There’s an old saying: “Give someone a fish, and you feed them for a day. Teach them to batch cook, and you might just stop them from losing their mind at 6pm.”
Okay, maybe that’s not how it goes—but it should be. If our hunter-gatherer ancestors had chest freezers, they would’ve been a lot less stressed (and significantly less lean).
I’ve always been a casual batch cooker—doubling a recipe here or there for lunch leftovers—but never fully committed to the art.
That changed after three glorious, dinner-free weeks in the U.S. with my family in January.
Yes, I got a hug from Tigger at Disneyland (life highlight), but my real moment of enlightenment?
Not. Having. To. Cook.
You see, in the Edwards household, I am the cook. Not a cook, not one of the cooks—the cook. The other Edwardses are wonderful people with many talents. Chopping an onion is not one of them.
So when we returned home, I knew something had to give.
The Great Batch Cooking Experiment
Determined to maintain some of that holiday ease back in real life, I did what any self-respecting executive does when facing a complex problem: I researched the heck out of it.
I scoured the internet for the best batch cooking strategies, compiled a list of meals that met my high standards for taste, health, and efficiency, and then—here’s the genius part—I enlisted the help of the family minions.
We diced, stirred, and stacked our way to 64 portions of freezer-ready food—enough for four meals, four people, four weeks.
- Did I cry mid-onion? Yes.
- Did I miscalculate how many containers I owned? Also yes.
- But would I do it again? In a heartbeat.
These days, I open the freezer like a smug domestic goddess, pull out a ready-made meal, and feel wildly accomplished for something I cooked three Sundays ago.
The mental load lifted by not having to plan, shop, or cook midweek is worth every diced carrot. And I still get my Saturday market fix to cook fresh meals on weekends, when cooking feels fun instead of frantic.
How to Batch Cook Like a Pro (or At Least Like a Busy Executive Who Values Their Time)
If you, too, are done with the daily dinner scramble, here’s how to make batch cooking work for you:
Pick Four Meals You Actually Like.
No one wants 16 portions of lentil mush. Choose dishes you’d happily eat on repeat.
Schedule a Power Cook Session
Block time, play a podcast, and rope in anyone with opposable thumbs.
Use Good Containers
Labelled, stackable, and ideally glass (because no one needs more BPA in their life).
Freeze in Portion Sizes
Singles for solo nights, family-size for chaos control.
Balance Your Macros
Aim for meals with protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats—because freezer food doesn’t have to be beige and boring.
Defrost
Overnight in the fridge is best. Or dunk in a bowl of warm water when you’ve forgotten (again).
Batch Cooking: Not Just for Health, But for Sanity
This isn’t just about eating well—it’s about reclaiming mental space. As a busy exec, you make a thousand decisions a day. Dinner shouldn’t be one of them.
Try it once, and future you will raise a glass (of wine, not a measuring cup) in thanks.
And let’s not forget the financial win: a midweek takeaway for a family of four can easily set you back $100–$120. Do that once a week and you’re looking at nearly $500 a month—aka my official Disney holiday fund. (Still chasing that Mickey hug I missed.)