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Postpartum · 23 recipes · every recipe serves 2

Postpartum Recovery Meals for the First 6 Weeks

Healing food for the first six weeks after birth: one-pot, one-handed and batch-friendly recipes with the iron and protein recovery runs on.

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Banana, Oat & Flax Breakfast Muffins Breakfast Banana, Oat & Flax Breakfast Muffins One-handed breakfast you can eat standing up, rocking a baby - bake a batch, freeze, defrost overnight. 35 min Easy Vegetarian Berry & Flax Overnight Oats Breakfast Berry & Flax Overnight Oats Assembled in five minutes the night before - breakfast is simply *there* in the morning, whatever the night was like. 5 min Easy Vegetarian Big-Batch Minestrone Lunch Big-Batch Minestrone A giant pot of vegetables, beans and pasta that feeds you for days - the food equivalent of someone helping out. 45 min Easy Vegan Chicken, Mushroom & Tarragon One-Pot Rice Dinner Chicken, Mushroom & Tarragon One-Pot Rice Chicken thighs baked into herby mushroom rice - the one-pot that cooks itself while you handle literally everything else. 45 min Easy Omnivore Chicken Noodle Soup for the Soul (and Freezer) Lunch Chicken Noodle Soup for the Soul (and Freezer) The classic chicken noodle soup, made properly and made big - half for now, half frozen for the day everything goes sideways. 50 min Easy Omnivore Coconut Chickpea & Spinach Curry with Jasmine Rice Dinner Coconut Chickpea & Spinach Curry with Jasmine Rice The back-pocket coconut chickpea curry - 30 minutes, one pot, pantry-only, and quietly loaded with iron and folate. 30 min Easy Vegan Creamy Salmon, Leek & Potato Traybake Dinner Creamy Salmon, Leek & Potato Traybake Salmon roasted over creamy leeks and potatoes in one dish - a DHA dinner with almost nothing to wash up afterwards. 45 min Easy Pescatarian Egg-Fried Rice with Peas & Spring Greens Lunch Egg-Fried Rice with Peas & Spring Greens Proper egg-fried rice from yesterday's rice with peas, greens and sesame - the fastest real lunch a tired kitchen can produce. 15 min Easy Vegetarian Feeding-Station Trail Mix Snack Feeding-Station Trail Mix Mix a big jar, decant into small ones, station them where you feed the baby - 3am hunger, solved in advance. 5 min Easy Vegan Freezer-Hero Beef & Lentil Ragu with Rigatoni Dinner Freezer-Hero Beef & Lentil Ragu with Rigatoni A double-batch beef and lentil ragu engineered for the freezer - tonight's dinner plus three future ones, all iron-forward. 60 min Easy Omnivore Hot-Smoked Trout Kedgeree-Style Rice Breakfast Hot-Smoked Trout Kedgeree-Style Rice A gently curried rice with flaked hot-smoked trout, peas and boiled eggs - the Anglo-Indian breakfast that eats like brunch and stocks like a supplement. 35 min Medium Pescatarian Iron-Recovery Green Smoothie Breakfast Iron-Recovery Green Smoothie Spinach, mango, dates and fortified milk blended sweet and cold - a one-hand breakfast that quietly restocks iron after birth. 6 min Easy Vegan One-Pot Chicken, Lemon & Orzo Dinner One-Pot Chicken, Lemon & Orzo Chicken, orzo and greens in one pot - twenty minutes hands-on, one pan to wash, four portions out. 40 min Easy Omnivore Apricot & Pistachio Breakfast Quinoa Breakfast Members Apricot & Pistachio Breakfast Quinoa Warm cinnamon quinoa with dried apricots and pistachios in fortified milk - porridge's higher-protein cousin, iron included. 25 min Easy Vegan Baked Fish & Chips with Mushy Peas Dinner Members Baked Fish & Chips with Mushy Peas Crisp oven chips, panko-crusted cod and proper minted mushy peas - Friday chippy joy, rebuilt in a home oven. 50 min Medium Pescatarian Beef & Broccoli in Black Pepper Sauce with Rice Dinner Members Beef & Broccoli in Black Pepper Sauce with Rice Glossy black-pepper beef with broccoli over steamed rice - the takeout order that cooks faster at home and restocks your iron doing it. 30 min Medium Omnivore Beet, Orange & Puy Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese Lunch Members Beet, Orange & Puy Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese Earthy lentils and beets with orange segments, goat cheese and walnuts - an iron-and-folate salad dressed like it's going somewhere. 