How to Meal Prep for Muscle Gain

By: Rachel MacPherson

I think we've all heard the spiel that meal prep doesn't have to be plain chicken, rice, and broccoli, but that doesn't mean inspiration comes easily when you're trying to figure out what to eat to build muscle day after day. Crafting high protein meals for muscle gain takes quite a lot of planning and effort, but it definitely pays off. 

What to Eat to Build Muscle

When you're trying to gain lean mass, you want to focus on high protein muscle building meals that have enough calories, carbs, and fats, and you want to do this consistently. Consistency is probably the toughest challenge for most people when it comes to any kind of dieting goal, whether fat loss or muscle gain. 

Bodybuilders are the queens and kings of body transformation, and meal prepping 4 to 7 meals with set macro targets each day is one of the key habits that get them results. Of course, you don't have to be a bodybuilder to take advantage of this strategy, and it's not overkill to prep your meals even if you're a recreational or new lifter who's trying to pack on some muscle.

The Best Macros for Building Muscle

If you want to add lean slabs of muscle without the chub, stick to a modest calorie surplus of around 5% above maintenance, which is usually 200 to 400 calories per day for most people. Anything above that is more likely to lead to fat gain rather than any more muscle.

Here's how to use those calories for best results:

• Protein: 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg of body weight per day, spread across 3-5 meals. Total those calories and subtract them from your calorie budget.

• Carbs: 40-50% of your calories.

• Fats: 25-30% of your calories.

You can also use this split for a fat burning and muscle burning diet if your goal is recomposition (gaining muscle while losing fat). However, some people like to go lower fat or carbs, depending on their activity level and how their body responds.

Foods to Gain Muscle

Next, make a list of foods that are more on the "healthy" side — that you also enjoy eating. When you're on a muscle gain mission, you want to hit that higher calorie target consistently, so enjoying your muscle gain meal prep is key. Here are some good high protein foods to gain muscle you can add to your grocery list:

Proteins

• Chicken and turkey breast

• Lean cuts of beef (top sirloin, eye of round, top round, sirloin tip, bottom round)

• Eggs and pasteurized liquid egg whites

• Cottage cheese, Greek yogurt

• Extra lean ground chicken, turkey, and beef

• Pork loin roast, Canadian bacon

• Fish and seafood

• Whey protein powder

• High quality protein bars

• Edamame

• Hemp seeds

• Tempeh

• Seitan

• Textured vegetable protein (TVP)

• Tofu

Carbs

• Beans and legumes (black, chickpeas, pinto, lentils)

• Quinoa 

• Buckwheat

• Oats

• Whole grain bread products

• Rice

• Potatoes

• Any and all fruits and veggies

Fats

• Avocados

• Olive oil, grapeseed oil, avocado oil

• Whole fat dairy

• Nuts and seeds

• Nut and seed butter

Tips to Meal Prep for Muscle Gain 

You have all the basic info, now you just need to craft your meals.

• Divide your macros into 4-5 meals, aiming to spread protein evenly over each meal.

• Choose your proteins for the week. Stick to 2-3 different protein options you can use to make 2-3 different meals. For instance chicken breast, sirloin, and egg whites. 

• Figure out how many ounces of your protein source you'll need to get enough protein. 4-5 ounces of cooked lean meat will give you about 35g of protein.

• Batch cook your grains, veggies and proteins to save time. You might have to do this twice per week, depending on how long your meal prep lasts, and whether you freeze some of it.

• Jazz up your meals with sauces, spices, and herbs to change the flavor profile. Hot sauce, Greek yogurt, citrus, smoked paprika, garlic, and all kinds of herbs are perfect for creating meals that taste amazing and prevent boredom.

• For high-protein, low-carb meal prep, focus more on non-starchy veggies and cut back on the amount of grains you add. Keep in mind that carbs are super important for muscle gain, so don't go too low.

We have a few meal prep tips and recipes in our back pocket to help you out.

Our list of healthy meal prep ideas has meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with plenty of tips to get you started. If you're the less structured type, or want something that uses up leftovers and is super simple to slap together, check out our list of slop bowl meal prep ideas. We also have a dedicated list of high protein breakfast meal prep options that are perfect for building muscle. It's also crucial to plan out your pre- and post-workout snacks or protein fuel ups for recovery and to maximize gains, so be sure to read up on how to do that properly.

FAQs

What are some high protein low fat foods for muscle building?

High-protein, low-fat foods include skinless poultry, white fish, lean cuts of beef and pork, egg whites, low-fat greek yogurt and cottage cheese, edamame, and TVP. 

What should you eat on a fat burning and muscle building diet?

If you're trying to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, you'll still want to prioritize protein, though you might want to aim for the higher end of the 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg of body weight per day range to ensure you're supporting muscle gain and not losing it. Stick to foods that are more filling and have a higher volume like whole grains instead of bread and pasta, whole fruit instead of sauces and juices, and whole nuts and seeds instead of butters. Potatoes, oats, fruits, and vegetables are all low-calorie filling foods that support weight loss. Keep your proteins lean to avoid overeating fats, which are higher calorie per gram.

Rachel MacPherson is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer, Nutrition Coach, and health writer with over a decade of experience helping people build strength and confidence.

This article was reviewed by Rosie Borchert, NASM-CPT, for accuracy.