For my typical lunch meal prep, I cook dinner a batch of rooster breasts, candy potatoes, and inexperienced beans in my pellet smoker on Sunday, retailer them within the fridge, after which portion out a macro-friendly lunch every day. Typically I’ll additionally sluggish cook dinner a giant ol’ pot of beans to dig into all through the week. Eager about these beans . . .
However the different day, after I was on the grocery retailer happening the canned meals aisle, I had a thought: Might I create high-protein, low-calorie meal-prep lunches utilizing simply canned meals?
So I attempted it. For one week, each lunch I ate got here fully from canned items. No recent meat or produce, no frozen veggies. Solely tinned meals.
Right here’s how my experiment went and what I realized.
The Professionals of Canned Meals Meal Prep
Canned meals has quite a few underrated benefits:
1. It’s fairly dang handy. Canned meals is the epitome of comfort. The whole lot is already cooked and chopped. You simply open the can, dump it right into a pan or bowl, heat it up, and also you’re carried out. It could possibly reduce meal prep time down dramatically.
2. It’s shelf-stable. Probably the greatest issues about canned meals is that it doesn’t spoil shortly. You possibly can fill up on cans, and so they’ll sit in your pantry for a yr or extra, ready so that you can use them. No extra throwing recent meals away that you just didn’t get round to cooking in time since you had a busy week. And also you’re prepped for when international pandemics shut down the world.
3. It’s reasonably priced. A can of tuna is lower than a greenback and packs 27 grams of protein. Canned greens are additionally low cost. Yow will discover cans of inexperienced beans, potatoes, corn, and extra for underneath a buck. Canned meals value about the identical as recent and frozen varieties, however could be thought-about an particularly whole lot whenever you issue within the time saved and the decreased threat of meals waste.
4. It’s very macro-friendly. I used to be capable of put collectively meals that have been excessive in protein, low in fats, and average in carbs — all from canned meals. Suppose canned rooster with canned black beans and corn. Or canned tuna with canned potatoes and peas.
5. It’s nonetheless nutritious. There’s this concept on the market that canned meals is “lifeless” — that the canning course of strips all of the vitamins from the meals. That’s probably not true. Whereas some water-soluble nutritional vitamins like vitamin C could lower barely, most vitamins stay intact.
The Cons of Canned Meals Meal Prep
Regardless of its strong advantages, canned meals does have its drawbacks:
1. Canned meals could be sodium bombs. Many canned meals are loaded with salt for preservation and style. After my meals, I observed some water retention and had issue getting my rings off my fingers. However there are methods to attenuate this. You should purchase reduced-sodium or no-salt-added variations of many canned meals. You may also rinse your canned meals underneath water earlier than utilizing it, which may reduce the sodium content material by as much as 40%.
2. Cans could use BPA linings. One other concern you’ll hear about canned meals is BPA — a chemical as soon as generally used within the lining of cans and linked to potential well being dangers. The excellent news is that after shopper pushback, most canned meals producers have shifted away from BPA linings. However not all have. If this considerations you, verify the label or the corporate’s web site for information on their can linings.
3. The style and texture are usually not all the time the perfect. I just like the style of canned inexperienced beans and corn, however canned potatoes and rooster are . . . completely different. I kinda felt like I used to be consuming cat meals after I ate my canned rooster. Don’t count on your canned meals meals to style wonderful. Seasoning and Frank’s Sizzling Sauce might be your good friend in making them extra palatable.
3 Straightforward, Macro-Pleasant Canned Meals Meal-Prep Recipes
Throughout my experiment, I attempted out some canned-food-only “recipes.” Listed here are three I preferred:
Hen, Inexperienced Bean, and Potato Bowl
Elements
2 cans of 5-ounce rooster breast1 can of sliced white potatoes, rinsed (to take away sodium) and drained1 can of inexperienced beans, rinsed and drainedGround pepperOnion powder
Tremendous simple meal to make. Simply dump the whole lot in a bowl, add some floor pepper and onion powder, and combine collectively. I ate all my meals chilly, however you too can heat them up.
Macros
Carbs: 55 gramsFat: 5 gramsProtein: 52 gramsTotal energy: ~ 473
Price: ~ $6
Southwest Hen Bowl
Elements
2 cans of 5-ounce rooster breast, drained1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained1 can of corn, rinsed and drained1 can of diced tomatoes and inexperienced chiliChili powder
Dump beans, corn, and tomatoes into a giant bowl and blend collectively till evenly mixed.
Dole out 200 grams of the bean and veggie combination right into a serving bowl. Prime with canned rooster breast. Hit it with some chili powder. Combine collectively.
Prime it with some scorching sauce. You possibly can eat it straight or put it in a wrap. I ate mine in a wrap.
Retailer your bean and veggie combine within the fridge and use it for different meals all through the week.
Macros
Carbs: 20 gramsFat: 5 gramsProtein: 49 gramsTotal energy: ~ 320
Price: ~ $6
Tuna and Chickpea Combine
Elements
1 can of 5-ounce tuna packed in water, drained1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained1 tbsp of sunshine mayoParsley
Place all of the tuna in a bowl. Place half the can of chickpeas within the bowl. Add a tablespoon of sunshine mayo and a splash of parsley. Combine. Add some Frank’s Sizzling Sauce to style.
This canned meals meal had the least quantity of energy however was probably the most satiating, doubtless because of the fiber-packed chickpeas. I added an apple to bump the energy and carbs up for this meal. It sounds fairly fundamental, however this was my favourite meal out of all those I attempted.
Macros
Carbs: 22 gramsFat: 6 gramsProtein: 32Total energy: ~ 270
Price: ~ $2
Canned Meals: A Helpful Backup, Not a Day by day Driver
Given the professionals and cons, after every week of consuming canned-food-only lunches, would I make tinned victuals the muse of my food plan?
Most likely not.
However after this experiment, I plan to maintain my pantry stocked with canned meals for these weeks after I simply can’t get it collectively for my massive weekly meal-prep cook-up.
Low-cost, nutritious, and handy, canned meals are a helpful software for consuming effectively — even when life will get chaotic.
