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It’s Sunday night, and you’re staring into the fridge, calculating if you can stretch Thursday’s leftover pasta through Tuesday, knowing full well Wednesday is going to involve a drive-thru at 8 pm. The dinner question hits every single afternoon, and by the time you actually start cooking, everyone’s already hangry, and you’re too tired to care if it’s balanced.
Sound familiar?
I spent way too many months thinking meal prep meant perfectly portioned containers and color-coded labels. Spoiler: I lasted exactly one week with that system before the containers sat dirty in the sink, and we ordered pizza three nights in a row.
These 20 batch cooking recipes are what actually work when you need real food without the daily mental load. We’re talking the Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken that cooks while you’re in meetings and feeds you for days, the Sheet Pan Meatballs and Roasted Vegetables that require basically zero effort, and the Big Batch Chili that freezes into eight ready-to-go dinners. Nothing here requires fancy equipment or ingredients you can’t pronounce. Just straightforward recipes that you can double, freeze half, and thank yourself for later when it’s 6 pm, and you’ve got nothing.
1. Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken
I throw this together on Sunday morning before soccer games and come home to shredded chicken that portions into eight meals. Five pounds of chicken breasts, one bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce, and you’re set for a week of lunches. The meat falls apart when you pull it with two forks, no knife needed. I freeze half in individual containers and keep the rest in the fridge for quick lunches. My daughter puts it on salads, my son makes quesadillas with it, and I’ll eat it straight with a fork standing at the counter. Takes ten minutes of actual work, cooks for six hours on low while you do literally anything else.
2. Sheet Pan Meatballs and Roasted Vegetables
Forty meatballs sound intimidating until you realize you can roll them all during one coffee break. I use frozen meatballs now because I’m not too proud to admit that’s easier, but homemade works too. Toss them on a sheet pan with chopped zucchini, bell peppers, and red onion. Drizzle everything with olive oil and whatever Italian seasoning is in your pantry. Thirty minutes at 400 degrees, and you have protein and vegetables for five dinners. I pair these with different grains throughout the week so nobody complains we’re eating the same thing again. Monday it’s rice, Wednesday it’s pasta, Friday I’m too tired to care what goes under it.
3. Big Batch Chili
This is the recipe that converted me to batch cooking. Three pounds of ground beef, three cans of beans, two cans of tomatoes, and chili seasoning from a packet because we’re keeping this simple. Everything goes in one huge pot on the stove for an hour while you fold laundry or answer emails. Makes enough for eight bowls, and it actually tastes better on day three after the flavors have sat together in the fridge. I freeze portions in quart containers and pull one out when I cannot deal with thinking about dinner. Add cheese and sour cream if you’re feeling fancy, eat it straight from the bowl if you’re not.
4. Baked Ziti That Lasts Forever
This is my go-to when I know the week ahead looks rough. Two pounds of ziti, two jars of marinara, two pounds of ricotta, and enough mozzarella to make it actually worth eating. I make it in a huge disposable aluminum pan from the grocery store, which means I don’t have to worry about getting my good dish back from wherever I left it. Covers the entire week of lunches for me, or dinner for the family three times with leftovers. You can assemble it on Sunday and bake it fresh on Monday if you want that just-made feeling without the actual work. I’ve shown up to more potlucks with this than I’d like to admit.
5. Crockpot Carnitas
Three pounds of pork shoulder, one jar of salsa verde, and patience. That’s the whole recipe. The pork cooks down for eight hours until it shreds with a spoon, and the salsa keeps everything moist without getting mushy. I serve it in ten different ways throughout the week. Tacos on Monday, burrito bowls on Tuesday, quesadillas when I’m desperate on Thursday. Sometimes I’ll crisp it up in a skillet for two minutes if I want that restaurant texture, but honestly, it’s good straight from the slow cooker too. The whole batch costs maybe $15-18 and produces enough meals that I stop feeling guilty about the grocery bill.
6. Turkey and Vegetable Soup
When you need something that feels virtuous but doesn’t require you to care much about cooking. Two pounds of ground turkey, whatever vegetables are about to go bad in your crisper drawer, one box of chicken broth, and egg noodles if you want it to actually fill you up. Everything simmers together for forty minutes. I make this in my biggest stockpot, and it produces twelve cups of soup that I portion into individual containers. Perfect for those days when lunch sneaks up on you, and you’re about to order takeout for the third time this week. Reheats in three minutes, tastes homemade because it is, and I can pretend I have my life together.
