How To Host A Meal Prep Party : Everything you need to plan a fun and efficient meal prep party. Why spend time cooking alone when you could do it with friends instead?
Click HERE to DOWNLOAD everything you need to host a successful meal prep party — including recipes, grocery lists, and detailed party instructions!
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What is a Prep Party?
So here’s the thing: meal prep is awesome—until you’re stuck doing it alone. That’s where Prep Party comes in. You and three friends pick a day to hang out, cook up a bunch of meals for the week, and—honestly—just enjoy being together while getting it all done.
Here’s how a Prep Party goes: the host invites three friends and handles all the grocery shopping (you’ll split the cost later). The host sets up four cooking stations, one for each recipe. Each person will make their assigned recipe four times. After everything’s prepped and cooked, you trade meals, and suddenly, everyone walks away with four family-sized dinners ready to go.
I’ve created a Prep Party Guide that does all the planning for you. You’ll get great recipes, a full grocery list, step-by-step instructions for each recipe (from the first chop to the final packaging), an equipment list, and more. It’s all set up, so you can skip the stress and get straight to the fun part: cooking, eating, and hanging out with friends.
What Recipes Will We Make?
Let’s talk food. You’ll be making two fully assembled meals and two meal kits (similar to what you would get from a meal service like Hello Fresh).
Chicken Enchiladas: Fully assembled, just heat and eat—comfort food at its best.
Garlic Sausage Pasta: A meal kit with everything prepped—just toss it together for a cozy, flavorful pasta dish.
Breakfast Burritos: Fully assembled, ready for the week—perfect for a grab-and-go breakfast.
Mini Cheeseburger Sliders with Fries: A meal kit with prepped ingredients—assemble and bake for a satisfying weeknight dinner.
Tips for a successful prep party.
Pick Your Friends: This part’s key—exactly three friends, for a total of four people.
Set the Expectations: Let your guests know to plan for about 2 hours—they’ll likely finish sooner. No one should leave early as it can disrupt the flow. It’s also recommended to make it a kid-free event, so everyone can stay focused and enjoy the process.
Choose the Right Kitchen: Choose the Right Kitchen: Choose a kitchen with some space—because this is a lot of cooking! Ideally, a 5-burner stove is a huge plus, but not a must. The goal is to make sure there’s enough room for everyone to work comfortably.
Gather What You Can: You’ll need quite a bit of equipment, but don’t worry—everything is already laid out for you in the Prep Party Guide. Simply refer to the equipment checklist in the packet and reach out to the friends coming to the party to ask them to bring the items you might be missing.
Grocery Shopping: Use the grocery list in the Prep Party Guide to order everything online. The host will handle the order, and once it's ready for pickup, split the total cost evenly among the four participants. This is an easy way to save money—buying in bulk for multiple families means lower grocery costs and less food waste.
Set Up Stations: Before your friends arrive, set up cooking stations (directions included in the Prep Party Guide). Lay out all the ingredients for each recipe at a designated spot. This keeps things organized and allows each person to get straight to work without confusion.
The Party Flow: What to Expect
Arrivals & Assignments: When your guests arrive, hand them their recipes. Each person will be responsible for making their assigned recipe four times. This keeps everything simple and ensures no one is overwhelmed.
Meal Prep Stations: Set up stations with all the ingredients and equipment for each recipe. As the host, you’ll want to make sure everyone has what they need to get started. Once they’re working, remind them to clean their station as soon as they finish. They shouldn’t help anyone else until their area is tidied up and their food is packaged as per the instructions.
Trading Meals: Once everyone is done prepping, it’s time to swap. Each person should leave with 4 meals total.
What's Included?
The Prep Party: The Plan guide has everything you need to host a seamless meal prep party. Inside, you’ll find:
- Recipes for 4 dinners (with full instructions)
- Complete grocery list (everything you need, no guessing)
- Equipment checklist (to make sure you have what you need)
- Prep instructions (step-by-step for each recipe)
- Meal kit assembly guide (for easy packing and swapping)
- Party flow and setup tips (so everything runs smoothly)
Download Prep Party: The Plan
Ready to get started? Click here. You’ll be prompted to enter your email address, which lets us know where to send your copy. Once you’ve entered your email, the guide will be sent straight to your inbox.
Melanie
Hi I can't click on anything to download the meal planning party info! Please help! Thank you!
Bailey Sissom
Hey Melanie:) Sorry you are having trouble. Email me at [email protected] and I will get it to you!
Melanie
Sent it! Thank you! Can't wait to see!
Jennifer
My family is small, just my husband and I. I'd like to do the prep party with my sister for her and her husband. If it's possible to cut down the meal prep from four families of 4 to two families of 2 that would be awesome. We'd love to give this a try one day. Thank you for the idea and all of the work you put into it. Looks like you spent a lot of time working all of the details out.
Bailey Sissom
It was a lot of work, but I think a lot of people have found it very helpful, so it's a win! You could cut the prep party in half by purchasing half of the ingredients and cutting each individual recipe in half. You would each complete 2 of the stations instead of 1 (and then make smoothies together). It probably wouldn't take much longer since you won't be making as much food! Since it's just you and your husband.. maybe make for dinner and then eat leftovers for lunch?
Melonie
This looks awesome! Ive been preping for a year now on and off. I notice that when i stick to it, i dont spend extra money. I look forward to sharing this with my friends
Bailey Sissom
Hi Melonie! I'm so glad that you found this post helpful! Let me know how your prep party goes!
Kathryn Esquivel
We are doing a Crock-Pot small group this fall and I was looking for something for every other week so we don't have 1000 Crock-Pot meals. I love this idea! Do you have just the one meal plan? Thanks!
Bailey Sissom
I'm so glad that you found the download helpful!! Yes.. currently this is my only meal plan for a prep party:)
Maya
Oh my goodness! Amazing article dude! Thank you soo much,
However I am going through issues with your RSS. I don't know thhe reason why I am unable to subscribe
to it. Is there anybody getting the same RSS problems? Anyone
who knows the answer can you kindly respond?
Thanks!!
Bailey Sissom
Hi Maya. I will look into the RSS issue. It is not something that I have intentionally set up, but probably need to do so!
Barbara
I have 3 friends. We are Seniors. That's 4 couples.
We'd like to give this a try.
Bailey Sissom
I think you would love it! Let me know what you think:)
Simone Nelson
Hi, I can't download the meal prep party plan. Do I need another code?
Thank you.
Bailey Sissom
Hi Simone. Email [email protected] with your email address and I will send it to you! Sorry you had trouble downloading!
Kari
What do you do if everyone has small kitchens that you all can't fit in?
Laura Legg
Hosted a meal prep party today and had a ball!! We would love to do this once a month or so and so would love more. Love all your thoughfulness: no casseroles, good variety, kid-friendly and healthy! Perfect! Need more!!