Batch cooking can be an excellent idea for a number of reasons. For my family, it’s a necessity in order to fit everything into the day. No matter what your personal situation is, or why you want to batch cook in the first place: once you get the idea of how it works and how to fit it into your schedule, you’ll find you can do it when you need to and be able to enjoy all the benefits batch cooking brings. With that in mind, here are some of the best reasons to try batch cooking – it could help you in a variety of different ways. 

Batch Cooking Saves Money

One of the biggest reasons to start batch cooking is that it can save you money. This is because when you batch cook, you cook more than one portion. You’ll cook as many portions as you have the room to freeze or store (and, of course, as much as your kitchen has the space to cook – this is a problem for us but that is a story for another day!). This might appear to mean that you’re going to spend more money because you have to buy more ingredients, but there are actually two big reasons why batch cooking will save you money overall nonetheless. 

The first reason it saves you money is that you can buy in bulk. Although it’s not always the case, you will often find that there are discounts in grocery stores when you buy more of something. And oftentimes I am able to find coupons or specials on large qualities that you wouldn’t be able to find with smaller ones. Instead of buying things separately over time, if you bulk buy, you may well be able to save money. 

The second reason is that you’ll go grocery shopping less. If, for example, you go shopping at the start of the month once you have been paid, and you only buy what you need for the batch cooking you have planned, you won’t be tempted by other things you see in the store. Even if you do buy extra on that first visit, you won’t be going back until the next month, so you’ll save money in that way too. This is a big one for me because I always seem to buy random things that I don’t need when I go to the store!

Batch Cooking Saves Time 

We all know we have to eat more healthily, but it can be hard. A lot of people who have difficulty in this area (including myself!) cite the fact that they just don’t have time to cook fresh, healthy meals. It can be so tempting to resort to takeout and ready to eat meals that can be throw into the microwave.

However, by setting aside time when you do have a bit extra to batch cook and freeze a variety of different meals will set you and your family up for success. And then when you have less time, or kids running under foot, you’ll still always have a good meal ready for you; it’s just a question of defrosting and reheating it. 

There are even tools you can have in your kitchen that will help you. For example, if you invest in a slow cooker, you can leave food cooking overnight or when you go out during the day. You can use this method to cook slow cooker meatballs and have a tasty, nutritious meal ready for you when you need it.

You Can Minimize Waste 

Every one of us has shopped for groceries and brought home a bunch of stuff that seemed delicious at the time but ended up going bad because we forgot about it. And the fact is, even if you’re careful, there will be a lot of waste produced while you are purchasing and preparing meals on a daily basis.

By preparing foods in bulk, you can save money by buying fewer perishable things and utilizing what’s already in your fridge and freezer. Meal planning helps you avoid impulse buys at the grocery store by limiting your purchases to what you know you will need. Cooking in bulk allows you to control the serving size of each dish, resulting in less food waste.

It’s Healthier 

Healthy cooking doesn’t have to mean boring salads and small servings all the time. Any homemade meal with healthy ingredients is better for you than a ready-made meal or food from a restaurant. When people are busy, cooking fresh, healthy meals every day can be hard. But cooking in bulk means you will always have healthy dinners ready to go in the freezer when you need them.

Preparing and cooking healthy meals and vegetables always takes a lot of time. But if you cook a variety of meals at once and store them for when you’re busy, you’ll always have a tasty, healthy meal on hand. Not only that, but it’s much easier to eat well and stay on track when you know what you’re going to eat that day.

And when you start your day by planning a healthy meal for the evening, you’ll be more likely to make other healthy choices throughout the day. Win-win!