Easy High Protein Meal Prep on a Budget **TOP 3 RECIPES**

Summary

This 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

00:00

🍽️ 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.

05:01

🌯 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.

Keywords

💡Meal Prep

Meal prep refers to the process of preparing meals in advance, typically for the week, to save time and ensure healthy eating habits. In the video, the theme revolves around easy meal prep ideas, which are designed to be budget-friendly and high in protein. The script provides step-by-step instructions for preparing chicken fried rice, shredded chicken burritos, and creamy Cajun chicken pasta, all of which are meant for meal prepping.

💡Culinary Competence

Culinary competence refers to the skill and knowledge required to prepare food, particularly in a kitchen setting. The video is curated for individuals with an 'extremely low level of culinary competence,' implying that the recipes provided are simple and do not require advanced cooking skills. This is evident in the straightforward instructions for chopping, cooking, and assembling the meal prep dishes.

💡Budget-friendly

Budget-friendly indicates that the cost of ingredients or the overall expense of preparing the meal is kept low to accommodate those with financial constraints. The video emphasizes the affordability of the meal prep ideas, suggesting the use of common, inexpensive ingredients like rice, chicken, and vegetables, and avoiding costly extras.

💡Protein

Protein is a crucial nutrient for the body, essential for muscle growth and repair, among other functions. The video highlights the importance of high protein in meal prep for maintaining a balanced diet and supporting fitness goals. The recipes include protein-rich ingredients such as chicken breast and beans to ensure nutritional value.

💡Chicken Fried Rice

Chicken fried rice is a popular dish made with cooked rice, stir-fried with chicken and vegetables, often seasoned with soy sauce. In the script, it's the first meal prep idea introduced, emphasizing its ease of preparation, storage, and the use of basic ingredients like rice, chicken, carrots, sweet corn, peas, and soy sauce.

💡Shredded Chicken Burritos

Shredded chicken burritos are a meal prep option mentioned in the video, featuring shredded chicken as the main protein source, wrapped in a tortilla with vegetables and beans. The script describes the process of poaching and shredding the chicken, and then combining it with fajita-seasoned vegetables and beans for a filling that can be wrapped and frozen for later consumption.

💡Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Creamy Cajun chicken pasta is a dish that combines the flavors of Cajun cooking with a creamy pasta sauce. The video script details the use of chicken thighs, Cajun seasoning, and a reduced-fat cream substitute to create a rich, flavorful sauce for pasta. This meal prep idea is designed to be easy to assemble and reheat, with a focus on taste and convenience.

💡Fajita Spice Mix

Fajita spice mix is a blend of spices typically used in Mexican cuisine, particularly for fajitas, which are a type of stir-fry dish. In the context of the video, the fajita spice mix is used to season the shredded chicken and vegetables in the burritos, adding a flavorful kick to the meal prep recipe.

💡Cajun Spice Blend

Cajun spice blend is a mix of spices that reflects the robust flavors of Cajun cuisine, originating from the Cajun people of Louisiana. The video script mentions using this spice blend to season the chicken for the creamy Cajun chicken pasta, which simplifies the seasoning process and adds a distinct flavor profile to the dish.

💡Reduced Fat Cream

Reduced fat cream is a dairy product with less fat content than regular cream, often used as a healthier alternative in cooking. The video suggests using reduced fat cream in the creamy Cajun chicken pasta recipe to achieve a creamy texture while reducing the calorie count, aligning with the video's focus on healthy and budget-friendly meal prep.

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