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These Easy Recipes Are Great For Sunday Lunch Prep

Before you cook the recipes, take a look at the whole 5-day lunch plan! Learn more here.

These recipes are part of a step-by-step guide to making a week's worth of lunches on a Sunday. First, you'll buy groceries.

Then, you'll cook the recipes below—they'll yield five different packed lunches. It takes just a couple of hours, and you should do it on a Sunday.

Once everything is cooked and stored, you just have to assemble the lunches each day of the week.

1. Easy Roasted Chicken Breast and Sweet Potatoes

INGREDIENTS

2 medium (about ¾ pound) bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts

Salt and pepper

2 small (about 3 to 4 inches long) sweet potatoes

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Dry the chicken breasts thoroughly with paper towels, then season them all over with salt and pepper. Place the chicken breasts on a large baking sheet, skin side-up. Pierce each sweet potato 4 or 5 times with a fork, then wrap each one separately in foil. Place the wrapped sweet potatoes on the baking sheet.

Roast in the preheated oven until the chicken is cooked through and the sweet potatoes are soft, about 40 minutes.

Let the chicken and sweet potatoes cool completely before storing them in two separate airtight containers in the fridge.

2. Roasted Red Pepper

While the chicken and sweet potatoes cook, char the red pepper.

INGREDIENTS

1 large red pepper

PREPARATION

Turn a gas burner to medium heat and place the whole pepper directly onto the flame. Cook, rotating the pepper every 2 minutes, until the pepper is completely blackened and soft, about 10 minutes total. Transfer the hot, cooked pepper to an airtight plastic bag and seal the bag. Let the pepper sit for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, so that it steams and then cools. If you’re leaving it for longer than an hour, you can put it in the fridge.

Take the pepper out of the bag and use your hands to peel away the blackened skin. Cut the top off of the pepper and discard, then peel it open and scrape out any seeds. Cut the pepper into thin strips, then cut the strips into rough ¼-inch pieces.

Let the pepper cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge.

3. Stovetop Farro

INGREDIENTS

½ cup dry farro

2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock


PREPARATION

Place the farro in a small mixing bowl and cover with cold water. Let soak for 20 minutes. Drain and rinse the farro, then combine the farro and stock in a small saucepan with a lid. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and turn the heat down to low. Cook, covered, for 25 minutes, until the farro is cooked al dente. Drain the cooked farro and run it under cold water to cool.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

4. Easy Tahini Dressing

While the farro boils, throw together this easy tahini dressing that will be the base for all your sauces throughout the week.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons tahini

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, smashed

PREPARATION

Whisk together the tahini, vinegar, a big pinch of salt, and some freshly ground pepper in a bowl. Continue to whisk as you slowly drizzle in the olive oil, and whisk until everything is combined. Stir in the cloves of smashed garlic and store in an airtight container in the fridge. You'll turn this dressing into 3 different sauces throughout the week.

5. White Beans with Roasted Red Pepper, Fennel, and Parsley

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 small bulb fennel, chopped into rough ¼-inch pieces

Salt and pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons parsley stems, thinly sliced

½ roasted red pepper (above), chopped into rough ¼-inch pieces

1 (15-ounce) can white beans, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves

PREPARATION

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the fennel and season with a little salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the fennel is soft and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and parsley stems, season with a little salt and pepper, and cook until the garlic is fragrant and just starting to brown, about a minute more. Add the roasted red pepper and white beans and cook, stirring often, until the beans start to break down just a little bit, about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chopped parsley leaves, and stir everything together.

Let the beans cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge.

6. Medium-Boiled Eggs

We think medium-boiled eggs are best. If you want hard-boiled eggs, cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.


INGREDIENTS

4 large eggs


PREPARATION

Fill a medium saucepan with at least 5 inches of water, and bring to a boil. When the water is boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and add the eggs, one at a time, dropping them in carefully with a spoon so as not to crack the shells. Reduce the heat as low as it will go, cover, and cook for 9 minutes. Meanwhile, fill a medium bowl with ice water. When eggs are done, use a spoon to transfer them, one at a time, into the ice water. Cool 3 minutes, then peel the eggs and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

7. Garlicky Kale

For this meal plan, you'll start with 2 bunches of kale. Remove the stems from both bunches of kale, then slice it all into strips about ½-inch thick. Store ⅓ of the sliced kale in an airtight container in the fridge, and sauté the remaining ⅔ of the kale following the recipe below.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

5 cups thinly sliced lacinato kale (⅔ of the kale you just prepped)

4 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper

PREPARATION

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, season with a little salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, just until the garlic starts to brown, about 30 seconds. Add the remaining ⅔ of the sliced kale and season with more salt and pepper. Cook, tossing often, until the kale is soft and dark green, about 3 minutes.

Let the kale cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge.

Once you've cooked the food, all you have to do is assemble the lunches each day of the week! Learn how here.