Meal Prep Sunday: Five Lunches in One Hour

Open your fridge and pantry. You need one protein that roasts well on a sheet pan — boneless chicken thighs, salmon fillets, firm tofu, or turkey meatballs — and one grain that cooks in 15–20 minutes — white rice, quinoa, couscous, or farro. Write both down. Do not pick two proteins thinking you will get variety; you will get chaos and dirty every pan you own.

Chicken thighs are the most forgiving choice: they stay moist even when slightly overcooked, they take seasoning well, and they reheat without drying out. If this is your first prep, start there. Quinoa edges out rice because it keeps its texture after four days in the fridge, but honestly either works.

Pro tip. Buy the protein pre-trimmed if your store offers it. The 50 cents extra saves you 8 minutes of trimming and a cutting board covered in raw chicken juice.

Your vegetables need to cook at the same temperature and roughly the same time as your protein, because they are going on the same sheet pan. Broccoli florets and sliced bell peppers both roast beautifully at 200 °C for 20 minutes. Sweet potato cubes work but need 25 minutes, so cut them smaller. Zucchini cooks in 12 minutes and turns to mush if you forget it.

Avoid raw leafy greens as your roasted veg — they wilt into nothing. If you want spinach or arugula in your lunch, add a handful of raw greens on top when you eat, not during prep. The goal here is two vegetables that can share the oven without babysitting.