Batch Cooking: What It Is, Recipes, and Ideas for Doing It

Batch cooking is a cooking technique that involves preparing a week's worth of meals in just one afternoon , and it has a multitude of benefits. Keep reading to discover them!

The aim of this technique is to save time when cooking during the week and to be able to better plan what meals to eat.

Although it is not done in any way and not all recipes are valid, preparing Batch cooking is very simple.

Want to try this new cooking technique? We'll help you with some ideas and tips on how to prepare it.

What is Batch Cooking

Batch cooking is a technique that involves preparing different meals at once to store and eat throughout the week.

His method involves cooking large quantities of food in a single day , and enjoying the rest of the week without cooking again.

The goal and essence of batch cooking is to make cooking easier, create a balanced weekly menu, and save time in the kitchen.

To create a weekly batch cooking menu, you have to follow an order.

First, you need to plan the batch cooking recipes you're going to cook. Not all recipes are suitable (we'll give you some great ideas later).

Then we start cooking, usually starting by peeling and chopping vegetables and cooking broths.

Finally, it is stored in airtight or tightly sealed containers, and the recipe name is written on them to avoid confusion.

Benefits of the Batch Cooking Weekly Menu

For someone who has never heard of this term, it's normal to have questions like what is batch cooking and what benefits it has.

Batch cooking has three main benefits or advantages over traditional cooking:

Save of time and money: The main goal of batch cooking is to save time, as many recipes share the same process, and cooking time can be greatly simplified by planning and cooking everything in one day. Budget is also an important factor, as planning your meals for the week in advance will prevent food from going out of date or being over-purchased.
Planning and order: Planning a weekly menu helps you avoid cooking hassles caused by not knowing what to prepare each day.
Healthy and leftover menu: Another great benefit of batch cooking is that it makes it easier to create a healthy menu with just a few ingredients. This cooking technique makes extensive use of leftover cooking, reusing steps and ingredients throughout the meal.

Ideas to do it without losing your mind

The first problem faced by someone who has never done batch cooking is menu organization and a lack of knowledge about which recipes are suitable.

The main thing is to choose foods that last a long time in the refrigerator, such as:

Boiled eggs: Up to a week
Salads: Between 3 and 5 days
Vacuum-packed foods: 2 weeks
Pickled meat or fish: Up to a week
Soups and stews: Between 3 and 4 days
Cooked meat: Up to 5 days
Cooked chicken or turkey: Up to 4 days
Cooked fish: Up to 4 days
Smoked fish: Up to 14 days

These days they refer to products that have been bought fresh and that we have cooked ourselves.

Pre-cooked meals purchased ready to serve have their own consumption times. Always check the seller's instructions and recommendations.

Once we've selected the recipes we'd like, we plan the week. Typically, we cook on Sunday afternoon and prepare the meal from Monday to Friday.

Ideally, organize your weekly batch cooking menu so that meals that last less time in the refrigerator, such as soup, are consumed between the first and second day.

We will begin by preparing vegetables, broths, and basic preparations that are repeated in different recipes.

Once we have all the meals for the week ready, it's best to store them in airtight containers, and if marinated meat or fish is served, vacuum-packed, if possible.

Another recommendation is to label foods well and leave what you'll be eating first on the outermost part of the refrigerator.

Try organizing one meal per lunchbox so you don't have to keep searching and adding from other lunchboxes.

It often happens in batch-cooking diets that meals are organized differently, for example, one lunchbox with boiled potatoes, another with rice, another with minced meat, and so each person creates their own daily dish.

It's not the best option for people who do this process to have lunchboxes to take to the office.

Depending on your goal for doing batch cooking, you can modify and adapt this cooking technique to suit your lifestyle.

Batch Cooking Recipes

As we mentioned before, some foods are more suitable for this style of cooking than others.

At Delfín we have some Easy Cooking products that help save time because they come ready to eat.

For some recipes, we'll use these products, which are deep-frozen and much easier to measure and cook.

You can also enjoy our Open & Serve seafood , which is ideal for creating many bases for batch cooking recipes.

Below, we give you three batch cooking ideas for a balanced, healthy, and, above all, delicious weekly menu.

Menu 1: Garlic prawns accompanied by Ratatouille.

Ratatouille is a combination of vegetables ideal for accompanying meat, fish, or in our case, seafood.

For the garlic prawns we used one of our products that comes ready to heat for 2:30 minutes in the microwave and eat.

