Squeezed household budgets are pushing people to explore ways to cut back on costs. Meal prepping has long been considered a way to save money, whilst simultaneously reducing waste and keeping you healthy.
One batch cooking pro is so adept at making meals in advance, she regularly makes 10 meals in an hour. It might seem like an impossible feat, but it is a usual day in the kitchen for Suzanne Mulholland, AKA The Batch Lady (@thebatchlady).
The key to success is all about making a plan. Mulholland, who is based on the Scottish borders, starts with a meal such as fajitas.
“In the pot is mince and onions, and everything else for fajitas,” she says. This also works as a base for two other dishes: chilli and spaghetti bolognese.
“Whilst the meat’s browning, I make two family portions of burgers and meatballs, which I freeze raw. Then I divide up my pot, to make two portions of the other three recipes.”
This means you have then got 10 portions of five different meals for your freezer. This way of cooking comes naturally to Mulholland, 47, who used to work as a time-management expert.
She took all the tools from her previous job and applied them to cooking when she had children. After sharing recipes on YouTube and Instagram, where she currently has around 27.7K subscribers and 157K followers on each platform respectively, The Batch Lady was born.
Batch cooking doesn’t have to be an endless parade of stews. The recipes in Mulholland’s new book, The Batch Lady: Cooking On A Budget, are vibrant and interesting.
“We’ve got churros, dirty fries, calzones, cheesecakes, koftas and ramen – all really good stuff,” she says. She might now be on her fourth cookbook, but Mulholland doesn’t claim to have perfected everything.
When asked if she’s ever had a disaster in the kitchen, she laughs: “I had one last night! I’m always trying out new recipes.
"So, I was doing a Christmas dinner for a Reel, and it worked perfectly. But I wondered if I could make a Christmas pasta bake.
“It was not nice. Don’t chop up your Christmas dinner and leftovers and make it into a pasta bake, because it really wasn’t good.
"You can’t deny the benefits of batch cooking, particularly in the cost-of-living crisis. My whole ethos is, you don’t need to cook every single night, you can just cook whenever you want to,” Mulholland says.
This could help save money on takeaways or last-minute trips to the supermarket, too. If you want to save time and cash by batch cooking, here is how to get into it.
How to start batch cooking and save money
Start small
“I always say start small,” Mulholland advises. “All you need to do is choose two meals a week that you eat regularly.
"Find two recipes you can freeze. Every time you make it, double it up, so that have one dish to eat on the night and put the second one in the freezer.
"That means, on another night, you won’t need to cook, because you’ve already got a meal in the freezer.” She suggests this type of cooking is “addictive” and that once you have started, you’ll want to do it more and more.
Plan ahead
“You don’t have to plan every meal. Planning just one extra meal will save you money,” she says.
“These days, we all shop back to front. We arrive at the supermarket, then we think, ‘Right, what do I want to eat and what do I want to buy?’
"Of course, supermarkets are set up for you to pick items they’re going to make the most money on. So, before doing your food shop, decide what you want to eat.
"Then see what you’ve already got in your cupboards. This will stop you wasting food and save you money.”
Get organised
Unsurprisingly for a time-management expert, Mulholland has plenty of handy tips for making batch cooking as quick and easy as possible. “When you’re going to batch cook, it’s good to be organised.
"Lay out all your ingredients and have everything else you need ready,” she advises. “It is also worth having an empty dishwasher, or a sink full of hot, soapy water.”
This way, when you’ve finished cooking, you’re not then faced with a huge kitchen to clean up, potentially putting you off for life. The Batch Lady: Cooking On A Budget by Suzanne Mulholland is published by HQ and is available now from retailers including Amazon.
