High-protein meal prep for the week, with the shopping lists

High-protein meal prep means cooking a few big batches that hit your protein target, then eating them over the next few days. Susten planned this week at 2,200 kcal and 165 g of protein a day. Two batch cooks cover every lunch and dinner. You cook the first the day before the week starts, and the second on day 3. Each one makes two dishes.

The week

The week

Targets: 2,200 kcal and 165 g protein a day

• Before day 1 · Batch cook
  • Lentil BologneseMake 5 portions · freeze 2
  • Shawarma Chicken Rice Bowl with Garlic YoghurtMake 2 portions
• Day 3 · Batch cook
  • Chicken Balti with PeppersMake 5 portions · freeze 1
  • Turkey & Black Bean Burrito BowlsMake 2 portions

The week, day by day

	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 4	Day 5	Day 6	Day 7
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Snack
kcal	2,162	2,162	2,158	2,251	2,251	2,158	2,158
g protein	165	165	165	171	171	165	165

Dinner · Day 1 · From first batch cook

Shawarma Chicken Rice Bowl with Garlic Yoghurt, the recipe, opens in a new tab

775 kcal · 59 g protein

We set Susten up like this:

• Targets: 2,200 kcal and 165 g of protein a day.
• How you like to cook: Batch cook once or twice a week. Susten then plans a batch cook before day 1 and another on day 3. Lunch and dinner swap between each batch cook's two dishes.
• Budget: Mid-range.
• Everything else: no diet, no allergies, and "Don't mind" for how long a meal takes.

The week has 54 g of protein at breakfast, from the Cottage Cheese, Spinach & Sausage Frittata every day. It takes 30 minutes. Susten plans breakfast fresh each morning, so it isn't part of the batch cooks.

The two batch cooks

Each batch cook makes two dishes. Susten says how many portions of each to make, which meals they feed and which portions go in the freezer:

Before day 1: batch cook

1. Lentil BologneseMake 5 portions, freeze 2 · 24 g protein eachFridge: Day 1 lunch, day 2 dinner, day 3 lunchFreezer: Day 6 dinner, day 7 lunch
2. Shawarma Chicken Rice Bowl with Garlic YoghurtMake 2 portions · 59 g protein eachFridge: Day 1 dinner, day 2 lunch

Day 3: batch cook

1. Chicken Balti with PeppersMake 5 portions, freeze 1 · 59 g protein eachFresh: Day 3 dinnerFridge: Day 4 lunch, day 5 dinner, day 6 lunchFreezer: Day 7 dinner
2. Turkey & Black Bean Burrito BowlsMake 2 portions · 58 g protein eachFridge: Day 4 dinner, day 5 lunch

Susten's list buys every portion of each batch at once. It adds up each ingredient across all the portions before it rounds up to whole packs.

Fridge or freezer?

Susten plans each portion for the fridge or the freezer. A portion goes in the freezer when its meal falls past the days its dish keeps in the fridge. So split each dish on the day you cook it:

1. Put the fridge portions in the fridge. Cool them first, and get them in the fridge within one to two hours.
2. Freeze the portions the plan marks for the freezer as soon as they're cool. Freeze each portion on its own, so you defrost only what you need.
3. Thaw each frozen portion the night before you eat it. Susten's cook view names the night.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) says to eat leftovers within 48 hours, or freeze them if you think you won't. Some fridge portions in this week fall more than 48 hours after their batch cook. To follow the FSA, freeze those too.

To eat a frozen portion, defrost it in the fridge overnight. The FSA says to use food within 24 hours of defrosting it. Then reheat it until it's steaming hot.

How each day adds up

Every day lands between 2,158 and 2,251 kcal, with 165 to 171 g of protein. Breakfast is the same every day, and lunch and dinner swap between each batch cook's two dishes. So the days sit close together.

Protein by meal, each day

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Snack

• Day 154245928165 g
• Day 254592428165 g
• Day 354245928165 g
• Day 4545958171 g
• Day 5545859171 g
• Day 654592428165 g
• Day 754245928165 g

The black line is the target: 165 g of protein a day.

Breakfast gives 54 g of protein every day. Of the four batch dishes, the Lentil Bolognese has the least: 24 g. So on each day you eat it, the day has a snack too: 28 g of protein from Hapi dry roasted edamame.

The list at Tesco and Sainsbury's

Susten writes the list for whichever shop you use. Here is the same week at both:

Total	Tesco	Sainsbury's
To buy	£78.47	£83.98
To buy, with Clubcard or Nectar prices	£78.17	£80.83
Whole list, cupboard items included	£106.16	£112.11
Food the meals use	£56.82	£65.54
Items on the list	51	51

Switch the list between the two shops. Each line notes its Clubcard or Nectar price where the shop has one.

When you choose "Keep it low" for the budget, Susten suggests cooking once or twice a week. In its words: "You buy fewer packs, and less food goes off." To see the cheapest high-protein meals, read high protein on a budget.

Make it fit you

• Your own numbers: work them out with the macro calculator.
• One lunch all week: pick a goal when you set up. A batch week with a goal keeps one lunch dish for days 1 to 5.
• Cook more often: choose "Every night, extra for lunch". Susten plans a dinner each night and makes enough for the next day's lunch.
• A lower target: see the 2,000 calorie high-protein week.