ADHD Meal Prep: How to Make It Work
Flexible food prep strategies that works with your energy.
TL;DR Summary:
- Meal prepping with ADHD can get chaotic, especially during low energy phases — what I call the ADHD Luteal Phase.
- I share strategies I use to make my meal prep and nutrition journey a success, even on a tight budget.
- From grocery shopping to prepping meals to handling the days when everything is overwhelming, & more — staying on track is easier than you might think (partly because delicious food is a big motivator).
- Food/nutrition is just one part of life — it shouldn’t feel like a full-time job. Coming this Summer: My Meal Prep Playbook to make the process easier and faster every time! It’s a Newsletter exclusive, so click here to sign up for early access
ADHD meal prep is usually a disaster.
You reluctantly build the grocery list and meal plan, buy the food, forget half of what they’re for, and by midweek there’s a wilted bag of spinach silently judging you from the back of the fridge while you order take out.
And then comes the guilt. Why can’t I stick to a plan like everyone else? Why am I wasting so much money on food I don’t eat?
But it’s deeper than that. What we really want is to honor our bodies and minds — to eat in a way that supports our energy, our focus, and our well-being… without spiraling into shame or burnout.
I’ve been there. Repeatedly.
Over the last few months, with the guidance of my dietician, I’ve been testing ADHD-friendly strategies to make food prep less overwhelming — especially during what I call my ADHD Luteal Phase, when I’m an actual couch potato.
What I’m sharing with you are real strategies — not just gentle hacks, but grounded methods that challenge my ADHD instincts head-on. Sometimes I use my oppositional defiance (a classic ADHD trait) to motivate myself instead of letting it sabotage me. I don’t force myself to love a routine — I dare myself to make it work for me.
Because this isn’t just about food.
This is Focus in Flux — not just an ADHD blog. We’re building a movement rooted in radical self-leadership and the refusal to play by society’s productivity rules. We were raised in systems that gaslit us for thinking differently — systems that punished us for not performing like neurotypicals. But here, we’re done pretending.
We’re using our ADHD brilliance to dismantle this system, rebuild with what works for us, and burn the rest.
This blog post is just one more way we reclaim our lives — by choosing nourishment over burnout, flexible structure over rigid perfection, and joy over shame.
So let’s get into it.
Plan Grocery Shopping Like a Baddie
🛒 The Grocery List
My husband and I use the shared AnyList app — mostly because he refuses to get a damn iPhone and use the Notes app like a civilized person. Whenever we run out of something we use often, we add it to the list immediately. Working memory isn’t always our friend — so we make receipts.
He’s likely undiagnosed ADHD, so we’ve adapted our whole rhythm together. We usually do two big hauls a month and smaller grocery runs once a week for the essentials.
🛍️ Wholesale Shopping
Since grocery prices just keep rising, we shop at Costco and use a deep freezer for perishable goods to stretch our budget. We still prioritize organic animal products, nuts/legumes, and anything on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list, but we’ve loosened up on the rest.
And when we get home to put the food away? When you have three cats and a dog, putting away groceries turns into a full-contact sport. So we rest before doing anything else. No “power through” energy here — just pacing.
🍲 Meal Planning System
We don’t assign meals to specific days — that’s a recipe for failure, imo. Instead, we pick three meals for the week, knowing each will stretch into leftovers. We shop for six meals total, plus snacks, and restock our staples.
Staples are for our low-energy days. We keep frozen meals (pizza, lasagna, etc.) and easy-to-make pantry items (whole wheat and protein pasta, sauces, grains) stocked and ready.
👯♀️ Shopping With a Partner
We usually shop together because my husband keeps me from buying five different types of “fun cheese.” But if I’m feeling burnt out and need solo time, I’ll go alone with a limit: 1–2 spontaneous treats max.
Quick note: Never go shopping on an empty stomach. You’ll walk in for bell peppers and walk out with four boxes of Pop-Tarts, a novelty hot sauce, and no actual meals. You’ll overspend, forget the essentials, and end up making more trips & spending more money than necessary. Literally not worth it.
ADHD Meal Prep That Doesn’t Suck
Pro Tip: Music or a podcast makes ingredient prep way more enjoyable. Turn it into a vibe. Here’s my go-to Spotify playlist:
🥬 Prepping Later (On Purpose)
I don’t prep ingredients right after shopping. I do it a day or two later, when I have the energy. I usually piggyback it on moments when I’m already in the kitchen — like while something is heating up. While I wait, I’ll rinse or chop produce and snack a little as I go.
