The 14 Finest Meal Prep Instruments of 2024, Examined & Reviewed

Meal prepping is a sensitive matter. Devotees insist that studying the way to meal prep modified their lives. Opponents scoff on the thought, satisfied that meal prep means consuming the identical unhappy, boiled rooster breasts and soggy broccoli for every week straight. However as with most issues closely debated on the web, a cheerful medium lies between two extremes: Efficient meal prepping simply means being ready to, effectively, put together a meal. 

Think about going through the Tuesday afternoon’s what-are-we-going-to-eat-for-dinner dread with the blissful realization that you just selected Nigerian Beef Suya two days in the past and all the things you want is already in your fridge. Think about preparing for work on Wednesday morning and having a packed lunch able to go—youngsters included, for those who’re accountable for feeding any. That is the type of meal prep we’re speaking about.

And since we’re huge advocates of getting the correct instruments for the job, after all we’re desirous to share our favourite meal prep gear. Whether or not they’re storage options or intelligent timesavers, these merchandise assist us get by way of busy weeks well-fed with time to spare.

A Quick and Correct Digital Scale

We’ve examined a variety of kitchen scales, and OXO’s is one among our favorites. (A lot of our editors use it at house, too.) It’s tremendous dependable and the pull-out show makes it simple to learn it doesn’t matter what’s on high of it. Whereas a digital scale is a great tool for all cooks and bakers, it’s particularly helpful for consistency in meal prepping. Whether or not you’re portioning out a family-sized pack of floor beef or rationing quinoa salad for the subsequent three days, weighing meals eliminates the pesky inconsistencies of eyeballing.

Meals Storage Containers Aplenty

Even for those who’re not into meal planning, leftovers and unfastened substances will all the time have to go someplace. Good-quality meals storage containers—whether or not glass, plastic, or silicone—will preserve meals recent and safeguard in opposition to leaks and peculiar fridge smells. In our exams, Rubbermaid’s Brilliance line took the highest spot in each glass and plastic classes due to their leakproof, tight-fitting lids with safe latches. We additionally respect the clear sides that allow us see precisely what’s inside. For a extra transportable, simply stowable possibility, Re(zip) containers are nice at securely containing meals whereas taking on minimal house.

Reusable Meals Wraps

As an alternative of plastic wrap or aluminum foil for overlaying bowls, wrapping cheese, or hoping that half-avocado stays no less than semi-green till tomorrow morning, attempt a beeswax meals wrap. Not solely are they reusable, however they’re breathable too, which implies your costly wedge of Parmesan cheese gained’t style like plastic the subsequent time you chip off a shard in the course of the evening. Nice beeswax wraps ought to keep sticky—even after washing—and cling simply. In our overview, each Trifecta Residing Co. and Abeego wraps proved sturdy, simple to crimp onto bowls, fruits, and extra, and had been simple to hand-wash with cleaning soap and air-dry.

A Gradual (or Multi) Cooker

A sluggish cooker could really feel like a relic of yesteryear, however these home equipment have been round for many years for a purpose: They get the job carried out. Throw in a number of substances earlier than work and are available house to a sizzling meal. GreenPan impressed us with its fast heat-up time and efficient browning talents. It additionally stays cool all through cooking, making it an particularly secure possibility for households with youngsters or pets. For versatility past sluggish cooking, we love a multi-cooker just like the Immediate Pot for its capacity to perform as a rice cooker, steamer, stress cooker, and extra. It’s an important decide for small areas or bang-for-your-buck budgets.

Espresso Delivered to Your Door

Nobody mentioned meal prep needs to be all about stable meals. For many people, espresso is a crucial a part of every morning, and few issues are extra disagreeable than going about your morning brewing ritual solely to appreciate you’re out of espresso. Enter: espresso by mail. Commerce Espresso Membership isn’t only a subscription service to maintain the good things coming to your door; it’s a portal to espresso from all over the world. It is an important possibility for dipping a toe into specialty espresso (there are over 450 choices to select from). You would possibly as effectively sip on one thing new throughout all that further time you’ll have due to meal prepping, proper?

A Good Knife (or A number of)

A high quality chef’s knife—one which’s sharp, well-balanced, and comfy to grip—is the spine of any kitchen. It’s the dependable all-rounder you’ll want for slicing, dicing, chopping, and each different slicing verb. And whereas a chef’s knife will suffice for almost all the things, if selection is the spice of life, think about a knife set to present your self extra choices (or to place another person to work, too). Units aren’t normally our most popular method to buy knives, however they are often an environment friendly and budget-friendly possibility for widening your arsenal.

