Meal prep: a sample session for the week, step by step

What does a meal prep afternoon actually look like? Here's a full session for two: 6 weeknight dinners made on Sunday in 2h30, with the prep, every step down to the minute, and what's left to do each evening. The dishes are among the most cooked by Popotam users, and the plan is the one Popotam wrote for them.

6dinners made

2h30in the kitchen

47timed steps

2 + 4fridge + freezer containers

Six dinners, Monday through Saturday. The order isn't random: what freezes worst comes early in the week, and the simmered dishes, which freeze really well, come at the end. The storage times come from our storage guide: two days in the fridge, the freezer after that.

Dinner	Main course	Where it waits
Monday	Herb roast chicken with potato gratin (gratin dauphinois)	Fridge
Tuesday	Zucchini, potato and ham gratin	Fridge
Wednesday	Chickpea and sweet potato coconut curry	Freezer, take it out Tuesday evening
Thursday	Kidney bean chili sin carne with rice	Freezer, take it out Wednesday evening
Friday	Whole wheat pasta with beef meatballs and homemade tomato sauce	Freezer, take it out Thursday evening
Saturday	Red lentil soup with Toulouse sausages and whole wheat bread	Freezer, take it out Friday evening

The gear

A regular kitchen: 4 burners and an oven. Get everything out before you start:

1 small baking dish
1 large baking dish
1 Dutch oven
1 bowl
1 large sauté pan
1 knife
1 wooden spoon
1 large skillet
1 stockpot
1 large saucepan
1 wok
Airtight containers

Before you turn on the stove: the prep

The veggies for every dish in one go: that's what saves the most time. Quantities are added up for the whole week.

Wash, peel, chop

1.2 kg potatoes, for herb roast chicken, zucchini
300 g zucchini, for zucchini
400 g sweet potatoes, for chickpea
1 red bell pepper, for kidney bean chili sin carne
1 carrots, for red lentil soup

Slice

9 cloves garlic, for herb roast chicken, chickpea, kidney bean chili sin carne, whole wheat pasta, red lentil soup
3 onion, for chickpea, kidney bean chili sin carne, red lentil soup
1 yellow onion, for whole wheat pasta

The timed run-through

The session starts at 2 PM. Overlapping steps are normal: while the gratin is in the oven and the sauce simmers, your hands move on to something else. That's how 6 dishes fit into 2h30.

