Game, Set And Batch: Cook Ahead Like A Pro

Want to save money, eat well and win back some precious time? Batch cook your way to food glory with our best tips and recipes to try. It’s batch time, people!

By planning and prepping your meals for the week (or month if you’re more ambitious), you’ll save time and money and cut down on pesky food waste. You’ll also glow with satisfaction knowing that you have healthy, tasty meals just waiting for when you’re hungry.

Even if you don’t go the whole hog, a bit of batch cooking is always a good idea. Think about it – the pans are out; you may as well do double quantities and freeze half for another day. It’s a bit of easy self-love that future you will thank you for.

Batch cooking might sound like a lot of work, but it will save you time in the long run. Promise. And of course, there are ways to save time while batch cooking (or when preparing to) so make sure to include these:

Speed round the supermarket with a considered plan of attack

A good cook praises their tools

Always have essentials at the ready

A freezer is a batch cooker’s best friend, but it pays to know the art of freezing. Some recipes are as easy as cook, cool and freeze, while others should be followed to a point, then frozen to be cooked through on D Day (as in dinner day).

Did you know that veggie dishes will freeze for longer than those with meat? Talking of freezing times, check out this comprehensive list on how long different foods can be kept in the freezer.

And if you thought the freezer was all ice and peas, let us blow your mind with these freezer food revelations:

Other surprising items you can freeze include tomato puree portions, leftover wine (in an ice cube tray, handy for stocks), cheese and essentials like (ahem) hummus and avocado. There’s also an art to defrosting, learn more here.

Whether you’re freezing your batch-made meals or popping them in the fridge for the next day, choose great storage that’s fit for the job to keep food fresh and avoid spills and leaks.

Think about portions sizes when storing and freezing, and divvy things up accordingly. It’s also super important to label everything well as, once frozen, meals have an uncanny knack of looking very much the same.

Stews, soups and bolognese sauce are well-known standby meals for the freezer so we’d like to introduce a few new ideas to get busy with. Take this versatile curry base sauce, ready anytime to add whatever ingredients you fancy or need to use up.

Then there are treats to brighten up midweek like these juicy homemade cheeseburgers or these cracking lime and coriander fish cakes.

If you think you’re too busy for batch cooking, lean on the Cook4Me. Whip up meals like these succulent lamb meatballs, this crowd pleasing farmer’s chicken and this flavourful Beef rendang. Don’t have the app yet? Download it here.

These tips and recipes, we think you’ll agree, are a batch made in heaven.