Our team is big on meal prep. So when I first started working with The Real Food Dietitians, it didn’t take me long to embrace the habit of writing out my weekly meal plan and prepping some meals on weekends. I learned that, if I was going to meal prep often, then I needed a few things: some really good meal prep recipes, and some good reusable containers that helped the food last longer.
We’ve been meal prepping just about anything you can think of in a variety of sizes and types of containers for a decade now. With that under our belts, here are our team’s top picks for best meal prep containers that have gone the distance and which we recommend often to new meal preppers.
How We Picked The Best Containers
When you’re starting to prep meals ahead of time, you quickly learn that making a bunch of ingredients requires the right kind of storage containers. As a team of three dietitians that has been consistently meal prepping for nearly 10 years now, we’ve tried so many different containers. There’s nothing worse than containers that don’t seal properly or don’t have the right amount of compartments!
Based on our experience with what matters most, we tested and selected containers that:
- Have tight-sealing lids that last after many trips through the dishwasher (bonus for lids that lock)
- Have appropriate-size compartments for any variety of pre-chopped and pre-cooked ingredients
- Come in many different size options
- Are made of glass (our preference) or BPA-free plastic, which clean up nicely and let us reheat meals in the microwave or oven without re-plating
- Stack easily in the fridge, freezer, and cupboards to save space
We eliminated options that were hand-wash only, as that just doesn’t work for us being three moms with busy households. We also avoid most plastic meal prep containers, as we have concerns about reheating plastic containers based on chemical compounds released when they’re exposed to heat. We also found that stainless steel containers weren’t a good experience for us, as having to move everything from one container to another just to reheat feels like an unnecessary waste of time.
To test, we simply used them throughout a variety of our meal prepping that we already do constantly, both to develop recipes for our website and make food for our families. We tried several different brands and weeded out any that we had to replace in a short period of time or that had problems with the lid sealing after being put through the dishwasher.
Favorite Lunch Meal Prep Set: 30-Ounce Glass Rectangular Containers (5-Pack Set)
This is the set that we use more than any other. It includes five rectangular glass food storage containers, each with their own locking lid. We love that they’re made from heavy-duty borosilicate glass, which doesn’t chip, even after many cycles through the dishwasher and storing in our cupboards.
The containers are a compact size and stackable in the fridge. Each one holds a max of 30 ounces (3 ¾ cups of food). This best glass set is microwave-, dishwasher-, freezer-safe, and even oven-safe. We find that they’re best for recipes that just need one compartment, such as individual servings of casseroles, stews, egg roll in a bowl, stir-fry noodles, and salads. And since there are five containers, we love that we can use them to prep an entire work week’s worth of lunches.
This set sells out often on Amazon, so when you find that it’s available, we recommend that you snag one. The cost can range from $22 to $30 (about $4 to $6 per container).
This All-In-One Bento Lunch Container Is Best For Salad Lovers
We love this Bentgo All-in-One Salad Container almost as much as we love a vibrant, nourishing salad for lunch. Each family on our team owns one of these, and we like to prep our lunch salads ahead of time, even when working from home. When we do so, we don’t skip this important mid-day meal, and we eat more healthfully, too.
This bento box-style container has a large section in the bottom for holding salad greens, then a separate divider compartment that stacks on top for holding three more salad components, plus dressing. It all snaps together easily and the lid holds everything in place for a modern lunch box. When it’s time for lunch, we combine all of the crispy, never soggy ingredients (since they’re not mixed together until right before eating).
The container comes in a few different colors and costs anywhere from $25 to $35. And it’s not just for salads; I also use it all the time for prepping bowl recipes like our burger bowls with special sauce and our Mediterranean salmon bowls.
Caraway: Heavy-Duty Containers With Airtight Lids
Caraway makes nontoxic cookware and bakeware that our entire team uses every single week. So we were ecstatic to learn that Caraway also makes really high-quality food storage containers. Whenever I show this set to someone, they’re always surprised at how heavy the containers are. They’re made of thick ceramic-coated glass with clear glass lids.
We use these containers to store prepped ingredients or meal components all the time. The 18-piece set comes with 9 containers and 9 lids in many different sizes, plus a magnetic storage rack, which makes for easy storage in our cupboards. With a unique air release technology, the lids fit on so tightly and truly help keep oxygen away from foods, which means they last even a few days longer than in other containers. The smaller containers also fit inside of the bigger ones to make bento-style containers that are great for carrying a meal prep breakfast, lunch, or snack.
