Easy Meal Ideas for Moms with Newborns

Being a new first-time mom, I’ve been on the hunt for TRULY easy meal ideas that one can quickly make in-between your new bundle of joy sleeping, crying, and feeding.

These new mom postpartum meal ideas will be pescatarian as I’m trying to eat less chicken and fish, however, feel free to swap out the fish I suggest for your favorite protein options.

Easy breakfasts for moms with a newborn

This is how I prep delicious breakfasts that I am excited about and are quick to make.

Overnight Oats
1. These need to all be prepped on Sunday. I like to add in all my dry and frozen ingredients on my meal prep day. Then the night before, I’ll add plant-based milk to 1 jar for the next day.
Breakfast Wrap/Bagels/ English Muffins
1. Hard boil 5 eggs for snacks or for breakfast wraps/toasts on Sunday.
2. De-shell eggs once they have cooled.
3. Pre-fry vegan bacon, smoky tempeh, or real bacon on Sunday for the week. Probably at least one full package
4. This way, everything is ready to go and all you have to do is assemble your breakfast wrap/bagel/ English muffin with any condiments and veggies you desire.
Protein Smoothies
1. I love to portion out 5 ziplock bags worth of items on Sunday.
2. On Sunday, I’ll fill the ziplock with half a banana, 2 pitted dates, a scoop of chocolate protein, a tbsp chia seeds, a tbsp ground flax, and a pinch of cinnamon.
3. I dump the baggy in the blender and proceed to add plant-based milk, ice, a splash of leftover coffee, and a scoop of peanut or almond butter depending on my mood.

Easy lunch ideas for moms with newborns

So, this part took a little more thought. These dishes are truly extremely simple and delicious. I only want you to have to cook anything for your lunches on one day! All your vegetables should all be pre-chopped and stored on the same day. These lunches are all about quick assembly, and require NO EXTRA COOKING!

I suggest cooking your fish on Sunday so that your lunch can be whipped up insanely fast.
If you use any shrimp, I suggest buying precooked ones! Save time where ever you can.

I also suggest pre-rinsing and seasoning any beans or tofu you’ll be using for any of the bowls/salads.
Ideally, I would suggest also prepping 1 or 2 sauces that you will use in your salad bowls for the week.

Here are some incredibly tasty bowl, salad, and sandwich ideas that require no further cooking throughout the week, only assembling.

Here are the flavors/ categories of bowls I use for inspiration each week:

Salmon Salad Bowl
Poke Style Bowl
Quick Sandwich
Mexican Style Salad Bowl
Shrimp Salad Bowl

All of these recipes are more like guidelines. You can pick how much of each ingredient you want when creating these items. Below are some ideas for each of the different lunch types listed above.

Easy Salmon Salad Bowl meal ideas for new moms

Salmon Avocado Salad Bowl

Feta

Corn
Pickled jalapeno or regular jalapeno
Chipotle pepper in Adobo sauce
Lime
Tomatoes
Avocado
Red onion
Cilantro
Lettuce of choice
Vegan Adobo Mayonnaise Sauce- add in the chipotle in adobo, half a lime juice, salt, and pepper
Salmon - cook with 1 tsp smoked paprika, ½ tsp granulated garlic, ½ tsp cumin

Spicy Salmon Salad

Radicchio

Cucumber
Tomato
Red onion
Dill
Baked salmon with red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and olive oil
Spicy Salmon Dressing: capers, lemon, sea salt, mayonnaise, smoked paprika, olive oil
Baked Chickpeas - with salt and pepper

Poke style bowls for new moms:

Marinated Tofu Sushi Bowl

Cucumbers
Carrot
Avocado
Sticky rice
Nori
Vegan Mayonaise
Sriracha
Soy sauce, rice vinegar, and maple syrup for TOFU
Firm or Smoked tofu
Pan cook tofu in the marinade

Salmon Poke Bowl

Salmon
Cucumber
Green onion
Lime
Black sesame seeds
Vegan Mayo
Sriracha
Soy sauce
Edamame
Sesame oil
Sticky rice
Sushi rice vinegar
Avocado

Quick Sandwiches for new moms

I personally like to make a quick tuna sandwich here and there, however, you can use whichever protein you prefer. Nothing beats a tuna sandwich with:

lettuce
tomato
red onion
mayonnaise
pickles
hot sauce

Mexican Salad bowl ideas for new moms

Black Bean Taco Salad Bowl

Black beans
Radish
Red onion
Cherry tomatoes
Feta
Cilantro
Lime
Jalapeno
Green Cabbage
Iceberg lettuce
Shrimps
Cook shrimps and Black beans in 1 tsp cumin, 2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp garlic, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp oregano

Southwest Salad with Adobo Ranch and Crispy Chips

Lettuce
Lime
Dill
Cilantro
Black beans
Tomato
Corn
Avocado
Red onion
Chipotle in Adobo sauce
Vegan sour cream
Vegan Cheese
Radishes

Shrimp Salad Bowl Ideas for new moms

Dynamite Shrimp Salad

Sweet Thai Chili sauce and vegan mayonnaise
Red Cabbage
Cilantro
Avocado
Lime,
Onion and Garlic powder for shrimps
Lettuce
Optional - Black beans for added oomph

Spicy Shrimp Fajita Bowl

Red bell pepper
Lime
Red onion
Cilantro
Vegan sour cream
Avocado
Red Cabbage
Corn
Sauce - sour cream, cilantro, lime, lime juice, sugar, salt, and pepper.
Shrimps (or tofu) - Cooked in fajita spice mix
Lettuce

Dinner ideas for Moms with a Newborn

My honest, HONEST opinion is to use a meal kit delivery system at least for this “4th-trimester” period. Nothing is easier than having your meals already thought out, healthily proportioned, and easy to prepare and clean up than these meal kits.

I use FreshPrep (not sponsored!), and each meal takes less than 30 minutes.

I LOVE not needing to think about dinner.
I LOVE having everything be super easy to clean up.

I truly think this is worth it even if it’s more expensive if you are tired and low on time and energy.

I think the cost evens out when you think about how many nights you’ve been ordering in due to being tired and therefore not using the groceries you already paid for that sit in your fridge that you have to throw out later.

I do not think most moms have the bandwidth or time to prep good dinners during this time. If you happen to have the energy to meal prep or cook up new meals every night, then good on you! That is awesome.

Easy Meal Ideas for Moms with Newborns - Quick and Healthy