Batch cooking sounds simple: make a lot once, eat it all week. The tricky part is the maths. A recipe that serves four is not a recipe for ten portions, and not every portion can sit in the fridge until Friday. Get it wrong and you either run out on Wednesday or throw food away.
This planner does the sums for you. Enter what the recipe serves, how many portions you want, and how many you will eat from the fridge. The rest goes in the freezer. Then change the amounts to match your own recipe.
| Ingredient | Recipe | Your batch |
|---|---|---|
| Dried red lentils | g | |
| Chopped tomatoes | g | |
| Onions | ||
| Stock | ml | |
| Ground cumin (seasoning) | tsp |
The UK Food Standards Agency says to eat leftovers within 48 hours, or freeze them. The US agency (USDA) allows 3 to 4 days at 4°C or colder. Both agree on the main idea: the fridge is for the next day or two, and the freezer is for everything after that. The planner uses the cautious UK limit: portions you won't eat within two days go in the freezer.
The freezer is not a last resort. The British Dietetic Association says most food keeps for up to three months frozen, and recommends labelling each portion with its name and the date. Cooked food should be completely cold before it goes in, so cool it first, then freeze.
Ingredients scale in a straight line, but cooking does not. A big pot takes longer to come to the boil and longer to cook through, so go by how the food looks and feels, not just the original time. Check that the food is steaming hot all the way through before you take it off the heat. Use a pot that is no more than about two-thirds full so it can bubble without spilling.
Seasoning is the exception. Salt, spices and strong flavours rarely need to be multiplied in full. Start lower, taste, and add more. This is cooking experience rather than research, so treat it as a tip.
The FSA says to cool cooked food quickly, ideally within one to two hours, and then chill it. Splitting a big batch into shallow containers helps a lot: small portions cool much faster than one deep block. Reheat once only, until steaming hot all the way through (the BDA gives 75°C for at least two minutes), and never refreeze food that has already been frozen and thawed.
Scale the ingredients, not the timings, keep the fridge to a day or two, and freeze the rest.
Pick a recipe you already like, because a batch you do not enjoy is a batch you will not finish. Choose dishes that reheat well, such as soups, stews, curries and bean dishes. Decide on cook day how many portions are for the next two days and how many go straight in the freezer, and label them. A full freezer is also cheaper to run than a half-empty one.
This is general food-safety and cooking information, not medical advice. Food poisoning can be more serious if you are pregnant, over 65, very young, or have a weakened immune system; if that is you, follow your national food-safety agency's advice for your group. If you have a medical condition or follow a diet prescribed by a doctor or dietitian, ask them how a batch-cook plan should fit.