Simple batch cooking meal ideas

Batch cooking is all about making life easier - preparing delicious meals ahead of time, so there’s always something tasty and nutritious ready to feed you and your family.

Planning your meals like this not only helps you avoid the ready-meal aisle at the supermarket but will save time, money and prevent food waste.

From chillies and meatballs to curries and soups, we’ve shared a range of delicious recipes that are easy to batch cook using your Kenwood products and freeze well. Make more than you need and portion out the leftovers for the freezer, ready for another day.

If you’re new to batch cooking, you can find tips on how to get started in our beginners’ guide to batch cooking.

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Cheesy baked meatballs

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Made using your stand mixer and the food mincer attachment, these cheesy baked meatballs are the ultimate comfort food. 

Make both the beef meatballs and the cheesy tomato sauce in bulk and freeze them separately in portions (the meatballs can be frozen raw or cooked) for another time. Serve with pasta, or just as they are, with garlic bread and a green salad.

Hearty soups

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Soup is a brilliant make-ahead freezer meal, and great to have when you need a quick and wholesome lunch or dinner. Make a big batch and then portion out in containers or sealable soup bags ready for freezing. Most soups can be frozen for at least 3 months, or kept in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days. 

Use your MultiPro Express with the Express Dice attachment to make this tasty Mexican noodle soup. Full of flavour, you can adapt the recipe to work with any leftover veg or add chickpeas or chicken. If you’re making some for the freezer, batch-cook the broth and then add the noodles when you reheat.

Combining the sweetness of pumpkin with a warming hit of ginger, use your hand blender to blend a big batch of this vegan pumpkin and ginger soup in the pan, for effortless and mess-free meal prep. Serve with warm bread rolls straight from the oven, or these crackers, which only take around 20 minutes to make from scratch using your stand mixer.

Chicken Bhuna

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Curries are perfect for cooking ahead and freezing, and when they’re as simple to make as this aromatic chicken bhuna, it’s much easier to resist the temptations of a Friday night takeout. 

Made using your Cooking Chef XL, this recipe serves 4, but you can double up so there are plenty of portions for the freezer, and then serve with rice and freshly made garlic and coriander naans.

Vegan thai curry

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Fill the freezer with portions of this easy cook vegan Thai curry. Packed with vegetables and spice, it’s perfect to share with friends at your next curry night. Quick and easy to make using your Cooking Chef XL, the recipe can be adapted to use up pretty much any leftover veg or try adding some tofu for an extra protein hit. 

Salmon fishcakes

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Delicious enjoyed as a starter, for brunch or as an easy evening meal, these salmon fishcakes are also perfect for the freezer. For best results  freeze batches of uncooked fishcakes on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Once they’re solid, transfer them to a sealed container and then defrost thoroughly before cooking. 

Chilli con carne

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Easy to cook using everyday ingredients, chilli is always a failsafe dish when you’re feeding a crowd. Grab a big pan and scale up the recipe for either this classic chilli con carne, or our equally tasty veggie version

Serve with rice and all the trimmings, with a baked potato or as a burrito or taco filling.

Easy ratatouille

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Packed full of colourful vegetables, a hearty ratatouille freezes really well and is one of the most versatile batch cook dishes. 

Serve as a plant-based main with fluffy rice or crusty bread, a jacket potato filling or an accompaniment to meat or fish. It can even be enjoyed cold, sprinkled with crumbled feta. It also couldn't be easier to make using your food processor as you’ll whizz through all the veg prep.

Find more recipe inspiration

You can find plenty more ideas for easy batch cooking dishes here.

Or download our Kenwood World app from the Google play store or App store and discover hundreds of recipes to make with your Kenwood products, all designed by our team of professional chefs.