Cooking in bulk is one of the most effective ways of saving both time and money in the kitchen. You can quickly turn an hour a day in the kitchen into just 2-3 hours of cooking in a day to make enough food to keep you going all week. You can also take advantage of buying food in bulk such as meat and rice, which will cost far less in the long run, making bulk cooking a win-win! If you have food ready to take out of the fridge or freezer at any time, you’ll also be less likely to turn to the takeaway menu. Don’t get us wrong, there’s nothing wrong with ordering from foodpanda in Karachi from time to time, but cooking in bulk will mean you don’t need to do it as often, which will help you make right eating decisions more often.
Make a plan and stick to it.
The first step to a successful bulk meal prep session is to make a plan. Have 2-3 meals you want to prepare, and get all the ingredients you need out and ready. This includes getting any spices you may need and checking that you have a good supply of all your dry ingredients like rice and beans. Make sure to double-check everything as you don’t want to get halfway through your batch cooking, only to find that you don’t have everything you need.
Make your recipes available.
There are a few meals that lend themselves well to meal prepping, so take some time to find meals and recipes that excite you, but also look straightforward enough to prepare and cook. You can spend hours on a single meal if you’re cooking for a special occasion, but for your day-to-day cooking, stick to meals you know you enjoy and that lend themselves to freezing. Chilis, stews, and soups are all perfect for cooking in bulk.
Have your containers and storage ready.
Once you’ve spent the time cooking your meals, you need to make sure you have the containers ready to store them in. Have a good stock of Tupperware containers that are all of the same size, so you can portion everything up correctly, and then check that you have the fridge and freezer space available to store them.
Get the right tools for the job.
Hand-chopping 12 meals worth of vegetables is going to take a long time, so if you’re meal prepping regularly, think about investing in a food processor. You can use it to chop all your vegetables in just a few minutes and save yourself a ton of time.
Double up your recipes.
To make enough food for yourself, you may need to double or even triple your recipes. When doing this, be aware that spices, in particular, may not need doubling the same way as meat or rice. Season moderately to start with, and taste your food as you cook. You can always add some later.
