What are your best/fave recipes for batch cooking?

[LittleTwiglet]

I've realised I'm spending far too much on the weekly food shop, even though I try to go to cheaper places like Aldi. I've heard that batch cooking could help to save money, but have no idea of any good recipes. It will be for 2 adults and one child, so any recipe ideas please?

No recipes as such but I freeze all these
Pasta bake
Beef or chicken stew
Cottage pie/shepherds pie
Corned beef hash

Food has gone up in cost recently. If you post your weekly shopping list/menu then people can give you suggestions.

For low cost meals, home made pizza, baked potato and veggie chilli (and chilli at the table if you have a fussy child), cheese omlette. Generally veggie meals are cheaper.

The cost of food has gone up. Hugely. So whilst batch cooking does help for tell still be more expensive than it was so perhaps making some substitutes would be helpful?

For instance I batch cook bolognese and cottage pie but I've taken to bulking them out with lentils and oats so that I will not use half the quantity of meat that I used to. It's not as tasty (whatever lies Jamie tells you!) but it's very close and saves a lot of money.

Soup has become a regular meal too- can make 8 + portions of soup for under £2 . It's healthy, vegetarian and served with bread delicious.

I make a lot go further by eating less meat and more veg. The mumsnet wonder chicken is a very real bird to me

There's no set list really, usually; one pasta dish, some chicken fillets, pork joint, sausages, beef mince 500g, frozen pizza, some type of frozen chicken, random vegetables depending what everyone fancies, frozen chips, frozen fish. I feel like I can better manage this, but I'm just not sure how to go about it, as I've always just gone into shops and brought whatever everyone wanted, now that's not really feasible financially.

See I'm a big lover of chicken, however DH loves his meat, and is reluctant when a meal doesn't include any, but as I do the cooking I'm going to start putting up a creak without a paddle so to speak as I want to cut down on costs.

May you can include meat but bulk it out with lentils/pulses.

I have never really used lentils, so will give them a go.
I feel like I've been quite naive in the past with food, and now it's got more costly I have to really have a think about it.

I make a huge pot of Bolognese (made with some lentils chucked in too to bulk it out)
I then use it for dinner as spaghetti bolognese on the night I cook it, and then use the rest to batch cook lasagnes for the freezer.
Cottage pie and chilli con carne are also good for catch cooking. I find mince based dishes freeze the best personally

If you can get him off meat, I agree with soup. Add washed red lentils to veg stock, tinned tomato/roasted onion, garlic and red pepper combo and slowly simmer until lentils are very soft. Freeze in bags or tupperware and serve with some grated cheddar. Very filling and nutritious. Substitute toms with cooked carrots for a change.

With meat, I try and do dishes where you don't notice it as much. So you notice if you've got half a chicken breast with potatoes and veg but if it's in a stew...
Like carbonara doesn't need much meat, or I do egg fried rice with shredded chicken
Stew type things I bulk out with veg - beef stew I add any left over chopped up bacon, onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms..
Pasta bake type things are useful for using up the last few cherry tomatoes, courgette that's a bit soft, half a tin of sweetcorn type stuff so you don't waste it

Look up the batch lady on Instagram, she has some great ideas.

I do a tasty turkey Breast mince bolognaise.
Fry one large onion, 1 large or 2 small carrots, couple of sticks, 4 or 5 harking cloves all chopped. Then add mince and fry breaking up turkey. Then add one jar pasta and 1 tin chopped tomatoes. Then add 2 large chopped peppers, not green,

Then simmer until it thickens up stirring occasionally. Makes 2 healthy dinners and is very tasty.

With one pack of 500 gms steak mince I make 2 lasagnes, they freeze well. Quite cheap and very popular.

Cottage pies
Bolognese sauce
Chicken curry
Chicken cacciatore
Arrabiatta sauce for pasta
Beef chilli
Chicken and veg chilli (can eat with rice or use in wraps for enchiladas)
Soups

Obviously 2 sticks celery and garlic cloves!

