High-protein meal prep
Egg meal prep
Eggs are the budget protein that cooks in minutes. Scramble a batch, bake a frittata, or roll burritos, and you have breakfasts that are not a cereal box.
Training · 4 min read · Updated 2026-11-05
In the portions written below, protein is about 26–30 g, calories about 310–520, and sodium about 250–410 mg. Those are rounded kitchen estimates before extra cheese, bread, or a heavy pour of sauce.
Hard-cooked eggs and egg salad are a two-day food. Muffins and burritos are the ones that freeze.
How to run it
- Start with turkey and egg breakfast burritos. Plan on about 35 minutes. Scramble the eggs in the oil. Stir in the turkey and potato just to warm them.
- Next, herb egg salad. Three eggs is a real lunch. One egg on a giant pile of lettuce is a snack wearing a costume.
- Keep rice, beans, and eggs for the meal that needs to feel different. Cook and eat. Rice and beans can sit in the fridge 4 days; cook the eggs when you eat.
- Cool anything you will not eat right away within two hours. For rice, beans, and eggs: Cook and eat. Rice and beans can sit in the fridge 4 days; cook the eggs when you eat.
Cook these
Turkey and egg breakfast burritos
35 min · serves 6
- Protein
- 28 g
- Sodium
- 410 mg
- Calories
- 420
Protein, sodium, and calories are rounded kitchen estimates, not a lab test or a medical plan.
This is the higher-protein cousin of the bean burrito. It is still not a low-sodium food, mostly because of the tortilla.
Ingredients
- 8 eggs
- 8 ounces cooked lean ground turkey, seasoned with chili and garlic powder only
- 1 cooked potato, diced
- 6 large tortillas, the lowest-sodium ones you can find
- 1 teaspoon oil
Method
- Scramble the eggs in the oil. Stir in the turkey and potato just to warm them.
- Roll into tortillas. Do not add cheese or salsa before freezing.
- Wrap, label, and freeze flat so the bag stacks.
Freezer: best quality within 2 months. Reheat to 165°F. From the fridge, eat within 3 days.
Storage times are general guidance, not a lab test of this recipe. A shorter package or recipe instruction governs. Freezing and reheating do not rescue food left out too long, or a heat-stable toxin that already formed. USDA FSIS: Leftovers and Food Safety and USDA FSIS: Freezing and Food Safety.
Also used in A simple high-protein week, Batch cooking chicken, Freezer meals.
Herb egg salad
15 min · serves 1
- Protein
- 26 g
- Sodium
- 280 mg
- Calories
- 310
Protein, sodium, and calories are rounded kitchen estimates, not a lab test or a medical plan.
Three eggs is a real lunch. One egg on a giant pile of lettuce is a snack wearing a costume.
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- dill or chives
- black pepper
- soft bread or a baked potato, optional
Method
- Cover the eggs with water, bring to a boil, then cover and sit 10 minutes off the heat. Cool them in cold water.
- Chop and stir with yogurt, mustard, herbs, and pepper. Mayo is the saltier habit; yogurt keeps it in a lower range.
- Eat it on soft bread, a potato, or from a bowl with a spoon.
Fridge 2 days. Do not freeze egg salad.
Storage times are general guidance, not a lab test of this recipe. A shorter package or recipe instruction governs. Freezing and reheating do not rescue food left out too long, or a heat-stable toxin that already formed. USDA FSIS: Leftovers and Food Safety.
Also used in A grocery list sorted by aisle, A leftovers plan for single cooks, Bean and grain bowls.
Rice, beans, and eggs
15 min · serves 1
- Protein
- 30 g
- Sodium
- 250 mg
- Calories
- 520
Protein, sodium, and calories are rounded kitchen estimates, not a lab test or a medical plan.
This is the single-person dinner that uses what is already cooked. Two eggs are doing more work than one.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 1/2 cup no-salt-added beans, rinsed
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- hot sauce or salsa, optional
- a handful of spinach
Method
- Warm the rice, beans, and spinach in a small pan with a splash of water.
- Fry or scramble the eggs in the oil.
- Put the eggs on the rice. Add hot sauce only if you want the sodium and you know the bottle.
Cook and eat. Rice and beans can sit in the fridge 4 days; cook the eggs when you eat. If you serve it hot, reheat to 165°F with a food thermometer.
Storage times are general guidance, not a lab test of this recipe. A shorter package or recipe instruction governs. Freezing and reheating do not rescue food left out too long, or a heat-stable toxin that already formed. USDA FSIS: Leftovers and Food Safety.
Chill cooked rice promptly. Vomiting-type Bacillus cereus illness is generally tied to rice and other starchy foods, and that emetic toxin can survive heat that kills the bacteria. FDA Bad Bug Book: Bacillus cereus.
Also used in A leftovers plan for single cooks, Budget weeknight dinners, Cooking for one on a budget.
Details that matter
- Pack the crisp part separately: cucumber, lettuce, herbs, lemon wedges.
- If a lunch is short on protein, add a yogurt jar instead of redesigning the whole cook.
- Weigh or measure the cooked protein once, then use that container as the scoop for the rest of the week.
Easy mistakes
Calling a snack a meal
A string cheese and an apple are not 30 grams of protein. Look at the portion in the recipe, not the headline.
Salting the whole batch like a restaurant
Season simply, then finish the plate you are eating. It is easier to add salt than to take it out of four lunches.
Grocery starter
- 8 eggs
- 8 ounces cooked lean ground turkey, seasoned with chili and garlic powder only
- 1 cooked potato, diced
- 6 large tortillas, the lowest-sodium ones you can find
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- dill or chives
- black pepper
- soft bread or a baked potato, optional
- 1 cup cooked rice
Questions
How should I store turkey and egg breakfast burritos?
Freezer: best quality within 2 months. Reheat to 165°F. From the fridge, eat within 3 days.
How much protein is in a serving?
Turkey and egg breakfast burritos is about 28 g; Herb egg salad is about 26 g; Rice, beans, and eggs is about 30 g. These are kitchen estimates, not a lab analysis.
What is the easy mistake here?
Hard-cooked eggs and egg salad are a two-day food. Muffins and burritos are the ones that freeze.