Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (2024)

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (1)

There's nothing worse than needing a super-speedy weeknight dinner and discovering you've got nothing left in the fridge, especially when you're craving something hearty and filling for tea. But there's a way to avoid this heartache, and all it involves is a few batch cooking recipes. From Slow Cooker Bolognese to and , there's plenty of easy, fuss-free recipes you can batch cook and then freeze for the week ahead. For 53 of our favourite batch cooking recipes, keep sliding...

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1

Moussaka

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (3)

Moussaka's perfect if you're after something relatively easy, but incredibly tasty to cook up at the weekend. Not to mention, it's an instant crowd pleaser!

Get the Moussaka recipe.

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2

Sausage Casserole

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (5)

Delightfully rich and hearty, with the perfect balance of tomato and smoky paprika as the base. You can’t get more classic than a sausage casserole, and this really is it done properly.

Get the Sausage Casserole recipe.

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3

Minestrone Soup

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (7)

One of the best ways to ensure you get lots of flavour in your soup is to cook the onion, celery and carrot slowly until they begin to caramelise. This is called a soffritto, and is the base for most sauces and stews in Italian cooking.

Get the Minestrone Soup recipe.

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4

Beef Stew with Dumplings

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (9)

Dumplings are super simple to make and taste amazing in a stew – especially when they’re super stodgy and soggy.

Get the Beef Stew with Dumplings recipe.

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5

Turkey, Tomato & Butternut Squash Cannelloni

When you're craving cheese and carbs, there's really nothing better than cannelloni. Popular stuffings include spinach and ricotta or beef mince, but we've switched our recipe up to use turkey mince and butternut squash (the end result is crazy-delicious).

Get the recipe.

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6

Shepherd's Pie

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (13)

Rich and tasty, this shepherd’s pie is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

Get the Shepherd's Pie recipe.

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7

Lamb Casserole

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (15)

We’ve kept this recipe super simple, and have packed it with pearl barley and potatoes, meaning that if you like, this can be a dreamy one-pot.

Get the Lamb Casserole recipe.

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8

Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (17)

This chicken and sweet potato curry is absolute comfort food goals. Thanks to the spices, it's gorgeously fragrant, and the addition of coconut milk makes it creamy.

Get the Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry recipe.

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9

Chicken Balti

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (19)

The key to a brilliant chicken balti is marinating the chicken pieces in yoghurt, spices and lime juice the chicken gets tenderised, if you want to get ahead you could do this the night before!

Get the Chicken Balti recipe.

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10

Broccoli & Stilton Soup

This delicious broccoli and stilton soup is a classic for a reason. The flavour of creamy broccoli works perfectly with tangy and savoury Stilton. You could also use a different cheese such as cheddar on the toasts, if you prefer.

Get the recipe.

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11

Sweet Potato & Chickpea Curry

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (23)

If you've got a well stocked cupboard, you should have all these ingredients already in stock. This curry is seriously worth the TLC.

Get the recipe.

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12

Chicken Tagine

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This chicken tagine recipe is super tasty and is perfect for a midweek meal, OR your next dinner party.

Get the Chicken Tagine recipe.

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13

Cottage Pie

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (27)

Cottage pie is essentially a shepherd's pie but with beef. It's a meat pie, filled with beef and topped with cheesy mashed potatoes.

Get the Cottage Pie recipe.

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14

Leek & Potato Soup

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (29)

The trick is to cook those leeks and potatoes properly! Cut them small, and allow them to sweat in all that butter for about 20 mins altogether.

Get the recipe.

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15

Healthy Fish Stew

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (31)

This Mediterranean-style fish stew is really easy, really flavourful, and most of all - super healthy. We left out traditional ingredients like saffron to make it cheaper, and mussels because it was just getting a bit too complicated. We kept it simple with cod and prawns, and it's delicious.

Get the Healthy Fish Stew recipe.

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16

Pork & Ale Casserole With Honey-Glazed Apples

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (33)

This pork casserole is comfort food to the max. The honey-glazed apples add a delicious fruity sweetness to this rich and hearty pork and ale casserole. Feel free to use any soft herbs you like in the mash.

Get the recipe.

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17

Pork Stroganoff

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (35)

Pork stroganoff is such an easy, flavourful dinner to make. Using pork fillet is perfect because it's such a tender cut, and really easy to cook with. Load your stroganoff up with mushrooms, mustard and sherry for the most delicious meal.

Get the Pork Stroganoff recipe.

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18

Cheesy Hasselback Shepherd's Pie

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (37)

This twist on a shepherds pie has a deliciously addictive crispy and cheesy Hasselback topping. Serve with steamed greens and you've got yourself a winning dinner.

Get the Cheesy Hasselback Shepherd's Pie recipe.

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19

Slow Cooker Bolognese

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (39)

Bolognese is one of our favourite recipes to make during the winter: It instantly warms you up and makes you feel sooo cosy.

Get the Slow Cooker Bolognese recipe.

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20

Slow Cooker Chicken Casserole

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (41)

This slow cooker chicken stew is comfort food at its best. We have cooked this one with salty and slightly smoky pancetta and added whole shallots which break down over the cooking time.

