MACRO-FRIENDLY MEAL IDEAS: CREATING EASY BALANCED MEALS
If you’re new to tracking your macros, the idea of creating meals or planning a day that hits your macros can feel incredibly overwhelming. You may think you need to create complex recipes, weigh every part, and spend an hour of your day just doing math or playing macro tetris, but that’s not the case.
Building meals can be much easier when we think about following the pattern of building meals around an identifiable protein + carb + fat + fruit or veggie (also a carb, but more for the fiber and micronutrients).
Not every meal will look perfectly balanced, and that’s ok! It doesn’t have to be. Following this pattern can help us simplify meals while also making choices that help us better hit our macro targets.
KNOWING MACRONUTRIENTS
Part of creating a meal is knowing what foods fall into each macronutrient group. Every food is made of the three main building blocks of macronutrients: protein, fats, and carbs. Some foods are multiple macronutrients (like a donut, which is carbs and fat), while others are mainly one macronutrient (like egg whites which are just protein, or fruits which are just carbs).
Here are a few main foods in each macronutrient category:
Proteins: lean meats like chicken breast, lean ground turkey or beef, sirloin steak, fish, seafood, eggs and egg whites, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, lentils, beans, chickpeas
Carbs: vegetables, fruits, rice, bread, beans, quinoa, pasta, potatoes, squash, farro, oats
Fats: oil, butter, avocado, coconut, olives, nuts and nut butters, sour cream, oil or cream based sauces and dressings
EXAMPLES OF EASY, BALANCED MEALS
BREAKFASTS
Greek yogurt (P) + berries (C) + peanut butter (F)
Oatmeal (C) + protein powder (P) + slivered almonds
Tortilla (C) + eggs and cheese (P,F) + salsa
This breakfast bake
Any of these protein smoothie recipes
Any of these overnight oats recipes
Kodiak Cakes, Might Muffins, or these oat muffins + a side of eggs
LUNCHES
Bread (C) + turkey (P) + cheese and mayo (F) + condiments (any wrap or sandwich, really)
Rice and stir fry veggies (C) + shrimp or chicken (P) + peanut sauce (F)
A big salad with grilled or rotisserie chicken (P) + veggies and quinoa (C) + dressing, nuts, or olives (F)
A high protein tortilla (P/C) + turkey, chicken, tuna (P) + hummus, cheese, or avocado (F)
This BBQ turkey hash
DINNERS
Taco bowl: rice, beans, fajita veggies (C) + lean turkey and taco seasoning (P) + cheese or guacamole (F)
Pasta and marinara (C) + lean ground beef (P) + parmesan (F) + side of veggies
Salmon (P and F) + rice pilaf or roasted sweet potatoes (C) + roasted veggies
Pork tenderloin or steak (P/F) + roasted veggies + potatoes or bread (C) and butter (F)
Any of these easy chicken skillet recipes
Any of these super quick and easy dinners (tortilla soup, buffalo chicken bake, stir fry)
A good rule of thumb is including a protein source with every meal/snack. To make things easiest, I always go for meals that are easy to piece together: i.e. taco bowl with ground beef/turkey, peppers, onions, and black beans rather than a more complex meal like a casserole or stew.
Batch prepping your food, like prepping protein sources (usually chicken, lean ground turkey, and sometimes carnitas) and then cooking or at least pre-chopping some veggies (sweet potato, brussel sprouts, peppers, onions, etc.) can also be a huge help when it comes to quickly throwing together a balanced meal.
Our Ultimate Guide to Batch Prep is a great way to become familiar with easy batch prep and creating a week’s worth of meals from your batch prep in just a short period of time.