Migraine-Friendly Meal Planning

Written by Matt McMillen
Medically Reviewed by Zilpah Sheikh, MD on October 12, 2025
8 min read

When you have a migraine headache, you likely don’t want to face or even think about meal prep. Shopping for ingredients while avoiding the foods that trigger your migraine, finding and following recipes, and just getting food on the table all feel much harder during a migraine attack.

To make it easier and to make sure you get the nutrition you require, you need a plan that’ll allow you to quickly get food on the table even on your worst days. 

“Meal prep doesn’t have to be overwhelming or picture-perfect — think of it as setting out small building blocks for yourself,” says Lena Beal, MS, RDN, a dietitian at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. With a few simple foods ready to go, you’ll thank yourself on tough days,” says Beal who is also a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Make eating well a priority part of your self-care. “If you're dehydrated and if you don’t eat, it can worsen your migraine symptoms,” says Julia Zumpano, a registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Human Nutrition in Cleveland, Ohio. “You need to eat.”

Eating certain foods may make a migraine more likely for you, but it can take work to figure out which foods, if any, affect you.

“Everyone with migraine is so different,” says Zhaoping Li, MD, PhD, the director of UCLA Health's Center for Human Nutrition in Los Angeles, California. 

The two foods most commonly reported to be triggers by people who get migraine attacks are alcohol and chocolate. Other foods that are top suspects include:

  • Aged cheeses, which contain a chemical called tyramine
  • Aspartame, an artificial sweetener found in some foods and beverages such as diet soda
  • Caffeine
  • Cured and processed meats that contain sulfites or nitrates, such as deli meats, hot dogs, bacon, sausage, and pepperoni
  • Foods that contain added monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer added to some canned vegetables, deli meats, restaurant foods, and soups

Keep in mind that this is a very general guideline; these foods and others may not affect your migraine. In fact, researchers suggest food triggers may be rare.

“There’s no clear, strong evidence that says this or that particular food will trigger a migraine or increase your risk of having a migraine,” Li says.

Making things trickier, your mental health can affect how sensitive you are to food triggers, says Li. For example, chocolate may be on your safe list under normal circumstances, but it may be a trigger if you’re exhausted after an a sleepless night or a stressful day. And there’s more.

“The threshold of a migraine also depends on the quality of your diet,” says Li. “I recommend an overall healthy diet pattern for everyone, and particularly if you have migraine.”

If you suspect any foods of being triggers, Zumpano suggests doing one of the following:

  • Keep a food diary to track what you eat and when and note down when you get migraine attacks. If you see a pattern where you get a migraine attack after eating a certain food, cut that food from your diet to see if that helps.
  • Remove all the common triggers from your diet, then add them back to your diet one at a time and see what happens.

Choosing the right foods means more than just avoiding triggers, if you have them. What you put on your shopping list may help prevent or lessen the impact of your next migraine.

Li says the core of a migraine eating plan is to focus on whole, natural foods, while limiting processed foods, such as white bread, white rice as well as cured, smoked, and other processed meats. This means eating lots of fruits and vegetables, lean protein like chicken and fish, and whole grains, such as oats and whole wheat. Nuts, seeds, and healthy oils like olive oil and avocado oil also make the list.

Certain nutrients have been linked to migraine prevention, and these can be found in foods available in your kitchen. These include:

  • Magnesium, found in leafy greens, such as spinach and kale, as well as nuts, seeds, beans, and whole grains such as millet and brown rice
  • Riboflavin (vitamin B2), found in dairy, salmon, spinach, almonds, eggs, and meats such as chicken breast
  • Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish such as salmon, walnuts, ground flaxseed, and edamame

Though these are available as supplements, Li recommends getting them from food sources, which offer more nutrients. For example, she tells her patients with migraine to eat at least three cups of vegetables in at least three different colors — like red, purple, and green — each day. Think bell peppers, leafy greens, cabbage, and eggplant.

“Different colors because the color represents different nutrients, like lycopene and sulforaphane, which only come from plants,” she says.

Diet plans like the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet provide excellent frameworks for the type of foods you want to eat regularly, but Li says you don’t have to follow a particular plan.

“What’s most important is that you eat high quality food and less processed food,” she says.

Finally, Li suggests sticking to a regular meal schedule as much as possible. That doesn’t mean you have to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Some experts recommend eating several small meals throughout the day rather than three big meals. The key is to stay consistent with the eating pattern that works best for you.

