With the New Year quickly approaching, nutrition and healthy eating is at the front of a lot of peoples minds. All the information and meal prepping can be overwhelming, so we compiled a list of our top 10 kitchen tools to help make meal prepping easier. Feel free to add your own secret weapons for meal prepping into the comments.

1.The Instapot

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last couple years, you’ve probably heard of the Instapot. It rocks, and heres why: it does it all, from slow cooking like a crockpot to fast cooking like a pressure cooker. You can make entire meals in 1 pot, or you can slow cook meats in it. We use ours a lot to make large quantities of brown rice (theres a button for that) and for cooking chicken that will easily shred

2. Food Scale

You’re going to need something to measure out all that healthy food you’re cooking, so finding a reasonable easy to use scale is important. We aren’t weighting things down to the microgram, so a basic scale will be sufficient.

3. Non-Stick Skillet

I do believe in having a quality non-stick skillet, but I don’t think you need to spend a ton of money on one either. In my experience the expensive ones lose their non-stick property over time also (especially if you put them in the dishwasher). For that reason I prefer to get more “middle of the road” skillets and just know that I’ll have to replace them every couple years.

4. Non-Stick Baking Sheet

On the same lines as the non-stick skillet I like to stick to middle of the road sheets also. Having a set with various sizes is always helpful too. That way if I’m cooking something small I don’t have to wash the big pan (cause they don’t fit in the dishwasher). There is good variety in this set, and they are made with steel instead of aluminum.

5. Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls

Stainless steel is non-porous(easier to clean) and these bad boys also have a silicone bottom so they don’t slide all over the counter when you mix things. This set also comes with lids, so if you make guacamole for your favorite CrossFit coach you can seal it up and help it stay fresh till you bring it in.

6. Sharp Knives

Having the right tool can make all the difference. After almost slicing our fingers off cutting up sweet potatoes, Mrs Stark and I decided to invest in some better Kitchen knives. I still like the idea of buying a good set to start with, and then replacing individual knives as needed over the years. This has been huge for us, and made all the chopping we do much easier.

7. Various Cutting Boards

I love the idea of using wood cutting boards, but the cleaning and maintenance of them has never appealed to me. We keep it simple with these plastic cutting boards. They have a rubber grip, which is great because my hands are always wet while cooking. They also have that little groove towards the edge that catches all the juices before they run all over the counter, game changer.

8. Glass Measuring Cups

I’ll go into my affinity for glass over plastic more later, when I talk about food storage but in general I prefer glass over plastic. This set of Pyrex glass measuring cups are durable, and can handle hot liquids also. For example if you need boiling water you can just heat it up in the microwave, and not have to worry about the health concerns associated with heating plastic in the microwave. It’s also great for measuring out portions for meal prepping.

9. Measuring Spoons

Do yourself a favor and get 2 sets of these. As the old saying goes “ Two is one, and one is none”. Inevitably you will need one that is already dirty, so having 2 sets will alleviate having to wash the only measuring spoon you have. These are crucial for being able to add the correct amounts to your meal prepped food.

10. Glass Food Storage Containers

Glass over plastic, always. There is a lot of talk about the negative effects of heating up your food in plastic containers in the microwave. If you want to do the research and form your own opinion I’ll leave that up to you, for me I would rather be safe and just use the glass containers. In my experience the food tastes better out of glass anyways. Note that you will have to remove the plastic lid before microwaving, and if you eat large meals you may need to invest in some larger containers. For Steph and I this size works pretty well.

Honorable Mention

The Traeger grill is like cheating. Everything we have cooked on it has been delicious. It uses wood pellets as fuel instead of propane or charcoal, which gives everything a great flavor. It also has the ability to cook at higher temperatures than a traditional smoker, so you don’t have to wait 16hrs for that pork shoulder. The price tag is the only drawback on this bad boy, but hey it’s an investment into eating really good food for the next 10 years!