EASY Meal Prep for Toddlers (REAL LIFE & Healthy Ideas)

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Do you ever feel like all you get done is fixing your toddler’s meals and snacks? With just a little bit of planning and meal prep ahead, you can make meal times so much easier. Today I am sharing my favorite easy meal prep for toddlers!

The best way to meal prep for toddlers is to meal prep for the whole family. In fact, one of the best ways to ensure picky eaters don’t get choosier is to serve toddlers the same foods as the rest of the family (with the exception of choking hazards, obviously.)

Easy Toddler Meal Prep Ideas

I have found that prepping my toddler’s meals before I need them is life-changing! Seriously, there is nothing as stressful as a toddler at your feet begging for something to eat.

Favorite Toddler Lunch & Dinner Meal Prep Ideas

Here are some of my favorite prep-ahead ideas for toddler’s meals. Many of these, such as meatloaf muffins, shredded chicken, and meatballs I stock in my freezer and others work great just for weekly meal prep.

1. Mini Meatloaf Muffins – Made in a muffin tin, these are great because the small single-serve portion is perfect for freezing and thawing 1 by 1 or as needed.
2. Quesadillas – I love to make a batch of bean & cheese quesadillas (or chicken quesadillas) and use them as needed. I typically just use them for lunch within a few days, but some people have definitely had success with freezing quesadillas as well.
3. Hard-Boiled Eggs – Both of my young kids LOVE hard-boiled eggs for meals (…and snacks!)
4. Soup – Soup is an easy meal prep option for toddlers. I typically make soup for dinner at least once a week. It’s a great leftover option for lunch as most recipes will feed our family at least a couple of times.
5. Shredded Chicken – Every other week, I will cook a whole chicken for dinner and then save the leftover for meal prep. We can use it to make a variety of lunches for my toddlers from quesadillas to pizza topping to simply serving plain shredded chicken! Whatever we will not use in a timely manner simply goes in the freezer.
6. Baked meatballs – I usually keep meatballs in the freezer, but they are a great make ahead lunch or dinner idea for anyone – toddler or adult.
7. Frozen Peanut Butter and Jelly – I realized the benefit of making freezer PB&Js recently. Not only are they super convenient to grab when you need something for a quick picnic or even a snack on the go, but you save yourself so much time by making several PB&Js at once.
8. Naan Pizza – Perfect easy prep ahead pizza for your toddler’s lunch!
9. Ham Roll-Ups – Roll up (nitrate-free) ham with cream cheese in the middle
10. Homemade Lunchables – You don’t even have to use lunchmeat (although you can) but prep bento-style lunch containers ahead for your toddler’s lunch.
11. Tuna or Salmon Cakes – My son used to love tuna cakes leftover cold or warmed up. So much that he would ask to take them to lunch bunch at preschool.
12. Sliced Veggies – Slice peppers and cucumbers to use for lunch/dinner/snack options.
13. Fresh fruit – Some fruit is definitely easier to store cut and prep than others. For example, strawberries are easy to slice, but apple slices may be more likely to brown.
14. Roasted Veggies – Try roasting broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, carrots, and potatoes for the week ahead.

EASY Meal Prep Toddler Breakfast Ideas

1. Egg Bites – I like to make them in the instant pot using these molds.
2. Pancakes – We either make sourdough pancakes or oatmeal banana pancakes. They freeze great in freezer bags or even stasher bags.
3. Baby & Toddler Friendly French Toast – We love this recipe for the entire family. Make it for the next few days or try freezing french toast!
4. Healthy Banana Sweetened Overnight Oats
5. Toddler Cookies
6. No Sugar Pumpkin Muffins
7. Hard Boiled Eggs
8. Homemade Granola – Can be used as a topping on yogurt
9. Yogurt Parfait – Make ahead and store in airtight containers.

