Summer meal prep | 16 high protein meals in 1 hour

Summer meal prep | 16 high protein meals in 1 hour

High protein meal prep for summer

In this video and post, I’m sharing how I meal prep for the week in about 1 hour.

This week I wanted high protein meals (100g+ protein per day) that were summer inspired. All these recipes are really easy to make, high protein and gluten-free. I’ll also share how you can make everything dairy-free and vegan.

I wanted to make this meal prep plan really customizable, so I’m sharing how you can customize the amount of days you prep meals for, and the calories you prep per day:

  • I prep meals for 4 days, and I’ll eat them over 4-5 days with a few other snacks (and one or two other quick meals) in between. But you could prep meals for 2 to 6 days – I’ve listed the ingredients for each meal for 2, 4 and 6 days worth of prep, so you can make however many meals you want.
  • You can customise the calories of this meal prep plan to get anywhere from 1200-3200 calories per day (It’s actually quite easy to do! I share this at the end of the video and post)

There is also a grocery shopping list at the end of the post!

Enjoy!
Liezl

You can meal prep with me in this video:

SUMMER MENU

Breakfast: Raspberry + pineapple parfait
Lunch: Mediterranean quinoa salad
Dinner: Grilled chicken, potato salad + radish snap pea salad
Snack: Iced protein mocha

RECIPES

BREAKFAST (pineapple + raspberry parfait)

Ingredients:
– 4 cups soy/ dairy yogurt (Dannon nonfat plain yogurt)
– 1/2 cup raw almonds
– 2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
– 1 cup fresh raspberries
– 1 + 1/3 cup toasted oats (recipe below)
Toasted oats recipe:
– 1 + 1/3 cups rolled oats
– 1 tbsp maple syrup
– 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
– 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
– pinch cinnamon
(serves 4)

Calories: 400 cal each
Protein: 19g protein each
Vegan alt: soy yogurt instead of dairy

LUNCH (mediterranean quinoa salad)

Ingredients:
– 2 cups cooked quinoa (2/3 cup dry w/ 1 + 1/3 cup water)
– 200g feta cheese
– 1 can chickpeas
– 32 kalamata olives
– 2 tbsp olive oil
– lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon)
– 1 cup fresh parsley
– 1 red bell pepper
– 10 oz cherry tomatoes
– 1/4-1/2 onion (optional)
– 1 lemon cut in wedges (optional)
(Serves 4)

Calories: 400 cal each
Protein: 14g protein each
Vegan alt: dairy-free feta instead of dairy

DINNER (grilled chicken and potato salad)

Grilled chicken:
– 1.1 lbs chicken breast meat/ tenders
– 1 tbsp avocado oil
– smoked paprika
– herbs (oregano, basil)
– salt and pepper
Spring potato salad:
– 350g potato (baby potatoes)
– 2 boiled eggs
– 3 tbsp light mayonnaise
– 1 tbsp olive oil
– Juice from 1 lemon
– 1/2 tsp white vinegar
– 1/2 tsp maple syrup
– Salt and pepper
– 1/2 green bell pepper
– 2 or 4 sprigs of spring onion (or 1/4 onion)
Radish snap pea salad:
– 2 spring onions
– 4 radishes
– 1/2 green bell pepper
– 1 cup snap peas (2 if needed)
– romaine/ or leafy greens (2 cups chopped – optional, if you have leafy greens/ lettuce)
(serves 4)

Calories: 400 cal each
Protein: 35g protein each
Vegan alts: 2 packs grilled firm tofu instead of 1.1 lbs grilled chicken, 2/3 cup of black beans instead of 2 eggs, vegan mayonnaise instead of regular

SNACK (iced protein mocha)

Ingredients:
– 4 to 6 cups unsweetened soy/ dairy milk (420 cal total)
– 4 scoops vanilla protein powder
– 1/4 cup almond butter
– 4 medjool dates
– 4 tsp instant coffee powder
– 4 tsp cocoa powder
(serves 4)

Calories: 400 cal each
Protein: 37g protein
Vegan alts: soy milk, vegan protein powder

SHOPPING LIST (for 4 days)