“Big changes to your patterns are more likely to trigger a migraine,” Li says.

Knowing what to eat is one thing. Making it doable everyday, especially if you expect or have a migraine attack, is something else entirely. Here are some key ways to have healthy meals right at hand.

Batch cooking

You can prepare many dishes in advance in large quantities, then divide them into portions and refrigerate or freeze them. That way, you have food ready to go on days your migraine makes cooking a real pain.

Zumpano recommends a crockpot for making large batches of stew, such as beef and vegetable, or soups like minestrone. Divide into individual portions, then refrigerate for a few days or freeze for even longer. When you want to eat, defrost if necessary, reheat, and serve over whole grains like brown rice or quinoa, which Beal says also freeze well.

Make sure to have a set of stackable, reusable containers and freezer bags on hand, to portion and store your batches. Beal suggests single-serving containers. That way, you can defrost only what you need for a meal.

Quick tip: “Label with dates for easy rotation,” says Beal.

Frozen fruits and vegetables

Just as nutritious as fresh produce, frozen fruits and vegetables offer enormous convenience: no washing or chopping, tasks that may seem impossible to do in the middle of a migraine. They also don’t need defrosting. Frozen berries, for example, can go right into a smoothie, while frozen vegetables cook quickly in boiling water or broth.

The following are Beal’s freezer essentials:

  • Mixed berries, for smoothies or as oatmeal or yogurt toppings (when defrosted)
  • Spinach or kale, which can be tossed into soups, egg muffins, or smoothies
  • Broccoli and cauliflower, which roast quickly or steam in minutes
  • Edamame, a high-protein snack ready in two minutes

Versatile staples

If you have a small fridge or freezer, canned goods and other shelf-stable staples can make your life easier. Having them on hand means you don’t have to shop for food when a migraine attack hits. Many of these can be used in meals that require little or no cooking. The following are a few examples of foods that can be part of a quick and easy meal:

  • Canned fruit in its own juices, not syrup
  • Low-sodium canned vegetables
  • Canned tuna, salmon, and sardines
  • Canned beans, such as chickpeas and black beans
  • Nut butters, such as peanut, sunflower, and almond butters
  • Whole grains, such as oats, brown rice, quinoa, and whole wheat pasta
  • Low-sodium broths, such as beef, chicken, or bone broth or vegetable broth

Beal recommends a quick wrap made with a whole wheat tortilla, canned salmon, fresh spinach, and slices of avocado.

Knowing the most nutritious and easy-to-prep migraine-friendly foods is just the first step. You need to turn them into meals, even on your worst days. Here’s a meal plan to get you started.

“This plan offers balanced protein, fiber, and healthy fats while being storage-friendly,” says Beal.

Breakfast

  • Overnight oats with chia seeds, almond milk, and frozen berries. Simply stir together and refrigerate until the next morning. Make a large batch and divide between several containers. You now have breakfast for days.

Lunch

  • Quinoa and lentil salad with olive oil, roasted vegetables, and feta. Make a big batch of the quinoa, lentils, and vegetables, and keep them in the fridge for three to four days, combining them into a meal as needed.

Dinner

  • Turkey chili with beans and vegetables, which can be frozen in individual portions for easy reheating.

Nutritious grab-and-go options

If you don’t have the time for a full meal, you can still eat well with these protein-packed quick-fix foods:

  • Single-serve yogurts, topped with nuts or berries
  • String cheese or cheese cubes paired with whole-grain crackers
  • Trail mix, which you can make by quickly combining nutrient dense foods, such as unsalted nuts, pumpkin seeds, and dried fruits
  • Chopped veggies and hummus, which can be stored in small snack containers
  • Apple or banana slices spread with nut butter
  • Protein bars that have little sugar or artificial sweetener or other additives
  • Meat sticks, like beef or turkey sticks, as long as they don’t contain nitrates

Smoothies, say Zumpano, are another versatile option that can offer lots of nutrition. She suggests that you load them up with leafy greens like spinach or kale, berries, a little turmeric, and some protein, such as Greek yogurt, silken tofu, or a protein powder. “It doesn’t require any cooking and you can sip at it all day when you have a migraine,” she says.

A final tip

Migraine headaches occur for many reasons, not just your diet. You can take an active role in preventing them or lessening their impact. Managing stress and exercising, for example, can help.

“Every time you have a migraine, leverage this opportunity to reflect on how you have been living your life and how you have been taking care of yourself,” says Li.