This set is definitely on the expensive side ($245 to $305), so it’s an investment. But this is a long-lasting set that includes everything you need for an individual or small family, and this link gives you an additional 10% off with code DIETITIANS.
Weck Jars: Our Go-To For Individual Ingredients
We’ve been using Weck jars to store prepped ingredients, sauces, chia parfaits, and overnight oats for many years. We love that the clear glass jars come in many sizes, stack well, and make it so it’s easy to see the contents of what’s in our refrigerators at a glance.
We like the 8-ounce jars (Weck 741) for things like overnight oats or individual prepped ingredients, such as chopped onions or a favorite sauce. The bigger 19-ounce jars (Weck 742) and 28-ounce jars (Weck 743) are great for holding a batch of pickled red onions, preserved lemons, bone broth, or homemade granola. We love the old-world classic style of Weck jars with their rubber gasket seals and glass lids that stay in place with stainless steel metal clips.
Not only do they keep foods stored nicely, but they’re also aesthetically pleasing and make us excited to eat our meal prepped foods!
Another Option For Weck Jar Lids
Weck also makes these really nice snap-on plastic lids that are a great option if you don’t want to keep all the components of the classic lids (the rubber gaskets, glass lids, and metal clips) on hand. They create a nice sturdy seal, and these 4-inch lids fit the Weck 741, 742, and 743 styles perfectly.
Jars With Built-In Spoons For Grab-And-Go Breakfasts
If you’re a fan of overnight oats, chia pudding, oatmeal, or yogurt parfaits for breakfast, you may want to consider getting a set of these handy 16-ounce jars with lids and built-in spoons.
Stacie and I love these for making our peanut butter banana overnight oats, which our kids all rave over. The spoons connect right to the jars by sliding into the attached silicone rings, and the jars are microwave and dishwasher-safe. We like these better than other sets where the spoons just clip into the rings and can easily fall out.
A set of two jars with lids and spoons costs $10, and we find that it’s nice to have two sets (4 jars total) on hand for meal prepping breakfasts.
Souper Cubes: Great For Freezing Soups And Meals
If you want to take meal prep to the next level, then Souper Cubes can get you there. These containers allow you to freeze individual portions of soups and casseroles into perfect cubes. Once frozen, transfer the cubes to freezer-safe storage bags and stock your deep freeze with meals that will last for months.
We love our 1-cup trays and 2-cup trays for freezing recipes like our classic minestrone, butter chicken, chicken and rice casserole, and so much more. When you need a meal in a pinch, simply heat one of the frozen cubes (often with 1-2 tablespoons of water) over low heat.
A 2-pack of the trays typically costs $30 to $35, and they come in many other sizes, too.
Rubbermaid: A Good Individual Meal Or Snack Container
Similar to the Bentgo Salad containers we listed above, this rectangular Rubbermaid brilliance compartment meal prep container is a solid choice for someone who meal preps individual packed lunches or snacks.
We like it for packing foods for a road-trip snack, such as hard-cooked eggs and other healthy choices. This heavy-duty, food-grade, BPA-free plastic food storage container is microwave-safe and leak-proof, even if it tips in your bag or backpack. The bottom container holds up to 3 cups of food, and the top container nestles inside of it. That part has three different compartments for individual ingredients, including a small container for dressing or dip.
It costs $22 and is easy to find at Target.
Pyrex Glass Storage Containers For All Food Storage Needs
If you’re just looking for a single food storage container to add to your meal prep container set, then we recommend the Pyrex glass meal prep containers with BPA-free lids. They are freezer-, dishwasher-, and microwave-safe, and we own them in several sizes.
The 3- and 4-cup containers are great for storing food like cooked rice, cooked quinoa, or pre-chopped veggies. The 6-, 7-, and 11-cup sizes come as either circular or rectangular containers, and we love them for storing things like pasta salad, our Jennifer Aniston salad, or a recipe of beef stew.
The individual containers range from $6 to $10 each, depending on size, and each comes with a snug-fitting lid.
Ready, Set, Meal Prep
Now that you know which meal prep containers are best, it’s time to start meal prepping! If you’re new to meal prep, remember to ease into it. Start by just writing out your meal plan for the week. Once you’ve mastered that, you can start prepping some of the ingredients you’ll need (or even a full recipe or two) several days ahead of time. We find that weekend mornings or afternoons often work best for fitting in a little meal prep. Check out our tips for how to meal prep and some recipes that work great for meal prep sessions.
For ultimate success, we highly recommend reading the tips in the full blog post above. All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish a recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words. Link back to the source recipe here on The Real Food Dietitians. Thank you!
