Many mums say batch cooking is absolute game-changer when it comes to time management. With batch cooking, you are essentially making big batches of a few foods in one go that you can then mix and match to create various meals with very little effort throughout the week. After all, it takes the same amount of time to cook four cups of pasta as it does to cook one cup, so why not make extras of foods that keep well so you can reduce the amount of time spent cooking on other nights?

One big way of working efficiently is doubling or tripling a recipe you are already making to freeze individual portions that you can easily thaw and reheat later for a more convenient dinner. By spending a little bit of time each week batch cooking ingredients, you can save time every night and streamline your dinner preparation.

Here’s how to keep the amount of time you spend batch cooking under 45 minutes.

1. Choose your time carefully

To get the most out of your 45 minutes, you’ll want to keep distractions to a minimum. Choose a time during the week when you know you can have someone else keep an eye on the kids or plan an activity that they can do on their own to keep them busy while you’re in the kitchen. If you can time this within a day or two of your grocery shopping, it’s even better!

2. Have the right tools

To batch cook quickly, you’re going to need the right tools. Here’s what I recommend you have on hand for quicker batch cooking.

  • Food processor: Save time on chopping
  • Slow cooker: Set it and forget it while preparing sides 
  • Multiple cutting boards and mixing bowls: Avoid wasting time washing up in the middle of cooking
  • Large skillets and baking sheets: Larger vessels will accommodate bigger batches
  • Food storage containers: Make sure you have adequate containers on hand to freeze portions
  • Cooking utensils: A chef’s knife, vegetable peeler, whisk, spatula, and tongs can all be useful depending on what you’re cooking

3. Plan your meals

Planning your meals is one of the best tips for batch cooking for beginners. Having a batch cooking meal plan decided in advance means you can start cooking straight away. You’ll want to look at your recipes to identify common ingredients that can be batched. For example, you might choose to make several recipes in the same week that share common ingredients such as beans or chicken, to make batch cooking as efficient as possible.

Here are some ingredients that lend themselves well to batch cooking:

  • Meat: Any meat can be batch cooked, whether it’s grilling chicken breasts, broiling chicken thighs or browning a huge batch of minced meat.
  • Starches: You can easily double or triple foods like pasta, potatoes, couscous and quinoa.
  • Vegetables: Some vegetables lend themselves to cooking in advance better than others, such as sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, and squash. Roasting, grilling and sautéing all work well for batch cooking.

4. Do it in the right order

For easy batch cooking, start with whatever takes the longest to cook and then work your way down to the fastest item. Here’s an example of all the things you can get done at once when you do it in the order listed:

  • Roast chicken legs in the oven
  • Cook a bag of black beans in your pressure cooker
  • Cook 4 cups of pasta on the hob
  • Brown a kilo of minced beef or pork
  • Chop and dice the vegetables you’ll need for the week

If you’re going to use a slower cooking method like a Crock-Pot to make things like shredded chicken, try to time it so it will be finished cooking around the same time as your other batch cooked foods so that you can do all the clean-up and food storage at once for greater efficiency.

5. Use a slow cooker

Let’s talk about batch cooking full meals really swiftly. A slow cooker is extremely useful in batch cooking for families. It’s hands-off and can cook huge portions at once. In fact, it works so well that I’ve created a whole course about how you can batch cook four meals in under 45 minutes with a slow cooker (clean up included). That way you can eat one portion for dinner, and freeze 3 for later (that’s one weekday of meals for a full month!)


If you want to learn more, go here to read all about ‘Slow Cooking & Fast Batching: How to get perfect slow cooker results, and prep 4 delicious family meals in a maximum of 45 minutes.’

Watch out for my limited offer where you get my Slow Cooking Digital Planner for FREE when signing up!

I hope you enjoyed my tips today – happy batch cooking!

Love,

Nakita xxx