Best Batch Cooking Recipes for Easy Meal Prep

Your easiest fresh start begins here. Cook once, eat twice, with our hand-picked selection of the best batch cooking recipes. Your future self will thank you.

So what is batch cooking and what are the best batch cooking recipes? Batch cooking is essentially making a large amount of one dish, then portioning it out over several meals throughout the week, or freezing it for a later time. It works particularly well for saucy dishes that develop their flavour as they sit, think of a chilli, curries, ragus and pies.

You can save time, money, energy and reduce food waste, all while feeding yourself and your family delicious dinners. Take a chilli for example, one of our best batch cooking recipes - have it one night with rice, the next loaded into a jacket potato, in burritos another, and freeze a portion for a rainy day. If you batch cook once a week you'll soon build up a stash of healthy meals in the freezer - think of it as a favour to future you!

Now, thanks to Plate Up you can go one step further and add all the ingredients needed for your batch cooking recipes straight to your supermarket basket in just a few taps. No more making long shopping lists and forgetting what you else you need to buy - we do all the hard work for you with batch cooking inspiration combined with supermarket delivery. Plus all our recipes are created by our team of chefs so you know a delicious dinner is guaranteed, every time.

Read our quick and easy best batch cooking recipes guide below, select the recipes you want to cook and tap to instantly add them to your supermarket basket. Plate Up is free to download and use.

How to Batch Cook (Quick Tips)

1. Choose recipes that you know you and your family enjoy. This one might sound really simple but it's an important one! With Plate Up you can create a favourites recipe collection so all your favourite batch cooking meals are at your fingertips when you need them.

2. Weekly meal plan - sit down and plan a weekly menu of meals. Set yourself up for a week's worth of easy dinners, from comforting stews to speedy traybake and flavour-packed stews. Always keep your weekly meal plans so that you can reuse them again. This will allow you to cook smarter, not harder. On Plate Up you can even use our meal planner to choose our best batch cooking recipes, then tap to add all the ingredients to your shopping basket.

3. Choose a base recipe that you can use with different sides, for example a creamy butter chicken batch cooking recipe can be served with noodles, rice, in a wrap, with your favourite grains or even in a baked potato. Saucy base recipes that take on more flavour the longer they sit are great - like curries. Plate Up has the best batch cooking recipes to inspire you, so you'll never run out of ideas.

4. Clearly label and date the food before freezing it.

5. Invest in food storage containers, like reusable freezer bags and pots, so you have a selection to choose from that can be rotated.

6. Best practice is to defrost frozen batch cooking foods before eating. Ideally defrost overnight in the fridge. You can cook some foods from frozen, make sure it is piping hot all the way through, reheat to 70C before eating. Jump to the freezer section below for more freezer tips.

Best Batch Cooking Recipes for Dinner

Freezer & Storage Tips

1. Get sorted - start by doing a stock take of your freezer - what do you already have, label anything you need to and remove all ice from your freezer so you are good to go.

2. Dishes like curry, stews and chillies freeze well as they improve in flavour over time and hold their structure well. When reheating you will notice a sauce may start to separate, don't worry this is normal, just mix vigorously and it will come together as it heats up. Avoid freezing more delicate foods such as a garnishes for dishes. Pies, pastas and ragus also freeze well.

3. How you store the food is key - make sure you allow the food to cool down fully before you freeze it, then clearly label and date it. We also love to keep a list of what's in each freezer drawer so you can quickly know what's in there and plan your next dinner (on your phone, or even pop it up on the fridge/freezer).

4. Storage containers and bags - use freezer safe containers and the right size for the size of the dish you are freezing, if it's too big the food can get freezer burn. Freezer safe reusable bags are great - they can be stored flat and take up less space, plus you can label them easily.

5. Once your food has cooled down, remove as much as you can from the freezer bag by flattening it out, this helps to prevent freezer burn.

6. Generally you can freeze foods for up to 3 months in a standing freezer and up to 6 months in a deep freezer.

7. Defrost properly - ideally allow food to defrost in the fridge overnight especially if they contain meat or diary.

8. When reheating make sure you reheat food to a safe temperature and ensure it is piping hot throughout the dish - ideally 70C or over so it's safe to serve. For example, if reheating a pie make sure to always check the middle is piping hot.

FAQs

What is batch cooking?

Batch cooking is making a large amount (usually double) of one dish, then portioning it out across several meals throughout the week, or freezing it for another day. For example - take a butter chicken curry, have it one night with rice, the next with tacos and freeze the rest for a rainy day.

How long does batch-cooked food last in the freezer?

Store your batch-cooked food in a standing freezer for up to 3 months and up to 6 months in a deep freezer.

Is batch cooking cheaper than cooking daily?

The best batch cooking recipes are cheaper than cooking daily as it reduces food waste and allows you to maximise the ingredients you have so that you spend less on new ones.

Can you batch cook without a freezer?

Yes you can batch cook without a freezer, it will simply be over a shorter period of time that you will use the food. Generally batch-cook recipes store well in the fridge for up to 3 - 4 days. For this type of batch cooking we love curries, ragus and chillis.

Ready to Start Batch Cooking?

Pick a few of your favourites from the list above, and Plate Up will add every ingredient straight to your Tesco or Sainsbury's basket in just a few taps. Download Plate Up for free and start filling your freezer with meals your future self will thank you for.