What to Eat in Week 3 Postpartum (Meals and Snacks for Recovery)
All of the recipes I’m sharing here are from my upcoming cookbook, The Nourished Mother: Healing Recipes and Family Food for Postpartum + Beyond, now available for pre-order!
One of my best friends just had her baby, and I’m cooking my way through my new cookbook, The Nourished Mother: Healing Recipes and Family Food for Postpartum + Beyond (now available for pre-order!!) in order to bring her the best healing meals and snacks for her postpartum.
Hard to believe we’re on week 3 already! She’s just the sweetest baby in the world. Keep reading to read what I recommend for week 3, the exact recipes I used, and what to focus on to really support your body and life this week!
If you missed week 1 and 2, you can read them here:
What should you eat in week 3 postpartum?
After a couple of weeks of newborn life and fragmented sleep, the fatigue can really start to set in. Week 3 is often when the adrenaline of birth and the early days fades, and the long hours of feeding, soothing, and broken sleep can really begin to catch up with you.
This is the week to double down on energy-supportive meals and snacks — while still prioritizing the healing your body is doing behind the scenes. Tissues are still repairing, hormone shifts are still very real, and your body is still adjusting to feeding your baby day and night. The key is meals that are hearty enough to restore you, but simple and realistic for life with a newborn.
The Nutritional Focus in Week 3
By week three, the focus is:
Rebuilding iron stores — iron is often depleted during pregnancy and birth, and low levels can contribute to fatigue, low mood, and poor energy.
Prioritizing energy stability — fragmented sleep can’t be fixed by food, but meals rich in protein, fats, and complex carbs help reduce energy crashes.
Continuing healing — your tissues are still repairing and your body still needs extra protein, minerals, and anti-inflammatory foods.
Supporting milk supply — the best thing you can do nutritionally is make sure you’re eating enough, and consistently, with calorie-dense meals and snacks throughout the day.
What I made: Brothy Beef Stew
This week, I wanted to make my friend a batch-cooked family dinner that was hearty, deeply nourishing, and rich in iron and the minerals needed most for postpartum recovery, repletion, and mood: enter the brothy beef stew!
Beef is one of the best postpartum foods because it’s high in heme iron (the form your body absorbs best), which is critical for energy, mood, and rebuilding blood stores after birth. It’s also a good source of saturated fats, which your body needs to rebuild hormones that are still shifting.
Cooked slowly with veggies, this stew is still easy on a healing body because it’s soft, easy to digest, and packed with flavor. It’s the kind of meal that restores you — warming, grounding, and satisfying enough to help keep energy steady.
I have to admit, this is one of my very favourite recipes in The Nourished Mother! It takes a little longer to prepare but it’s SO worth it (and if you want this recipe today, it’s included in the brand new postpartum freezer prep plan you can download immediately when you pre-order the book!).
What I made: The Postpartum Meatball
One of the foods that pays off the most during postpartum is savoury one-handed snacks that are full of the most important postpartum nutrients including iron, zinc, protein, fats, choline, vitamin A, vitamin B12.
I’m a huge proponent of meatballs around the clock for this very reason! They’re delicious, easy to snack on or add to any number of meals, plus you can use any protein you like best to make them (there are 3 versions in The Nourished Mother!)
The Postpartum Meatballs I made this week are made from a mix of grass-fed beef, liver (just a little - I promise it’s not noticeable!), and warming, healing spices. I love these in pitas, on a snack plate with hummus or tzatziki, tossed in a soup, or on their own!
No matter which meatballs you make, know that any type of meatball is a postpartum powerhouse and is one of the best one-handed snacks or easy proteins you can have on hand!
What I made: Double Chocolate Toasted Walnut + Sesame Cookies
A double chocolate cookie is a love language in my book, and postpartum is the perfect season for what I call an All Day Cookie — one that’s nutrient-dense enough to be eaten anytime.
These cookies use oats, almond flour, hemp seeds, apple sauce, almond butter, walnuts, and sesame seeds, all baked into a brownie-like cookie that’s made specifically for postpartum and breastfeeding.
These cookies provide protein, healthy fats, and minerals, while still feeling like a treat. The sesame seeds add more calcium, hemp brings protein and omega-3 fats, and the oats help with steady energy and fibre (and are often linked with milk supply). This is the kind of snack that fuels body and soul.
What I made: Freezer Breakfast Burritos
Breakfast burritos (or really, burritos of all types) are a postpartum lifesaver - there’s even a photo in The Nourished Mother of my sister, Jess, laying in bed feeding her newborn holding onto a freezer-prepped burrito! Savourey, fuelling one-handed snacks are so key.
Lots of protein, great fats, complex carbs, and veggies all wrapped up in one easy-to-grab meal that can be frozen ahead and reheated in minutes. They’re satisfying, filling, and portable — which makes them just as useful for breakfast as for lunch or dinner.
These burritos help ensure you’re getting enough calories to support milk supply while giving you steady energy to keep going through unpredictable days and nights. Batch-prep them in advance, wrap individually, and you’ll always have a nourishing option ready.
You can get the recipe for these Sheet Pan Sausage + Veggie Breakfast Burritos right here!
Why These Meals Are Perfect For Week 3 Postpartum
The third week after birth is about energy, healing, and practicality. These recipes were chosen to offer:
Iron-rich foods like beef and liver for energy, mood, and rebuilding blood stores.
Steady, calorie-dense meals and snacks to help with healing, mood, milk supply and energy stability.
Mineral repletion (especially magnesium) to support nervous system regulation and recovery.
Freezer-friendly options that make it easy to eat enough, even on the hardest days.
Prepping Week 3 Postpartum Healing Recipes
If you’re prepping ahead for Week 3, or you’re in it right now, think healing, hearty meals, easy snacks, and anything you can grab one-handed. Energy can feel short, and food is one of the most tangible ways to support yourself. Iron-rich meals, mineral-packed snacks, and calorie-dense foods are critical to feeling good.
Every recipe in this post comes from my cookbook,
The Nourished Mother: Healing Recipes and Family Food for Postpartum + Beyond, which you can pre-order today to be among the first to get it in January to support your body, mind, and family in the weeks, months, and years of early motherhood.