Time	Step
2:00 PM	Wash, peel and chop: 1.2 kg potatoes (roast chicken, zucchini gratin). Counter · 11 min · 2 dishes
2:11 PM	Slice: 9 cloves garlic (roast chicken, chickpea curry, chili sin carne, whole wheat pasta, red lentil soup), 1 yellow onion (whole wheat pasta). Counter · 18 min · 5 dishes
2:29 PM	Wash, peel and chop: 300 g zucchini (zucchini gratin). Counter · 3 min · Zucchini
2:32 PM	Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), convection. Oven · 10 min · Herb roast chicken
2:32 PM	In a bowl, mix 200 ml crème fraîche, 200 ml milk, 1 pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper. Counter · 5 min · Herb roast chicken
2:37 PM	In the large baking dish, spread out the peeled and sliced potatoes, add 1 sliced garlic clove and the cream and milk mixture. Stir. Counter · 5 min · Herb roast chicken
2:42 PM	Put the large baking dish in the oven and bake the potato gratin at 200°C (400°F) for 40 minutes. Oven · 40 min · Herb roast chicken
2:42 PM	In the Dutch oven, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the chicken legs, salt and pepper. Stove · 5 min · Herb roast chicken
2:42 PM	In the large sauté pan, melt 20 g butter over medium heat. Stove · 2 min · Zucchini
2:44 PM	Add the chopped zucchini and potatoes, and cook 5 min, stirring. Stove · 5 min · Zucchini
2:47 PM	Add 1 sliced garlic clove and 1 tsp thyme to the Dutch oven. Flip the chicken legs. Stove · 3 min · Herb roast chicken
2:49 PM	In the large saucepan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Stove · 2 min · Whole wheat pasta
2:50 PM	Cover the Dutch oven and let the chicken simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Stove · 30 min · Herb roast chicken
2:51 PM	Add the sliced onion and 2 sliced garlic cloves, and cook 3 min without browning. Stove · 3 min · Whole wheat pasta
2:54 PM	Add the peeled tomatoes, 1 tbsp tomato paste and 0.5 tsp oregano, season with salt and pepper and stir. Stove · 5 min · Whole wheat pasta
2:59 PM	Dice the ham and add it to the sauté pan, stir for 1 min. Counter · 2 min · Zucchini
3:01 PM	Pour in the crème fraîche, the milk and the nutmeg, season with salt and pepper, and stir well. Counter · 2 min · Zucchini
3:03 PM	Transfer everything into the small baking dish and spread it out evenly. Counter · 3 min · Zucchini
3:06 PM	In a bowl, season 300 g ground beef with salt and pepper, for the meatballs. Counter · 2 min · Whole wheat pasta
3:08 PM	Cover and let the tomato sauce simmer over low heat for 15 min. Stove · 15 min · Whole wheat pasta
3:08 PM	Slice: 3 onions (chickpea curry, chili sin carne, red lentil soup). Counter · 6 min · 3 dishes
3:14 PM	Wash, peel and chop: 1 carrot (red lentil soup), 400 g sweet potatoes (chickpea curry), 1 red bell pepper (chili sin carne). Counter · 8 min · 3 dishes
3:22 PM	Take the potato gratin out of the oven and arrange the chicken legs next to it in the large baking dish. Counter · 5 min · Herb roast chicken
3:22 PM	Bake the gratin at 180°C (350°F) for 30 min, uncovered. Oven · 30 min · Zucchini
3:27 PM	Shape 12 meatballs with the meat mixture and place them in the small baking dish. Counter · 5 min · Whole wheat pasta
3:32 PM	In the stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Stove · 2 min · Kidney bean chili sin carne
3:32 PM	In the wok, heat 0.5 tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Stove · 2 min · Red lentil soup
3:34 PM	Cook the sliced onion and garlic in the stockpot for 3 minutes. Stove · 3 min · Kidney bean chili sin carne
3:34 PM	Cook 1 sliced onion and 1 sliced garlic clove in the wok until translucent. Stove · 5 min · Red lentil soup
3:37 PM	Add the chopped red bell pepper, the cumin and the sweet paprika to the stockpot. Stir well. Stove · 2 min · Kidney bean chili sin carne
3:39 PM	Stir the crushed tomatoes and the drained kidney beans into the stockpot. Counter · 2 min · Kidney bean chili sin carne
3:41 PM	Bring to a boil, then let simmer covered over low heat for 20 minutes. Stove · 20 min · Kidney bean chili sin carne
3:41 PM	Add 1 chopped carrot, 70 g red lentils, 400 g peeled tomatoes and 1 vegetable bouillon cube to the wok. Counter · 2 min · Red lentil soup
3:43 PM	Pour 500 ml water into the wok, bring to a boil, then let simmer covered for 15 min. Stove · 15 min · Red lentil soup
3:43 PM	Prick the 2 Toulouse sausages with a fork. Counter · 2 min · Red lentil soup
3:45 PM	Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in the large skillet over medium heat. Stove · 2 min · Chickpea
3:45 PM	Brown the sausages in a skillet over medium heat for 8 min, turning them. Stove · 8 min · Red lentil soup
3:47 PM	Cook 1 sliced onion and 2 sliced garlic cloves in the large skillet for 3 min. Stove · 3 min · Chickpea
3:50 PM	Add 400 g chopped sweet potatoes and 2 tsp curry powder, and stir for 2 min. Stove · 2 min · Chickpea
3:52 PM	Bake the meatballs for 15 min in the small baking dish. Oven · 15 min · Whole wheat pasta
3:53 PM	Pour 200 ml coconut milk and 1 can of drained chickpeas into the large skillet, and stir. Counter · 1 min · Chickpea
3:54 PM	Bring to a boil, then let simmer covered for 15 min over low heat. Stove · 15 min · Chickpea
3:58 PM	Add the browned sausages to the wok and let simmer 5 min, covered. Stove · 5 min · Red lentil soup
4:01 PM	Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if needed. Counter · 1 min · Kidney bean chili sin carne
4:03 PM	Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Counter · 2 min · Red lentil soup
4:09 PM	Taste and adjust the salt and pepper in the large skillet. Counter · 1 min · Chickpea
4:10 PM	Let cool 20 min at most, then split into shallow containers and put them away: roast chicken and zucchini gratin in the fridge, and chili sin carne, red lentil soup, whole wheat pasta and chickpea curry in the freezer. Rest · 20 min · 6 dishes

By 4:30 PM, everything's put away: 2 containers in the fridge for Monday and Tuesday, 4 in the freezer for later.

