The COOK
Guide to
Batch Cooking
As the nation’s experts in batch cooking for the freezer,
COOK shows you how to save time and money by making
healthy, nutritious home-cooked frozen meals.
If you’re looking for a healthier, quicker and slightly cheaper way of enjoying delicious home-cooked food, then
batch cooking for the freezer could be for you. It involves cooking larger batches of meals and then freezing
some for later, ideally in separate portions. Buying ingredients in bulk is invariably cheaper. Having meals to hand
in the freezer means you don’t have to cook from scratch every night, saving you time. And keeping your recipes
healthy and nutritious means you’re not tempted by takeaways, or speedy unhealthy options. So, batch-it-up to
save money and time while ensuring a healthier diet for you and your family.
At COOK, we’ve built an award-winning business on the back of batch cooking. So, if you want to know how to
batch-it-up, you’ve come to the right place. Twenty-five years of practice means there’s nothing we don’t know
about batch cooking for the freezer.
In fact, the inspiration for the business came from Anne Perry – the mother of COOK co-founder, Ed. As a busy
working mum with four children, she was always pushed for time but also determined to get the family round
the table for a home-cooked meal every night. The solution was batch cooking at weekends, making enough
for one supper then freezing the extra for another day. It meant, even when she was in a rush, there was
always a home-cooked meal at hand in the freezer.
Ed took that idea and, with his co-founder Dale, turned it into a business. Their founding statement in 1997 was:
to COOK using the same ingredients and techniques as a good cook would use at home, so everything looks
and tastes homemade. That principle remains to this day, with nearly 100 COOK shops nationwide.
So, here’s everything we know about batch cooking for your freezer ...
How To Approach Batch Cooking
1. Be prepared
• Create some space in the freezer
• Make sure you’ve got pans big enough for larger quantities
• Make sure you have the correct bags or containers to freeze the food in. Not all plastic is
freezer proof – some kinds go brittle at low temperatures and can shatter. So check you’ve got
either glass or good quality plastic containers that can be reused. Reusable freezer bags are great
for sauces – freezing them flat also helps with space as you can stack them on top of each other.
Muffin trays are also useful if you want to defrost smaller portions at a time.
• Cool the food quickly after cooking and before freezing. One way of doing this is to split the
food out into smaller portions.
2. Choose your “base” recipes
One of the simplest ways to approach batch cooking is to make one base recipe which can be adapted into
different dishes. There’s no need to eat the same thing all week – you can freeze the base in portions and then
defrost and use in different dishes.
Take a classic Bolognese, with minimal effort it can be used for: a Cottage Pie, a Chilli, a Lasagne as well as a
good old Spag Bol.
BATCH COOKING RECIPE:
BOLOGNESE SAUCE
Serves 6-8
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, trimmed and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves finely chopped
600g mince – we like 2/3 (450g) beef mince
and 1/3 (150g) pork mince. A higher fat
content will always give more flavour too METHOD
800g chopped tomatoes 1. Put a large saucepan on a medium heat and add 1
1 small pack basil, finely chopped tbsp olive oil.
3 tbsp tomato purée 2. Add the onions, carrots and garlic cloves and fry on a
medium heat for 10 mins, without colouring. Stir the veg
180g sundried tomato paste
regularly until it softens.
2 bay leaves
3. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the mince and
1 beef stock cube stir often for 3-4 mins until the meat is browned all over.
235ml red wine 4. Add the chopped tomatoes, sundried tomato paste,
Salt & cracked black pepper, to taste bay leaves, tomato purée, beef stock and red wine. Bring
to the boil, reduce to a gentle simmer and cover with a
lid. Cook for 1 hr stirring occasionally until you have a
rich, thick sauce. If the sauce is overly thick add a little
water to loosen. Season with salt and pepper to taste
and add the freshly chopped basil.
For a Spaghetti Bolognese, simply cook up some
spaghetti, dish the sauce on top, some grated parmesan, a
sprinkle of extra chopped parsley and some warmed, crusty
garlic bread.
