Books & Literature

Cookbook Review: Easy Meal Prep, by Erin Romeo

Meal prep is essential for any diet—Easy Meal Prep will help you plan to eat for success.

A helpful and easy-to-follow guide for anyone overwhelmed by healthy meal prep.
4.5

Feature image credit: Murdoch Books

The current pace of modern life is a lot easier to keep up with if you plan ahead. That’s the idea behind Erin Romeo’s (aka the Food Prep Princess) Easy Meal Prep, a collection of simple recipes designed to be made in advance. Along with a good range of recipes, the book details the keys of meal prepping in general (even spelling out the crucial steps, from getting containers to portioning ), handing out helpful tips on how to ensure there’s enough without any going to waste.

Healthy meals are the focus of the book, with the general idea behind the meal prep movement being that organisation can help the busiest of people to stick to their health goals. A list of the main ingredients used in most recipes can be found at the beginning of the book, containing all the usual suspects in a clean-eating plan: turkey mince, fresh veggies, chicken breast, eggs, yoghurt, and whole grains. Most ingredients are easy to come by, although you will find the occasional ingredient not widely available in Australian supermarkets given that the author is American. To further help with the reader’s help goals, the book includes helpful information about macronutrients, categorising the general ingredient list as such, along with five meal-prep plans aligning with high-protein, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, and low-carb eating styles.

You don’t have to be an expert cook to pull off these recipes; they’re designed for those who don’t have a lot of time or advanced kitchen knowledge. The photography is a welcome addition that allows you to get a good idea of what you’ll be making (or at least, what it should look like — more on my chicken club wraps later). The glossy paper also makes it easy to bring the book in the kitchen with you without having to worry about splashback. And unlike many cookbooks, this one actually stays open when laid flat!

Overnight Oats (page 42)

As far as quick and easy breakfast recipes go, this one’s a keeper, especially for those who need a breakfast on the go — or don’t have the brain power in the morning to light up the stove. If you like the taste and consistency of porridge, this is a simple cool alternative that’s perfect for summer. You just add your liquid to your oats the night before and let them soak in the fridge, and then by morning you have soft oats ready for whatever toppings you prefer. I kept it simple with banana, cinnamon, a touch of salt, and stevia, but there are a million ways to experiment.

Apple Cinnamon Walnut Muffins (page 108)

I’ve been on the oat muffin meal prep bandwagon for a while now, so this recipe was a must. The majority of oat muffin recipes out there on TikTok use banana to add sweetness, and while that’s a good strategy, there comes a point where they taste all the same. This is a banana-free alternative with ingredients that are easy to source and it has a fresh apple and walnut flavour, with the latter providing just enough crunch. These are ideal for breakfast or even a pre-workout snack, so will definitely become part of the weekly rotation.

Chicken and Bacon Club Wraps (page 58)

Simple and delicious, these chicken wraps are another winner. I had a hard time finding wholegrain wraps that were approved by my Yuka app, so I went for wholemeal Lebanese bread. These are easily adaptable; you can add anything to them to change the flavour profile. Rather than using these for meal prep, I made them for dinner guests, so I added some light mayo to make them slightly more tasty. I couldn’t find turkey bacon so went with nitrite-free pork bacon which added a lot of saltiness and a new depth of flavour lacking in regular chicken wraps. The Lebanese bread sadly wasn’t that malleable, so they didn’t photograph well, but they tasted delicious!

Reviewed by Vanessa Elle
Instagram: @vanessaellewrites

The views expressed in this review belong to the author and not Glam Adelaide, its affiliates, or employees.

Distributed by: Murdoch Books
Released: January 2025
RRP: $29.99

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