Anyone else prep all dinners in one day for the week ahead?

[CurrantAffair]

Not batch cooking, just prepping. I've seen a few YouTubers do this, and also those posh chefs that you can pay to come to your house once a week and prep it all and shove it in your fridge for you (squad goals!).

Just wondering what recipes are good for this? I do batch cook occasionally but it's a lot of faff, and is also hassle to remember to take out of the freezer/defrost/reheat, plus the veg etc never tasted as fresh. Ideally, I'd like recipes I can chop up and add sauce etc, then store in the fridge and bung in the oven or slow cooker on the chosen day.

I don't batch cook but we do meat free Mon-thurs so I chop a load of veg Monday then just use it as I need it. This saves load of time as it's usually veg prep that takes so long.

Also don’t batch cook here and do the same as PP and chops loads of vegs plus peel garlic and onions etc as it’s the chopping that takes most time for me so for e.g one Monday I cook veggie rice and use the veggies already chopped, Tuesday I cook a 5 veg sauce with pasta again vegs is already chopped, Wednesday I cook brown lentil and egg ragu and everything is already chopped etc. I tend to cook very simple meals but with balanced carb/protein/fat/vegs as that’s what my mother did and want my children to eat the same

Not in one day, but I often prep tomorrow's veg the night before, like I would at Christmas!. Some veg oxidises or loses its crispness if it isnt immersed in water when peeled (eg parsnips, in my experience, apples if I'm making crumble). Potatoes I just peel and leave whole in water overnight. Recipes that go in the Slow cooker on my busy days, are often wanting large chunks of veg, which seem to fare better if prepped in advance (big chunks of carrot or leek or pepper).

Other recipes it can work for:

-Curries where there are spice mixes to prepare and onions to be finely chopped
-Soups which need finely chopped onion,celery and carrots as a base
-stir fries that want veg like peppers or mushrooms or spring onions sliced up

• tray-baked vegetables I tend to just do the night before and toss in a little olive oil and herbs to marinate and to stop them oxidizing so quickly eg Swede with rosemary; parsnip, carrots , cherry tomatoes and onion rings etc.

@Fjrk

Also don’t batch cook here and do the same as PP and chops loads of vegs plus peel garlic and onions etc as it’s the chopping that takes most time for me so for e.g one Monday I cook veggie rice and use the veggies already chopped, Tuesday I cook a 5 veg sauce with pasta again vegs is already chopped, Wednesday I cook brown lentil and egg ragu and everything is already chopped etc. I tend to cook very simple meals but with balanced carb/protein/fat/vegs as that’s what my mother did and want my children to eat the same

I think we must be twins that's pretty much identical to what I do 😂

I don't batch cook but if I need chicken thighs for one meal I'll buy a big tray and then the ones I don't need I'll separate out into containers, one with teriyaki marinade, garlic & ginger etc and the other I'll chuck in all the fajita spices, peppers & onions and put in the freezer. That means there are minimum two dinners ready to be chucked in a pan or slow cooker on busy days.

I batch cook and meal prep for the whole month in one day and it goes in the freezer. Then I'll quite often do a few days of fresh veg if we're having similar vegetables for a couple of days in a row.

As someone else said, it's taken a bit of trial and error to see what holds up for freezing/fridge after prep but I think I've got it mostly sussed now.

When I was still cooking for a family, three things really helped save time during the week:

I'd chop up tons of onions in the food processor and slowly caramelise them - useful as a base for lots of sauces.

Use jars of ready-chopped garlic and ginger for said sauces.

At the weekend I'd also make two large pots of soup which, on alternate days, served as starters (with nice bread) throughout the week - meaning that the main course could be very simple.

@autienotnaughty Ha, when I was reading your post, I thought the exact same thing 🤣