Easy High Protein Meal Prep on a Budget **TOP 3 RECIPES**
Summary
TLDRThis video offers three simple and budget-friendly meal prep ideas designed for those with minimal cooking skills. The recipes include easy-to-make high-protein dishes like chicken fried rice, shredded chicken burritos, and creamy Cajun chicken pasta. Each recipe is detailed with step-by-step instructions, focusing on affordability, taste, and ease of preparation, ensuring viewers can confidently create nutritious meals even with limited culinary expertise.
Takeaways
- 🍚 The first meal prep idea is a simple chicken fried rice, which is easy to prepare and stores well in the freezer.
- 🐔 The core ingredients for the chicken fried rice are rice, chicken breast, carrot, sweet corn, peas, and soy sauce.
- 🔪 Preparing the chicken in small pieces ensures it remains palatable after freezing and reheating.
- 🥕 Carrots are sliced thinly and cooked to achieve some color, enhancing the texture and flavor of the fried rice.
- 🌽 Sweet corn and other vegetables are chosen for their ability to withstand the freezing process without turning mushy.
- 🍳 A high-sided pan is recommended for cooking the fried rice to prevent food from spilling over.
- 🧂 Optional extras like sesame oil and sesame seeds can be added for extra flavor without breaking the budget.
- 🌯 The second meal prep suggestion is shredded chicken burritos, which are slightly more complex but still easy to make.
- 🌶 The burritos include ingredients like fajita seasoning, beans, and a variety of vegetables for a flavorful filling.
- 🍝 The final meal prep idea is a creamy Cajun chicken pasta, which is both easy and tasty.
- 🍗 For the pasta, chicken thighs are used for a richer flavor, and a Cajun spice blend simplifies the seasoning process.
Q & A
What are the three easy meal prep ideas discussed in the script?
-The three easy meal prep ideas are chicken fried rice, shredded chicken burritos, and creamy Cajun chicken pasta.
What are the core ingredients needed for the chicken fried rice?
-The core ingredients for the chicken fried rice are rice, chicken breast, carrot, sweet corn, peas, and soy sauce.
Why is it recommended to cook rice the day before when preparing chicken fried rice?
-Cooking rice the day before is recommended to prevent overcooking and to ensure the rice doesn't become soggy, which is important for good fried rice.
What is the purpose of using sesame oil in the chicken fried rice recipe?
-Sesame oil is used to add flavor to the chicken fried rice, although it's optional due to its additional cost and calories.
What are the key ingredients for the shredded chicken burritos?
-The key ingredients for the shredded chicken burritos are chicken breast, 8-inch white tortillas, sweet corn, beans, jalapenos, bell pepper, onion, lime, and fajita spice mix.
Why is it suggested to poach and shred the chicken for the burritos?
-The chicken is poached and shredded to make it easier to wrap neatly in a burrito, easier to eat, and to provide more surface area for the seasoning to attach to.
What is the reason for not overfilling the burritos during the wrapping process?
-Overfilling the burritos can cause the filling to spill out and make the burritos difficult to wrap and eat.
What is the significance of using rigatoni or fucili for the creamy Cajun chicken pasta?
-Rigatoni or fucili are recommended for the creamy Cajun chicken pasta because they are better at retaining their shape and texture when meal prepped, unlike other pasta types that can become mushy.
Why is it important to monitor the salt content when making the creamy Cajun chicken pasta?
-Monitoring the salt content is important to avoid the final dish being too salty, as both the Cajun seasoning and chicken stock can contribute to the overall saltiness.
What is the recommended storage method for the creamy Cajun chicken pasta after it's prepared?
-The creamy Cajun chicken pasta is best stored in the fridge for up to 4 days, as it may not survive freezing as well as the other meal prep ideas.
Outlines
🍽️ Easy and Budget-Friendly Meal Prep: Chicken Fried Rice
The video script introduces the first of three meal prep ideas designed for individuals with limited cooking skills. The focus is on a simple yet effective chicken fried rice recipe that is not only easy to prepare but also budget-friendly and high in protein. The recipe calls for six core ingredients: rice, chicken breast, carrot, sweet corn, peas, and soy sauce, with optional extras like sesame oil and sesame seeds. The process involves cooking rice, prepping the chicken and vegetables, and then frying everything together in a pan. The video emphasizes the importance of not overcooking the rice and using small chicken pieces to prevent drying out. The final step includes adding soy sauce and optional extras before portioning out the meal for meal prep.
🌯 Shredded Chicken Burritos: A Slight Step Up in Difficulty
The second paragraph presents a shredded chicken burrito recipe, which is a minor increase in difficulty from the previous recipe but still achievable for beginners. The ingredients include chicken breast, white tortillas, sweet corn, beans, jalapenos, bell pepper, onion, lime, and fajita spice mix. The chicken is poached and shredded, and the vegetables are diced and fried. The video suggests avoiding overfilling the burritos to prevent leakage during freezing. The assembly process is demonstrated, emphasizing the importance of not overfilling and sealing the burritos properly. The burritos are briefly cooked in a buttered or oiled pan to seal them before being wrapped and frozen. The video also recommends reheating the burritos in a pan after defrosting for a crispier texture.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Meal Prep
💡Culinary Competence
💡Budget-friendly
💡Protein
💡Chicken Fried Rice
💡Shredded Chicken Burritos
💡Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
💡Fajita Spice Mix
💡Cajun Spice Blend
💡Reduced Fat Cream
Highlights
Introduction to top three easy meal prep ideas for low culinary competence, budget-friendly, tasty, and high in protein.