This plan was reviewed before being published

Popotam wrote it on October 2, 2026, then we reviewed it: AI sometimes gets things wrong, and we'd rather say so. What we changed:

The tomato sauce and the meatballs: the plan crumbled the meat into the sauce before shaping the meatballs, now the meat only goes into the meatballs.
The gear: the large saucepan and the wok, used in the plan, were missing from the list.
Two bits of wording on the day.

Weeknights

What's left to do each evening: ten to twenty minutes, rarely more.

Monday, herb roast chicken: Reheat the whole dish in the oven at 180°C (350°F) for 20 minutes.
Tuesday, zucchini: Reheat the gratin in the oven at 180°C (350°F) for 15 min, covered with foil.
Wednesday, chickpea: Move the curry from the freezer to the fridge the night before. Reheat it over low heat in a saucepan for 10 min, stirring, and add a little water if needed.
Thursday, kidney bean chili sin carne: Take the chili sin carne out of the freezer the night before and put it in the fridge. On the day, reheat it over low heat in a saucepan for 10 minutes, stirring. Cook the long grain rice in boiling water for 12 minutes.
Friday, whole wheat pasta: Move the dish from the freezer to the fridge the night before. On the day, cook 250 g whole wheat pasta for 10 min in boiling salted water. Reheat the sauce and the meatballs for 5 min over low heat in the large saucepan.
Saturday, red lentil soup: Take the soup out of the freezer the night before and put it in the fridge. Reheat it over low heat for 10 min in a saucepan, stirring. Serve it with toasted whole wheat bread.

The ingredients, dish by dish

For two people, plus salt, pepper and oil.

Herb roast chicken with potato gratin (gratin dauphinois)

4 chicken legs
800 g potatoes
200 ml crème fraîche
200 ml milk
1 pinch nutmeg
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp olive oil

Zucchini, potato and ham gratin

300 g zucchini
400 g potatoes
150 g ham
200 ml crème fraîche (30% fat)
100 ml low-fat milk
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
20 g butter

Chickpea and sweet potato coconut curry

1 can (400 g) canned chickpeas
400 g sweet potatoes
200 ml coconut milk
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp olive oil

Kidney bean chili sin carne with rice

400 g canned kidney beans
200 g long grain rice
400 g canned crushed tomatoes
1 onion
1 red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp olive oil

Whole wheat pasta with beef meatballs and homemade tomato sauce

250 g whole wheat pasta
300 g ground beef (5% fat)
400 g canned peeled tomatoes
1 yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp tomato paste
1.5 tbsp olive oil
0.5 tsp dried oregano

Red lentil soup with Toulouse sausages and whole wheat bread

70 g red lentils
2 Toulouse sausages
1 carrots
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1 can (400 g) canned peeled tomatoes
1 baguette whole wheat bread
1 cube vegetable bouillon cube
0.5 tbsp olive oil

Frequently asked questions

For the 6 dinners in this example, for two people, the session takes 2h30. Plan on two to four hours for six to ten dishes: what matters isn't speed, it's keeping the oven and the burners busy while your hands do something else.

With the prep: wash, peel and chop the veggies for every dish in one go, then start whatever cooks longest. Here, the potato gratin goes in the oven as soon as the potatoes are ready, and everything else is organized around it.

No. Cooked rice, pasta and couscous are at risk for Bacillus cereus, whose toxin survives reheating (ANSES). In this example, the chili sauce and the meatballs are ready on Sunday, and the rice and pasta get cooked that evening, in about ten minutes.

Build your week in Popotam, then tap “Meal prep” at the top of your meal plan. You pick the dishes and your session day, say how many burners and ovens you have, and Popotam writes your timed plan in about twenty seconds. It's free and no account needed.

Your plan, for your week

Open Popotam, build your week, then tap “Meal prep”: your dishes, your day, your kitchen, and a timed plan like this one in about twenty seconds.