7. Marinated Chicken Thighs for the Grill
Eight chicken thighs, one bottle of Italian dressing, and Sunday afternoon. I marinate them all in a gallon freezer bag overnight, then grill the entire batch on Monday. Takes twenty minutes on the grill, maybe thirty if you’re not watching closely. The thighs stay juicy for days in the fridge, which chicken breasts have never managed. My husband grills these while I’m still working, and suddenly dinner is handled without me having to think about it. We eat them cold in salads, reheated with rice, or stuffed into wraps with whatever cheese is open in the fridge. The marinade does all the flavor work, so you don’t have to.
8. Breakfast Burrito Assembly Line
I set up an actual assembly line on my kitchen counter like I’m running a restaurant. Twelve tortillas, two dozen scrambled eggs, one pound of breakfast sausage, two cups of shredded cheese. Takes forty minutes start to finish, including cooking everything, and you end up with twelve breakfast burritos wrapped in foil. They freeze perfectly, which blew my mind the first time I tried it. Microwave for two minutes from frozen, and you have an actual breakfast instead of eating granola bars in your car. My son takes two to baseball tournaments, and I stopped having to get up at 5 am to make sure everyone eats before we leave the house.
9. Lasagna in Two Pans
One pan for now, one pan for the freezer. That’s my strategy with lasagna because if you’re going through the effort of layering all that nonsense, you might as well double it. Standard recipe works fine, whatever your family already likes. I use the long flat pans that fit in my freezer without rearranging everything. The fresh pan feeds us twice during the week. The frozen one goes in the oven straight from the freezer when I have one of those weeks where every single night has a conflict. Add forty minutes to the bake time if it’s frozen solid. Serve with bagged salad and call it a balanced meal.
10. Teriyaki Meatballs
Two pounds of ground beef mixed with breadcrumbs and an egg, rolled into forty small meatballs. Bake them on a sheet pan for twenty minutes, then toss everything in a bowl with bottled teriyaki sauce. I stopped making sauce from scratch when I realized nobody could tell the difference. These reheat better than most batch cooking attempts because the sauce keeps them from drying out. Perfect over rice for quick dinners, and my daughter will actually eat them, which is a win I don’t take for granted. I make a double batch and freeze half before adding the sauce, then I can make them teriyaki, Swedish, or whatever sounds good when I defrost them.
11. Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Bowls
Three sheet pans of roasted vegetables, one big pot of quinoa, and you have lunch sorted for the week. I rotate which vegetables based on what’s on sale, but sweet potato, broccoli, and chickpeas are my standard combination. Everything roasts at 425 for thirty minutes while the quinoa cooks on the stove. I divide everything into five containers and add different dressings throughout the week so it doesn’t feel repetitive. Monday gets tahini, Wednesday gets balsamic, Friday gets whatever’s left in the fridge. This is my lunch when I’m trying to feel healthy, but I’m too busy to actually think about being healthy.
12. Sausage and Pepper Pasta
Two pounds of Italian sausage, three bell peppers, two onions, two jars of marinara, and two boxes of penne. I cook the pasta just under al dente because it’ll keep cooking when you reheat it throughout the week. Brown the sausage in a huge pot, throw in the sliced peppers and onions until they’re soft, add the sauce, and cooked pasta. The whole thing takes forty minutes and produces enough pasta to feed my family three times or me for six lunches. I eat it straight from the container at my desk more often than I’d like to admit. Reheats in three minutes, still tastes like actual food, and I didn’t have to think about cooking on Tuesday when I had three work calls during lunch.
13. Instant Pot Beef Stew
Four pounds of stew meat, six potatoes, a bag of baby carrots, and two boxes of beef broth. I resisted getting an Instant Pot for years because I didn’t need another appliance taking up counter space, but this recipe changed my mind. Everything goes in the pot, you set it for thirty-five minutes, and you walk away. The pressure cooking makes the meat tender enough that my kids don’t complain that it’s chewy. Makes enough stew for six generous servings that actually improve after a day in the fridge. I eat this for lunch three days in a row, and it never gets boring because I’m usually eating it while answering emails and barely tasting anything anyway. Costs around $20-25 and feels like the kind of meal someone’s grandmother would make.
14. Baked Chicken Fajita Bowls
Everything gets sliced, tossed with oil and seasoning, and spread across two sheet pans. Three pounds of chicken breast, three bell peppers, two onions, and a packet of fajita seasoning. Bake at 400 for twenty-five minutes, and you have fajita filling for the entire week. I keep the components separate in containers so everyone can build their own bowls with rice, beans, cheese, whatever they want. My son makes quesadillas, my husband makes actual fajitas with tortillas, and I throw it on lettuce because I keep telling myself I’ll eat more salads. This is my answer when every single person in the house wants something different for dinner but I’m only making one thing.