Recipe for basic chicken fried rice with six core ingredients and optional extras.
Advice on cooking rice properly for fried rice to avoid soggy texture.
Use of a high-sided pan for cooking fried rice to prevent rice from sticking to the stove top.
Preparation of chicken in small slithers to prevent drying out when freezing and reheating.
Importance of not overcooking vegetables to maintain texture in meal prep.
Adding sesame oil as an optional extra for flavor in fried rice.
Serving suggestions for fried rice include Hoisin, Sriracha, and chili oil.
Introduction to shredded chicken burritos as a slightly more challenging meal prep idea.
Instructions for poaching and shredding chicken for burritos.
Chopping vegetables for burritos with a focus on even sizing for easy wrapping.
Building and wrapping burritos with a focus on not overfilling for neat packaging.
Briefly frying burritos after freezing to crisp the tortilla before microwaving.
Introduction to creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta as the final meal prep idea.
Using rigatoni pasta for its suitability in meal prep and skinless, boneless thighs for ease.
Substituting cream with reduced-fat cream cheese for a healthier option in pasta sauce.
Seasoning chicken thighs with Cajun spice blend for flavor and ease of preparation.
Cooking pasta until tender and sauce is reduced for a creamy texture.
Storing pasta in the fridge for optimal freshness and flavor.
Conclusion and call to action for feedback on the meal prep ideas presented.
Transcripts
yo this is going to be my top three easy
meal prep ideas specifically curated for
people with a extremely low level of
culinary competence they're also going
to be fairly budget friendly hopefully
they're going to be tasty and they're
going to be high protein so that we
can stay
big first up we're going to do a very
basic but effective chicken fried rice
this is easy to prepare it also stores
really well in the freezer so you can
make a batch as big as your frying pan
will allow which is what I intend to do
today we've got six core ingredients and
then there'll be some optional extras
later those are rice chicken breast
carrot sweet corn peas and soy sauce
step one cook loads of rice ideally do
this the day before but if you lack
foresight like me just make sure not to
overcook it because soggy rice isn't
going to fry very well obviously give it
good wash first as well because extra
starch will also not be conducive to
good fried rice I use a rice cooker
simply because that's the most idiot
proof method now let's talk pans I'm
using this one with the high sides
because I'm going to be putting a lot of
food in there just don't really want to
spend my afternoon picking rice off the
stove top a walk would also work as well
step two prep stuff for frying pan I'm
going to go for pretty small slithers of
chicken because chicken breast is
inevitably going to dry out to some
extent when you're freezing and
reheating so smaller chunks just going
to be more palatable by the time you
come to eat them we'll give this carrot
a wash and then slice it up fairly thin
make sure not to wash them the knife so
that you keep all that good chicken
flavor and then that is the extent of
the prep now we just throw stuff in a
pan step three throw stuff in a pan in a
perfect world you'd have your pan pretty
hot at first so that you can get a bit
of color on that chicken before all the
water is released and it just starts to
poach SL steam once your chicken is
cooked or even just nearly cooked you
can remove it from the pan temporarily
give that pan another spray if you need
to and then add in your carrot again it
would be nice to achieve some kind of
color if possible and then once you have
you can add in your sweet corn and
now these are all really good meal prep
veg because they obviously survive the
freezing process pretty intact stuff
like broccoli or really anything with a
high water content can end up just
turning into mush and I have made my
feelings on mushy broccoli clear in
previous meal prep videos but if you are
unsure uh my stance is that mush isn't
really something I look for in a meal
then just read add your rice followed by
your chicken followed by a good splash
of soy and occasionally mix that so that
all of your rice spends at least some
time at the bottom of the pan now the
first optional extra I'm going for is a
bit of sesame oil you can omit this if
you're really on a cost or calorie
budget but I think it's worth both the
pennies and the calories and then
nothing is left but to dish out you can
weigh these if you really want to ensure
equal portions but personally I don't
really mind if I eat slightly more rice
one day and slightly less the next so
I'm just winging it second optional
extra is some sesame seeds I just have
some in the cupboard so I'm using them
and then as a serving suggestion I would
recommend some Hoisin Sriracha Andor
chili oil these will keep in the fridge
for a few days or the freezer for a
couple of months let's move
on next up we're going for some shredded
chicken burritos a minor increase in
difficulty from the last but still
achievable for anyone with thumbs and a
basic level of sentience and for that
increase in difficulty I think you are
rewarded anyway let's get into it
ingredients are here that's chicken
breast 8 inch white tortillas sweet corn
some beans I found this kind of mixed
beans in sauce but you could actually
just use a tin of baked beans if you
really wanted to but don't use all the
sauce if you do it'll get too too Saucy
jalapenos kander bell pepper onion lime
and some fajita spice mix we're going to
poach and shred this chicken I'll
explain why later so just a couple of
inches of water in the pan and then
we'll put that onto boil Meanwhile we're
going to chop our veg I think roughly
dicing is the best way for this dish you
