Air Fryer Meal Prep: Weekly Plan, Grocery List and Recipes

Introduction

Meal prep — preparing your meals in advance — is the ideal strategy for eating healthily, saving time during the week and reducing food waste. The air fryer is the perfect tool for this approach: quick cooking, few dishes to wash and tasty results even after reheating. This complete guide offers a Monday-to-Friday plan with a Sunday batch-cooking session, one grocery list and all the storage and reheating tips you need.

The goal is simple: invest 2 hours on Sunday to prepare most of your weekly meals. Each day, you only need to assemble, reheat and eat. For more ideas, see our guide to healthy air fryer cooking.

Weekly Plan

Grocery List (for 1 person, x2 for a couple)

Proteins

• 600 g (about 1⅓ lb) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 400 g (just under 1 lb) skin-on chicken thighs
• 300 g salmon fillet
• 250 g extra-lean ground beef (5% fat)
• 1 can chickpeas (400 g)

Carbohydrates

• 300 g basmati rice
• 200 g quinoa
• 250 g whole wheat pasta
• 2 medium sweet potatoes (about 400 g, just under 1 lb)
• 4 whole wheat tortillas

Vegetables

• 1 head of broccoli (300 g), 1 bunch asparagus (300 g), 2 medium zucchini
• 3 bell peppers (mixed colours), 300 g green beans
• 1 red onion, 1 head of garlic, 1 lemon
• Salad greens (arugula or spring mix), 2 tomatoes, 1 cucumber

Pantry

• Olive oil, soy sauce (150 mL), honey, teriyaki sauce
• Hummus (200 g), feta (100 g), tomato sauce (200 mL), mozzarella (125 g)
• Spices: smoked paprika, cumin, turmeric, garlic powder, herbes de Provence, curry powder

Sunday Batch Cooking Session (2 Hours)

Phase 1: Preparation (30 minutes)

1. Start the rice (300 g) — bring it to a boil with 450 mL (about 1¾ cups) of water, cover and simmer for 12 minutes.
2. Start the quinoa (200 g) — bring it to a boil with 400 mL (about 1⅔ cups) of water, then simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Make the marinades: Spiced chicken (olive oil, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder). Teriyaki salmon (soy sauce, honey, ginger, garlic).
4. Cut all the vegetables: broccoli into 3 cm (1¼ in.) florets, zucchini into 1 cm (½ in.) rounds, peppers into 2 cm (¾ in.) strips and sweet potatoes into 2 cm (¾ in.) cubes; trim the asparagus and green beans.
5. Prepare the proteins: put 300 g of chicken strips in the spiced marinade and the salmon in the teriyaki marinade, season the thighs, and shape 8 meatballs (30 g each) with cumin and garlic.

Phase 2: Air Fryer Cooking (60 minutes)

Batch 1 — Spiced chicken: 190°C (375°F) for 12 to 14 minutes, flipping halfway. Internal temperature: 74°C (165°F).

Batch 2 — Chicken thighs + sweet potatoes: Thighs at 180°C (350°F) for 15 min, then 200°C (400°F) for 5 to 8 min. Sweet potatoes at 190°C (375°F) for 15 to 18 min.

Batch 3 — Teriyaki salmon: 180°C (350°F) for 10 to 12 minutes, skin side down.

Batch 4 — Beef meatballs: 190°C (375°F) for 10 to 12 minutes, flipping halfway. Internal temperature: 72°C (162°F).

Batch 5 — Mixed vegetables: Cook in batches, following our roasted vegetable guide: at 190°C (375°F), broccoli for 8 to 10 min and peppers and zucchini for 10 to 12 min; at 200°C (400°F), asparagus for 6 to 8 min and green beans for 8 to 10 min.

Phase 3: Falafels + Assembly (30 minutes)

Homemade falafels: Drain the chickpeas and blend them with onion, garlic, cumin, ground coriander and flour. Shape 12 balls and flatten them slightly. Cook at 190°C (375°F) for 12 to 15 minutes.

