Batch Cooking: The Key to Eating Fit
Batch cooking and meal prepping are effective strategies to save time & money, eat healthier, and reduce the stress of daily cooking. These methods involve preparing meals in advance, either in large quantities for later use or for the entire week, allowing for greater flexibility and convenience. By planning ahead, organizing ingredients, and using appropriate storage techniques, individuals can streamline their cooking process and enjoy nutritious meals throughout the week.
- Meal Prepping: This involves preparing meals in advance, usually for the entire week, by chopping, cooking, and storing food so it’s ready to go when needed. It helps in maintaining a consistent diet and reduces the time spent on daily cooking.
- Batch Cooking: This method involves cooking large quantities of a single dish, which can then be stored for multiple meals throughout the week. It is particularly useful for creating leftovers and ensuring that meals are available when needed.
- Planning Ahead: Successful batch cooking and meal prepping require careful planning. This includes deciding on meals for the week, checking store cupboard essentials, making a shopping list, and allowing time to gather ingredients before starting to cook.
- Storage and Freezing: Proper storage is crucial for maintaining the quality of batch-cooked meals. Meals should be cooled before freezing, stored in airtight containers, and labeled with the recipe, date, and number of portions.
- Equipment: While no special equipment is necessary, having large pans, sharp knives, cutting boards, and storage containers can make the process easier. Some people also find pressure cookers, slow cookers, and soup makers helpful for preparing large quantities of food.
- Tips for Success: Some key tips include preparing ingredients in advance, cleaning as you go, cooling food before freezing, and serving fresh side dishes. Additionally, organizing the freezer and using ingredients that do not dry out when reheated can enhance the effectiveness of batch cooking.
- https://richldnrd.health.blog/nutrition-services-offered/
Let’s break down Batch Cooking For Beginners point by point!
1. Choose a grain
Healthy whole grains take a lot longer to cook than their refined counterparts, so they’re a good thing to make in bulk. Consider that white rice takes about 15 minutes to cook whereas brown rice typically takes about 45, and it’s no surprise that people aren’t keen on cooking up a batch of brown rice on a Monday night.
But! If you cook up a big pot of brown rice (or wild rice or kamut or farro or barley…) on the weekend while you’re prepping everything else, you’ll be good to go all week long. Cooked grains will be good in the fridge for 3-5 days, and will last in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Mix things up and try grains like farro, wild rice, or barley. Use your cooked grains to make meal bowls (related: How to make a meal bowl without a recipe) or serve with a vegetarian stir-fry.
And you can totally mix it up! I’ll batch cook pasta to mix in with various sauces throughout the week, and every other week I make a double batch of this Spelt Pizza Dough and freeze par-cooked pizza bases to make pizza night a breeze. You can also bake potatoes, roast sweet potato wedges, or mix up whatever starch your family prefers.
2. Select a Green
I’m saying choose a green because it rhymes (a grain, a green, a protein…) but really we’re talking about all forms of vegetables and produce here.
First up, when you do your weekend meal prep, spend some time making your veggies eatable. By that I mean, wash your salad greens so they’re easy to use on the fly. Chop up your carrots and stick ’em in water for easy snacking. While you’re at it, chop anything else you might be cooking with later in the week.
If you want to make a salad that’ll last the week in the fridge, I recommend you use sturdy greens like kale. Try this Massaged Kale Salad, or thisVegetarian Caesar Salad with Kale.
Then, I love to batch cook some sort of vegetables. My go-to is a huge tray of Mediterranean Roast Vegetables because they can be used in so many things. Even just a bowl of brown rice, roast veggies, and a big spoonful of hummus makes for a delightful meal.
For example, if, on Sunday, you roasted up a big tray of vegetables, you could start off the week eating them as a side dish. On Monday they could become roasted vegetable quesadillas. On Tuesday they could be part of your packed lunch with some cooked grain and some sort of sauce. And on Wednesday you can finish ’em up in a Roasted Vegetable Frittata.
If I’m short on time, I’ll often just throw a bunch of veggies into a steamer basket and then have a container of lightly steamed veg on hand in the fridge that I’ll use in meal bowls or salads.
3. Pick a protein
Pick a protein… any protein! What floats your boat? Tofu? Then I recommend you take steps to make it tasty ahead of time.
I love making a big batch of Air Fryer Tempeh to use with a variety of sauces. Or, try the technique from these BBQ Tofu Bowls where the tofu is torn up, baked, and then tossed with barbecue sauce. Maybe just cubed and tossed in a simple marinade like these Vegan Poké Bowls?
