Postpartum Meal Prep Ideas
I am currently preparing for the birth of my third baby and wanted to share details of the meals I have prepared in advance for postpartum. Read on for some healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas that are easy to make in advance.
I have a pretty small fridge freezer, so I have tried to make the most of the limited space that I have available. I have prepared meals that I know my family will enjoy and will also provide me with nutrient dense foods during the first week or so after giving birth.
Why You’ll Love These Recipes
- Ingredients are all geared towards postpartum recovery (warm and easy to digest)
- Easy to prepare in advance and use simple ingredients
- All recipes are nut and gluten free
Breakfast Ideas for Postpartum
I have read lots of different postpartum meal prep posts that include things like breakfast burritos and muffins with bacon and egg. These all sound great, but knowing how I’ve felt in the early days of postpartum previously, I think I am better off sticking to simpler breakfast ideas that my stomach is more used to.
This will be my first winter baby, so I’m planning on having my current breakfast staple of Homemade Gingerbread Granola, served with hot milk. This is easy to make in advance and contains warming spices such as ground ginger and cinnamon, which are wonderful to consume during postpartum.
If you are having a baby during the warmer months of the year then granola is still a great option for breakfast. However, you may want to serve it with some cold milk or some fresh fruit and yogurt instead.
Alternatively, I plan on eating simple breakfasts like toast with real butter. With maybe a boiled egg, avocado or sardines to go with it.
Lunch Ideas for Postpartum
Whilst you are healing and recovering from birth you want to consume mainly warm foods. Warm foods are easier for your body to digest. Again, I plan on keeping things pretty simple for lunchtime and will mainly be having soup.
Homemade Bone Broth is also great to have either as a warm drink own its own. Or you can use it in place of stock when making soup.
You can make most soups in advance and freeze them in a suitable container. Or you can put all of the ingredients (excluding the stock / bone broth) into a zip lock bag and freeze them. Then they are ready to be thrown into a slow cooker or saucepan on the day you want to eat them.
Here is a list of some of the soups I will be preparing in advance for postpartum:
Butternut Squash and Lentil Soup
This soup is easy to make and contains mild curry powder, which contains a variety of warming spices. It’s also full of protein and easy to digest, making it perfect for postpartum.
Ginger & Turmeric Chicken Noodle Soup
The fresh ginger and turmeric ingredients in this soup contain anti-inflammatory properties that will support your healing following birth.
This soup can be made in advance and frozen in a suitable container. However, I would recommend leaving out the spaghetti noodles and instead cook them fresh on the day. Otherwise the noodles can go a bit mushy if you freeze and reheat them.
French Onion Soup
This is my favourite soup of all time! It takes a bit of time to prepare, as you need to cook the onions low and slow to draw out their full flavour. It is so worth it though.
Onions are full of nutrients. I can’t wait to be served this soup with some cheese on toast, whilst I recover in bed.
Dinner Ideas for Postpartum
Along with soups, stews are also great to consume when you are newly postpartum. Stews should be warming, full of nutrients and easy to digest.
I have prepared a double batch of my favourite stews below by putting all of the ingredients (apart from the stock / bone broth) into a zip lock bag. I have included enough ingredients to make two days worth of meals for my family. Â
Chicken Stew
This simple chicken and vegetable stew recipe is warming and delicious. We use leftover roast chicken for this meal, but you can also use fresh chicken breast or thigh meat instead.
Beef Stew
This beef stew recipe is hearty and nutritious. Cooking the beef in a slow cooker will help ensure that the meat remains tender and juicy. It’s another of our family favourites, especially during the colder winter months.
Bolognese Sauce
This Bolognese sauce can be made in about 30 minutes and it’s a meal that I know my whole family will enjoy.
Rather than placing any raw ingredients in the freezer, I tend to just make extra portions and then freeze those in individual containers.
I would also recommend cooking your pasta fresh separately on the day, as it doesn’t tend to freeze well.
Tips for Storing Freezer Meals
You can either make your meals ahead of time and store them in the freezer once they have cooled, or you can gather and prepare all of the ingredients that you need and store these in the freezer, to be cooked at a later date.
If you choose to just prepare your ingredients, without cooking them ahead of time (like I have chosen to do with my stew recipes), here are some handy tips:
- Chop up all the meat and vegetables and add them to a zip lock bag
- Add any other ingredients listed in the recipe, but leave out the stock or bone broth as this can cause a real mess if the bag was to leak!
- Try to remove as much air from the zip lock bag as possible before sealing it.
- Don’t forget to write on the bag what the meal is, any instructions for reheating and include the date that it was prepared.
- Try and lay the bag flat in the freezer, this will make it easier to see what it is and might save a bit of space.
- The day before you want to eat the meal, remove it from the freezer and place the zip lock bag in a dish in the fridge to defrost.
- The next morning tip the contents of the zip lock bag into either a slow cooker or saucepan and add the stock or bone broth (if the recipe requires it).
- Reheat the meal and serve.
Alternatives to Zip Lock Bags
You can also use air tight plastic or glass containers with lids instead, if you don’t want to use zip lock / plastic freezer bags.
If you are using a ridged container instead of a bag, then try to fill it up as much as possible, to avoid there being too much excess air left in the container. The more space and air there is inside the container, the more chance a layer of freezer burn will develop on the surface of your food.
I really hope you have found this post helpful and enjoy these recipes.
If you are about to have a baby then I’m wishing you all the best!
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