Hello meal prep! It’s taken me a while to jump on board the meal prep train but now that I’m here I don’t think I’m going to be getting off any time soon. I don’t really know why it took me so long to get here, but I think it’s because I was kind of intimidated by the idea of meal prep. I just couldn’t really get my head around it. I was like, huh? It seemed like you needed special containers (you don’t, but it helps make things pretty and neat, we love these compostable ones) and some sort of super organizational skills, but you don’t!
The funny thing is, even though we have a food blog, the truth is I’m really really bad at planning meals. Sometimes I get carried away with what I’m doing and forget to eat. Or sometimes I get overwhelmed and have choice paralysis. It’s weird, I know. Anyway, when we were moving, we were on the go constantly and food didn’t seem as much of a priority as fitting all of our things into boxes. I pretty much forgot about eating. Except I didn’t really – I just got hangry. Extremely hangry. It wasn’t pretty. So, in efforts to not be hangry anymore, meal prep came into our lives.
Meal prep, if like me, you don’t get, is essentially cooking a huge amount of food and portioning it out so that you have meals in the fridge, ready-to-eat. It’s kind of like you’re your own little Whole Foods with all those yummy pre-portioned lunches in the takeaway section. Except it’s even better because it’s your fridge. I’m a mega convert, especially ever since Mike said that meal prep is kind of like bento making, except for regular food, not cute food. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still into cute food. Maybe I should do some cute meal prep plans!?
Anyway, we got some cool compostable containers and went to town with the ideas. There are a bunch of containers out there and the truth is you don’t really need to use specific ones but we chose these ones from McDonald Paper because I want to do a lot of picnicking/hiking this summer and I don’t want us (Mike, let’s just be honest) to be lugging plastic/glass containers in our packs. These guys have the bonus of being super light and made of super renewable biodegradable wheat straw fiber.
I’ve made a couple of meal prep things now but this honey garlic salmon lo mein meal prep was the first we made and it was Mike’s favorite. He loved the salmon the most but I loved the noodles, because noodles. Everything came together quickly, in a hour, even with taking photos and the end result was well worth it. I think the key to meal prep is, well, prepping. The majority of cooking is all about preparing ingredients. Actually cooking goes pretty quickly, in my opinion.
To start off, you need to prep your vegetables, including peeling and mincing garlic. Sauces are mixed, then you pop your salmon in the oven, cook the spaghetti, toss the lo mein, and then portion everything out. Boom! You’ve got 6 meals, ready to eat, plus a little bit for a chef’s snack because I couldn’t resist.
PS – This is a sponsored post but I am in LOVE with meal prep and these containers :) Let me know all your meal prep ideas because I want to meal prep all the things!
PPS – They didn’t ask me to say this but it’s true, restaurant supply stores are the best and cheapest way to stock a home kitchen with really cool stuff. Check out McDonald Paper’s website, it’s full of cool and really fun stuff like $5 knives and my dream cotton candy machine!
Honey Garlic Salmon with Lo Mein Meal Prep Recipe
makes 6 meals plus a little extra to snack on
Salmon
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- salt
- 1.5 lbs skin off sockeye salmon
Spaghetti Lo Mein
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 1 lb spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
- 1 small carrot, julienned
- 2 cups snow peas
- 2-3 cups thinly sliced napa cabbage
- thinly sliced green onions, to finish
- toasted sesame seeds, to finish
Heat the oven to 275°F.
Mince all of the garlic and prep all of the vegetables so that you’re ready to cook. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat.
In a small bowl, whisk together the honey garlic sauce for the salmon: honey, light soy sauce, neutral oil, toasted sesame oil, and garlic.
Spread out half of the honey garlic mix in a roasting pan or dish. Lightly season the salmon with salt on both sides, then place on top of the sauce. Evenly spread the remaining sauce on top. Bake for 30 minutes.
While the salmon is baking, cook the spaghetti according to the package. As it’s cooking, whisk together the lo mein sauce ingredients: chicken stock, soy sauces, toasted sesame oil, sugar, and a generous amount of pepper.
When the spaghetti is done, drain well. Heat up 1 tablespoon of oil in a very large skillet or wok over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir, for about 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and cook, without stirring until slightly caramelized, about 2-3 minutes. Toss and continue to cook. Add the carrots, snow peas and napa cabbage. Cook until brightly colored and tender, about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the spaghetti to the pan and toss. Stir in the sauce and mix until combined.
By this time, the 30 minutes for the salmon should be up. At the 30 minute mark, try to flake the salmon with a spoon – it should flake easily and if it does, it’s done. if you can’t easily do so, leave it in for another 5 minutes.
Divide the lo mein evenly amongst meal prep containers. Flake the salmon into 2″ chunks with a spoon and divide evenly on top of the lo mein. Sprinkle on green onions and toasted sesame seeds. You have meals for a week!
I always want to make fish to meal prep, but how long does it really last? Like 2 days? Or do you eat it all week without any issues?
hi kate, we ate it for 4 days – it made 8 servings and we had 1 each everyday for 4 days with no issues. hope that helps!
Calories?
hi nat,
just entered it in myfitnesspal and it came up as 675 cals :) hope that helps!
omg i want someone to meal prep me unagi don for a year!!!
I love this! Hope to see more meal prep-esque posts from you guys :)
Wow you are brave to meal prep salmon! Any fishy smell when you microwave it (office rules!)
:) hahaha true! i actually ate it cold because i love cold salmon and noodles
What do you do with the napa cabbage? Thanks! AP
hi alissa,
they’re supposed to go in when the other vegetables do. i’ll update the recipe. thanks for the heads up!
Hi Steph! When you mean toasted sesame oil do you just mean the standard Korean sesame oil? :)
hi!
i use the japanese kind, but i think the korean one is toasted too? i haven’t tried it but a quick internet search says that they taste pretty similar :)
How about freezing? I’m single, would love to have one of these in the freezer for a quick dinner any day of the week. Has anyone tried doing that?
hi elizabeth,
i haven’t tried freezing, but if you do, i would recommend storing the noodles and the fish separately.
What would you suggest as a healthy substitute to the spaghetti? This recipe sounds amazing and I can’t wait to try
hi allie,
you can use shirataki noodles or glass noodles (the ones made of mung beans) those both have less carbs if that’s what you’re looking for. or you could use zoodles, you just wouldn’t really need to cook them much :) hope that helps!
I made this tonight and I have to say this is the best lo mein noodle recipe I’ve ever tried. The seasoning sauce mixture makes my noodles taste exactly like the addictive but wildly unhealthy Mi Goreng Instant Noodles! Thanks for the fantastic and easy to follow recipe ?.
P.S. I used Farkay Chow Mein Noodles ( they were the only ones I could find in my grocery store) they were delicious with a nice bite AND they didn’t stick to my cast iron wok which was a pleasant surprise.
Hi! I really want to try this recipe but I’m not much of a salmon person. Could I swap it with chicken? How would the cooking time change in that case?
hi,
you can definitely make it with chicken. it should be cooked through after 30 minutes, come some open to check and if it needs more time, give it another 5 minutes :)