Benefits of Batch Cooking

Pre-preparing your meals has countless benefits, and almost two thirds (63%) of us are doing it.¹ It’s not only a great time and money saver, but it can make or break a healthy diet. In fact, studies have found that home cooking in general can help with maintaining a healthier diet, and assist with weight loss.² Find out our top tips for batch cooking, and discover our favourite batch cooking recipes, below.

Benefits of batch cooking and meal prep

• Saves time through the week: Cooking once for the coming days ahead will free up your evenings from daily cooking and cleaning up. What’s not to love about that?
• Reduces food waste: Using up fresh produce by preparing tasty batch cooking recipes will prevent food waste. Buy just what you need for the recipes, and it’ll be used up by the time the next food shop comes around.
• Saves money: When you’ve got handy meals ready at home you’re less likely to grab expensive, ultra-processed meal deals or takeaways for convenience. Plus, less food waste means less money wastage too. In fact, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, those who batch cook save on average £60 per month.³
• Ensures portion control: It’s often easy to reach for second helpings or pile your plate high when you’re hungry, so portioning up your batch cooking recipes ahead of time can help you keep on top of portion control.
• Beats decision fatigue: Do you get the decision fatigue of having to decide what you’d like to eat for dinner? Adhering to a meal plan like The Fast 800 Programme that houses delicious batch cooking recipes means the decision is made for you.

Tips for batch cooking

• Set a meal-prep day each week: A Sunday afternoon can be a great time to mindfully prepare batch cooking recipes, or pick a quiet midweek evening to get into a routine.
• Add variety: Preparing the same meals each week can lead to boredom, so mix it up each week. Our Programme meal plan is here to give you recipe inspiration when you need it. You can filter recipes based on whether they’re recommended for batch cooking in our fantastic recipe library.
• Invest in reusable storage containers: Reusable freezer bags, ice-cube-tray-style containers and tupperwares makes storing your creations that much easier. Just make sure they’re suitable for the freezing if you plan on doing so.
• Prep ingredients, not just meals: If you’re unable to prepare whole meals in advance, prepare ingredients instead to reduce the cooking time of your meals. For example, pre-chop veggies and keep them in a grab-bag in your fridge or freezer for later.
• Freeze in portions and label and date clearly: Make sure you freeze portions separately to make defrosting easier and save waste. Invest in date stickers or grab a marker pen and clearly label and date the containers to keep track of your batch cooking recipes.
• Keep wet and dry ingredients separate for certain dishes: If you’re pre-preparing salads, keep the salad and dressing separate until serving to keep it fresh. Similarly, for yogurt and granola, or overnight oats with seeds, keep the toppings separate so they keep their crunch.

Our favourite batch cooking recipes:

• High Fibre Shepherd’s Pie: Ideal for the whole family, but even better for preparing in advance, this batch cooking recipe is perfect to pop in the fridge or freezer in handy portions for midweek dinners.
• Apple Cinnamon Baked Oats: This is one of our deliciously sweet batch cooking recipes that can be enjoyed warmed up or cold as a tasty high protein breakfast. Keep in the fridge for up to three days or in the freezer for up to two months. Just defrost, reheat and enjoy!
• Cheddar Chickpea Slice: These little slices pack in almost half your daily protein, so make sure you’re stocked up on this simple batch cooking recipe for when you need a protein-packed lunch.

• High Protein Beef Bourguignon: Stews like this beef bourguignon are perfect for preparing in advance as the flavours are sometimes even better the next day. It’s a great one pot dish that can be saved for when you need an easy, warming meal after a long day.
• Mixed Bean Chilli: This mixed bean chilli recipe is popular with our vegetarian Programme members. Super high in fibre and flavour, whip it out of the freezer and top with fresh cheese and Greek yogurt for a speedy weeknight dinner.

Batch cooking on The Fast 800 Programme

We’re big fans of meal prepping at The Fast 800. Our Programme’s meal plans suggest tasty, healthy meals to enjoy every day and if you fancy something different you can swap recipes easily.

Most of our recipes can be turned into batch cooking recipes by simply adapting ingredient amounts to make more portions for later. Just change the serving sizes and watch as your shopping list is automatically updated for ultimate ease.

To discover delicious, nutritious meals that will save you time and money, sign up to your 7-day free trial of The Fast 800 Programme. Whether your aim is to transform your health, lose weight or simplify your weekly meal planning, your future self is sure to thank you for getting started now.