Get the Slow Cooker Chicken Casserole recipe.

Our Favourite Freezer-Friendly Batch Cooking Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What meals can I batch cook and freeze? ›

Freezable family recipes
  • Sausage pasta bake. A star rating of 4.4 out of 5. ...
  • Meatballs in tomato, cardamom & lime sauce. A star rating of 3.8 out of 5. ...
  • Chicken & chorizo ragu. ...
  • Broccoli stem falafel bowl. ...
  • Creamy halloumi & tomato curry. ...
  • Chicken & bacon pie. ...
  • App onlyCheesy potato patchwork pie. ...
  • Peanut butter chicken.

Can you cook batch cooked meals from frozen? ›

Batch cooking is a great option if you want healthy, homemade meals in no time at all, or if you know that you've got a busy few weeks coming up. It basically means cooking in bulk and storing meals in the freezer. You can then either microwave them from frozen or allow them to defrost before reheating.

What are good dishes to freeze? ›

Freezable recipes
  • Chicken tikka masala. ...
  • Meatballs in tomato, cardamom & lime sauce. ...
  • App onlySteak sarnies with fiery beetroot remoulade. ...
  • Slow cooker meatballs. ...
  • Jamon & wild garlic croquetas. ...
  • Roasted spaghetti squash. ...
  • App onlyParsnip, brown butter & hazelnut loaf cake. ...
  • Lemongrass & lime pork meatballs with pickled veg.

Do you cook freezer meals before freezing? ›

Either cook it and then freeze it or freeze it raw. It doesn't matter which. I prefer to freeze raw, that way I'm not stuck with a specific meal when I thaw it out, and can choose what to cook when I thaw it out.

What foods are good to batch cook? ›

Best batch-cooking recipes
  • Melted leeks with spinach and basil ricotta.
  • French onion soup.
  • Butternut squash, tomato and rosemary sauce.
  • Beef, beetroot and butter bean stew with Stilton dumplings.
  • Batch-it-up family Bolognese.
  • Macaroni cheese chorizo bake.
  • Melted leeks with spinach and basil ricotta.
  • French onion soup.

How long does batch cooking last in the freezer? ›

The labels will help you keep track of what needs using up next – most will need to be eaten within three months. To avoid meals getting forgotten at the back of the freezer, it can be useful to put your newest portions at the back and in turn bring your older items to the front.

Is batch cooking worth it? ›

By preparing a week's worth of meals in one go, batch cooking helps you save time and money, while ensuring that you have nutritious, home-cooked meals on hand. Batch cooking is a meal prep method that requires you to pre-cook large quantities of food at once for consumption over the next few days.

How long do batch cooked meals last? ›

Our top batch cooking ideas include soups, casseroles, stews and curries as they can all easily be made in bulk and stored in individual portion containers or larger containers in either the fridge or freezer. If you are keeping the extra portions in the fridge, make sure to eat them within three days.

Which food is not okay to freeze? ›

These include anything with both a high water content and a cell structure that will burst from the expansion of the freezing water. Examples include cucumbers, grapes, and all but the firmest vegetables. Some cheeses freeze well but others like ricotta or even sour cream tend to get gritty.

Do mashed potatoes freeze well? ›

Schmidt tells us that, for best results, you can keep mashed potatoes in "a freezer set to 0°F or colder" for "up to one year." At this temperature and for this length of time, frozen mashed potatoes can be thawed and reheated without losing texture or flavor (and without risking the transmission of foodborne bacteria) ...

Can I freeze potatoes? ›

You absolutely can freeze potatoes, and you should if you have an excess of spuds. But there's one important thing to remember: You should really only freeze cooked or partially cooked potatoes, as raw potatoes contain a lot of water. This water freezes and, when thawed, makes the potatoes mushy and grainy.

Can rice be frozen? ›

Frozen rice can be kept in the freezer for up to 6 months and still be tasty. After that it loses flavor and dries out but won't be unsafe to eat. An airtight container is your best defense against losing quality so vacuum sealing is great if you have that tool in your kitchen.

Is it better to freeze steak raw or cooked? ›

Cooked meat doesn't maintain its quality in the freezer for as long as raw meat does: Cooked poultry and fish can be kept in the freezer for four to six months, while beef, veal, lamb and pork shouldn't be kept for longer than two to three months.

What cooked foods do not freeze well? ›

Foods That Do Not Freeze Well
FoodsUsual UseCondition After Thawing
Cream or custard fillingsPies, baked goodsSeparates, watery, lumpy
Milk saucesFor casseroles or graviesMay curdle or separate
Sour creamAs topping, in saladsSeparates, watery
Cheese or crumb toppingsOn casserolesSoggy
11 more rows

Can you freeze simply cook meals? ›

Our pots cannot be frozen as they come, however, as long as the fresh ingredients are suitable for freezing, then you can freeze our meals once they have been cooked.

Can you freeze uncooked meals? ›

You bet. Since they're frozen without any cooking ahead of time, they cook for the first time out of the freezer. That means they taste like freshly-prepared meals and not like leftovers at all. Yippee!

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