Maybe you’re more of a bean person? Or other legumes like lentils? No problem. If you prefer soaking and cooking your beans from scratch. We have lots of bean cooking tutorials on HNL, so grab those dried beans in the back of your cupboard and cook ’em up!
Use some of those beans to make a batch of freezer-friendly Black Bean Burritos, or, if you don’t feel like rolling burritos, how about this Black Bean Tortilla Stack? You can also make a delicious Mung Bean Salad or Mung Bean Soup.
You can cook up a batch of these Spicy Instant Pot Black Beans, which is a perfect side dish, taco filling, or bowl topper. Or, you can make a batch of these Chipotle Black Bean Burgers, which are a bit of work to pull together, but they freeze like a dream.
Lentils can be used for make-and-freeze batches of Red Lentil Dal, or make a double batch of Slow Cooker Chickpea Curry in your Crockpot to freeze for the week ahead.
I also love cooking hard boiled eggs as part of my weekly batch cooking. They’re great in Egg Salad Sandwiches, Curried Deviled Eggs, or just as a snack!
Tempe bacon on a sheet of parchment paper
4. Make a sauce
A good sauce can really help turn your batched cook food from just a bunch of ingredients into a tasty meal. I like to prep a protein-packed hummus like this Chipotle Hummus or Mung Bean Hummus, which can be used in sandwiches or Spicy Vegan Wraps, as a snack, as a bowl topper, or even as the base of these Roasted Cauliflower Hummus Bowls.
I also love making a batch of this Instant Pot Pasta Sauce to freeze. It’s great for tossing with pasta, or using for a baked pasta dish like this Vegetarian Ravioli Bake or Kale Lasagna.
Other favourite sauces include this Vegan Teriyaki Sauce, the magic tahini sauce from these Winter Veggie Meal Prep Bowls, and the zippy almond-chili-ginger sauce from these Summer Salad Rolls.
I’m also including these Spicy Pickled Onions in the sauce department, because they add so much flavour to whatever you add them to. They take only a few minutes to make and are perfect for batch cooking.
Other meal prep ideas:
Once you’ve got the hang of batch cooking, you might want to take your meal prepping a little further. Start by checking out the basics of meal planning, and then go from there.
Let us customize an individual PLAN for you & your child, adolescent or young adult for the price of one!
2 for 1
25 years of clinical & institutional root planning has grown into thousands of satisfied healthy strong families without high risks associated with preventable diseases.
Meet us better
Ideas for eating & living are grown around you
124
households per month
12
experts working
32
awards won
100%
satisfied customers
Why You’ll Love Us
There is never been a better time to eat smarter. Smarter means working with nature. We’re coming into a fantastic time for food & fun fascination.
- Delicious
- Ethical
- Sustainable
- 24/7/365
- Real Time Access
“Excellent Service”
Their service is brilliant! I really hope some of them are now using your service.
Fiona
“Love the flexibility”
We are very happy with the PLAN and we value that we can have OUR PLAN on our own.
Joseph
“Fantastic quality”
I’m really appreciating the quality and expertise. The vast amount of information is outstanding.
Michelle
Plant these seeds of knowledge
Grow your HEALTHY CHILD PLAN here!
LATEST RichLDNRD BLOG
- The Crucial Role of Workout Intensity in Muscle GrowthMuscle growth, or hypertrophy, is a key goal for all fitness enthusiasts & the holy grail to longevity, from beginners to seasoned athletes. While factors like nutrition, recovery, and consistency play significant roles, one element often stands out as aContinue reading “The Crucial Role of Workout Intensity in Muscle Growth”
- How Can One Possibly Eat Healthier During the Holidays?The holiday season is often filled with festivities that revolve around food. While there’s nothing wrong with indulging here and there, it can be difficult to stay on track with healthy eating choices when surrounded by so much temptation. RichContinue reading “How Can One Possibly Eat Healthier During the Holidays?”
- Health Benefits of Garlic: Health Effects ExplainedGarlic contains many nutrients and bioactive compounds, which may make it a beneficial and effective supplement for health. Historical use of garlic in medicine goes back centuries, and modern research is now working to investigate its benefits and efficacy asContinue reading “Health Benefits of Garlic: Health Effects Explained”
TEACHING BY LIVING EXAMPLE!