To make a chilli, simply add 2tsp of chilli powder, 2tsp
smoked paprika, 2 tsp ground cumin to the vegetables once
softened. Substitute the red wine with water and remove
the sundried tomato paste. Substitute the chopped basil
with chopped coriander. Drain and rinse a 410g can of red
kidney beans in a sieve and stir them into the sauce 10
minutes before the end of the cooking time. To make the
chili extra special, stir through 25g of dark chocolate at the
end. Serve with soured cream, a jacket potato and sliced
fresh chilies
To make a lasagne, you’ll need to make a cheese sauce as
well. To do this, bring 1 litre of milk to the boil in a thick
bottomed saucepan and then switch off. Melt 100g of
butter in another saucepan, then add 100g of plain flour.
Stir continuously until a paste forms – this is called a roux.
Continue cooking for 2 mins. Add the milk to the roux
gradually, stirring as you go, until you get a smooth sauce.
Add 50g of grated mature cheddar, 1tsp of English mustard
and the juice from half a lemon, mixing well through the
sauce. Cook for 5-10 mins, stirring continuously, until the
sauce has thickened.
To assemble your lasagne, spread a third of the bolognese
sauce into the bottom of a large ceramic baking dish
followed with a drizzle of cheese sauce. Put a layer of dried
lasagne sheets on top and repeat twice. Finish with a thick
layer of cheese sauce evenly spread across the dish. Sprinkle
with enough grated mature cheddar to cover the top. Heat
oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas 6. Bake the lasagne in the oven
for 35-40 mins or until bubbling and golden brown. Allow
to stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with a fresh
green salad and some crusty garlic bread.
Another great batch cooking recipe is a Chicken, Ham and Leek base. This can be turned
into a pie by adding a pastry lid, or served with mash and veg on the side, or simply stirred
through pasta.
BATCH COOKING RECIPE:
CHICKEN, HAM & LEEK PIE
Serves 6-8
INGREDIENTS
3 tbsp rapeseed oil
800g boneless skinless free range chicken
breasts, diced
60g butter
1 medium leek, trimmed, washed and
finely sliced
1 large onion, finely chopped
60g plain white flour
METHOD
100ml white wine
1. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan and cook the
400ml chicken stock
chicken for about 10 mins until cooked. Set aside.
300ml double cream
2. Heat the remaining oil and butter and add the
300ml semi-skimmed milk onions. Soften for 2-3 mins. Add the leeks and cook
Salt & cracked black pepper, to season for a further 2 mins. Add the wine and reduce by
half, then stir in the flour.
1 lemon, juice only
3. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, milk and cream
1 small bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
and bring up to the boil, stirring continuously. Take
4 slices of thick cut cured ham, cut into off the heat, stir in the lemon juice, chopped parsley
strips or chunks and season to taste.
4. Add the chicken and ham into the sauce and
mix well.
If making a pie, unroll 500g pastry and cut off a small strip
for any decorations. Roll the remainder to fit a pie dish. Put
the filling in the dish and place the pastry on top. Use a
fork to crimp the edges and press the pastry to the edge
of the dish. Make a small hole in the centre to allow the
steam to escape (no one likes a soggy pastry lid!). Brush
with a beaten egg and sprinkle over some chopped thyme
(optional). Bake in a 200C/180C fan/Gas 6 oven for 20-
25mins or until golden and piping hot (this will take longer
if cooking from chilled).
It’s easy to switch this up by using different pastry –
shortcrust and puff are very traditional, but for a
lighter twist, use filo pastry and scrunch on top of
the pie. Just brush lightly with rapeseed oil instead of a
beaten egg.
Alternatively, make a potato topped pie. Chill the mix
and top with mashed potato. Fork the top and bake in a
200C/180C fan/Gas 6 oven for 25-30mins or until golden
and piping hot.
If serving with pasta, simply cook the desired amount
of pasta and add to the bubbling hot chicken, ham and
leek mix.
VEGETARIAN BATCH COOKING RECIPE:
HEARTY VEGGIE CASSEROLE
Serves 6-8
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
2 onions, chopped
METHOD
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1. To roast the peppers, heat the oven to 200ºC and
2 sticks of celery, washed & roughly chopped line a large, flat baking tray with baking paper. Cut the
peppers into 1cm thick slices, toss in a little oil and
4 tbsp tomato puree
arrange on the tray. Roast for
4 tbsp sundried tomato paste 20-25mins and set to one side.
