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

Meal prepping is a sensitive matter. Devotees insist that studying the best way to meal prep modified their lives. Opponents scoff on the concept, satisfied that meal prep means consuming the identical unhappy, boiled rooster breasts and soggy broccoli for per 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, nicely, put together a meal. 

Think about dealing with 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 pieces 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, should you’re answerable for feeding any. That is the form of meal prep we’re speaking about.

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

A Quick and Correct Digital Scale

We’ve examined numerous kitchen scales, and OXO’s is considered one of our favorites. (Lots of our editors use it at dwelling, too.) It’s tremendous dependable and the pull-out show makes it simple to learn it doesn’t matter what’s on prime of it. Whereas a digital scale is a useful gizmo for all cooks and bakers, it’s particularly useful 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 following three days, weighing meals eliminates the pesky inconsistencies of eyeballing.

Meals Storage Containers Aplenty

Even should you’re not into meal planning, leftovers and unfastened substances will at all times have to go someplace. Good-quality meals storage containers—whether or not glass, plastic, or silicone—will preserve meals contemporary and safeguard in opposition to leaks and peculiar fridge smells. In our assessments, 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 permit us see precisely what’s inside. For a extra moveable, simply stowable possibility, Re(zip) containers are nice at securely containing meals whereas taking over minimal area.

Reusable Meals Wraps

As an alternative of plastic wrap or aluminum foil for masking 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 received’t style like plastic the following time you chip off a shard in the course of the night time. Nice beeswax wraps ought to keep sticky—even after washing—and cling simply. In our evaluate, 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 gradual cooker might really feel like a relic of yesteryear, however these home equipment have been round for many years for a cause: They get the job executed. Throw in a number of substances earlier than work and are available dwelling to a sizzling meal. GreenPan impressed us with its fast heat-up time and efficient browning talents. It additionally stays cool throughout cooking, making it an particularly protected possibility for households with youngsters or pets. For versatility past gradual cooking, we love a multi-cooker just like the Immediate Pot for its capability to perform as a rice cooker, steamer, stress cooker, and extra. It’s an incredible choose for small areas or bang-for-your-buck budgets.

Espresso Delivered to Your Door

Nobody mentioned meal prep must be all about strong meals. For many people, espresso is a essential 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 around the globe. It is an incredible possibility for dipping a toe into specialty espresso (there are over 450 choices to select from). You would possibly as nicely 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 top quality chef’s knife—one which’s sharp, well-balanced, and cozy to grip—is the spine of any kitchen. It’s the dependable all-rounder you’ll want for slicing, dicing, chopping, and each different chopping verb. And whereas a chef’s knife will suffice for nearly all the pieces, if selection is the spice of life, contemplate a knife set to present your self extra choices (or to place another person to work, too). Units aren’t often our most popular technique to buy knives, however they are often an environment friendly and budget-friendly possibility for widening your arsenal.

Useful Cookbooks

Cookbooks are an unimaginable useful resource. They cowl the whys and how-tos of cooking and are useful to achieve for whenever you’re out of concepts and might’t consider a single dish, not to mention per week’s value. 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 considered one of our prime picks due to its efficient efficiency, affordable worth, and surprisingly quiet motor. If a full-size processor feels too cumbersome or expensive proper now, a mini meals processor can provide the identical comfort in a stowable, inexpensive bundle. This one from Hamilton Seaside packs an actual punch for its measurement 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 manufactured from heavy-gauge steel that conducts warmth nicely and resists warping—each Nordic Ware and Vollrath tick these containers. 

A Vacuum Sealer

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

An Immersion Circulator (Sous Vide Machine)

Okay, possibly we will’t declare an immersion circulator is important for meal prepping, however 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 really 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 like gradual cookers, salad spinners look like a kind 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 apply you may make first rate rice on the stovetop, however actual rice fanatics know {that a} rice cooker does a much better job of making completely cooked rice each time. The Hamilton Seaside mannequin carried out finest in our assessments 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 completely different sounds when the cooking cycle is full).

A Excessive-Velocity 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 inexpensive and excels within the smoothie division. 

FAQs

What are the most effective meal prep instruments on Amazon?

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

Does meal prepping really save time?

It might! Preserving the give attention to getting ready particular person meal elements—like whisking collectively salad dressing, peeling and chopping greens, and cooking an enormous batch of rice—lets you transfer extra nimbly when it comes time to prepare dinner and assemble a meal.

Why We’re the Consultants

• Summer time Rylander is a proficient dwelling prepare dinner and a frequent contributor to Severe Eats, the place she deciphers testing notes on all the pieces from cheese field subscriptions to moveable charcoal grills.
• The Severe Eats group has spent years testing the most effective cooking gear, home equipment, and instruments. We usually replace our critiques with new insights and long-term testing outcomes.