NYC Small Kitchen Meal Prep for One

Chipotle style chicken bowls, turkey bean salad, and rose pistachio chia puddings. All for under $70 and gluten-free!

This past week I stayed in NYC and with tiny kitchens and an abundance of amazing resturants it’s so temting to never cook and just eat out constantly. Which isn’t great for my wallet or health. So here is my small kitchen meal prep. The goal is to limit dishes, only use basic tools like a knife, cutting board, and pan and make delicious meals I enjoy eating. Overall I’m super happy with how it came out! Total grocery spend was around $70 this week not counting things I had in my pantry. It made about 5 days worth of meals, 3 meals a day so very worth it imo!

What’s on the shopping list?

I stayed on the Upper West Side with my college roommates. Out of the major grocers on the UWS (Zabars, TJ’s, Target, Fairway, etc.) Whole Foods was the most well-stocked with ingredients for this week’s prep and decently affordable. This sounds shocking but since Amazon has acquired them their prices have dropped considerably, especially if you’re cooking! They seem to make their margins on packaged foods and that’s where the real markups are but their produce and meats are objectively competitively priced for the quality.

Grocery List

Meats

• 1 lb chicken thighs

• 1 package of deli turkey (about 8oz)

Dairy Products

• coconut milk or your favorite milk

• mini mozzarella balls if you want them for the salad

• shredded cheese if you want it for the burrito bowls

Vegetables

• 1 small container of basil

• 1 bunch of cilantro

• 2 Roma tomatoes

• 1 container of cherry tomatoes

• 1 white onion

• 1 red onion

• 1 bag of fire-roasted frozen corn

• 2 jalapenos

• 4 limes

Dry Goods (I have a lot of these in my pantry, but I’m including what you might need if you don’t!)

• chia seeds

• 1 can of white beans

• 2 cans of black beans

• rice

Nuts

• 8oz pistachios (buy in the bulk section, it’s cheaper and no waste)

Oils and sauces

• olive oil

• balsamic vinegar

• 1 package of taco seasoning

• honey

• rose tea

• italian seasoning blend

The Recipes

Let’s get to the good stuff!

Turkey Bean Salad

I have never had people tag me more than they have making my bean salads. I love how much you guys love them! I have a lot of mom followers and I have gotten more than several pictures of very cute toddlers snacking on last week’s salad and it makes me so happy. This week’s salad is a version of my fiance’s favorite turkey sandwich in salad form.

Ingredients

• 1 package of deli turkey

• 1 small package of fresh basil

• 1 package of cherry tomatoes

• 1 package of mini mozzarella balls

• 1 can of white beans (I use Canelli or northern beans) rinsed and drained

• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Instructions

1. Slice your turkey into little cubes

2. Thinly slice your basil

3. Cut your cherry tomatoes in half

4. Add the turkey, basil, tomatoes, mini mozzarella balls (drain them if they’re in water), and rinsed beans to a bowl.

5. Add in the seasoning, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Toss everything up and either package it up or enjoy! There may be some excess dressing at the bottom. This basically acts as a marinade so don’t stress if it looks watery.