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High-protein meal prep for the week
Cook once, eat well for days: how to plan high-protein meal prep, how much protein each box needs, and how long it keeps.
Updated October 20, 2026 by Velvet Motion
Short answer. Cook two or three recipes once, split them into boxes of 30 to 40 g protein each, eat them within 3 to 4 days and freeze the rest.
1. Pick recipes that keep well
Saucy dishes, rice and pasta bakes, chili, curries and burrito bowls reheat well. Fried and crispy food is best eaten fresh. Start with recipes made for meal prep.
2. Size each box to your protein
A practical target is about 0.4 g of protein per kg of bodyweight per meal, over at least four meals a day. For most lifters that's 30 to 40 g per box.
3. Store it safely
- Get cooked food into the fridge within 2 hours.
- Eat it within 3 to 4 days.
- Freeze anything you won't get to in time. Frozen food stays safe; it just loses quality over the months.
- Reheat until steaming hot all the way through (165°F / 74°C).
From the USDA's food safety guidance; check the linked pages for specific foods.
4. Shop once
Batch cooking goes faster with one list. The Macromaxxing app builds the shopping list for the week's meals, sorted by aisle, with the staples you probably already have folded away.
Quick answers
How long does meal prep last in the fridge?
Cooked leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge, according to the USDA. Freeze anything you won't eat by then.
How much protein should each meal prep box have?
About 0.4 g per kg of bodyweight per meal is a practical target: roughly 30 to 40 g for most lifters.