2. Whilst the peppers are roasting, heat a tbsp of oil
300ml vegetable stock
in a large casserole dish over a medium heat. Add the
1 bay leaf onions and bay leaf, sauté for 2-3 mins, then add the
garlic and celery. Cook for a further 5 mins until the
1 tsp dried oregano
vegetables start to soften.
1 glass of dry white wine (approx. 200ml) 3. Stir in the wine and bubble for 2 minutes.
Add the oregano, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree,
800g tin chopped tomatoes
sundried tomato paste, vegetable stock and simmer
100g kale, washed and roughly chopped for 20 mins until thickened. Stir in the drained beans
and lightly simmer for a
2 large red peppers
further 10 mins.
2 large yellow peppers 4. Once the casserole is cooked, stir through the
kale and roasted peppers and cook for a further 3-4
800g cannellini beans, drained
mins until the kale has slightly softened. Add ¾ of the
1 small bunch of parsley, roughly chopped chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste, mixing well.
If the casserole is overly thick, add a little water to
Salt and cracked black pepper, to taste achieve the desired consistency. Sprinkle the remaining
parsley across the top and serve.
Go Greek! Add ½ tsp dried chilli flakes when
adding the white wine plus a handful of green olives and
1tbsp of capers when adding the kale. Before sprinkling the
parsley, cut 2 x 225g packs of halloumi into ½ cm slices and
evenly spread across the top of the casserole dish and grill
until golden brown.
Sprinkle with the remaining chopped parsley and the zest of
half a lemon and drizzle with some extra
virgin olive oil.
For a Spanish vibe, add a large can of butterbeans, 2-4 tsp
of smoked paprika and 2 tsp of ground cumin when adding
the white wine to the casserole. Cover the cooked casserole
with a lid to keep warm.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Cut a medium sourdough loaf
into thick slices, removing the crusts. Cut the crustless slices
into large rustic cubes. Crush and finely chop two cloves of
garlic, zest half a lemon and combine with a large glug of
olive oil. Toss the bread in the garlicky oil and sprinkle with
salt and cracked black pepper. Scatter the pieces on to an
oven tray and bake for 8-10 mins or until the croutons are
browned and crunchy.
Once cooked, add the remaining chopped parsley to the
piping hot casserole and scatter the croutons on top
before serving.
Turn it into a show stopping pie with a crunchy filo
topping. Follow the steps above but don’t cook the kale or
top with parsley. Preheat the oven to 200ºC and unroll six
sheets of filo pastry. Lightly brush one side with oil, scrunch
up and lay on top of the casserole, covering completely.
Bake for 10-15 mins in the middle of the oven until the
pastry is golden and crisp all over. Once cooked, drizzle
with virgin olive oil and sprinkle across the remaining
chopped parsley.
How To Best Manage Your
Sub-Zero Space
If you’re going to be embarking on a batch cook-athon, then you’ll
want to become good friends with your freezer.
We’ve been freezing food for a living for 25 years, so there’s not much we don’t know about making the
most of your freezer. Whilst freezing food is an easy thing to do, it’s not quite fool proof. Here are our
top 10 tips:
1. 3.
Make sure your freezer’s set to the Freeze fresh. As with so many things
right temperature. Sounds obvious, but in life, you get out what you put in. The
it’s wor th checking – not only because it will help cold temperatures of a domestic freezer mean
keep food for longer, but because it could also help the processes of decay become glacially slow. But
you win a pub quiz, as it’s apparently one of the freezing won’t actually kill bacteria, they may be
most frequently asked questions! So here goes, the revived as the food defrosts. So, if it goes in bad, it’ll
winning answer… come out bad.
4.
