From raw seafood and poached eggs to pasta and spinach, here are the worst foods to meal prep.
Seafood
If you like seafood, you’ll probably never want to meal prep any of its ingredients in your life. Raw, it’s not recommended to keep it in the fridge for more than two days, and cooked, probably not more than three. But, even if you do choose to prep your salmon or shrimp, after a day or two, you’ll notice discoloration, a noticeable smell coming from your fridge, and a very dry texture - nothing you’d want your juicy fish to be.
So, if you really love your tuna and salmon, meal prep everything around your dish and leave the protein for the day of. It’ll taste much better and you’ll decrease the risk of a foodborne illness.
Eggs
Another animal protein that simply doesn’t taste as good after a few days in the fridge are eggs. And not to mention, the only version of eggs you can actually meal prep are hard-boiled eggs. Don’t even think about poaching your eggs and then leaving them in the fridge as they aren’t fully cooked and can be the perfect environment for salmonella or other bacteria.
If you can’t stand hard-boiled eggs, make sure to poach or make eggs Benedict the day of. You can even do it as you’re reheating other ingredients you’ve already meal-prepped!
Pasta
Even though there’s nothing wrong or unsafe with meal-prepping your pasta, it simply won’t taste good. Once you put the pasta in the fridge, it will harden and dry out, and no amount of reheating will bring the silky soft texture back. If you’re unbothered by the change in texture or flavor, you might still enjoy having your pasta meal prepped and ready to go, but if you’re a pasta lover who dreams of the “al dente” touch, make your pasta on the day you plan to eat it.
Leafy Greens
Wilted leafy greens are everyone’s nightmare, making them one of the absolute worst foods to meal prep. Once you make spinach, swiss chard, or kale, the richness of flavor and texture is immediate. The longer it sits and the minute it gets transferred to the fridge for later, it’s all gone.
Reheated, these leafy greens completely lose their flavor and turn into a slimy mess which sometimes, due to oxidation, may even turn brown. So, yeah, meal-prepping leafy greens isn’t the best way to go. Luckily, they cook pretty fast and all you really need is 10-ish minutes.
Potatoes
Another veggie that completely loses its form and flavor are potatoes. The juicy, crispy tubers are delicious as they come out of the oven. Reheated? Not so much. You can cut them and prep them raw a day before you plan to bake them, but once you do, aim to eat the whole batch. Placing them in the fridge will make them become soggy which can lead to spoilage, especially if they’re left there for more than two days. Aim to eat your potatoes once you make them, but if you do end up with leftovers, mash them up with some cream or butter the following day, or toss them in breadcrumbs and make croquettes. This way they’ll taste way better.
Mushrooms
And last but not least, mushrooms definitely fall under the worst foods to meal prep as they completely lose their texture in the fridge. Pre-chopping them may dry them out and even cause them to brown, and cooking them may make them slimy and soggy, which can once again, lead to spoilage. Aim to cook your mushrooms the day of. They cook quickly and taste best when fresh out of the pan.