20 min Easy Vegetarian Big Batch Breakfast Burritos (Freezer) Breakfast Members Big Batch Breakfast Burritos (Freezer) Foil-wrapped freezer burritos of scrambled egg, black beans, cheese and salsa - future you, half-asleep, will be genuinely grateful. 40 min Medium Vegetarian Boiled Eggs & Soldiers with Marmite Butter Breakfast Members Boiled Eggs & Soldiers with Marmite Butter Soft-set boiled eggs with Marmite-butter toast soldiers - nursery comfort with a B-vitamin twist, dippy or firm as you like. 10 min Easy Vegetarian Broccoli & White Bean Melt Flatbreads Lunch Members Broccoli & White Bean Melt Flatbreads Garlicky smashed white beans and charred broccoli under bubbling mozzarella on flatbreads - a green-forward lunch with melt appeal. 20 min Easy Vegetarian Carrot, Orange & Ginger Sunrise Juice-Style Smoothie Breakfast Members Carrot, Orange & Ginger Sunrise Juice-Style Smoothie Carrot, orange, mango and ginger blended whole - juice-bar brightness with all the fiber left in, plus a bowl of cashews on the side. 7 min Easy Vegan Cheesy Scrambled Egg Breakfast Wrap Breakfast Members Cheesy Scrambled Egg Breakfast Wrap Scrambled eggs and melted cheese rolled in a warm tortilla - portable, one-handed, done in ten minutes. 10 min Easy Vegetarian Chicken, Avocado & Quinoa Bowl Lunch Members Chicken, Avocado & Quinoa Bowl A proper protein-forward lunch - recovery runs on protein, and most new mothers under-eat it by a wide margin. 25 min Medium Omnivore Chicken & Ginger Broth with Noodles Lunch Members Chicken & Ginger Broth with Noodles A restorative ginger-laced chicken broth - warm, mineral-rich recovery food found in almost every postpartum tradition. 50 min Medium Omnivore Chicken Pho-Style Noodle Soup Dinner Members Chicken Pho-Style Noodle Soup A quick aromatic chicken pho - star anise, ginger, rice noodles and a pile of herbs - hydration and restoration in one steaming bowl. 50 min Medium Omnivore Chicken Shawarma-Style Bowls with Garlic Yogurt Lunch Members Chicken Shawarma-Style Bowls with Garlic Yogurt Spiced roast chicken thighs over rice with tomatoes, cucumber and garlic yogurt - street-cart flavors in meal-prep format. 35 min Medium Omnivore Chicken, Sweetcorn & Rice Soup (Big Batch) Dinner Members Chicken, Sweetcorn & Rice Soup (Big Batch) A gently creamy chicken, sweetcorn and rice soup made in quantity - the freezer's answer to every hard evening this month. 45 min Easy Omnivore Cottage Cheese Power Bowl with Peaches & Granola Breakfast Members Cottage Cheese Power Bowl with Peaches & Granola Cottage cheese under juicy peaches, granola and honey - 25 grams of protein in the time it takes to open three containers. 5 min Easy Vegetarian Creamy Mushroom & Spinach Barley Risotto Dinner Members Creamy Mushroom & Spinach Barley Risotto Pearl barley does risotto without the constant stirring - nutty, creamy and far more fiber than arborio. 45 min Medium Vegetarian Creamy Tomato & Red Lentil Soup with Grilled Cheese Dippers Lunch Members Creamy Tomato & Red Lentil Soup with Grilled Cheese Dippers Velvety tomato soup thickened with red lentils, plus grilled-cheese soldiers for dunking - nostalgia with an iron upgrade. 40 min Easy Vegetarian Dates Stuffed with Almond Butter & Sea Salt Snack Members Dates Stuffed with Almond Butter & Sea Salt Traditional postpartum food across the Middle East and North Africa - sweet, quick energy with fiber and minerals attached. 5 min Easy Vegan Egg-Fried Brown Rice with Peas & Greens Lunch Members Egg-Fried Brown Rice with Peas & Greens The leftovers rescue - day-old rice, frozen peas and eggs become lunch in 15 minutes flat. 15 min Easy Vegetarian Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Cucumber Boats Snack Members Everything Bagel Cream Cheese Cucumber Boats Cucumber halves loaded with chive cream cheese and everything-bagel seeds - the bagel experience at a fraction of the effort and none of the toasting. 8 min Easy Vegetarian Freezer-Stash Veggie Chili Dinner Members Freezer-Stash Veggie Chili A mild three-bean chili engineered for the freezer - make it pregnant, eat it postpartum. Or make it now; same idea. 45 min Easy Vegan Garlic Butter Steak Bites with Potatoes & Green Beans Dinner Members Garlic Butter Steak Bites with Potatoes & Green Beans Seared steak bites rolled in garlic-herb butter with crispy potatoes and beans - maximum iron per minute of effort. 