The UK Food Standards Agency suggests the
Don’t freeze and forget! In Siberia,
correct freezer temperature to safely store
people have been known to cook and
frozen goods is -18°c.
eat woolly mammoth pulled from the permafrost
Boring, but it’s wor th remembering that freezers (at least according to the internet). And while it
with good, intact seals will use less energy and keep probably didn’t taste as good as it did during the
a lower temperature. Ice Age, it was apparently still edible! However,
2.
freezing doesn’t prevent taste and texture from
Cool foods before you freeze
deteriorating for ever. Write the date of freezing
them. Freezing food when hot will raise
on your bags or containers so they don’t
the freezer temperature, making it less efficient
become UFOs (Unidentified Frozen Objects). As a
(more costly) and potentially cause other foods to
rough guide, foods can be safely kept in your home
star t defrosting, compromising the safety of them.
freezer for 3 to 12 months without loss of quality.
Of course, maximum keeping times vary depending
on the food and how they’ve been processed
prior to freezing.
5. Keep your freezer full. A full
freezer retains cold better than an empty
one. When you open the door, the mass of frozen
8. Keep it clean. A clean freezer devoid of
icebergs is the most efficient. If necessary,
it may need defrosting. If you’ve gone through life
food will help keep in the cold, and the unit won’t managing to avoid doing this until now…then don’t
have to work as hard to cool empty space so it’s worry, it’s not as tedious as it sounds! Here’s a quick
more economical to run. If you have lots of space and easy “how to...”:
free, fill the freezer with everyday items you’re [Link]
bound to use, such as sliced bread or frozen peas. article/how-to-defrost-your-freezer-
But don’t jam pack the freezer either - you need azsKu5W4a6nH
air to circulate.
9.
Thawing out. Once you’ve drilled
6.
Wrap up. If food is exposed to the very through and successfully extracted
cold air inside your freezer, the frozen something from the icy depths of your freezer, the
water will migrate to the outside of the food and safest way to defrost it is to put it on a plate and
turns into water vapour. This causes something allow it to slowly thaw in the fridge for 24 hours
called ‘freezer burn’ - not very appetizing patches (48 hours for large items such as meat joints
on a steak for example, that can affect the quality. To or frozen poultry). Don’t defrost at room
avoid, make sure you wrap foods properly, pushing temperature – food must be kept at a safe
out as much air as you can before sealing, or put temperature during thawing.
them in sealed containers.
7.
Space to grow. Liquid will expand, so
don’t freeze it in the bottle or you risk the
10. Only refreeze food if you’re
cooking it in between. When food
is thawed bacteria can multiply quickly, particularly at
glass shattering. It’s easy to decant into small sealable room temperature. If you pop it back in the freezer,
containers, leaving a little room at the top for the bacteria survive and are more likely to reach
expansion. With plastic milk cartons, you may need harmful levels on second thawing. However, if you
to pour a bit away before freezing to make sure cook the food in between eg thawing beef mince,
there’s space for the liquid to grow. using it to make a bolognaise and then refreezing, it’s
not a problem as the bacteria will have been killed
off in the cooking process. (Just remember to fully
reheat foods after their second freezing too).
No longer an “unfashionable” preservation method, the
freezer is officially cool again. Here are some of the cold,
hard facts explaining why…
Fresh from the freezer Free from the nasty stuff
When you buy “fresh” fruit and veg at the Freezing is a great way of preserving food
supermarket, the description can be misleading. because you don’t have to use chemical
Many supermarket vegetables are stored for weeks preservatives. Frozen products don’t need added
as it can take some time to sort, transport and preservatives because microorganisms don’t grow
distribute harvested produce to shops. During when the temperature of the food is below
this time, vitamins and minerals can be slowly lost −9.5 °C; it’s just being frozen in time until you are
from the food through oxidation. On the other hungry. Freezing is one of the oldest, simplest
hand, frozen vegetables get picked, washed and and purest means of preserving foods, it’s an
blanched within the hour - they are frozen in peak entirely natural process.
condition, soon after harvesting and so can often be
higher in nutrients than their “fresh” counterparts. Give waste the cold shoulder
Freezing is nature’s pause button, locking in the Roughly one third of all the food produced for
nutrients found in food. human consumption across the world is wasted
every year with food waste known to be responsible
Guardians of goodness for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Trewin
Research shows that Research shows that if done Restorick, chief executive of environmental charity
properly, freezing is the best method of food Hubbub, said: “If food waste was a country, it would
preservation to lock in micronutrients, including be the world’s third biggest contributor to climate
proteins, vitamins and minerals. change”. As we struggle to feed the world’s growing
population, whilst protecting the world itself, it’s
Frozen assets never been more important to tackle food waste,
The cost of food waste is not only hurting the and frozen food can play a crucial role in this
planet, our bank accounts are suffering too. By challenge. BFFF (British Frozen Food Federation)
embracing your freezer and all the great ingredients research has shown that switching from fresh
that can be stored within it, it’ll be much easier to frozen can actually reduce greenhouse
to manage portion sizes and reduce waste, gas emissions.
ultimately reducing your groceries bill.