Therefore, we would only have to prepare the Ratatouille and we would already have a full day of the week.

And continuing with the idea of batch cooking, we'll prepare a larger quantity of ratatouille to accompany some meat on another day of the week.

Ingredients needed for Ratatouille:

4 eggplants
2 zucchini
2 onions
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
2 Tomate
5 cloves of garlic
100g of homemade tomato sauce
Extra virgin olive oil
Sal Island
Ground black pepper
Fresh parsley

Preparation of Ratatouille:

To prepare Ratatouille, peel and slice all the vegetables. Ideally, use a mandolin.
In a baking dish, place the crushed tomato base, the vegetables interspersed in a spiral, and add the spices and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 170°C with a layer of aluminum foil on top to prevent burning. When the time is up, remove the foil and bake for 20 minutes at 190°C.

To make batch cooking more efficient, you can cook some meat or fish in the oven at the same time. This way, you'll save even more time and electricity.

When we are going to serve this dish during the week, we will take the amount of Ratatouille we want and heat the garlic prawns to accompany it.

Menu 2: Chickpeas with tomato and grilled Iberian loin

Chickpeas with tomato sauce will go with bacon and some vegetables, and can also be used in other recipes.

Vegetables are the most fundamental part of this cooking technique since they are repeated in almost every recipe.

Ingredients needed for chickpeas with tomato and Iberian loin:

400g of cooked chickpeas
200ml of fried tomato
50g of bacon strips
1 cebolla
1 green pepper
Carrots 2
Sal Island
Extra virgin olive oil
Oregano
4 Iberian loin fillets

Preparation of the recipe:

We start by peeling the onion and carrot. We cut all the vegetables into strips or thin slices.
Sauté the vegetables in a pan with a dash of oil and a pinch of salt and oregano. Add the bacon once everything has softened.
Add the tomato sauce along with the chickpeas and let it cook over low heat. You can add more and reuse this mixture in another recipe (chickpeas with hard-boiled eggs, for example).
In a separate pan, cook the fillets for 4 or 5 minutes until cooked through. Add a little salt and pepper to taste.

Menu 3: Salad with shrimp and avocado.

For recipe 3 of our batch cooking menu, we've chosen a very healthy and fresh dish that keeps perfectly in the refrigerator. We'll prepare a salad with shrimp and avocado.

We will use Delfín's cooked prawns to save ourselves the cooking process and thus obtain the perfect point.

Ingredients for the shrimp and avocado salad:

250g of cooked Dolphin shrimp
1 Avocado
1 Tomate
100g of lettuce
1 cebolla
1 egg
Fresh parsley
Extra virgin olive oil
Sal Island

Preparation of the shrimp and avocado salad:

We start by boiling the egg (it's ideal to boil several eggs and use them in other recipes for batch cooking). Then we peel the cooked shrimp and add them to a lunchbox that we'll use to store this meal.
Peel and dice the avocado, chop the tomato and onion, and add them as well. Add chopped lettuce to your liking.
When the egg is cooked, peel it and cut it into cubes to add to the salad.
Chop the parsley and add it along with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil. You can add a sauce if you wish.

Menu 4: Garlic Shrimp Tacos.

This garlic shrimp tacos recipe is quick to prepare and delicious. The ingredients are minimal, but the flavor is spectacular.

Ingredients for garlic shrimp tacos:

250g large shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 corn or flour tortillas
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons of butter
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Lettuce leaves or shredded cabbage (optional, to accompany)

Preparation of garlic shrimp tacos:

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shrimp and minced garlic.
Cook the shrimp for about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pink and cooked through on both sides.
Squeeze lemon juice over the shrimp and stir to mix well.
Heat the tortillas in a pan or microwave according to the package instructions.
Place the shrimp on the tortillas and season with salt and pepper to taste.
If you wish, add lettuce leaves or shredded cabbage as a garnish.

Menu 5: Octopus and potato salad.

This octopus and potato salad is a simple yet delicious option for your batch cooking menu.

Ingredients for the octopus and potato salad:

250g of cooked octopus
2 medium potatoes, cooked and cubed
1 red onion, thinly sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
White wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped fresh parsley (optional, for garnish)

Preparation of the octopus and potato salad:

Cut the cooked octopus into small pieces.
In a large bowl, mix the cut octopus, cooked potatoes, and red onion.
Dress the salad with extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Adjust the amount of oil and vinegar according to your personal preferences.
If you wish, you can decorate the salad with chopped fresh parsley.