Low-Fat Meal Prep: 8 Recipes That Hold Up All Week

Meal prep is where a low-fat plan is won or lost. The evenings you have nothing ready are the evenings you order in, and takeaway is where the fat count goes through the roof. The problem with most prep recipes is that they rely on oil to stop things drying out in the fridge. These 8 solve it differently — sauces stored separately, acid and stock instead of oil, and formats that reheat without turning to leather. Two hours on Sunday, five days of dinners, all under 6 g of fat a serving.

If you would rather not build the week yourself, the 5-week very low-fat meal plan lays it out day by day, and the 7-day planning template is the blank version to fill in your own way. For sizing a portion once you stop weighing everything, use the balanced plate guide.

1. Sheet-Pan Lemon Chicken and Broccoli

The simplest possible prep: one tray, four portions, done in half an hour. Lemon and garlic do the work that oil normally does.

Fat: 4 g · Calories: 300 · Serves: 4 · Prep: 10 min · Cook: 25 min

Ingredients

4 skinless chicken breasts
500 g broccoli florets
2 lemons (juice of one, the other sliced)
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
Salt and black pepper

Instructions

Heat the oven to 220°C / 425°F and line a large tray.
Toss the broccoli with 1 tsp of the oil and spread to one side.
Rub the chicken with the remaining oil, garlic, oregano, lemon juice and seasoning. Lay it on the tray with the lemon slices.
Roast 22–25 minutes. Cool completely before boxing, or the broccoli steams and goes limp.

2. Turkey and Rice Meal-Prep Bowls

Lean ground turkey, rice and a jar of quick pickled onion. The acid is what keeps this from tasting flat on day four.

Fat: 5 g · Calories: 380 · Serves: 5 · Prep: 15 min · Cook: 25 min

Ingredients

600 g lean ground turkey
2 cups brown rice, uncooked
1 onion and 2 peppers, diced
2 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp oregano
1 can (400 g) black beans, drained
1 red onion, thinly sliced, in 100 ml red wine vinegar
300 g cherry tomatoes, halved

Instructions

Cook the rice and set aside to cool.
Brown the turkey in a dry nonstick pan, drain any fat, then add the onion, peppers and spices and cook 8 minutes.
Stir the beans through and season.
Divide rice, turkey mix and tomatoes across five boxes. Keep the pickled onion in a small jar and add on the day.

3. Baked Cod with Herbed Potatoes

White fish is naturally under 1 g of fat per fillet. Cook the potatoes fully and the fish just under, so it finishes in the microwave rather than overcooking.

Fat: 3 g · Calories: 340 · Serves: 4 · Prep: 15 min · Cook: 30 min

Ingredients

4 cod or haddock fillets (150 g each)
800 g baby potatoes, halved
2 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp chopped dill and parsley
1 lemon, zest and juice
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Salt and black pepper

Instructions

Heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Toss the potatoes with the oil, garlic and seasoning and roast 20 minutes.
Push them aside, add the fish, scatter over the lemon zest and half the herbs, and bake 10–12 minutes.
Cool, then box with a wedge of lemon and the remaining herbs.
Reheat gently — 90 seconds covered is usually enough.

4. Chickpea and Roasted Vegetable Grain Bowls

The vegetarian workhorse of the week. Roast a full tray, cook a pot of grain, and portion with the yogurt dressing on the side.

Fat: 5.5 g · Calories: 390 · Serves: 5 · Prep: 15 min · Cook: 35 min

Ingredients

2 cans (400 g each) chickpeas, drained and dried
2 courgettes, 2 peppers and 1 aubergine, cubed
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp za’atar or dried oregano
1.5 cups pearl barley or bulgur
1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt with 1 tbsp lemon juice and 1 grated garlic clove

Instructions

Heat the oven to 220°C / 425°F. Toss the vegetables and chickpeas with the oil and spices across two trays.
Roast 30–35 minutes, turning once.
Cook the grain in salted water and drain.
Portion grain and vegetables into boxes; keep the yogurt dressing in separate small pots.

