Me on a day with meal prep in the fridge: Wow! Lunch is already ready! I’m going to eat that, because it’s so convenient. Me on a day with no meal prep in the fridge: Sno-cones for lunch then, Christina? And Christina, being my loyal assistant and food blog virtual assistant business partner (Inceptiony? Whoa.)? Well, she always obliges the sno-cones. So I’ve learned one thing to be very important: Healthy meal prep is a must if I’m going to stay on track during the week.
I was inspired by the grown-up Lunchables-style protein packs from Starbucks (and the refrigerated section of basically every grocery store ever these days) and decided to create a super easy healthy Mexican chicken meal prep recipe focused on flavor, healthy fats, protein, and fiber. You can’t say no to that, right?
Why This Recipe Works
The fresh avocado cilantro ranch dressing is easy but so full of flavor, making the rest of the Mexican chicken meal prep taste amazing. Using mini peppers means no prep or chopping but still lots of good fiber and gorgeous colors. Generously seasoning the chicken and searing it creates a delish crust and tender texture.
How To Make It
It seriously couldn’t be easier! Here’s how it goes:
Mix up the Southwestern seasoning and season the chicken well. Heat a bit of oil in a pan, sear your chicken on both sides, cover and cook for a few minutes. Sprinkle the lime juice over, and the chicken is done! Blend up all the avocado cilantro ranch dressing ingredients in the food processor. Boil your eggs however you like! Arrange it all in your meal prep containers («< What I use).
How to make it
My method for boiling eggs is life-changing… Seriously! They’re insanely easy to peel and the yolks are consistent every time. Here’s how to do it:
Boil a saucepan of water. Gently lower eggs into the boiling water. Boil: 6 minutes for soft-boiled 7 1/2 minutes for medium-boiled 9 minutes for hard-boiled Immediately remove from the heat and pour hot water out. You can drain into a strainer if you like. Return eggs to pan and just cover with cold water. Add several handfuls of ice to the pan and let sit for a few minutes. Pour out water and swirl eggs around pretty violently. You want to crack the shells! Then easily peel under running water (The running water isn’t necessary but makes it even easier to clear out tiny pieces of shell).
To ensure perfectly cooked chicken breasts, make sure you use uniformly sized chicken breasts. For this recipe they should be fairly small, about 12 ounces total. Three four-ounce chicken breasts is fine, as is two six-ounce chicken breasts. Steer clear of the massive breasts, though. If you do have gigundo chicken breasts, no worries! Carefully and evenly slice the breast in half, across the middle (Not down the middle). You’ll end up with two smaller chicken breasts that should be much more even. An internal thermometer is amazing for cooking chicken and other meat perfectly. I highly recommend one! You can take these chicken breasts off the heat when they’re about 161-162º F. After resting a few minutes, they will rise in temperature to come up to 165º. Meal Prep Containers Scrounging around for pairs of food storage containers that might work for your meal prep is no fun; been there, sister. I ordered this set of glass meal prep containers and absolutely love them.
Did you make and love this recipe? Give it your review below! ? And make sure to share your creations by tagging me on Instagram!
