How to Calculate Meal Prep Portions
Meal prepping is the easiest way to hit your nutrition goals, but figuring out exactly how many groceries to buy can be frustrating. To get your total grocery list, multiply your per-meal portion by the total number of meals you plan to eat.
Our meal prep calculator does the math for you. Simply enter what goes into one of your prep containers, set how many days and meals per day you're prepping for, and we'll instantly generate a total grocery shopping list. We'll also estimate the macros per meal based on your inputs.
Raw vs. Cooked Weights
One of the most common meal prep mistakes is confusing raw and cooked weights. Always calculate your grocery list based on raw weights, as that is how you buy the food.
- Meat and Poultry: Shrinks by about 25% when cooked. If you want 150g of cooked chicken breast per meal, you need to buy about 200g of raw chicken breast per meal.
- Rice and Grains: Expands to 2-3 times its weight/volume when cooked. 1 cup of dry rice yields about 3 cups of cooked rice.
- Vegetables: Depending on the cooking method (roasting vs steaming), veggies will shrink by roughly 10-25% as they lose water.
Standard Meal Prep Portions
- Protein: 4-6 oz (115-170g) raw weight per meal
- Carbohydrates: ½ to 1 cup of cooked grains, or 150-200g of potatoes per meal
- Vegetables: 1-2 cups or 100-150g per meal
- Fats: 1 tbsp of oil, nuts, or seeds, or ¼ of an avocado per meal