✨ Done is Better Than Perfect
Sometimes I feel like I have to clean the whole kitchen before I prep. That’s a trap. If I have the energy to clean, I will. If not? I just let the veggies soak or do one small thing like clearing the dishwasher. Good enough is good enough.
🧊 How I Store Ingredients
After washing and chopping, I put most of my fruits and veggies in clear containers with a paper towel on the top and bottom. That’s it. Simple, ADHD-proof storage.
You Cooked! Now Let’s Actually Eat It (& Clean Up Later)
👯♂️ Body Doubling Helps
My husband and I either cook together or take turns. Our kitchen is small, but just having him nearby helps me keep track of steps. Sometimes he checks timers or stirs something while I prep the next thing. It’s casual, not rigid.
🍳 Where the Recipes Come From
We use a mix of ReciMe-saved social media recipes and cookbooks. If something flops, we just laugh and pivot — usually to whole grain pasta. Check out these high-protein recipes while you wait for my Meal Prep Playbook to be released this summer.
🥗 When We Batch Cook
If a meal is easy and uses minimal dishes, we’ll batch it. If it’s complex with a million steps, we don’t. But we might just make extra sides like rice or veggies to eat for later.
🧊 Our Go-To Staples
Frozen vegetables = lifesavers. Brown rice in the pressure cooker = fast, healthy base. Always on deck.
Be sure to purchase frozen veggies, which are flash-frozen, & don’t freeze your own; when they thaw, they’re real mushy.
✨ ADHD Bonus: Contagious Energy
One great thing about ADHD? When we’re excited, it’s contagious. If I want to batch cook and my husband isn’t into it, I’ll hype it up or reframe it: “Let’s do this now so we can chill hard tomorrow.” He’s always up for a good time.
🏷️ Labeling Leftovers
We immediately store leftovers, even while they’re still warm. We label each container with a wax crayon or a sticky label with:
- What it is
- Whose is it
- The date it was made
🧼 Cleanup Isn’t Immediate
We don’t always clean right after eating. Sometimes we rest for a couple hours and then tag-team loading the dishwasher and wiping down surfaces. No shame.
When the Plan Falls Apart & You Wanna Cry (But Don’t)
Some days, nothing goes to plan. And that’s okay.
🧊 Plan B: Freezer Food
We keep frozen meals on hand specifically for ADHD Luteal Phase days when we can’t even. A deep freezer was a game-changer.
🥣 One-Minute Options
Healthy cereal, protein bars, microwave bowls — keep your favorite “I can’t cook today” foods on hand. Bonus if they feel comforting.
🧃 Snacks Are Strategy
Don’t underestimate a solid snack lineup. It helps when you miss a meal due to hyperfocus or just can’t get out of bed. Some of my favorites:
- carrots & hummus
- mandarin orange
- apple & low-fat cottage cheese
- banana
- plain low-fat greek yogurt mixed with protein powder
- Chia pudding with almond milk
Nutrition That Fuels You Without Becoming a Full-Time Job
Nutrition matters — but obsessing over it turns it into another executive function trap. I’ve found that starting with a good breakfast helps me feel grounded, focused, and energized.
👉 My go-to ADHD breakfast is a Proffee, + whole grain toast + almond butter + banana. Originally, I only had a Proffee in the mornings but lately I’ve been pairing it with complex carbs and healthy fats to make it a more well-rounded macro meal. When I get bored of it, I swap it out for a green tea.
The real key is the first meal of the day is high protein, low effort and makes me excited to get out of bed. All are perfect for ADHD brains.
Final Thoughts: ADHD Meal Prep
ADHD Meal prep doesn’t need to be all or nothing.
It needs to be yours. Flexible. Forgiving. Fueled by real strategies — not shame.
These aren’t perfect systems. They’re adaptable rhythms that make food feel doable again, even when everything else feels like too much.
So if you’re tired of beating yourself up for not sticking to the plan, I hope this gives you permission to write a new one — one that works with your brain, not against it. And it’s okay to change your plan along the way, too. There are tons of ways to ensure you’re selecting great food, eating it all, and create simple plans for how you’ll continue to eat nutritiously.
Coming soon: Grab my ADHD Meal Prep Playbook — a flexible, low-pressure way to build meal rhythms. Below is a short preview!
👉 click here for early access to the ADHD Meal Prep Playbook — a newsletter exclusive dropping this summer.
It’s packed with everything I covered in this post & more: grocery planning strategies, ingredient prep hacks, batch cooking tips, backup meal ideas, and mindset shifts for low-energy days. Whether you’re cooking from scratch or grabbing frozen pizza, this Playbook meets you where you are — no shame, no pressure, just real support for real life.
