Meal prep is a great way to have all of your food ready for the week, enabling you to make healthy choices, and save money while you’re at it! Not only does it keep you on track with your fitness goals, but it saves a lot of time. Imagine coming home after a long day of work, your meal already planned and ready to assemble in mere minutes. Does it sound too good to be true? Don’t worry, that’s why we’re here to send you Weekly Meal Prep inspo every week to get you in the kitchen!

We’ll give you a set of ingredients to work with every week and include seasonal recommendations, when possible. The primary goal with our weekly meal prep guide below is to help you focus your meals predominately around a new set of ingredients or theme every week. We’ll give you a plethora of creative ways to prep these ingredients to create healthy, quick, easy and tasty recipes, so you’ll never be bored.

Do summery stews sound right for you? It’s easy to enjoy stews all year, with a light summery twist. Not only are they nutritious, but they are incredibly easy to prepare for and make for the week!

This week we’re going to feature some staples for your summer themed-stews. The ingredients are: Zucchini, Potatoes, Chickpeas, Tomatoes!

1. Zucchini

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Zucchini; we seriously can’t get enough of them over here! Not only are they incredibly versatile (and perfectly in season right now,) but they pack all sorts of nutrients. They have a high water content and contains tons of fiber so they keep you hydrated and satisfied. They are also an excellent source of vitamin C and manganese. It’s recommended that you eat this beautiful green summer squash regularly to maintain your cardiovascular health!

Now that we know how awesome they are, how are we going to prep it for the week? Well, for one thing, they keep brilliantly in the fridge. You can spiralize them in advance and add them to your favorite soups to add more texture. It’s also incredibly easy to chop them up and have them ready to go for your next stir fry! But since we’re talking summery stews, let’s look at some options.

Asian-style food is all the rage right now, so you’ll want to jump on board with this Thai Green Curry! You can combine a bunch of different vegetables to create a heavenly delicious blend of all the good nutrients in vegetables and the healing spices of curry. You can make different variations by changing the vegetables or their ratio. Add fresh herbs like parsley or cilantro. And for extra protein, try adding tofu or different beans. This Korean Soybean Paste Stew is also an excellent option! It’s super easy and quick to prepare. Doenjang Jjigae is made with soybean paste, vegetables and fresh tofu. It has anti-aging and anti-cancer properties, vitamin A, vitamin C and tons of minerals.

If you have some leftover quinoa, don’t compost it just yet! Try making this hearty Healthy Quinoa Vegetable Stew! Loaded with microgreens, this soup is amazing. Filled with flavorful vegetables and great sources of protein like quinoa, this is an excellent soup for every day, and a great way to get a good dose of vitamins. You can also prepare this delicious and nutrient-dense Superfood Turmeric Amaranth Soup. It works perfectly like a main course or as a starter. It has a good mix of flavors, salty miso, sweet carrots and spicy ginger, a perfect balance to incorporate all the good things your body and your soul need.

2. Tomatoes

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Tomatoes are a must-use ingredient when it comes to summer stews. Its sweet and robust flavor lends a helping hand to almost anything, but it’s an excellent base for light stews. Due to its high water content, it adds a lot of liquid to your food once it’s simmered down and cooked thoroughly. Since a lot of people eat tomatoes almost daily, it almost comes as a surprise when you check out how healthy they actually are! They are loaded with important vitamins like C, K, and A, as well as folate, thiamine, and potassium.

When it comes to prepping tomatoes, there are a few things you can do. You can make it into a homemade tomato sauce that you can add to your veggie broths as you’re making soup, or simply have them ready to go; they don’t take very long at all. Of course, you can always toss everything into a slow cooker and wait overnight, which is a brilliant idea.

This Chipotle Tomato Soup can hit the spots on those cool summer evenings after the sun has set and you’re chilling by the fire with your friends. This tomato soup is a must-try for people who love all things spicy! Almonds are the secret to making this soup rich and creamy. Just a tiny bit of chipotle pepper makes it smoky and spicy, perfect for eating with chopped avocado and tortilla chips. Another cozy option for you can be this Turkish Tomato, Bulgur, and Red Pepper Soup. We love a cozy bowl of tomato soup, but too often it lacks complexity and winds up tasting more of cream than tomato. Forgetting the cream, we turned to a simple tomato and red pepper soup inspired by Turkish cuisine, which is enriched not with dairy but with herbs, spices, and grains to yield an irresistible flavor. A sprinkle of fresh mint gave the soup a final punch of fresh flavor. When shopping, don’t confuse bulgur with cracked wheat, which has a much longer cooking time and will not work in this recipe.

Tomato soup is a true classic, and more often than not, it’s loaded with cream. Keep it plant-based and light with other versions, like this White Bean Tomato Soup! Not only are white beans super trendy, but packed with protein and fiber.  You can eat this soup as a side or as an entrée, and you might want to whip it up when you’re craving some veggies, as it’s loaded with carrots, tomatoes, and kale.

