Batch Cooking

This week we're sharing some tried and tested freezer friendly recipes that you can batch cook for a nutritious meal – perfect for those busy mid-week schedules.

Batch Cooking - Planning

Batch Cooking - Planning

Best way to start is to pick a day when you have a couple hours free.

Pick an easy recipe and cook double the amount you require for your household.

Put the remainder in tubs, cool and freeze and you have a night’s evening meal prepped.

Do this a few times and you will soon have a freezer full of home cooked healthy meals that only take a few minutes in the microwave to heat up.

Add a side salad, wholemeal wraps or brown rice and there you go. Easy quick nutritious food.

Batch Cooking - Benefits

Batch Cooking - Benefits

By having healthy home cooked meals in your freezer, you are less likely to eat impulsively or go to a food delivery app.

There’s not always the time to cook from scratch and when you’re trying to eat more healthily, having something that’s been home cooked helps you to cut back on fatty processed takeaways and convenience foods.

It’s good for the finances! Making your own food and portioning it up means you are less likely to buy more expensive takeaways or convenience food, plus you’ll save on energy by only having to re heat meals on some nights.

It’s a great way to portion control, invest in some good quality storage tubs.

Batch Cooking - Recipes

Lentil Chilli (serves 4-5)

Lentil Chilli (serves 4-5)

Ingredients

  • One medium onions chopped
  • Clove garlic crushed or use garlic powder
  • Red pepper chopped
  • Tbs smoked paprika
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp oregano
  • Tbs chilli powder, strength according to taste
  • 500 g red split lentils
  • Can kidney bean (in water)
  • Box passata
  • Tin chopped tomatoes
  • Tbs tomato puree

Cooking Instructions

  1. Heat 2 tsp olive oil in a pan and add the onions, cook on low heat until softened
  2. Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes
  3. Add the rest of the spices and cook for 30 secs
  4. Stir in the chopped red pepper and cook for  a couple of minutes
  5. Add the lentils** and stir until coated in the spices and oil
  6. Add tomato puree, stir through then add the drained kidney beans
  7. Mix thoroughly and add the chopped tomatoes and the passata
  8. Stir through, bring to boil then simmer on stove top over a low heat until the lentils are soft and starting to break up
  9. Season to taste and adjust chilli heat if required

Serve with low fat crème fraiche, salsa and a whole wheat tortilla wrap.

Any left over should be cooled, put into storage tubs and frozen. It will keep in fridge for up to 4 days.

**If you prefer a meat version then add low fat mince beef or minced turkey to the pan after the garlic and cook through until browned before adding the pepper and the rest of the stages.

You can double up on ingredients to give a meal for 4 and 4-5 tubs to freeze or keep in fridge.

Blueberry Oat Bars

Blueberry Oat Bars

Ingredients 

  • 2 ripe bananas 
  • 120g rolled oats
  • 30g peanut butter
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 120mls milk of choice
  • 50-70g blueberries

Instructions

1. Pre-heat over to 180 degrees celsius and line a baking dish with baking paper
2. Mash bananas until smooth
3. Add rolled oats and peanut butter
4. Add 120mls milk of choice and cinnamon
5. Fold in blueberries
6. Pour into baking dish and smooth out with a fork
7. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 35 mins
8. Leave to cool for 5-10 mins before serving
Enjoy!

More recipes 

Turkey mince is really low in fat

Ingredients

  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 2 carrots finely diced
  • 2 celery sticks finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic crushed or garlic powder
  • 500g passata
  • 2 tbs oregano

For the meatballs

  • 400 g turkey mince, you can get 2 percent or 7 percent fat content
  • 4 tbs porridge oats
  • Pinch paprika
  • 1 clove garlic crushed or garlic powder
  • Small amount oil

Slow cooker recipe

1. In a non stick pan heat 2 tsp olive oil, add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic and fry gently for a minute. Add passata and oregano, stir through then pour into slow cooker.

Make the meat balls

1. Tip mince into a large bowl add oats, paprika, garlic black pepper and pinch salt.

2. Get your hand in and mix thoroughly, the more mixed the better so get squeezing!

3. Divide the mixture into 20 lump about the size of a walnut.

4. Brush a little oil into a non stick pan, gently cook the meatball until the are browned.

5. Add to tomato sauce in slow cooker and cook on low for 5 hours.

6. Serve with whole-wheat pasta or brown rice with a sprinkling of low fat grated cheese.

Double up the ingredients and freeze half without the pasta or rice.

Ingredients

  • 1 piece of white fish per person
  • 1 large red onion sliced
  • 1 to 2 cloves garlic crushed
  • 2 peppers diced
  • 1 large courgette cut into small chunks
  • Half pound/250g fresh tomatoes chopped
  • 1 tbs tomato puree
  • tin chopped tomatoes
  • handful black olives pitted and chopped (optional)
  • 2tsp oregano
  • 2tsp olive oil
  • pinch of sugar
  • 4tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

 Recipe

1. Heat oil in pan

2. Cook onion for two minutes then add garlic. cook for further two minutes

3. Add peppers, courgette and chopped tomatoes cook until peppers begin to soften

4. Add tomatoe puree, tinned tomatoes, oregano, sugar and olives

5. Cover pan and simmer for 30 minutes remove lid and simmer for further 10 minutes

6. Season to taste a pour into shallow casserole dish

7. Lay pieces of fish on top and  cover with foil bake twenty minutes or until fish almost cooked

8. Remove foil, ,sprinkle with parmesean and bake until cheese browned

9. Serve with leafy greens and whole grain rice

Ingredients

  • 4 good size pork steak or chops with fat cut off
  • Pork seasoning
  • tbsp olive oil
  • 180 ml balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tsp brown sugar

 Recipe

1. Heat oil in pan fry pork on both sides till cooked through, remove to plate

2. Add balsamic and sugar to pan cook scraping bottom of pan till liquid bubbling

3. Add pork and any juices from plate

Serve with fried cauliflower, green vegetables and roast sweet potato.

Ingredients

  • One large onion sliced
  • 1 cm of fresh ginger copped
  • 2 garlic cloves chopped (you can use squeezy garlic and ginger)
  • 2 tsp turmeric
  • Tbsp mild curry powder
  • Medium sweet potato peeled and cut into small cubes
  • Can reduced fat coconut milk
  • Tin chopped tomatoes
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Recipe

1. Heat 2 tsp oil in non stick pan. Add onion, soften until stating to turn brown then add garlic, ginger, turmeric and curry powder. Stir and cook on low for a couple of minutes

2. Add can tomatoes. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes.

3. While it is cooking put sweet potato in microwave and cook until softened

4. Add to pan stir thoroughly then add coconut milk

5. Cook for about ten minutes then remove from heat and cool.

6. Once cool enough blend all sauce until smooth and thick.

The sauce can be divided into batches, makes enough for 6 servings or 4 if you like a sauce heavy dish. 

It can be frozen in tubs. 

When you come to make the curry stir fry either chicken, beef or meat substitute add a chopped pepper and cook until meat almost cooked through or pepper softened.

Add a quantity of sauce that suits your taste, cook through, just before end of cooking time when meat is ok to eat or meat substitute is cooked add hand fulls of spinach and heat until wilted.

Serve with cucumber salad, brown rice or whole meal wraps.

The sauce can be frozen in batches and used to cook the curry or you can use the sauce straight away to make a big batch of curry, portion up and freeze.

Remember to heat thoroughly through if you are defrosting and reheating meat.