35 min Medium Omnivore Golden Turmeric Porridge with Almonds Breakfast Members Golden Turmeric Porridge with Almonds Warm, golden and gently spiced - the kind of breakfast traditional postpartum care has always centered on. 15 min Easy Vegan Golden Turmeric Porridge with Mango Breakfast Members Golden Turmeric Porridge with Mango Golden-milk-spiced porridge crowned with mango and toasted coconut - gentle anti-inflammatory comfort in a sunshine palette. 15 min Easy Vegan Green Eggs (Pesto Scramble) on Sourdough Breakfast Members Green Eggs (Pesto Scramble) on Sourdough Soft pesto-swirled scrambled eggs with spinach on thick sourdough - green eggs, no ham, full flavor. 12 min Easy Vegetarian Green Pea & Mint Smash on Oatcakes Snack Members Green Pea & Mint Smash on Oatcakes A bright pea, mint and lemon smash piled on oatcakes - five minutes from freezer to plate, folate included. 10 min Easy Vegan Ham-Style Turkey, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Muffins Breakfast Members Ham-Style Turkey, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Muffins Savory egg muffins with cooked turkey, cheddar and chives - a fridge full of one-handed protein for the week's strangest hours. 30 min Easy Omnivore Healing Chicken & Ginger Congee Lunch Members Healing Chicken & Ginger Congee Silky chicken and ginger rice congee - the postpartum recovery food half the world's grandmothers prescribe, for good reason. 60 min Easy Omnivore Hot-Smoked Mackerel & Beet Rye Plate Lunch Members Hot-Smoked Mackerel & Beet Rye Plate Hot-smoked mackerel with beets, horseradish-mustard yogurt and rye - a Nordic assembly job with an omega-3 headline. 10 min Easy Pescatarian Hummus & Rainbow Veg Snack Box Snack Members Hummus & Rainbow Veg Snack Box Prep three boxes on Sunday - crunchy vegetables and hummus within arm's reach beat anything you have to make. 10 min Easy Vegan Hummus, Egg & Greens Flatbread Lunch Members Hummus, Egg & Greens Flatbread Warm flatbread swiped with hummus, topped with jammy eggs and dressed greens - lunch from the fridge in ten minutes. 10 min Easy Vegetarian Iron-Rebuild Beef & Barley Soup Lunch Members Iron-Rebuild Beef & Barley Soup A deep, old-fashioned beef and barley soup that simmers while you nap - the single best iron pot in the postpartum collection. 80 min Medium Omnivore Kedgeree-Style Salmon & Egg Rice Dinner Members Kedgeree-Style Salmon & Egg Rice Gently curried rice with roast salmon, peas and boiled eggs - the breakfast classic promoted to dinner, nutrient list intact. 35 min Medium Pescatarian Kimchi-Style Fried Rice Bowls with Fried Egg Lunch Members Kimchi-Style Fried Rice Bowls with Fried Egg Tangy quick-cabbage fried rice under a crispy fried egg - the postpartum version can use real kimchi now, or keep the quick pickle. 20 min Easy Vegetarian Lactation Oat Bowl with Flax, Almond & Banana Breakfast Members Lactation Oat Bowl with Flax, Almond & Banana A creamy oat bowl built on the classic milk-supply trio - oats, flaxseed and almonds - with banana and cinnamon doing the comfort work. 12 min Easy Vegan Lentil Bolognese-Loaded Sweet Potatoes Lunch Members Lentil Bolognese-Loaded Sweet Potatoes Baked sweet potatoes split over a rich lentil ragu - two freezer staples colliding into one deeply useful lunch. 55 min Easy Vegan Lentil, Feta & Roasted Pepper Salad Jars Lunch Members Lentil, Feta & Roasted Pepper Salad Jars Four days of lunches made in one go - dressing at the bottom, sturdy things in the middle, leaves on top. 25 min Easy Vegetarian Mango & Spinach Green Smoothie Breakfast Members Mango & Spinach Green Smoothie A one-hand breakfast that drinks like a treat - folate, calcium and fluids, which count double while breastfeeding. 5 min Easy Vegetarian Mango, Lime & Chili Fruit Cups Snack Members Mango, Lime & Chili Fruit Cups Ripe mango with lime, a breath of chili and flaky salt - the Mexican street-fruit formula that makes fruit disappear fast. 8 min Easy Vegan Maple-Mustard Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Roots Dinner Members Maple-Mustard Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Roots Roasted pork tenderloin glazed in maple-mustard over caramelized carrots and parsnips - a Sunday-adjacent dinner from one tray. 50 min Medium Omnivore Miso Butter Mushrooms on Toast with Spinach Breakfast Members Miso Butter Mushrooms on Toast with Spinach Deeply savory miso-butter mushrooms piled with wilted spinach on thick toast - umami as a morning mood intervention. 