Quick Snack Prep Ideas for Toddlers

Meal-prepping freezer snacks to use for your toddler’s snacks can be very helpful. Here are a few of my favorite meal prep snacks for toddlers:

• Toddler Cookies – We love these toddler cookies and find they freeze incredibly well. I keep a bag of them in the freezer and will thaw out a couple for my toddler’s snack.
• No-Sugar Pumpkin Muffins – These no-sugar pumpkin muffins are another favorite around here and a perfect snack for the freezer.
• Toddler-Friendly Banana Bread – This banana bread is perfect for toddlers (and babies!) You can also make it into muffins.
• Hard-Boiled Eggs
• Cut veggies & fruit
• Yogurt Parfaits

Freezable Meal Prep for Toddlers

Many of the options I mentioned above are freezable! I love meal prepping for the freezer, because I can truly prep ahead for busy weeks or unforeseen circumstances.

Having healthy homemade food in my freezer keeps me from resorting to fast ready-made store bought choices like chicken nuggets. Don’t get me wrong, my kids have had chicken nuggets occasionally (hello pregnancy and postpartum seasons in particular), but I definitely prefer homemade options when I’m able. Not only do I think it’s best nutritionally, but I find that eating “kid foods” like chicken nuggets too often only encourages picky eating.

Whether you have a freezer meal prep day where you make several recipes to stock your freezer or you fix a recipe here and there to add to your freezer, being prepared with a ready-made food can be so helpful in a pinch!

My favorite freezer meal prep ideas for toddlers include:

• Meatloaf Muffins
• Freezer PB &Js
• Muffins (no sugar pumpkin, banana bread)
• French Toast
• Pancakes
• Shredded Chicken
• Homemade soup
• Already browned ground beef (makes fixing family dinner so much faster!)
• Toddler Cookies
• Naan Pizzas
• Bone Broth – I make an easy bone broth hot chocolate that my kids adore for their snacks!

No Prep Required Favorites

There is no doubt that sometimes you just need some already prepped foods. Here are a few of my favorite things we buy that don’t require meal prep.

• Yogurt (greek and regular)
• Cottage Cheese
• Cheese sticks/cheese slices
• Bananas
• Cuties
• Larabars, Scout bars, kids RX bars
• Whole-grain English muffins

Helpful Gear for Toddler Meal Prep

• Toddler Silicone Plates with Lids – These are great for prepping your toddler’s lunch ahead as it has a lid and can be stored in the refrigerator. I have 2 sets of these and we use them everyday.
• Silicone Stasher Bags – We use Stasher bags (cucumbers are shown in the stasher bag above) for tons of items including storing cookies, veggies, and even putting pancakes in freezer.
• Liquid Chalk Markers – We use these to mark the item and date on the glass. It’s a super helpful way to keep track of food and much simpler than my old method – masking tape!

Tips for Meal Prepping for Toddlers

Meal prepping can look different for all kinds of people. Some meal preppers prefer meal prep for the week ahead, while others prefer making freezer-friendly food. Others simply like to prep extra food when they are already cooking. Here are some tips that have worked for me when meal-prepping for toddlers:

• A great way to get started is to identify the most challenging meal and/or snack of the day. For example, is breakfast rushed due to busy schedules? Start my meal prepping for the most challenging time of the day to help alleviate stress at this one time.
• When you make dinner, make extra and save either in the freezer or fridge for later.
• Store healthy homemade baked goods and finger foods in the freezer for fast snacks.
• Prep easy breakfasts like overnight oats, egg cups, and even pancakes ahead.
• Have frozen entrees even as simple as shredded chicken available to use in the freezer for when you are in a pinch.
• Prep just 1 extra freezer recipe a week or every few days until you have built some stock in your freezer.
• Make a plan for your week. Whether you are planning meal by meal/day by day or simply a list of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks you plan to serve this is a great way to ensure your toddlers are getting introduced to new foods
• When meal planning, carefully consider foods that your toddler enjoys or feels comfortable eating, and aim to add at least one of these “safe foods” to each meal you serve.

Why Meal Prep for Toddlers

Serving toddlers a balanced meal can be challenging, but I find that meal prepping helps me to offer a variety of foods by being prepared for the week. Watch my video below as I meal prep some of these favorite options for my own toddlers!!

Other Helpful Resources

35+ EASY & HEALTHY Toddler Lunch Ideas (even picky eaters will love)

50+ Real Life Toddler Meals

30 Healthy 1 Year Old Lunch Ideas

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