15. White Chicken Chili
Two pounds of shredded chicken, three cans of white beans, one jar of salsa verde, and one block of cream cheese. The cream cheese is what makes this worth making, trust me on this. Everything simmers together for twenty minutes until the cream cheese melts and makes it rich without being heavy. Produces eight bowls of chili that my family will actually eat, which is more than I can say for regular chili lately. I top it with tortilla chips and call it dinner, or I skip the chips and eat it straight when I’m pretending to watch what I eat. Freezes better than regular chili because the cream cheese keeps everything smooth when you reheat it.
16. Korean Beef Bowls
Two pounds of ground beef, a quarter cup each of soy sauce and brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic, and a splash of rice vinegar. This comes together in fifteen minutes flat, and the sweet-savory sauce makes it taste like you ordered takeout. Brown the beef, pour in the sauce mixture, and let it simmer for five minutes until everything is coated and slightly caramelized. I scoop it over rice into five grab-and-go containers with some steamed broccoli on the side. My kids think this is a treat, which cracks me up because it costs maybe $10 total and takes less effort than driving to get actual Korean food. Reheats perfectly, and the sauce keeps everything from drying out.
17. Stuffed Bell Peppers in Bulk
Twelve bell peppers, two pounds of ground turkey, two cups of rice, two cans of diced tomatoes, and patience for the stuffing part. I cut the peppers in half instead of trying to keep them upright because I’m not running a restaurant, and nobody cares what they look like. Mix the turkey, cooked rice, and tomatoes together, stuff the pepper halves, and arrange them in two 9×13 pans. Bake for forty minutes covered, then ten minutes uncovered to get some color. Makes twelve servings that freeze individually or feed the family three times during the week. This is the recipe I make when I want to feel like I’m cooking, but I also need it to last forever.
18. Honey Garlic Pork Chops
Eight bone-in pork chops, half a cup of honey, a quarter cup of soy sauce, and six cloves of garlic. I sear all the chops in a huge skillet, then pour the honey garlic mixture over everything and let it simmer for fifteen minutes. The sauce thickens up and coats the meat, and somehow, bone-in chops stay juicier throughout the week than boneless ones. These reheat in the microwave without getting rubbery, which shocked me the first time. I serve them with whatever vegetable I can microwave in a bag and rice from my rice cooker. My husband requests these specifically, which never happens with my cooking, so I make them twice a month now.
19. Taco Meat in the Instant Pot
Set the Instant Pot to sauté, brown the meat, add the salsa and seasoning, and pressure cook for eight minutes. Three pounds of ground beef, one jar of salsa, and one packet of taco seasoning. I don’t even drain the meat first because the pressure cooking takes care of the extra fat somehow. Makes enough taco meat for eight meals spread across the week. Tacos, nachos, taco salads, quesadillas, or just eaten with a fork standing at the counter because nobody’s watching. This is faster than ordering takeout once you account for delivery time, and my kids will eat it without complaining which is worth more than the time I save.
20. Baked Salmon with Roasted Asparagus
Four pounds of salmon, three bunches of asparagus, lemon slices, and olive oil. I was scared of cooking fish for years because I thought it was complicated, but this is maybe the easiest batch cooking I’ve done. Everything goes on two sheet pans, bake at 400 for fifteen minutes, and you’re done. The salmon flakes apart cold for salads or reheats in thirty seconds for dinner. Four servings later, it’s my fancy lunch when I have a video call and want to look like I have my life together. Costs more than ground beef recipes but less than ordering lunch out, and I feel virtuous eating it even though it took almost no effort.
You Don’t Have to Cook Every Night This Week
That Sunday night panic when you’re staring at an empty fridge and a full week ahead? It doesn’t vanish, but you can take the edge off without becoming someone who meal preps in matching containers.
You’re not looking for perfection. You’re looking for Wednesday night when you can pull something out of the freezer instead of ordering takeout again because you’re too exhausted to think.
Pick one recipe that fits your actual life right now. Make the Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken if you need something that cooks itself while you work, double the Big Batch Chili and freeze half for later, or try the Sheet Pan Meatballs and Roasted Vegetables if you just need dinner handled with minimum effort. Start with one. Make extra. Future you at 6 pm will be grateful.
