Batch cooking for beginners

Sometimes the last thing you fancy doing after a long day is make a meal from scratch. By getting ahead of your meal prep for the week, batch cooking is a great way to ensure a tasty home-cooked meal is never more than a few minutes away.

As well as helping you to resist the temptation to pick up a ready meal or order a takeaway, planning your food in this way will save you time and money, and reduce how much food you throw away.

Here’s our guide for how to get the most out of an afternoon spent batch-cooking, including tips on what you’ll need to get started and some great recipes to fill your freezer with.

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How to batch cook

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Batch cooking is all about preparing meals that can be portioned out and frozen or stored in the fridge, ready to be enjoyed at a later date. You can either scale up a recipe you’re already cooking and freeze the extra portions, or set aside some time each week to cook a few make-ahead meals.

Not only does batch cooking mean you’ll always have a minimal-effort mid-week dinner ready to go, it’s also a great way to use up any fresh produce that is past its best to reduce how much food you throw away. Cooking lots of meal portions at the same time can even help you keep your energy bills down, as you’re only using the energy to cook them once, rather than putting on the oven or hob to make each individual meal.

Batch cooking fail-safes include tomato-based pasta sauces like bolognese or ragu, chilli, curries, soups and stews. Simply cook as usual, and then allow to cool before freezing. When you’re ready to eat, just defrost and cook any rice, pasta or sides to go with it from fresh. You can even cook dishes like lasagne or pies for the freezer- just follow the recipe up to the point of being put in the oven and then freeze.

Tools and equipment

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You don’t necessarily need any special tools or equipment to batch cook, although if you’re doubling up recipes you’ll need some large pans and storage containers. However, if you’re trying to make a few different meals during a mass cook-up, anything that speeds things up will help you fill your freezer faster.

With an extra wide feed tube and built-in weighing scales, the MultiPro Excel food processor will help you race through your food prep. Then there’s the Cooking Chef XL, which makes light work of making stews and curries from start to finish, thanks to its induction heating technology and handy one-pot meal and slow cook preset functions.

Short on kitchen space? The MultiPro Go proves that you don’t need a large food processor to batch-cook like a pro. Compact enough to fit into a kitchen drawer, this small but mighty food processor allows you to slice and grate unlimited quantities directly onto a dish or into a pan, without being limited by bowl capacity.

For making a big batch of sauce or soup, the Triblade XL hand blender has a long blending wand and extra-wide foot, making it ideal for quick and easy blending, with finer results.

Our batch cooking tips

Ready to cook up a storm? Master the art of stress-free meal-prepping by following these tips:

●    Plan out your batch cooking meals to reduce food waste. Cook dishes that use some of the same fresh ingredients, like herbs, so you’re more likely to use them all up. 

●    All food needs to be completely cooled before freezing or storing in the fridge.  

●    Not all foods are suitable for freezing- sauces or soups containing cream can separate or curdle when they’re frozen.

●    Portion out food before freezing depending on how it will be used. Some dishes might be suitable for everyone in your household, others might need to be frozen in individual portions.

●    Clearly label everything with what the meal is, the number of portions and the date it was frozen. This will help avoid any future ‘surprise’ dinners when you defrost a curry sauce thinking it’s a ragu!

●    All foods have a freezer life span, so check guidelines. Generally vegetarian foods can be frozen for longer than meals containing meat or fish, but most will need to be eaten within three months.

●    Save space in your freezer by portioning out meals into reusable food bags, rather than using bulky plastic containers. These can be stacked neatly- just be sure to squeeze all the air out before sealing. 

●    Always thoroughly defrost frozen foods and then reheat all the way through. Check the centre is piping hot before serving.

Our favourite recipes to batch cook

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The following recipes are ideal for batch cooking, freezer-friendly and can be created using your Kenwood products. Remember you can double up a recipe and freeze the extra portions for some quick and easy midweek meals.

Use your stand mixer with the lasagne roller attachment to make a couple of these delicious chicken pesto roll up lasagnes at the same time so you can enjoy one for dinner and pop the other in the freezer for another day. For best results freeze uncooked, and when you’re ready to eat, allow to defrost as usual before following the cooking instructions.

If you’re looking for a quick, filling and delicious family meal, look no further than this curried shepherd's pie, which you can make in under 30 minutes using your Cooking Chef XL and the food processor attachment.

Finally, this easy-to-make, super versatile tomato sauce should be in everyone’s repertoire. Serve with meat or fish, use as a base for spaghetti bolognese or lasagne or as a pizza topping. Or just toss through pasta for a fuss-free midweek meal that the whole family can tuck into.

You can find plenty more tasty batch cooking recipes here