5. Egg White and Vegetable Breakfast Cups

A tray of twelve takes twenty minutes and covers breakfast for the whole week. They freeze well too.

Fat: 1 g · Calories: 70 · Serves: 6 · Prep: 10 min · Cook: 20 min

Ingredients

12 egg whites (or 400 ml carton egg whites)
2 whole eggs
1 red pepper, finely diced
150 g spinach, wilted and squeezed dry
4 spring onions, sliced
30 g grated reduced-fat cheese
Salt, black pepper, pinch of chilli flakes

Instructions

Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F and line a 12-hole muffin tin with silicone cases.
Whisk the egg whites and eggs, season, then stir in the vegetables.
Divide between the cases and scatter the cheese over.
Bake 18–20 minutes until just set. Cool fully before refrigerating — two per serving.

6. Balsamic Chicken with Roasted Peppers

Marinated the night before and roasted in one go. The balsamic keeps the chicken moist through reheating better than oil does.

Fat: 4.5 g · Calories: 310 · Serves: 4 · Prep: 10 min · Cook: 30 min

Ingredients

4 skinless chicken breasts
4 peppers, cut into thick strips
1 red onion, in wedges
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp dried rosemary
Salt and black pepper

Instructions

Marinate the chicken in the balsamic, garlic, rosemary and seasoning for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Toss the peppers and onion with the oil on a tray.
Lay the chicken on top with the marinade and roast 28–30 minutes.
Slice once cooled and box with the peppers and the pan juices.

7. Vanilla Overnight Oats (Make Five at Once)

Five jars, one bowl, ten minutes. Vary the fruit so it does not feel like the same breakfast five days running.

Fat: 3 g · Calories: 290 · Serves: 5 · Prep: 10 min · Cook: —

Ingredients

2.5 cups rolled oats
2.5 cups skim milk
1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
Fruit for topping: berries, banana, grated apple, mango, stewed plum

Instructions

Whisk the milk, yogurt, vanilla, syrup and cinnamon.
Stir in the oats and divide between five jars.
Refrigerate overnight.
Add a different fruit topping each morning — add it on the day, not in advance.

8. Freezer-Friendly Turkey Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

Make a double batch and freeze half. Baking rather than frying is the whole difference on the fat count.

Fat: 5 g · Calories: 280 · Serves: 6 · Prep: 20 min · Cook: 35 min

Ingredients

700 g lean ground turkey
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg white
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp chopped parsley, 1 tsp oregano
2 cans (400 g each) chopped tomatoes
1 onion, finely diced
1 tbsp tomato purée
Salt and black pepper

Instructions

Heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Mix the turkey, breadcrumbs, egg white, half the garlic, parsley and seasoning and roll into 24 balls.
Bake on a lined tray for 18 minutes.
Meanwhile simmer the tomatoes, onion, remaining garlic, purée and oregano for 20 minutes.
Add the meatballs to the sauce for 10 minutes. Cool, then box in portions of four — freezes 3 months.

Rules That Keep Prepped Food Low in Fat and Still Good

Store sauces and dressings separately. Most prep recipes add oil purely to stop food drying out; a small pot of yogurt dressing added on the day solves it with almost no fat.
Cool everything completely before the lid goes on. Trapped steam is what makes reheated vegetables grey and makes people reach for butter.
Undercook anything that will be reheated by about 10 percent, especially fish and broccoli.
Keep an acid on hand — lemon, vinegar, pickled onion. Day-four food tastes flat, and acid fixes it where fat would.
Portion into single boxes, not a big container. You eat what is in the box; you eat more than you meant from the tub.
Label with the date. Cooked poultry and fish are good 3–4 days; grains and roasted vegetables about 5.

Wishing you a wonderful day in the kitchen — and bon appétit!
— Sophia

Written by

Sophia W. Whitman

Recipe developer and author of the Pancreatitis Diet Cookbook for Beginners. Cooking has been my life’s work, and low-fat cooking is the corner of it I know best. Every recipe here lists fat per serving, so you don’t have to guess.

More about Sophia →