Given how tedious meal preparation can be sometimes, it feels impossible to get the best meals on the table for the family while balancing other tasks simultaneously.

If you seem always to be stretched for time in the kitchen, this one is for you! A nutritionist shared her secrets to preparing a week’s worth of meals in just 15 minutes.


It seems like a tall order, but believe it or not, meal prepping once or twice a week can help make your meals not only tasty but cost-effective, too!

As the name suggests, meal prepping is preparing multiple full meals ahead of schedule. This is perfect for those who are too busy to create dishes on the spot or for those who like to plan the portion of their meals.


This is something Angela Borges, a nutritionist from Melbourne, advocates. Not only did she lose 11 kg of weight on her weight-loss journey, but she also figured out a way to portion and prepare healthy meals for the whole week in just 15 minutes a week!

‘Meal prepping has changed my life,’ she said. ‘Five years ago, I gave meal prepping a go because I wanted to kick off my weight loss journey, and I knew that I had to be more organised with my meals instead of just winging it every day.’


She continued: ‘I’ve been doing it consistently ever since, and it’s helped me lose weight without feeling overwhelmed and create a healthy relationship with food and nutrition.’

By meal prepping, Angela managed to eliminate the extra 11 hours of kitchen time she was previously wasting a week.

‘Now, things have changed, and as a busy business owner, I just can’t afford to spend 11.5 hours a week in the kitchen because I’m always on a tight schedule with back-to-back meetings and commitments, so being prepared is a vital part of my lifestyle,’ she shared.

‘And I’m a nutritionist, so I wasn’t going to give up on my healthy eating habits either,’ she added.


If you’re pressed for time, Angela suggested her 'no-prep meal prep' method, which can make the preparation process take as little as five minutes.

All you have to do is look out for healthy convenience foods such as sachets of boiled rice, ready-made salad kits, cans of tuna, or even pre-cooked chicken.

‘I like to use these foods because most of the work has already been done for you,’ she stated.

You can watch one of her ‘no prep’ meals here:



Angela has a three-phase meal prep process that she swears by: plan your meals each Friday, shop for groceries on Saturdays, then cook on Sundays.


This can help save up to 10 hours of kitchen time while reducing mental fatigue and wasteful spending. She outlined her process one by one, starting with planning.

‘Planning is a no-brainer,’ Angela said. ‘My goal is to end the week with an empty fridge, which is a good indicator of good planning but also no food waste.’

‘The second phase is doing your groceries, which shouldn’t take more than 60 minutes to shop if you’re organised,’ she continued.

Angela revealed she and her husband spend $250 a week on groceries, which includes their weekly meals and snacks. She mentioned that some of her clients purchase unnecessary snacks, which could add up.

‘With a little bit of planning and preparation, you can enjoy the benefits of meal prepping within your body but also your wallet,’ she shared.


‘And the third phase is meal prepping, which should only take 30 to 45 minutes if you’re keeping it simple, which takes me to my next point,’ Angela stated about the final step.

‘I focus on preparing my lunches, which is my non-negotiable, breakfasts and snacks,’ she said.

You can watch one of her lunch meal prep videos here:



For dinner, Angela revealed that she follows a ‘cook once, eat twice’ technique. This means she will still get variety in her meals even though she only cooked once.

She advised that people should ‘simplify’ their meals. ‘You don’t need more than five ingredients to make a meal taste amazing. Trying to make meals that contain too many ingredients and/or cooking techniques will make you feel overwhelmed.’


Angela assured that it’s okay not to cook everything from scratch, explaining: ‘Healthy eating doesn’t necessarily mean “clean” eating, it just means balancing your meals right so you get all the nutrients in your diet.’

She believed that meal prep could help people learn healthy eating habits.

‘You can stay on track with your eating habits, eat well, feel good, and perform better in other areas of your life. I truly believe health is wealth,’ she claimed.

‘There is nothing worse than having no structure or plan when it comes to weight loss,’ she shared. ‘Being unprepared is a recipe for disaster as when hunger strikes, this is when we tend to make poor eating choices.’

Moreover, she revealed that she makes many meals on rotation, most of which have minimal cooking time. She also said that her meals vary depending on the season.

‘I use similar ingredients when it comes to protein and carbs, but my veggies selection changes slightly,’ she stated.


If you’re concerned about vegetables not lasting long on the fridge, Angela has a tip: ‘Add a piece of paper towel to your containers with raw veggies.’

She also created a video of her meal prep tips, which you can watch here:




Have you tried meal prepping, members? Do you have any recipes to share? Let us know in the comments below!