Assembly: Spread the food out in small portions and let it cool for no more than 30 minutes at room temperature, then refrigerate it right away. Divide it into glass containers by day, keep the sauces separate and label each container.

Storage Tips

• Refrigerator: chicken, salmon and meatballs keep 3 to 4 days.
• Roasted vegetables keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge.
• Cooked rice is the most sensitive food (Bacillus cereus spores): cool it within an hour, keep it in the fridge and ideally eat it within 24 hours, otherwise freeze it in portions. Quinoa keeps 3 days.
• Falafels keep 4 days refrigerated or 1 month frozen.
• Choose glass containers over plastic: food keeps better, and glass is the healthier choice for reheating.
• Refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking: split food into shallow portions so it cools quickly, and never leave it out at room temperature for longer.
• Thursday and Friday: freeze the portions for those days on Sunday (chicken thighs, meatballs, rice, chicken for the pizza) and thaw them in the fridge the night before.
• Reheat only once, until the food is steaming hot all the way through and reaches 74°C (165°F).

Air Fryer Reheating Instructions

These times are a guide for portions straight from the fridge: food must be steaming hot in the centre and read 74°C (165°F) on a thermometer. Add a few minutes if needed, especially for thawed portions.

Quick Evening Recipes

Monday — Chicken Wraps

Reheat the chicken and peppers at 170°C (340°F) for 4 min. Warm the tortillas at 160°C (325°F) for 1 min. Fill, roll and serve.

Tuesday — Quinoa Salad

Toss the cold quinoa with cold roasted vegetables, fresh tomato, cucumber and crumbled feta. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice.

Wednesday — Roasted Veggie Pasta

Cook 125 g of pasta (10 min). Reheat the vegetables at 180°C (350°F) for 3 min. Toss everything with feta and olive oil.

Thursday — Roasted Vegetable Soup

Blend the leftover roasted vegetables with 400 mL (about 1⅔ cups) of broth. Heat on the stovetop. Serve with croutons made in the air fryer at 200°C (400°F) for 3 min.

Friday — Tortilla Pizza

Top a tortilla with tomato sauce, mozzarella, leftover peppers and shredded chicken. Cook at 190°C (375°F) for 5 to 7 min.

Variations

• Vegetarian: replace the meat with tempeh, roasted chickpeas or tofu marinated in soy and sesame and cooked at 190°C (375°F) for 12 to 15 min.
• Athletes: increase protein portions by 50% and add extra sweet potatoes.
• Budget: swap the salmon for cod or hake, cooked at 180°C (350°F) for 10 to 12 min.
• Week 2: rotate with our 6 crispy chicken recipes and 7 ways to make fries.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Keeping food too long in the fridge — after 3 to 4 days, quality and food safety decline. Freeze the end-of-week portions.
• Forgetting to dry vegetables — see our common air fryer mistakes guide.
• Reheating in the microwave — the air fryer preserves crispiness, the microwave destroys it.
• Storing sauces with food — wet sauces make breaded or roasted food soggy. Always store them separately.

Conclusion

Air fryer meal prep is a winning combination for healthy, budget-friendly and tasty meals all week long. By investing 2 hours on Sunday, you free up several hours of cooking during the week. Explore our 10 roasted vegetable recipes and healthy cooking guide for more inspiration.

Storage guide: shelf life and reheating methods

What air fryer meal prep saves you

• Time: one 2-hour session on Sunday replaces most daily cooking; on weekdays you only reheat and assemble.
• Money: home cooking is usually much cheaper than delivery or prepared meals, especially when you buy in bulk.
• Energy: for small quantities, the air fryer heats a smaller space and barely needs preheating, so it uses less energy than a full-size oven.
• Less waste: a grocery list built around the plan keeps you from buying food that never gets cooked.