Your go-to one pot / batch cook meals

Ben Done

I'm a terribly lazy vegetarian, and this last few years, meals have largely consisted of throwing something in the airfryer out of the freezer, with a not-great amount of fruit and veg in an average day.

Been trying to do a bit better lately, cutting down on bread, and switching to porridge & fruit for breakfast,

Also started to do a bit of cooking again, including making my first ever Indian curry from scratch, and bought a rice cooker.

I'm going to start batch cooking again, as I just can't be doing with the hassle of coming home from work and starting into meal prep.

I've a few meals I used to make, mostly with Quorn, like Lasagne, Mince Stew, Cottage Pie, Bolognese etc, but would love some ideas for other one (or two) pot meals that are suitable for freezing.

Would appreciate your go-to batch cook meal ideas!

nikpmup

Soup is something I make regularly, its a great way of using up loads of veg that would otherwise go off, I throw in beans or lentils for protein and I can make a huge pot with very little effort, and freeze in portions. Bolognese, lasagne, bean chilli etc are always good staples too.

I also make a dish that requires very little effort but is gorgeous, it's a sort-of cous cous salad. I make cous cous or quinoa, then into a large bowl I throw literally anything I have in the fridge - usually a combination of things like roasted veg (roughly chopped butternut squash, sweet potato, peppers, courgette, aubergine, red onion etc) sundried tomatos from a jar, grilled asparagus from a jar, olives, pickled green chillis, preserved lemons, fresh spinach or other salad leaves, tomatoes, and anything else I can find. Toss it all together with the cous cous or quinoa, throw in a tin of lentils or chickpeas, dress with balsamic vinegar and some of the oil from the tomato jar. Few herbs, drizzle of tahini and hummous and a bit of flatbread. Gorgeous, filling and loads left over for lunch the next day.

Another very low effort meal that I love is hummous pasta - cook spaghetti/linguine, in a pan soften some onion & garlic, throw in some chopped sundried tomatoes, big handful of spinach and some olives. Add a big dollop of hummous, a bit of pasta water and stir to make a sauce. Stir in the cooked pasta, season & eat! Not something that you could refrigerate or freeze but it's five minute's work to make and very tasty.

RacoonQueen

Cooks books are the best for this. I've the following two books that are great for batch cooking.

https://www.bookdepository.com/One-Pot-Vegan-Roxy-Pope/9780241448717?redirected=true&utm_medium=Google&utm_campaign=Base1&utm_source=IE&utm_content=One-Pot-Vegan&selectCurrency=EUR&w=AFFPAU992GZQ0FA8V9R1&gclid=CjwKCAiAwKyNBhBfEiwA_mrUMjl3GmSBJZw4MGT2D5aBQnrGBD9hXE9AWAu8Fn0xvVJYG3P_L5BQ7hoCdWEQAvD_BwE

and this one are not all vegan / vegetarian but he mentions in some how to make them meat free (ie sub in kidney beans/chick peas etc) - there is an amazing butternut squash peanut butter curry that I could literally live off

https://www.bookdepository.com/Doctors-Kitchen-3-2-1-Dr-Rupy-Aujla/9780008395414?redirected=true&utm_medium=Google&utm_campaign=Base1&utm_source=IE&utm_content=Doctors-Kitchen-3-2-1&selectCurrency=EUR&w=AFFPAU998L9PHBA8V9R1&gclid=CjwKCAiAwKyNBhBfEiwA_mrUMv4l-HhWonFQGL20nnJjIl755j8XWRNjIP4TcwHSjwtF3coNAKAhNhoCI-MQAvD_BwE

Tom Mann Centuria

What's 2nd book please? Same link twice (I was slightly confused as to why a book called one pot vegan would have non vegan recipes 🙂)

RacoonQueen

Sorry, rushing. Edited now! :)

Ben Done

Thanks for the advice RQ - both look great!

Tom Mann Centuria

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118268447#Comment_118268447

Thanks for that. Think I'll order the second one, looks good.

Jjjjjjjjbarry

Are the recipes using simple ingredients or ones that you need to find odd things for?

I cook for myself and have to keep it simple as every time I buy something for a specific meal I end up throwing most of it out. So now I sort of eat the same things all the time as I know what creates less waste. It works but would be nice to try some new recipes!

Thelonious Monk

Dal is a great one, look up a recipe for some kind of dal, you can use some Patak's curry paste instead of worrying about all the spices. I throw in yellow split peas, lentils, and whatever kinds of beans too, and you have a delicious curry type thing full of nutrition. Used to freeze batches of it and eat it for lunch when I was not WFH.

Jjjjjjjjbarry

I really need to get into lentils. Would lentils and red kidney beans be much better than using meat supplements / tofu?

GoogleBot

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118536920#Comment_118536920

Lentils quite good. Make sure red beans, cooked well to avoid long term poison.

livingdgx

highly recommend getting a slow cooker, you literally just throw all the ingredients in and let it cook itself anywhere from 5-8 hours.

You can go about your day and come home to a fab home cooked meal, so time saving :)

Worztron

Veg Curry. I batch cook 4 dinners every Sunday.

kylith

Peanut soup. Cheap, nourishing, freezes well

1cent

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119845594#Comment_119845594

I like peanuts as well, but recently discovered peanuts are full of phytic acid that acts as an anti-nutrient and aflatoxin.

Worztron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119846333#Comment_119846333

I wouldn't worry about it.

1cent

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119846394#Comment_119846394

Live once right? 😃

Worztron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119846417#Comment_119846417

Yes. Besides, a few peanuts will do you more good than bad. 👍🏻

kylith

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119846333#Comment_119846333

You'd want to be avoiding all these too:

almonds, beans, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, lentils, maize/corn, peas, rice, rice bran, sesame seeds, soybeans, tofu, walnuts, wheat, wheat bran, wheat germ

Basically all grains have phytic acid. While it might inhibit the absorbtion of certain minerals like calcium, iron, or zinc for that meal it has no impact on the rest of the day's food. It also doesn't impact the protein and fibre from grains, and it shouldn't be a problem for anyone with a properly balanced diet.

markmoto

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856978#Comment_119856978

People forget how to cook healthy. Most grains, nuts and beans have to soak in the water for a good few hours beforehand. It helps to remove anti nutrient compounds and the like.

Worztron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856978#Comment_119856978

Hi kylith. Exactly. I think people can over think it and worry over things they really shouldn't.

Worztron

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119891666#Comment_119891666

Hi Mark. How about things like a tin of baked beans, packet of peanuts, etc?