I WISH I was on a trip to some exotic, far away land, but with my crazy schedule, that’s not happening . . . right now. However, I can get a vacation from the daily grind of grub-making with my “Mediterranean Meal Prep Madness with Beef”!  Inspired by the flavors and healthy eating habits of Mediterranean countries such as Greece, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Turkey and more, I’m sharing how a little extra work on the front end can help you make a variety of different meals that can last throughout the week.

If you saw me a http://scwfit.com/dallasDallas Mania this weekend, thanks for stopping by to find out more! And, if you’ve stumbled upon me here . . . an equal welcome, and let’s get cooking!

The master recipe in my Mediterranean Meal Prep Madness is Mediterranean Instant Pot Shredded Beef. So many amazing things to say about this easy Instant Pot recipe, and I’ll share my top three. First, can I get a high-five for making a mouthwatering, fork-tender, fall-apart roast in the Instant Pot in just a fraction of the time as a traditional roast. Second, shredded beef, in my opinion is the OG of meal-prepped proteins. The smartest moms and health-minded meal-makers have been making huge roasts to enjoy on day one, and then saving the leftovers for a zillion different breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes. And, third, this base shredded beef recipe is friendly to Paleo, Whole30, and Keto and Mediterranean diets.

Yes, you heard right, it’s Mediterranean diet friendly. For so long, we were led to believe that eating beef was frowned-upon in a Mediterranean style diet, with fish, poultry and plant-based proteins being the “preferred” protein choices. While these are all fine ways to get protein, so is beef! Recent research from Purdue University found that following a Mediterranean-style eating pattern that includes lean red beef is just as effective in supporting a healthy heart as red-meat restrictive diets. And YAY, because beef is just such a nutrient dense protein — for a 3.5 ounce cooked portion, you get so much ZIP — Zinc, Iron and Protein (25-ish grams) – for only about 150 to 200 calories!

Making Mediterranean Instant Pot Shredded Beef takes only about 30 minutes in the Instant Pot. If you don’t have one of these trendy pressure cookers, you can follow the same exact recipe and use a Slow Cooker instead, setting it on the 8-hour timer. But, I like the Instant Pot method because it allows me to me be even more flexible with my schedule – I don’t have to remember to prep the meal before I leave in the morning, and I don’t need to rush home to make sure there were no disasters. I just walk in the door, grab the roast out of the fridge, dump in the other ingredients and wait for the magic!

IDEAS FOR SERVING MEDITERRANEAN SHREDDED BEEF:

With a Greek salad and whole grain of your choice. Rice is nice, but I love quinoa for the texture and extra plant-based protein, find out how to meal prep it in my links below!

Make a loaded sweet potato!

In a quick and easy 60-second Mug Omelet made in microwave.

It tacos with grilled avocado, your choice of “shell” – crunchy or soft tortilla, gluten-free wrap, lettuce, jicama “tortilla,” etc.

It would also be awesome as a swap for the ground beef in my Barn Raiser Egg Breakfast Bake.  This is one of my favorite meal-prep or big-crowd breakfast recipes and it has been featured in Taste of Home Magazine and with me on the Home & Family Show, Hallmark Channel. It’s a huge casserole that you can cut up in squares and freeze in single servings if you don’t have a hungry crowd on hand.

If you want easy SWEET POTATOES to go with your Mediterranean Instant Pot Shredded Beef (as I shared at Dallas Mania), I have two ways for you to batch cook those in the Instant Pot.

First, for whole potatoes that you can stuff, add ½ cup water to Instant Pot and add steamer rack. Place four to 6 sweet potatoes inside, ideally positioned long-ways up, leaning against the container sides (but any which way, if needed). Set timer to “high pressure” and cook for 20 minutes, allowing steam to escape naturally by letting sit with top on, but until turned off, for an additional 20 minutes.

Second, if you just want some sweet potato to go alongside your beef, I prep the beef recipe as described but then add a sweet potato that has been cut into quarters or 1-inch discs and placing right on top of the uncooked chuck roast – don’t worry about peeling the skin off before hand, it will slip right off once cooked. When the Instant Pot finish, remove sweet potatoes first, remove skin – and then cut in bite-sized pieces, mash or prepare however you like!

HOW TO PORTION & STORE SHREDDED BEEF:

A “serving” is technically just 3.5-ounces of cooked beef, so I ether package it up that way in single serve, freezer-proof bags or larger family-style in storage containers. It will stay good in the fridge for 3 days, or stick in the freezer for up to 6 months (and thaw in fridge or microwave). 

OTHER IDEAS FOR MEAL PREPPING:

• How to Meal Prep Quinoa & 15 Easy Uses Later
• Make Ahead Italian Ground Beef for Meal Prep
• How to Meal Prep Grilled Avocados that Won’t Brown
• 25 Ways to Top A Sweet Potato
• Smart Lunch Meal Prep Tips, Tricks, Recipes

What are you meal-prepping? Please share in the comments, I always need new ideas!! XOXO, Jennifer