The 12 Meal Prep Tools That Actually Save Time (Tested Over 6 Months)
We meal prepped every Sunday for 6 months to find which tools are worth it. These 12 cut our prep time from 3 hours to under 90 minutes.
We Meal Prepped Every Sunday for 6 Months
Meal prep promises to save time and money. But which tools actually deliver, and which collect dust after week two? We committed to 26 straight Sundays of meal prep and tracked what we used every single time.
Here are the 12 tools that earned their keep — and a few popular ones that didn't.
Tier 1: Use Every Single Session
1. Vegetable Chopper
The single biggest time-saver in meal prep. The Fullstar 4-in-1 Vegetable Chopper has 119,000+ Amazon reviews for a reason — it chops, dices, slices, and spiralizes in one compact unit.
Time saved: 15-20 minutes per session on onions, peppers, carrots, and potatoes alone.
Also consider: The Mueller chopper has sharper blades and a larger 7.5-cup bin, though it costs slightly more.
2. Digital Kitchen Scale
Stop eyeballing portions. A digital kitchen scale ensures consistent portions across all your containers — which means consistent calories and consistent grocery lists.
Time saved: 5 minutes (no more measuring cups to wash).
3. Sheet Pans (at least 3)
You need multiple half sheet pans running simultaneously. One for protein, one for roasted veggies, one for starches. Three pans in the oven at once is the difference between 90 minutes and 3 hours.
4. Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
Rice, grains, shredded chicken, soups, hard-boiled eggs — the Instant Pot handles the boring stuff while you focus on everything else. Set it and forget it.
Time saved: 20-30 minutes of passive cooking time reclaimed for active prep.
5. Meal Prep Containers (Glass)
Cheap plastic containers stain, warp, and leach. After 6 months of weekly use, the Rubbermaid Brilliance glass containers are the clear winner:
- Leakproof seal with two compartments
- Microwave, dishwasher, and freezer safe
- Clear so you can see what's inside
- Built-in vents for splatter-free reheating
Tier 2: Use Most Sessions
6. Immersion Blender
Soups, sauces, smoothie packs, marinades. An immersion blender blends directly in the pot — no transferring hot liquid to a countertop blender.
7. Garlic Press
When you're prepping 5 meals at once, mincing garlic by hand for each one gets old fast. The OXO Good Grips garlic press handles unpeeled cloves.
8. Silicone Baking Mats
Line your sheet pans with silicone mats instead of foil. Food doesn't stick, cleanup takes seconds, and you stop wasting rolls of foil and parchment.
9. Large Cutting Board
You need surface area. A 20x15 inch cutting board means fewer batches of chopping and less food falling off the edges.
10. Herb Scissors
5-blade herb scissors cut fresh herbs in a fraction of the time. One snip does what 10 knife chops would.
Tier 3: Nice to Have
11. Label Maker or Masking Tape
Label everything with the date and contents. Sounds basic, but after 6 months we learned: if it's not labeled, it gets forgotten and thrown out.
12. Vacuum Sealer
A vacuum sealer extends freezer life from weeks to months. Essential if you're prepping proteins in bulk or batch-cooking soups.
What Didn't Make the Cut
- Mandoline slicer — too dangerous for speed-prepping. The chopper is faster and safer.
- Spiralizer — we used it twice in 6 months. The chopper's spiralizer attachment was enough.
- Fancy knife set — one good chef's knife and a paring knife handled everything.
Our Sunday Meal Prep Workflow
| Time | Task | Key Tool |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 | Start rice/grains in Instant Pot | Instant Pot |
| 0:05 | Chop all vegetables | Vegetable chopper |
| 0:20 | Season and load sheet pans | Sheet pans + silicone mats |
| 0:25 | Pans in oven, start stovetop proteins | Cast iron skillet |
| 0:50 | Blend sauces/soups | Immersion blender |
| 1:00 | Everything out, start portioning | Scale + containers |
| 1:20 | Label and store | Labels |
| 1:30 | Done. 5 days of food ready. |
That's 90 minutes for a full week of lunches and dinners. The right tools make it possible.
Related: Read our full Best Kitchen Scale 2026: 5 Top-Rated Digital Scales Tested for detailed product comparisons and recommendations.
Related: Read our full Best Food Processor 2026: Cuisinart vs Breville (We Tested Both) for detailed product comparisons and recommendations.