don't want shards of bell pepper herting
out the side of your tortilla I also
think long things just don't work on
burritos or sandwiches CU if you don't
bite clean through then you end up just
dragging all of the other filling out
it's just not pragmatic once your water
is at a simmer you can add the chicken
and put the lid on they'll take about 20
minutes or so mine were a bit longer
because they were abnormally large
breasts if you're unsure just cut
through it and check in the meantime we
can throw some of that sweet corn into a
hot dry pan this should enable us to get
a nice little Char on it as displayed
I'd recommend just cutting into your
chicken to check that it's cooked if
you've never cooked it this way before
if it's raw cook it longer then you're
just going to use two forks to shred
that up as much as possible I'm doing it
this way because mainly I just think
it's easier to wrap neatly in a burrito
but it's also easier to eat and provides
Max surface area for our seasoning to
attach to we need to fry this veg for 5
minutes or so until it's like that you
know you can cook an onion right people
know that and then we'll add chicken
back into the pan spread it out evenly
and we'll go in with that fajita
seasoning give that another little mix
try and get your chicken fairly evenly
coated if possible and then add your
beans now these weren't particularly
Saucy and I think that's a good thing
because you want this mixture a bit wet
but not too wet I've made freezer
burritos before they inevitably get
punctures here and there stuff leaking
just annoying so let's try to avoid that
scenario you really just want to mix
this all together you can even turn it
off the heat because you don't need to
actually cook anything and you don't
want your chicken to dry out then it's
just time to build and wrap your
burritos I'm starting with my chicken
and veg mixture and then I'm add some
sweet corn coriander and a squeeze of
lime this is where you'd put your
jalapenos if you remembered but I did
not do not overfill and then you should
be able to just fold in each side bring
the bottom up to almost the top squish
down a bit and
roll I'll show you once more filling
in fold both the sides in bring the
bottom to the
top squish down and roll easy peasy
[Music]
should look something like that and then
we're just going to briefly introduce
these to a buttered or oiled frying pan
Which is going to help seal them and
give them a little bit of color once
cooled you can just wrap and freeze and
then when you want to eat one just
defrost and heat through in the
microwave optionally but highly
recommended then throw them back in the
pan for a couple of minutes before you
eat them that's not absolutely essential
if you press the time but it will crisp
that tortilla back up after it's been in
the microwave and I think it will just
improve the whole experience
[Music]
finally we're making a basic creamy
Cajun Chicken Pasta again taking all the
boxes easy tasty inexpensive and a solid
protein hit ingredients are here but we
have a few things to mention I'm using
rigatoni because that's what I already
had but I think fucili is probably the
best option for meal prepped pasta in
general for reasons too convoluted to
explain here it's science and stuff I'm
using skinless and boneless thighs again
many reasons some people would use cream
in this recipe I often like to
substitute that for reduced fat crem
fresh because you get that same creamy
texture but for a fraction of the
calories I'm using a Cajun spice blend
because it's just way easier and cheaper
which is partly the theme of this video
but if you want to do things the hard
way feel free so step one trim off any
undesirable bits and then slice your
thighs into about thirds and throw them
into a bowl then add some of that
seasoning make sure these get a really
good coating on all sides seriously do
not be shy I used almost half of this
jar then we do add actually care about
Browning this so we need a hot pan again
I'm using a spray of avocado oil and
then we'll just dump all of our chicken
into the pan spread it out so it's all
making some contact I'm going to prepare
some chicken stock while that's cooking
now one thing you need to knowe keep an
eye on the salt content of both your
Cajun seasoning and your chicken stock
you don't want this coming out too salty
so if you're not sure just use a low
salt stock and then add your own later
once your chicken has a nice color on it
you can flip that this is looking ideal
and then once that side has some color
on also you can turn the heat down
before chopping and adding your garlic
this isn't necessary because your
seasoning probably already contains
garlic but I think you can never have
too much garlic so I'm going for it now
you can just add your stock 1 and 1/2
tins of chopped tomatoes and roughly 300
G of your crem fresh give that all a
good mix it might need a little bit more
encouragement than if you used actual
cream but it will all eventually mix
into a lovely orangey pinky vomity color
then add in your past try to make sure
most of it is submerged and we'll let
that simmer until the pastor is cooked
and your sauce is reduced at which point
it should look something like
this the final remaining step is simply
to dish out let it cool and store I'm
only making four portions because this
one whilst it would survive the freezer
and remain edible I think it's probably
best to just keep in the fridge so I eat
one of these on the day that I cook them
and then one on each of the next 3
days and there we have it three really
easy budget friendly meal prep ideas if
you liked this video please let me know
in the comments by saying hi Joe I
really like this video this comment is
definitely not for the algorithm all
right
bye J Lenny is my hero
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