Useful Cookbooks

Cookbooks are an unbelievable useful resource. They cowl the whys and how-tos of cooking and are useful to succeed in for while you’re out of concepts and might’t consider a single dish, not to mention every week’s price. From important cooking to baking, meal prep is a breeze when you may have a shelf of inspiration at your fingertips. Our workers likes to line their cabinets with cookbooks that educate strategies and assist pull you out of boring routines.

A Meals Processor

Full-sized meals processors are nice for chopping, slicing, shredding, emulsifying and a lot extra. Cuisinart’s 14-cup meals processor is one among our high picks due to its efficient efficiency, affordable value, and surprisingly quiet motor. If a full-size processor feels too cumbersome or dear proper now, a mini meals processor can provide the similar comfort in a stowable, reasonably priced package deal. This one from Hamilton Seashore packs an actual punch for its dimension and even comes with a slicing and grating disk. Go forward and cube onions with out the tears, mix up a batch of salad dressing, or pulverize stale bread into helpful breadcrumbs with ease.

Versatile Baking Sheets

Baking sheets are good for far more than simply cookies—sheet pan dinners, anybody? And we love a sheet pan for meal prep. Roast a rooster, a head of cauliflower, or a batch of carrots and reap the rewards of (nearly) hands-off cooking. Good baking sheets are fabricated from heavy-gauge metallic that conducts warmth effectively and resists warping—each Nordic Ware and Vollrath tick these containers. 

A Vacuum Sealer

Vacuum sealers are helpful for long-term storage like freezing sauces or recent cuts of meat, however they’re additionally helpful for creating a fast, forceful seal appropriate for making prompt pickles or sous vide cooking. We examined 24 vacuum sealers and these two from Nesco and Anova got here out on high for his or her intuitive design and double-seal know-how. 

An Immersion Circulator (Sous Vide Machine)

Okay, possibly we will’t declare an immersion circulator is important for meal prepping, nevertheless it’s fairly helpful for precision cooking. These little machines create a constant water temperature for sous vide cooking with out the necessity for fixed monitoring. We just like the Breville Joule for its quick, quiet efficiency and companion app you’ll truly wish to use. On the budget-friendly finish, the Immediate Accu works so effectively we will hardly imagine it prices lower than $100.

A Swooshy Salad Spinner

Very similar to sluggish cookers, salad spinners look like a type of belongings you’d have present in your grandma’s kitchen when poking round as a curious baby. However these instruments are genuinely nice. They make rinsing lettuce a lot simpler, which implies you don’t have to purchase the pre-packaged stuff to get salad on the desk quick. Each of those picks spin easily and dry shortly, and within the case of the glass-bowled OXO, the bowl itself can double as your salad serving vessel.

A Foolproof Rice Cooker

Sure, with a little bit of follow you can also make respectable rice on the stovetop, however actual rice lovers know {that a} rice cooker does a much better job of making completely cooked rice each time. The Hamilton Seashore mannequin carried out finest in our exams with its easy management panel and no-frills settings, however the Zojirushi makes for a worthy splurge with well-reputed high quality and enjoyable settings (like enjoying totally different sounds when the cooking cycle is full).

A Excessive-Pace Blender

Highly effective blenders like these don’t come low cost, however they’re so dang efficient. Blenders are helpful for smoothies and soups alike, and to even make your personal nut butter. Vitamix has been main the way in which for a few years now with its professional-grade motor and intelligent vortex design that sucks all of the substances down into its blades. The Blendtec is a bit more reasonably priced and excels within the smoothie division. 

FAQs

What are the very best meal prep instruments on Amazon?

Cool instruments usually are not briefly provide on Amazon, however we take a barely totally different method to cooking devices. As an alternative of cluttering our cupboards with novelty tools, we store Amazon for good offers on important tools, like our favourite Vitamix blender and a really excellent espresso machine.

Does meal prepping truly save time?

It could! Preserving the deal with making ready particular person meal elements—like whisking collectively salad dressing, peeling and chopping greens, and cooking an enormous batch of rice—permits you to transfer extra nimbly when it comes time to cook dinner and assemble a meal.

Why We’re the Consultants

• Summer time Rylander is a proficient house cook dinner and a frequent contributor to Critical Eats, the place she deciphers testing notes on all the things from cheese field subscriptions to transportable charcoal grills.
• The Critical Eats group has spent years testing the very best cooking tools, home equipment, and instruments. We recurrently replace our opinions with new insights and long-term testing outcomes.