Introduction
Batch cooking on a budget is one way you can save money on food and avoid food waste. However, it can be difficult to actually do it unless you meal plan ahead and you have the right tools and procedures. Learn about how to save money on your food budget with batch cooking and how to do it effectively and save time and money. Keep reading to learn how this strategy can help you stick with healthy eating and how to do it.
Batch Cooking on a Budget Tools
Before begining batch cooking there are a few basic tools you need to have on hand. First I recommend tupperware or other plastic containers. I live to use ones that are stackable and of the same shape to make storage easier. You should also have plenty of quart or half gallon sized plastic bags on hand to put some of your food into the freezer since you will likely need to freeze at least some of your food. You also need to have a list of recipes that work well for batch cooking and that can be frozen or that can be stored in the fridge for up to a week without doing bad.
Batch Cooking on a Budget Basics
The main thing to keep in mind in order for this strategy to work is that you need to make sure you are creating recipes that you enjoy eating and will eat multiple times during a short time frame. You also need to make meals you can easily put together and as mentioned above will not go bad in a short time frame.
Here are a few of my favorite foods and meals that have found work really well:
Brown rice with veggies and chicken or fish. You can either combine all of these into containers or you can batch cook brown rice and chicken or fish and vegetables separately and then combine them right before you eat them or get ready to take them with you to work for lunch.
Quinoa with veggies and chicken or fish. Follow the same idea as above only with quinoa instead of brown rice.
Soups- My favorite soups for this are either a vegetarian chili, a chicken and vegetable soup, a split pea soup, a white bean soup, or a lentil soup. I use my crockpot to make at least 4 servings. Then I eat one serving and put the rest into containers or plastic bags for freezing for laters.
You can also prepare chia seed puddings or overnight oats in glass jars ahead of time. I like to do 3-5 of these at once and store them in your fridge. If you are on a very tight budget, I would do overnight oats more than chia seed putting as chia seeds are a bit more expensive.
You can also chop up carrots and celery and other raw vegetables and keep them in a container for a snack. I would also put some peanut butter or almond butter if you have the money since almond butter is a bit pricery in a small container to eat it with the raw vegetables.
More Advanced Batch Cooking on a Budget Tips
When thinking about what meals you want to use for batch cooking, make sure that the food combinations will be able to sit in the fridge without getting soggy. The main thing I have tried that does not work well is advance preparing things like salads or putting any kind of sauce or dressing in with the rice, meat or veggies. If you want to add sauces or dressings you will want to wait until right before you eat it and then add it in. You also want to shop sales and focus your meals on the ingredients that are cheapest. This is why I mention rice, beans, vegetables and other inexpensive ingredients as the main components of most of the meals.
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