Four for four! No, I’m not talking about Wendy’s. I’m going to share how I meal prepped four days of of dinners for two people for just under $4. Yes, you read that right.

I am doing my best to get into the habit of meal prepping on Mondays. I only work Tuesday-Thursday so there’s really no reason I can’t do this. I need lunches and dinners ready to grab and go. I DO NOT want to cook dinner when I get home from work. I usually crash from exhaustion before I can get lunch ready the night before. The notion that I’ll get myself ready, Wright ready, AND pack lunch before I leave at 6:50 in the morning is truly laughable. 2021 goals, yall! I can do this! Being off on Monday rocks, by the way! 😎

Let’s get to it! I have included some affiliate links below that I may make a small commission on at no additional cost to you.

I used:

  • 1 pack of chicken drumsticks/thighs (Aldi-$1.99 thanks to the red sticker)
  • 1/2 box instant mashed potatoes (Aldi- $o.67)
  • 1/2 bottle BBQ sauce (Kroger- $0.25 thanks to sale & coupon)
  • 2 cans of green beans (Aldi- $1.00)

Place all thighs and drumsticks on trivet in instant pot with 1/2 cup of water or chicken broth. I used chicken broth because I had some open. Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes. Quick Release. You obviously need an instant pot if you do not have one already. I can not stress this enough!

Here is the one I have. She’s perfect. https://bit.ly/3qcngLO

Remove from instant pot and place in dish. Cover with BBQ sauce. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and brown sugar.

Place into air fryer for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Do not stack chicken for this step. It may take several times to fry all the chicken depending on the size of your air fryer. I multitask like a mf’er so that doesn’t bother me. The air fryer step is important to get that good crispy skin we all love. You could also place all chicken and sheet pan and broil in your oven, but broiling has never worked out for me. I currently use a Farberware air fryer I bought at Walmart years ago. It’s never let me down. Don’t judge her rough appearance. She’s a hard working lady.

Get your own hard working lady here: https://bit.ly/3q94aWF

I prepared my mash potatoes in the microwave because laziness. I added those along with the green beans to my meal prep containers. I currently use the GoodCook 60 piece set from Target. Its a great set to get started with and has held up for 5 months now. I am however looking to switch to glass containers in the future.

Check out the GoodCook set here: https://bit.ly/38zM7mN

To be completely transparent I did not include the cost of the chicken broth, butter, salt, pepper, and brown sugar when calculating my total. In my mind these are pantry staples and not main elements of the meal. Even if I did count them it would still be under five doll hairs.

Always always always watch for deals, fam! Weekly ads, meat stickers, and mobile coupons make preps like this possible. As much as I LOVE Aldi, you can and should shop around.