Speaking of classics, you can’t really go wrong with a Greek Spinach and Orzo Soup. This healthy soup is fresh, soothing, and makes a delicious dinner that is tangy and bursting with summery citrus flavor. It is pleasantly and lightly filling, and ideal for when you need a break from rich, hearty dishes and indulgent sweets. This colorful Mediterranean recipe is so simple to prepare!

3. Potatoes

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Let’s be real; who doesn’t love potatoes? They are one of the first things to go at every family dinner, event, potluck, and party. Seriously, they’re so good, and its versatility knows no bounds. Here’s an added bonus; they have a surprising amount of health benefits! Eating potatoes regularly increase energy and stamina due to the carbohydrates. They are another high-water content veggie, so get hydrated! They’re also an excellent source of vitamin C.

When it comes to cooking potatoes for stews, there are tons of ways you can do this. You can prep them in advance by simply peeling and chopping them up, or take it one step further and roasting them for some added texture to your stews. You can boil them with the soup too, or boil them separately whole. This method is used in a recipe for Curry and Coconut Potatoes With Cashew and Peas. This meal is the complete package – with fiber and protein from the peas, a rich creamy consistency from the coconut milk, a magical aroma from the spices, tender cherry tomatoes, and of course, fresh herbs for an added bit of flavor. What is not to love? Plus this dish is affordable, easy to make, and absolutely delightful to eat.

If you’re a fan of sweet potato (or maybe you just have a lot of them lying around) you need to give this summery Southern Sweet Potato and Black Eyed Pea Stew a try! You can use black peas as called for in the recipe, or swap out with the chickpeas you already have. Southern flavor with a creamy sweet potato broth base, this soup is packed with black beans, corn, and greens. It’s so good and comforting, yet light due to the base.

If you want to get really creative with your culinary skills, try making this Red Pozole: Mexican Stew With Jackfruit, Corn, and Chiles! Pozole is a traditional Mexican stew made from corn, lime, and chiles. This recipe is an updated take on the classic stew with some savory jackfruit added in for a little texture and substance. So delicious and packed with flavor!

If you want to reinvent a classic, try making this Manhattan Glam Chowder! Yes, we say Glam. Manhattan clam chowder is the red, tomato-based soup found on diner menus all over the city. Mushrooms bring the perfect texture and flavor to this vegan version of the iconic New York City soup. Potatoes make it both satisfying and the perfect way to end a summer night.

4. Chickpeas

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Chickpeas are a staple in many pantries, and it’s easy to see why. They’re simply delicious and works well in so many different recipes! Chickpeas are obviously an excellent source of protein, with about 15 grams of protein per cup! Chickpeas are also a great source of fiber. As far as meal prep goes, chickpeas can take a little longer depending on how you choose to buy them. If you’re buying them in a can, you can simply have the chickpeas drained and ready to be used for anything. You can marinate chickpeas with other vegetables to create a delicious and ready-to-eat meal. Of course, they are absolutely amazing in soups, soaking up the flavor of the broth while still maintaining their creamy texture and shape.

This thick, rich, aromatic recipe for Chickpea Tofu Masala Curry will have your senses spinning with the depth of flavor and excellent texture of the dish. The homemade masala paste lays the foundation for this exceptional dish and then a tomato curry added to the mix and thickened with soaked cashews and poppy seeds and the dish climaxes with tender chunks of chickpea tofu.

When you’re on the go, it’s nice to know that you can whip up something amazing in just about 20 minutes! This 20-Minute Chickpea and Spinach Curry Stew is just what you need. You can serve it over a bed of rice (or zucchini noodles!)  If you’re a fan of chickpeas alone, you need this dish in your life. This curry will fill you up without weighing you down and — the kicker — you can make it ahead of time and it freezes beautifully. The leftovers are delicious, if not better since the flavors mingle and get to know one another over time. Serve it over fluffy rice, with naan, as a side, or eat it on its own.

Another fast and easy option would be Spiced Chickpeas With Tomatoes. Talk about a 2-in-1 combo! All of these ingredients go hand-in-hand with each other, which makes meal prep a piece of (vegan) cake. Full of protein and fiber, this easy dish will fuel you well for all your activities. Pair these smoky, hearty chickpeas with brown rice and roasted vegetables for a quick, easy, and budget-friendly meal. Make it in bulk and you can have it for dinner all week by alternating what you serve it with. They also taste great over a baked sweet potato or coupled with freshly sliced avocado or nutritional yeast.

Get in the kitchen and get to meal prepping! Be sure to check out our Meal Prep Archives for a variety of ingredients and awesome ways to utilize them for delicious and nutritious meals. For more meal inspiration, check out our Food Monster App. With over 10,000 recipes right in the palm of your hand, you’ll always have something delicious and new to try. It’s available for both Android and iPhone, and can also be found on Instagram and Facebook. Full of allergy-friendly recipes, subscribers gain access to new recipes every day. Check it out!

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