- Garlic Butter Chicken Bites: These juicy chicken breast bites are protein-packed, totally delicious, and ready in 25 minutes! Perfect for healthy meal prep.
- Instant Pot Chicken Tenders: These tenders are one of the easiest things to make and they’re ready in 15 minutes. So it’s a quick way to add protein to any meal!
- Cobb Salad: Stuffed with chicken breasts, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, creamy avocado, blue cheese, and fresh veggies, this classic salad is a great source of protein for lunchtime.
- Grilled Chicken Nuggets: Meal-prepping these nuggets is simple, and it saves me a trip to the drive-thru! They’re delicious served with rice, salads, vegetables, or folded into wraps.
- Instant Pot Shredded Chicken: This is one of the quickest and easiest ways to add some extra protein into any of your usual meal prep recipes.
Make Ahead Chicken Dinner Recipes
Meal prep isn’t just for lunch! I like to make some easy chicken dinner recipes ahead of time too, so I always have weeknight meals ready in a flash after a busy day.
- Tuscan Chicken and Orzo: This 30-minute, one-pan dinner is filled with chicken thighs, creamy orzo, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes. It’s a simple meal that’s easy to make ahead of time.
- Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry: Chicken breast, a colorful mix of veggies, and a tasty sauce come together easily in one skillet to make this meal prep dinner. It keeps well in the fridge for a few days.
- Chicken Stuffed Peppers: These bell peppers are filled with chicken, rice, black beans, and salsa. You can prep them and keep them in the fridge, so they’re ready to bake when you get home.
- Baked Lemon Chicken Foil Packets: This easy chicken meal prep idea combines chicken breast, potatoes, and onions with savory seasonings and a hint of lemon.
What I especially love about foil packet recipes, is that each packet is a full meal, so they’re already portioned out, and easy to store in the fridge until ready to reheat and eat!
Notes on Meal Prepping Chicken
- These chicken meal prep recipes can all be reheated in the microwave for convenience. Be sure the chicken is fully heated through (check the internal temperature) before eating. Check here for more tips on reheating chicken.
- Cooked chicken can safely be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. Check each recipe for specific storage information and storage time, or check this chicken storage guide.
- I recommend meal prepping chicken recipes for 3-4 days at most, unless you are planning for freezer meal prep — then you can prepare for months in advance!
- Portion out recipes into glass meal prep containers before storing, so you can quickly grab, reheat, and eat!
Meal time will be a breeze with these recipes on the menu. Bookmark or pin these easy chicken meal prep ideas so you always have a tasty recipe ready to cook!
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