Healthy Meal Prep Chicken Recipes

Meal prepping is one of the easiest and best ways to eat healthy. Planning and making healthy meals and snacks ahead of time gives you no excuses to stop for takeout or eat something that's not so good for you. Use these healthy meal prep chicken recipes to set yourself up for the week.

Staff Picks

Spinach & Strawberry Meal-Prep Salad

Rating: 5 stars 4
One of our most popular salad recipes, Spinach-Strawberry Salad with Feta & Walnuts, gets a makeover in these simple yet totally satisfying meal-prep spinach salad bowls. They require minimal prep and can be customized to your taste. Swap in roasted salmon for the chicken thighs, and almonds or pecans for the walnuts, and use any fresh berry that looks good at your market.
Carolyn Hodges Headshot
By Carolyn Hodges, M.S., RDN

Maple-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potato Wedges and Brussels Sprouts

Rating: 4.5 stars 9
This easy sheet-pan recipe brings together many fall favorites into a hearty dinner.
By Diabetic Living Magazine

Sweet Potato, Kale & Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing

Rating: 5 stars 2
These hearty kale salads hold up well for 4 days, making them perfect for meal-prep lunches. To keep the ingredients from getting soggy, dress this salad and top it with peanuts just before serving. For a delicious vegan option, swap in roasted tofu for the chicken breast (see Associated Recipes).
Carolyn Hodges Headshot
By Carolyn Hodges, M.S., RDN

Slow-Cooker Pasta e Fagioli Soup Freezer Pack

Rating: 3.5 stars 2
Your favorite restaurant soup just got easier and healthier with this freezer-to-crock-pot recipe. If you keep a special bottle of olive oil on hand for stand-out dishes, this is the recipe to pull it out for. The headiness of the fruity olive oil truly elevates the flavors in this Italian meal-prep slow-cooker soup.
Katie Webster
By Katie Webster

Meal-Prep Chili-Lime Chicken Bowls

Skip takeout and whip up these equally delicious and easy-to-make burrito bowls at home. They're great for a fast and easy dinner or a healthy meal to pack for work throughout the week.
By Lauren Grant

Chicken Satay Bowls with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Rating: 4.5 stars 3
Chicken satay, originally from Indonesia and popular throughout Southeast Asia, is served with a crunchy Savoy cabbage slaw and creamy peanut sauce in this easy meal-prep recipe.
Carolyn Hodges Headshot
By Carolyn Hodges, M.S., RDN

Chicken Quinoa Bowl with Olives & Cucumber

Rating: 5 stars 12
Olives, cucumber, roasted red peppers and spices come together magically in this healthy chicken quinoa bowl recipe. Serve with a squeeze of lemon and a glass of cold Italian white wine.
By Carolyn Casner

Instant Pot White Chicken Chili Freezer Pack

Rating: 4 stars 10
Prep all of the ingredients for this hearty soup and freeze until you're ready to cook it for a fast meal. All you have to do is pop the frozen ingredients into your multicooker and turn it on. Using a pressure cooker to make this warming pot of chili results in extra-tender chicken that's easy to shred. The addition of chopped zucchini and corn gives each bowl a nutritional boost.
By Joy Howard

Sheet-Pan Chicken & Brussels Sprouts

Rating: 4.5 stars 4
Roasted Brussels sprouts and chicken thighs are a match we go back to over and over again in the Test Kitchen. Paired with cumin, thyme, sweet potatoes and a hit of sherry vinegar, they create one of our favorite easy dinner recipes.
A portrait of Breana Killeen, M.P.H., RD
By Breana Lai Killeen, M.P.H., RD

Chopped Cobb Salad

Rating: 5 stars 1
This single-serving recipe for Cobb salad swaps chicken in for bacon, which makes it a great source of protein for lunch. If you prefer another salad dressing, feel free to use that instead of our honey-mustard vinaigrette.
Katie Webster
By Katie Webster

Meal-Prep Curried Chicken & Chili-Lime Chicken

Rating: 5 stars 2
Save time and maximize your efforts by mixing up two separate chicken marinades and cooking multiple recipes at once. This simple but flavorful meal-prep chicken dinner idea lets you cook ahead and not be bored with your choices by mid-week. Both recipes are roasted together on a baking sheet; a foil barrier keeps them separate. Make this base chicken recipe and use it to create the Meal-Prep Chili-Lime Chicken Bowls & Meal-Prep Curried Chicken Bowls (see associated recipes) for lunch or dinner this week.
By Carolyn Casner

Loaded Chicken-Quinoa Salad

Rating: 4.5 stars 3
Turn simple precooked ingredients into a delicious one-dish meal, high in fiber and with plenty of protein to keep you feeling satisfied.
By Victoria Seaver, M.S., R.D.
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Inspiration and Ideas

Chicken, Avocado & Quinoa Bowls with Herb Dressing
Rating: Unrated 3
Arrange the toppings individually on these protein-packed grain bowls so each bite has a contrasting taste and texture. Make big batches of the salad dressing, quinoa and roasted chicken thighs and you'll have healthy meal-prep lunches or dinners for days. Though the chicken thighs take just 15 minutes to prep, you can also make the salads with leftover chicken or store-bought cooked chicken to make prep even faster.
Meal-Prep Sheet-Pan Chicken Thighs
Rating: Unrated 3
Cook up six servings of chicken at once with this quick and easy meal-prep recipe: you'll have recipe-ready cooked chicken in the fridge for throw-together lunches and dinners throughout the week. This simple sheet-pan chicken thigh recipe gets an easy burst of flavor from dried oregano and a clove of garlic.
Southwest Black-Bean Pasta Salad Bowls
Rating: 5 stars 1

Meal-prep a week's worth of delicious and satisfying high-fiber lunches with just 5 simple ingredients and 20 minutes. In this Southwestern-style pasta salad, we're using pasta made with black beans to bump up the fiber to an impressive 14 grams per serving. Paired with seasoned chicken strips and a flavorful corn salad--shortcut ingredients you can often find at your local specialty grocery store--this meal-prep lunch is one you'll get excited for.