15 min Easy Vegetarian Moroccan-Spiced Lamb & Sweet Potato Stew Dinner Members Moroccan-Spiced Lamb & Sweet Potato Stew Slow-simmered lamb with sweet potato, apricots and warm spices - a deep, restorative pot for the freezer rotation's front row. 100 min Medium Omnivore Mushroom & Thyme Soup with Cream & Sourdough Lunch Members Mushroom & Thyme Soup with Cream & Sourdough A deeply savory blended mushroom soup with thyme and a swirl of cream - brown food, big flavor, zero apologies. 35 min Easy Vegetarian Oat, Flax & Chocolate-Chip Lactation Cookies Snack Members Oat, Flax & Chocolate-Chip Lactation Cookies Oats, flax and brewer's yeast - the classic lactation-cookie trio, in a cookie you'd happily eat regardless. 30 min Easy Vegetarian One-Handed Egg & Cheese Breakfast Quesadilla Breakfast Members One-Handed Egg & Cheese Breakfast Quesadilla A folded egg-and-cheddar quesadilla you can genuinely eat with one hand while the other is occupied - which it will be. 12 min Easy Vegetarian One-Pot Creamy Tomato & Mascarpone Chicken Pasta Dinner Members One-Pot Creamy Tomato & Mascarpone Chicken Pasta Chicken and rigatoni simmered in one pot with tomato and mascarpone - vodka-sauce comfort, zero vodka, one washing-up item. 35 min Easy Omnivore Peanut Butter & Banana Toast, Upgraded Breakfast Members Peanut Butter & Banana Toast, Upgraded The five-minute classic with seeds and cinnamon - because some mornings, toast is the ceiling, and that's fine. 5 min Easy Vegan Prawn, Pea & Lemon Risotto Dinner Members Prawn, Pea & Lemon Risotto A classic lemony prawn and pea risotto stirred to silk - the slow, meditative dinner for evenings when stirring is the therapy. 45 min Medium Pescatarian Roast Carrot, Lentil & Whipped Feta Plate Lunch Members Roast Carrot, Lentil & Whipped Feta Plate Cumin-roasted carrots over lemony lentils and whipped feta with a honey drizzle - a warm plate that looks like a bistro sent it. 40 min Easy Vegetarian Salmon & Cream Cheese Breakfast Wrap Breakfast Members Salmon & Cream Cheese Breakfast Wrap Hot-smoked salmon, cream cheese, cucumber and rocket rolled tight in a tortilla - the DHA breakfast that walks around the house with you. 10 min Easy Pescatarian Salmon & Cream Cheese Cucumber Rounds Snack Members Salmon & Cream Cheese Cucumber Rounds Cucumber coins topped with cream cheese and hot-smoked salmon - canape energy, DHA payload, ninety-second assembly. 10 min Easy Pescatarian Sardine & Roasted Pepper Toasts with Whipped Feta Lunch Members Sardine & Roasted Pepper Toasts with Whipped Feta Whipped feta toast layered with jarred roasted peppers and sardines - a three-shortcut lunch that eats like a tapas order. 15 min Easy Pescatarian Savory Oatmeal with Cheddar & Spring Onion Breakfast Members Savory Oatmeal with Cheddar & Spring Onion Oats gone savory: cooked in stock, loaded with cheddar and spring onion, finished with a little butter - risotto energy, porridge effort. 12 min Easy Vegetarian Seared Trout with Brown Butter, Almonds & Greens Dinner Members Seared Trout with Brown Butter, Almonds & Greens Crisp-skinned trout in nutty brown butter with almonds, lemon and wilted spinach - a ten-minute dinner that reads like a bistro bill. 25 min Medium Pescatarian Shakshuka with Feta & Warm Pitas Breakfast Members Shakshuka with Feta & Warm Pitas Eggs simmered in a smoky pepper-tomato sauce with feta and pitas for scooping - the slow-morning breakfast worth handing the baby over for. 30 min Medium Vegetarian Sheet-Pan Chicken, Sweet Potato & Broccoli Dinner Members Sheet-Pan Chicken, Sweet Potato & Broccoli The one-tray answer to 'what's for dinner' - ten minutes of chopping, then the oven does the parenting. 40 min Easy Omnivore Slow-Cooker Beef & Root Vegetable Stew Dinner Members Slow-Cooker Beef & Root Vegetable Stew Twenty minutes of morning effort; dinner cooks itself while you nap when the baby naps (or try to). 