Is batch cooking really as beneficial as everyone says it is?

If you haven’t heard of batch cooking (or bulk cooking, meal prep) – it’s simply a method of making food in large batches to save you time prepping and doing dishes throughout the week or month. It’s a great tool to help with weight loss or habit changes, but it’s also incredibly helpful if you’re dealing with food allergies or dietary restrictions of any kind, for whatever reason.

Now you may be thinking that this sounds too good to be true, or like it’s too much work – but this is a habit worth developing.

In my years of experience working with clients, I have seen EVERYONE benefit from creating this habit. It makes healthy eating affordable, less food waste and dishes, plus it takes a lot of pressure and anxiety out of your week. It helps you avoid your food allergies, stick with your restrictions, and speeds up your healing process.

If you’ve never tried it, or you have but struggle with it, or maybe haven’t noticed the benefits yet – you might just be missing a few key tricks that make it work.

It’s time you learned how to batch cook like a boss by using my simple tricks to make it easy and totally worth it:

START WITH A MEAL PLAN

This will help you make the most use of your time. If you have a meal plan in place you’ll know exactly what you need to batch cook to make that week easier.

Check out these tips on how to meal plan in 30 minutes or less.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT RECIPES

There are certain recipes that batch cook better than others. Make sure at least 2 or 3 of the recipes in your meal plan can be easily batched to save time throughout the week.

Recipes for frittatas, pancakes, smoothies, soups, stews, chilis, even quinoa tend to freeze best. Some baking freezes well also, and meats freeze best in liquid.

COOK MORE OF WHAT YOU NORMALLY EAT

Don’t overthink batch cooking! You don’t need to go out in search of elaborate freezer-friendly recipes that you don’t know if you’ll eat. Simply pick recipes you would normally eat and make them in larger quantities.

USE ONE INGREDIENT MULTIPLE WAYS

Batch cooking can be used for the week, like making all of your lunches ahead for the week. But it can also be used to batch cook for a month, so you can pull them out on busy days where you get home late from work or the kids have sports until 7 pm.

When you won’t be using the batched food in one week, it’s helpful to use one ingredient several ways to save time. For example, you could use quinoa to make a breakfast bake, a soup, and a vegetarian stew.

CREATE A PLAN OF ATTACK

Heading into batch cooking without a plan will make it take four times longer. Take an extra 10 minutes to re-order your batch recipes in a way that makes sense and uses your time most efficiently.

Check out these tips for quick and easy prep tips. 

DOUBLE, TRIPLE, OR QUADRUPLE YOUR RECIPES

Any recipe that’s freezable should always be made in larger batches. Even if you aren’t interested in batch cooking ahead for the week, you should plan to batch cook any recipe you make throughout the week that’s freezer-friendly. 

For instance, if you’re making chili for dinner one night – it will take an extra 10 minutes to triple it and freeze the extra. This will give you options on days when you don’t have time to cook a healthy meal!

FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR FREEZER

The freezer is probably the most under utilized kitchen tool you have! Take advantage of any recipe that can be frozen and make as much as you can. You will be so glad you did when those crazy days or weeks come around.

PREP THE RIGHT PORTION SIZES

Using muffins tins and mini loaf pans you can make almost anything into individual portion sizes for freezing. If you’ve got a family, freeze in family size portions. Most foods can’t be frozen after they’ve been thawed – so this is an important rule to stick to in order that you only thaw as much as you need.

HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT

You don’t need a lot of equipment – but the right stuff makes all the difference. Here are a few essential pieces that can be helpful:

Non-negotiables:
Cutting board and good quality knives
Pots and pans
Mixing bowls and spoons
Bakingware (cookie sheets, muffin tins, etc.)
Glass airtight storage containers (or other freezer friendly containers)

Helpful extras:
Good quality blender (I love my Vitamix!)
Instant pot
Food processor

SHARE THE LOAD

Here’s one of my favourite tricks – do a batch cooking exchange! Get some friends on board and have each person batch cook one recipe (with the same serving size) to exchange with everyone. If you have 6 friends join then you’ll all have 6 recipes to put away in your freezer.

Tip: You can also make an extra few batches of your recipe to store away while you’re already batch cooking it for your friends!

These are my every day tricks that I use to batch cook like a boss! But I also have some favourite foods I love to batch cook.

BREAKFASTS

No-Bake Raspberry Quinoa Breakfast Bars
5-Ingredient Pancakes
Limeade Green Juice
No-Bake Quinoa Breakfast Bites
Mango Raspberry Popsicles
Yam + Spinach Frittatas
Carrot Cake Quinoa Bake

LUNCHES AND DINNERS

Maple Blueberry Muffins
Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Coconut Carrot Ginger Soup
Slow-Cooker Beef Stew
Zucchini Loaf
Maple Baked Beans
Gut-Nourishing Bone Broth
Slow-Cooker Sloppy Joes
Southwestern Turkey Cups

Need some personalized help and long-term support? Book a nutrition consultation with me!