Preparing and cooking quick healthy meals should be easy. While it might feel good to put a delicious dinner on the table night after night, it can also be a time-consuming process.

When actual life happens and you don’t have time to cook, there are some excellent tricks to have up your sleeve to increase your odds of eating a healthy meal - because being busy and stressed is bad enough without feeling sick thanks to too much takeout.

Switching to fast food or frozen meals on days when you feel you have no more energy to exert may feel like a simple solution, but you deserve better than that! We don't think you have to sacrifice your diet for the sake of your time and effort. Instead, here is a list of eight practical cooking tips that will allow you to prepare wholesome meals quickly!

Keeping a list and sticking to it saves time, money, and unhealthy food from "landing" in your shopping cart. Another very helpful tip - never go to the grocery store hungry!

#2. Shop Pre-chopped Veggies

I used to look at those bags of pre-chopped stir-fry veggies and wonder who bought that stuff. Busy people, that’s who! If the prep is already done for you, it makes it much easier to throw something together on the fly.

You can even get pre-spiralised zucchini (courgette) noodles these days, which is a total game-changer - pair them with freezer meatballs and jarred sauce for an easy meal.

Grab a few bags of your favourite stir-fry mix or pre-washed salad greens, and you’re basically halfway to dinner already. All you need to do is add some protein, put some crusty bread or pre-cooked rice on the side, and you’re good to go.

Related: Pocket Personal Trainer App

The absolute easiest way to eat at home when you're short on time is to simply double whatever you make and freeze half. A stash of freezer meals means you can still serve a great supper on nights when you don't have time to thaw meat, babysit the stovetop, or just don't feel like cooking.

It's the best way to freezer cook without spending an entire day in the kitchen. The suitable meals to double are casseroles, pizza dough, soups, and baked goods.

And since it's just the two of us, we can usually make a full recipe and just freeze the half we don't eat. Usually, it's much more willing to eat food that's been frozen at the peak of freshness, then open up a suspicious-looking container that's been sitting in the fridge too long.

Related: Pocket Personal Trainer App

#7. Canned Foods

Carefully chosen canned and jarred foods, such as vegetable or chicken stocks, sardines, wild Alaskan salmon, artichokes, roasted red peppers and others, make it easy to toss together last-minute meals.

Always go for lower-sodium versions and read labels carefully to be sure that gluten, dairy, sugars, and other unwanted ingredients aren't inadvertently sneaking into your diet. If choosing canned food, opt for PBA free cans whenever possible.

#8. Get A Crockpot

We strongly encourage you to cook more slow-cooker meals. They usually make a ton, create a minimal mess, and the dishes usually keep and freeze super well.

Most crockpot recipes require only a few ingredients that simmer all day and provide a scrumptious meal just in time for dinner. But you can speed up the morning prep-work by gathering all the ingredients together the night before. Assemble in a bag and dump into your slow-cooker the next morning. Easy as walking in the park!

Tip To Remember

Most people are already pretty over-extended when it comes to balancing work and personal life, so preparing a healthy and time-consuming meal just isn't always a realistic option.

The excellent news is, you don't actually need a ton of time to eat relatively healthy. Just make sure you plan ahead and keep your kitchen stocked with a few super easy to prepare the basics mentioned above.

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