Why I batch cook (and so should you!)

Mexican Lasagne

I am very much, definitely an adult by now. I’ve looked at my birth certificate, and it confirms it. But I really only feel like I’ve been properly taking care of myself for the last couple of years ago, probably because until last year, I’ve always lived with people who were happy to take care of me and I am a lazy, lazy person. The biggest lesson living alone has taught me though, is food preparation. I’ve been tweeting and instagramming a lot lately about my cooking and I’ve been asked to talk a little bit about my methods, so I wanted to focus on batch cooking. Because it’s the best.

I’m sure there are a fair few of you out there who can identify with the habit of grabbing a ready meal from Tesco or M&S on the way home. At £2 or £3 a day it never seems like too much money, but it adds up. And if you live with an M&S petrol station on the way home like I do, you’ll know that it’s closer to £5 a pop. It’s a bad habit, guys. Stop it. Stop it now.

Butternut Squash Lasagne

Aside from the preservatives in ready meals and the extra packaging damaging the environment, it’s costing you so much money! Wouldn’t you rather have more money? You could buy those shoes that you like! Right? This is why I batch cook. I fell into it for practical reasons at the start of this year, and now I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else. This is why:

1. It’s way more cost efficient.
If you go to the supermarket with a specific recipe in mind, you might spend £15 or £20 on ingredients. But that money could give you 14 nights worth of dinners if you planned it well! Or, it could buy you a few days worth of ready meals. No brainer.

2. It’s better for you.
The thing with batch cooking is that it involves cooking pretty much from scratch most of the time – give or take a pre-prepared jar of sauce or soup or something. This means that you know exactly what’s going into your dinner and can control every part of it – the salt, the fat, everything. So even if you’re not watching your weight, you’ll still be doing your body some good.

3. It’s great for busy people.
I work full time, have a super active social life and then spend my evenings blogging or doing other projects. I am definitely a busy person. So, I probably cook once a week. Sometimes even once every two weeks. This fits in perfectly with my lifestyle, and because I usually have at least a couple of recipes on the go at once, it doesn’t mean eating the same thing day in, day out.

4. It reduces waste.
I hate wasting food! I HATE IT SO MUCH! Nothing makes me more cross than throwing away something mouldy that I – or whoever I share my fridge with – have forgotten about. What a waste. It’s unforgiveable. Batch cooking means you can use fresh vegetables, but prolong their life by cooking them then freezing the portions.

5. It doesn’t matter how many people you’re cooking for.
Whether it’s just for you – like I do, most of the time – or whether you have someone coming round unexpectedly, you’ll be prepared. It even works if you’ve made a big dish for a group of friends, as you can save the leftovers for yourself later.

Blue Cheese & Pesto Pasta

I usually make a big dish over the weekend then portion it up. I buy little plastic boxes from Poundland or Sainsburys which fit neatly into my freezer drawer (Sainsburys are £2 for 8, Poundland only £1 for £8 – but they are much weaker and really only last one use as the freezer and microwave kills them), and then it means in the week I can just get one out, microwave it and wolf it down. No muss, no fuss – and very little washing up on a daily basis, too.

Here are some of my favourite batch cooking recipes. They’re all pretty low fat, but can be tailored if you’re not interested in that. But flavour is super important to me, so even if you aren’t into low fat food, you should give these a go. I can totally vouch for them.

Spaghetti Bolognese
This is bulked out with tons of vegetables so it makes huge portions. I usually serve 6 with this, but I think it would easily stretch to 8. I like to add red wine and olives to mine.

Butternut Squash Lasagne
One of my ultimate favourite recipes ever. This freezes and reheats really well, it’s super low fat and good for you and it serves 6.

Garlic & Mushroom Lasagne
See above, basically. YUM.

Nigella’s Mexican Lasagne
Okay, I really like lasagne based things, apparently. This is a Nigella recipe, and is super filling as it’s been bulked out with loads of beans as well as the tortilla layers. It serves 8.

Traditional Lasagne
Well, when in Rome. This serves 6, but what I wanted to point out was that lasagne, and Spaghetti Bolognese, and most tomato based sauces actually lend themselves really well to reheating. The flavours mature and become more intense. I actually prefer them reheated to straight out the oven!

Blue Cheese & Pesto Pasta
Chockful of tasty amazing things (blue cheese!) and it's actually quite good for you too! WINNER.

Garlic & Mushroom Lasagne

The nice thing with batch cooking is that you can spend longer on an exciting dish because you know it's all the cooking you'll have to do all week. But also, I recommend having some store cupboard staples like passata and mushroom soup as both are an easy base for a sauce, and always keep a pack of bacon or chorizo in the freezer. So if you do want to make something last minute, all you have to do is buy some fresh veg (just mushrooms and onions will often do) and then raid your cupboard and you'll have this rich chorizo pasta or this creamy mushroom & bacon dish in no time.