One month of lunches in your freezer, and all ready to eat in 10 minutes or less. This is my favorite postpartum lunch meal prep – each meal is under $3. (And the cheapest meal is at the end – only $1.35 per serving!)
I’m a new mom and grad student who hasn’t made lunch all month. I was inspired by the frozen, microwavable meals you can find in the freezer section at the grocery store, but those are expensive, small, and don’t always taste amazing.
So I made my own.
For lunch time, I’m looking for things I can microwave and that take 10 minutes or less to pull out and re-heat. They are high-protein meals and satisfying enough to keep me going while caring for baby.
Here are 5 quick lunch meals I eat all the time as a new mom. I made all these meals weeks ago (when someone else was around to help hold baby), froze them, and have almost no prep or clean-up when it is time to eat.
They might not look beautiful, but they taste great!
Egg Roll in a Bowl
Number of meals: ~8
Cost per meal: $1.75
Ingredients:
- 2.5 pounds ground pork
- 1 head of green cabbage
- Oil
- 1/2 cup Soy sauce
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Onion powder
- 1 tsp Ginger powder
- Sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
Instructions:
- Cook pork in a drizzle if oil. Season with garlic, onion, and ginger.
- Chop cabbage into thin shreds. Add to pan and cook down until wilted.
- Add the soy sauce.
- Allow to cool, separate into portions, and freeze.
- When it’s time to re-heat, microwave for 2 minutes, stir, and microwave for 4 minutes. Eat with rice (you can freeze this ahead of time, too) and garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
Easy Beef Chili
Number of meals: 4
Cost per meal: $2.50
Ingredients:
- 1 pound beef
- 2 cans beans (kidney and pinto)
- 1 can diced tomato
- 4 cups of beef stock
- 1 – 2.5 Tbsp Chili powder
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Onion powder
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Brown the beef.
- Add chili powder, cumin, garlic, and onion.
- Add beans, diced tomato, stock, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes.
- Allow to cool, separate, then freeze.
- Microwave for 2 minutes, stir, then microwave for 4 minutes until hot. Serve with cornbread, shredded cheese, or crackers.
Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole
Number of meals: ~6
Cost per meal: $2.35
Ingredients:
- 1.5 pounds chicken breast
- 2 cans black beans (drained)
- 1 can enchilada sauce (10-15 oz)
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 8 corn or flour tortillas
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Chili powder
Instructions:
- Boil chicken and shred. Season with cumin, garlic, and chili powder.
- Mix chicken, black beans, diced tomatoes and half the enchilada sauce.
- Layer tortillas, chicken mixture, leftover sauce, and cheese in a baking dish.
- Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 – 35 minutes until hot and bubbly.
- Separate into portions and freeze.
- To serve, heat in microwave for 2 minutes, stir, and heat for 3-4 minutes until hot.
Pork or Beef Stir Fry
Number of meals: ~8
Cost per meal: $3-4
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds of pork or beef (ground meat freezes better, but you can use strips)
- 3 small bags of frozen broccoli (or 1 large)
- Oil
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tsp Onion powder
- 1 tsp Ginger powder
- Pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup Soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp Corn starch mixed into 1/2 cup water
Instructions:
- Cook meat in oil over medium-high heat. Season with garlic, onion, ginger, and pepper.
- Add the broccoli. Cook until heated.
- Add soy sauce to pan and water/corn starch slurry. Stir continuously and allow to bubble and reduce until thickened
- Allow to cool and separate into meals for freezing.
- To prepare, microwave for 4 minutes, stir, and microwave until hot for another 2-4 minutes. Serve over rice.
Chickpea Lentil Curry
Number of meals: 4
Cost per meal: $1.35
Ingredients:
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1 cup dry lentils
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1-2.5 Tbsp Curry powder
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Garlic
- 1 tsp Onion
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas.
- Combine everything into a pan and turn on high heat. Reduce to simmer when it starts to bubble. Cook for 20 minutes.
- Allow to cool, separate into portions and freeze.
- To serve, heat in microwave for 2 minutes. Stir and heat again for 3-4 minutes.
Final Thoughts
Number of meals made: 30!
That’s 30 lunches, or one whole month of meals to eat postpartum. When you have a baby, it is so much easier to batch cook as much as possible and then eat easy meals for the rest of the months. Postpartum lunch meal prep doesn’t have to be complicated.
Will you try any of my favorite lunches? Let me know in the comments below!
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