Protein:
– 1.1 lbs chicken breast meat/ tenders (or 2 packs firm tofu)
– 6 cups unsweetened soy/ dairy milk
– 4 cups soy/ dairy yogurt (Dannon nonfat plain yogurt)
– 2 eggs (or 2/3 cup cooked black beans)
– 200g feta cheese/ vegan feta
– 1 can chickpeas
– 1/2 cup raw almonds

Fruit + veg:
– 2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
– 1 cup fresh raspberries
– 1 lemon
– 4 medjool dates
– 10 oz cherry tomatoes
– 1 red bell pepper
– 1 green bell pepper
– 1/3 onion (optional)
– 4 spring onions
– 4 radishes
– 1 cup snap peas (2 if needed)
– 1 cup fresh parsley
– romaine (2 cups chopped, optional)

Pantry items:
– 4 scoops vanilla protein powder
– 1/4 cup almond butter
– 4 to 8 tsp instant coffee powder
– 4 tsp cocoa powder
– 1/2 tsp white vinegar
– 1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp maple syrup
– 1 tbsp avocado oil
– 1 tsp smoked paprika
– 1 tbsp herbs (oregano, basil)
– 3 tbsp light mayonnaise
– 3 tbsp olive oil
– 32 kalamata olives
– 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
– 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
– pinch cinnamon
– Salt and pepper

Grains + starch:
– 1 + 1/3 cups rolled oats
– 2/3 cup dry quinoa
– 350g potato (baby potatoes)

HOW TO CUSTOMIZE CALORIES

Regarding calories, we are all different – so we all need different calories per day! You can customize this meal prep plan to get anywhere from 1200-3200 calories per day.

Just as an example:
1200 calories might be for a petite, inactive female trying to lose weight. 3200 might be for a tall, active male trying to gain weight or build muscle. Meal prepping all your meals for the week is a great way to keep track of calories without having to actually ‘count’ them!

Another example – how many calories I eat per day, and how many I ate when I was trying to lose weight:
I am a petite (short) active female who needs roughly 1800 calories per day to maintain weight (according to online calculators). I don’t stick to, or count those calories. I estimate I eat roughly 1800 to 2100 calories per day based on my activity levels and my appetite for that day. When I meal prep all my meals for the week – I prep 1600 calories worth of meals per day, and then I throw a few other snacks in inbetween my meals. When I was trying to lose weight a few years ago, I was much more inactive than I am now and so I consumed less calories because I was inactive and trying to lose weight. Back then, I experimented with eating betweem 1200-1400 calories per day for weight loss and found 1400 calories was a good amount for me. My husband is usually trying to maintain or gain weight, and I often just give him double of what I’m eating!

How to figure out how many calories you need per day:
You can use an online calculator to roughly calculate how many calories you need per day (based on age, height, activity level, etc.). You can also speak to a dietician or doctor, who could help you estimate the calories you might need per day to achieve your health goals. Most dieticians and doctors seem to recommend cutting 400 calories per day to lose weight, extreme deficit diets are not healthy.

Things to note:
– I’ve made all the meals and snacks roughly 400 cal, so that’s why it’s so easy to customize
– Regular portions will be roughly 400 cal
– Half portions will be roughly 200 cal (noted as ‘half’)
– Double portions will be roughly 800 cal (noted as ‘double’)
– Take note how the protein increases per day (100g for 1600 cal, and 200g for 3200 cal)

1200 cal per day
– breakfast
– lunch
– dinner

1400 cal per day
– breakfast
– lunch
– dinner
– snack (half)

1600 cal per day (what I prepped, 100g protein per day)
– breakfast
– lunch
– dinner
– snack

1800 cal per day
– breakfast
– lunch
– dinner (double)
– snack (half)

2000 cal per day
– breakfast
– lunch
– dinner (double)
– snack

2200 cal per day
– breakfast
– lunch (double)
– dinner (double)
– snack (half)

2400 cal per day
– breakfast
– lunch (double)
– dinner (double)
– snack

2600 cal per day
– breakfast (double)
– lunch (double)
– dinner (double)
– snack (half)

2800 cal per day
– breakfast (double)
– lunch (double)
– dinner (double)
– snack

3000 cal per day 
– breakfast (double)
– lunch (double)
– dinner (double)
– snack (full portion + another half portion)

3200 cal per day (200g protein per day)
– breakfast (double)
– lunch (double)
– dinner (double)
– snack (double)

Photos, recipes and video by Liezl Jayne for liezljayne.com