Ingredient Prep Ideas for Athletes

This blog post was cowritten with Farah Amine, MS. Reviewed and edited by Mandy Tyler, M.Ed., RD, CSSD, LD, LAT.

With busy training and competition schedules, it is important for athletes to have a plan in place for meeting their sports nutrition needs. Ingredient prep can be a strategy that athletes use to ensure they have healthy food available throughout the week.

Let’s take a look at what ingredient prep is. Then we will explore a variety of easy ingredient prep ideas for busy athletes.

Ingredient Prep vs. Meal Prep

When visiting with athletes, I frequently ask if they have ever tried meal prep. Athletes often give me an overwhelmed look and explain that they do not have enough time in their schedules to dedicate to meal prep.

Rather than taking an all or nothing approach to meal prep, I encourage athletes to give ingredient prep a try.

While meal prep focuses on building complete meals for the week, ingredient prep focuses on a single component of the meal. Taking the ingredient prep approach can be less time demanding on busy athletes. 

In addition, ingredient prep allows for increased variety and flexibility throughout the week. Athletes can combine the ingredients they prepped to create numerous healthy meal combinations.

How to Ingredient Prep

The first step to ingredient prep is determining what recipes the athletes want to prepare for the week.

When planning to ingredient prep, it is best to choose recipes that contain overlapping ingredients. This will help to reduce food waste and save money at the store.

For examples, athletes may grill chicken breasts to eat as an entrée with dinner, add to a grilled chicken wrap, use as a topping on a salad, or include as an ingredient in a quesadilla.

Additional ingredient prep ideas include:

• Prepare a large batch of pasta, rice, or quinoa
• Chop fresh fruit: Watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew melon, pineapple, mangoes
• Roast vegetables: Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, sweet potatoes
• Hard-boil eggs: Add to breakfast on-the-go, a healthy afternoon snack, or a protein-rich topping on a salad.
• Bake, roast, or grill proteins: Chicken, turkey, seafood, lean cuts of pork and red meat

In this article we will explore three versatile and affordable ingredients that athletes can prep and enjoy in a variety of ways throughout the week: sweet potatoes, brown rice, and ground beef.

Ingredient Prep Ideas: Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a nutrient-rich vegetable option for athletes. They provide carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and a variety of phytochemicals (1). Sweet potatoes also contain the antioxidant, beta-carotene, which is used by the body to produce Vitamin A (1, 2).

In addition to being nutritious, sweet potatoes are a versatile vegetable that can be used in both savory and sweet recipes.

Roasting sweet potatoes is a simple ingredient prep task for athletes. The roasted sweet potatoes can be enjoyed in a variety of ways, including:

• Enjoy the roasted sweet potatoes as a side dish with meals.
• Pair the roasted sweet potatoes with cottage cheese, whole grain granola, cinnamon, and honey for a healthy, high-carb breakfast.
• Add roasted sweet potatoes to a nutritious grain bowl or salad.
• Top the roasted sweet potatoes with your favorite chili for a nutrient-rich post-game meal.

How to Ingredient Prep Roasted Sweet Potatoes

When roasting the sweet potato, I encourage athletes to leave the skin on the potato. The skin provides fiber and is a healthy addition to an athlete’s meal plan (3).

Prior to roasting the sweet potatoes, it is important for athletes to first scrub the skin of the potatoes to remove any debris.

Athletes can then slice the sweet potato as desired; options include long and thick slices, circular slices, wedges, or cubes.

The next step is to toss the sweet potato slices in olive oil and add any desired spices such as salt, pepper, and/or cinnamon. Finally, place the slices on a cookie tray and bake at 400˚F.

The total baking time will depend on how thick the athletes cut the sweet potato slices or cubes. Typically, I recommend 30-40 minutes, flipping the sweet potatoes half-way through the cooking time.

Once prepared, the roasted sweet potato slices should be stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for athletes to enjoy during the week.

Ingredient Prep Ideas: Brown Rice

Preparing a large batch of brown rice is perhaps one of the most practical ingredient prep tasks for busy athletes.

Brown rice is an easy way for athletes to boost their carbohydrate intake and add whole grains to their meal plan.

During the week, athletes can enjoy the brown rice as a side dish with meals, mixed into a soup for added carbohydrates, included as the base of a burrito bowl, or used as an ingredient in a quick stir-fry.

Brown rice is also extremely affordable, making it an ideal option for athletes who are grocery shopping on a budget.

For added flavor, I suggest preparing the rice using chicken or vegetable broth in place of water. The stock will add both flavor as well as sodium. In general, consuming sodium in the diet supports athletes with replacing the sodium lost in sweat.

However, if athletes have been advised to limit their sodium intake, they can choose a low-sodium broth variety.

Once prepared, athletes can portion the brown rice into individual serving air-tight containers and store in the refrigerator to enjoy during the week.

Ingredient Prep Ideas: Ground Beef

Ground beef is another protein-rich item athletes can prep in advance. Beef is a source of high-quality complete protein that provides all of the essential amino acids (4).

A 3-oz serving of cooked lean beef provides ~ 23 grams of protein (5), which can help support athletes with meeting their daily protein needs.

In addition to being a source of high-quality protein, beef also provides many vitamins and minerals that are important for an athlete’s health, including: B-Vitamins, iron, zinc, and selenium (5).

When purchasing ground beef, I recommend athletes choose lean ground beef (93% lean/7% fat or leaner) for use in their recipes.

At the store, I suggest athletes purchase a couple of pounds of ground beef to use as the main ingredient in a variety of recipes.

Ideas include:

• Add the ground beef to your favorite chili recipe.
• Mix the ground beef into pasta sauce to create a hearty spaghetti dinner.
• Combine the ground beef with black beans and corn to use as a topping on a burrito bowl.
• Enjoy tacos for dinner, simply add the ground beef to whole wheat tortillas and top with diced tomatoes, salsa, shredded cheese, and guacamole.
• For added protein at breakfast, mix the ground beef into your scrambled eggs.

How to Ingredient Prep Ground Beef

To prepare the ground beef, athletes should cook it on the stove top over medium-high heat. While cooking, they can add in their favorite spices, such as: onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

To ensure food safety, athletes should cook the ground beef until it reaches a temperature of 160˚F (6).

Once cooked, it is important to drain the grease off of the ground beef. The ground beef should then be placed into an air-tight container and can be stored for up to 3-4 days in the refrigerator (7).

Ingredient Prep Ideas for Athletes

Incorporating ingredient prep into an athlete’s weekly routine is a simple way to save time, reduce food waste, and support athletes with meeting their sports nutrition needs.

With just a little bit of preparation, athletes will have the foods necessary to make quick, nutritious meals that set them up for sports nutrition success.

For additional recipe ideas for athletes, make sure to check out my blog with tips on preparing protein overnight oats.

Join the Nutrition By Mandy Email List & Get a Free Athlete’s Grocery List

Click HERE to join the Nutrition By Mandy e-mail list. When you join you will receive a free athlete’s grocery list to print and take with you to the store.

About the Author

Mandy Tyler is a Sports Dietitian Nutritionist in the San Antonio, TX area. She is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, a Board-Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, a Licensed Athletic Trainer, and is a Certified Exercise Physiologist through the American College of Sports Medicine. Mandy has experience working with athletes at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. She believes the key to reaching one’s full potential, both in everyday life and in sports performance, relies on a healthy nutritional foundation. 

If you are looking to take your performance to the next level, make sure to check out my new Sports Nutrition Game Day Guide. This downloadable guide is written to help athletes develop an individualized plan to achieve peak performance on game day.