20 min Easy Omnivore Slow-Cooker-Style Pulled Chicken Chili Bowls Dinner Members Slow-Cooker-Style Pulled Chicken Chili Bowls Pulled chicken simmered in a smoky tomato-bean chili - low effort, high volume, and it only improves with reheating. 55 min Easy Omnivore Smoked Salmon, Egg & Avocado Bagel Plate Breakfast Members Smoked Salmon, Egg & Avocado Bagel Plate A toasted bagel stacked with hot-smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and avocado - weekend energy for whichever day this happens to be. 15 min Easy Pescatarian Smoky Roasted Chickpea & Nut Snack Jar Snack Members Smoky Roasted Chickpea & Nut Snack Jar Crunchy roasted chickpeas and mixed nuts in smoked paprika and rosemary - the countertop jar that outcompetes the crisps drawer. 40 min Easy Vegan Spinach & Ricotta Pancake Cannelloni-Style Rolls Lunch Members Spinach & Ricotta Pancake Cannelloni-Style Rolls Savory pancakes rolled around spinach-ricotta filling and baked under tomato sauce - cannelloni's gentler, freezer-friendly cousin. 45 min Medium Vegetarian Spinach Dal with Cumin Butter Dinner Members Spinach Dal with Cumin Butter Soft, warming red-lentil dal finished with sizzled cumin butter - iron-rich recovery food that costs almost nothing. 40 min Easy Vegetarian Squash, Sage & Cannellini Mash with Garlic Greens Lunch Members Squash, Sage & Cannellini Mash with Garlic Greens Butternut and white beans mashed with sage-infused oil, beside garlicky wilted greens - soft, warm recovery food with structure. 35 min Easy Vegan Sticky Hoisin Meatball Rice Bowls with Broccoli Dinner Members Sticky Hoisin Meatball Rice Bowls with Broccoli Oven meatballs rolled through sticky hoisin glaze over rice and sesame broccoli - freezer-friendly, family-approved, iron-loaded. 40 min Medium Omnivore Sweet Potato Falafel-Style Fritter Wraps Lunch Members Sweet Potato Falafel-Style Fritter Wraps Baked sweet potato and chickpea fritters in wraps with tahini sauce and quick pickles - falafel comfort without the deep fryer. 40 min Medium Vegan Tuna-Free Chickpea Melt Jacket Potatoes Lunch Members Tuna-Free Chickpea Melt Jacket Potatoes Crisp jacket potatoes with lemony chickpea salad and grilled cheddar - canteen comfort rebuilt for recovery weeks. 60 min Easy Vegetarian Veggie Egg Muffins Breakfast Members Veggie Egg Muffins Crustless mini-frittatas that keep three days in the fridge - protein and choline you can eat one-handed, warm or cold. 30 min Easy Vegetarian Veggie Sausage-Free Breakfast Hash with Eggs Breakfast Members Veggie Sausage-Free Breakfast Hash with Eggs A crispy potato, pepper and kale hash with eggs cooked right in the pan - the big weekend breakfast that handles the vegetables too. 35 min Medium Vegetarian White Lasagna with Chicken, Spinach & Ricotta Dinner Members White Lasagna with Chicken, Spinach & Ricotta A white lasagna of chicken, spinach and ricotta under nutmeg bechamel - the make-ahead centerpiece for visitors who actually help. 80 min Involved Omnivore Za'atar Fried Eggs with Yogurt & Flatbread Breakfast Members Za'atar Fried Eggs with Yogurt & Flatbread Crispy-edged fried eggs on garlicky yogurt with za'atar oil and warm flatbread - a five-ingredient breakfast with restaurant swagger. 12 min Easy Vegetarian

Common questions

What should I eat in the first weeks after birth?

Warm, easy, iron-and-protein-rich food you can eat one-handed: broths, dals, stews, egg muffins, overnight oats. Traditional postpartum cultures converge on this for good reason.

What should I batch-cook before the baby arrives?

Things that freeze flat and reheat in one pot: minestrone, chili, dal, stews and breakfast muffins. Cook double portions in the third trimester and future-you will be grateful.

What foods help recovery after a C-section?

Protein for tissue repair, vitamin C alongside iron-rich foods, and plenty of fiber and fluids (constipation plus a fresh abdominal incision is a bad pairing). One-handed, prep-free formats matter as much as the nutrients.

Free guide

The kitchen guide for the whole journey

What to eat (and what to skip) from trying to toddler - the safety rules, the key nutrients, and a week of meals to start with. Free, yours to keep.

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