So far it's looking like mince is the way to go. Never actually tried turkey mince, so that will be on my list.
So fresh vegetable will still be cheaper than frozen too.
How about frozen meat? I've never brought frozen chicken breasts etc, but would these be cheaper than the fresh?
I wish I had time to go round looking for the yellow label foods, but I'm limited on time out for one shop a week.

Turkey mince is really nice, pork mince too (I often do pork mince with stir fry hoisin and rice and veg)

Minced beef, onions, celery, tinned tomatoes bulked out with red lentils. They disintegrate during cooking so anyone who might object won’t even notice!

Turns easily into bolognaise, or chilli with kidney beans and spices added, or part of lasagne.

Or cottage pie, with baked beans added.

If it’s just going to be ‘school dinner’ mince (dh likes mine) I add finely chopped carrots and mushrooms as well as red lentils. Plus anything like a courgette, or the last lonely dried up rasher of bacon or slice of ham, that needs using up. All chopped very small. .

I think frozen veg like broccoli and speak are cheaper frozen.
But I always do fresh veg in my bolognaise and lasagnes.

Chicken thighs/ legs/ wings are much cheaper than breast meat but trickier to eat for kids so I bung them in a tray to roast with a bit of oil , pull all the meat off the bone and then put that through pasta or in wraps etc. If you roast them with a little bit of chicken stock in the bottom of the pan you can use that for sauce over the pasta.

I batch a big bolognaise sauce and then freeze in portions big enough for one family meal, or slightly smaller portions where I then add spices and kidney beans and make it into a chilli. Sometimes when I am batch cooking it, if I make enough I also make a lasagne and freeze.

500g minced beef, a few carrots grated, a grated courgette, a few lumps of frozen spinach, large sliced onion, 3 tins of tomatoes or cartons of passata, glass of red wine, tablespoon of marmite, tablespoon of green pesto, salt and pepper, beef stock. Cook slow and low on the hob for an hour or so.

Also today made pulled pork in the slow cooker - large shoulder of pork will do 3 dinners.

Curries are good to batch cook and a good way of using up any veg in the fridge that will go off, also vegetable, chilli and garlic soup frozen in portions for lunches.

I also cook a whole bag of roast potatoes when doing a roast and freeze the leftovers and batch cook mashed potatoes too - easy midweek meals with slow cooker stews or meat and veg and cuts down on waste.

I soak and cook a (small) slow cooker full of chickpeas overnight, roast whatever veg is around- a couple of aubergines, peppers, onions, garlic, a squash or courgette, mushrooms, any really, then combine with 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, smoked paprika, spices and chilli. Top with halloumi or feta and bake. It makes a big casserole full and freezes well. Really tasty and filling.

Around two weeks per month I make a huge tray of roast veggies. Usually onions, peppers, tomatoes, courgettes, aubergines, carrots, butternut squash, marrow, spring onions, leeks, depending of what I have in the house. I put on the tray salt, black pepper, chillie flakes, paprika, garlic and oil (chillie and garlic oil if I have it). Towards the end I add a pasatta if I want to cook pasta with it.
Once it is cooked I can make pasta or lasagna with it. Or fry and egg and top it with it, maybe with rice or toast. Or use it as a side to some fish/ meat and potatoes.
Mix it with couscus for my work lunch.
If I want soup, I just blend them with a bit of stock.
If I want a curry, add chickpeas, curry powder and spinach, or coconut milk. My husband has tried ricotta in a curry recently and it was divine, I think better than coconut milk!
So, it is versatile, so it sees me through 2 or 3 days of dinners or lunches, and it keeps well in the fridge till I get to use it throughout the week.

I agree with PP, soups are a great thing to cook in bulk, specially now that it is getting colder.

Turkey is a nice meat indeed, and turkey burgers are very tasty.
Pork mince is great on meatballs!

Thank you for sharing this!