Freeze This, Not That
When it comes to freezing, very little gets a flat no. Freezers are
almost all-embracing, throwing their doors open to much of what
comes their way. BUT, we all have our limits.
Freezing can damage some foods because ice crystals form and can tear the cell membranes. This doesn’t
necessarily mean it’s not safe, but the food loses its crispness or firmness. It explains why commercial freezing
(the way we do it at COOK) is done very rapidly, so that the ice crystals that form are smaller, and cause less
damage to cell membranes meaning the overall quality is less affected.
Here are a few of the ground rules…what is / isn’t on the freezer guest list.
Veggies
The secret lies in blanching vegetables in boiling water before freezing. It’s a quick and easy technique that
preserves the flavour, texture and colour by removing surface bacteria and enzymes that cause spoilage and
deteriorate the quality. All you do is immerse the veg in a large pan of boiling water for 1-2min until just slightly
softened, then immediately drain and plunge into a large bowl of freezing cold water. Drain and dry on a bit of
kitchen towel before freezing.
You can do a similar thing with potatoes to give yourself perfect freeze ahead roasties – one of life’s great
cheats! Parboil (rather than blanche) in salted water for about 6 minutes, then drain and toss them about a bit
in a colander to rough up the sides. Shake over a bit of flour, salt and pepper; spoon over a bit of fat; lay the
potatoes on a tray lined with baking parchment and freeze. When you’re ready to use them - when people are
starving, but you’re starved of time - just add a bit more fat and shove them straight in a pre-heated oven.
Job done.
Chopped onions are also handy to have portioned up in the freezer, for
much the same reason. Chop or slice the onions and freeze them raw on
trays. Once hard, tip them into a freezer bag so they don’t all stick together.
Vegetables you enjoy crisp, that have a high water content, such as celery,
lettuce, cucumber, radishes and bean sprouts will end up limp and mushy, so
these are best eaten from the fridge not freezer. Oh, and mushrooms aren’t
great frozen either.
Fruit
With a lot of fruit, the flavour preserves well, but not the texture. Reason being, that fruit is around 95 per cent
water and most fruits have thin skins and become mushy when frozen. However, this doesn’t matter a jot when
using it for smoothies, coulis, cooking and, most importantly, margaritas. By using frozen fruit straight from
the freezer, it can replace the ice. Follow the blanching technique above when
freezing fruit to ensure the quality stays as good as possible.
Conveniently, you can freeze whole bananas in their skins - again,
great for smoothies. Apples can be peeled, sliced, frozen, placed in
airtight containers and used in pies or crumble. Alternatively, you can
stew with sugar and use to top porridge (which can also be frozen)
or muesli. Freeze pears, apricots and plums the same way.
Dairy
Milk in cartons can be frozen (for about a month) unopened if there is a gap between the milk and the lid –
all liquids expand as they freeze, so if there isn’t enough room, the lid might pop off or the carton could split.
Defrost in the fridge and shake well before using.
Butter’s also fine to freeze for a few months, but cheese is a bit more complicated. Hard cheese (eg cheddar,
parmesan and firm blues) can generally handle freezing, in fact
grated cheese can be frozen for up to 4 months and can be
used straight from the freezer. However, the high water content
of soft cheeses such as brie and camembert results in a weird
(just weird, not weird and wonderful) texture when defrosted!
So as not to waste though, softer cheeses could be used in a
lasagne or a sauce and then frozen.
Yoghurt and cream can be frozen but will need a good stir once
defrosted as foods with higher fat contents, tend to separate when frozen.
Meat
Meat is generally fine to freeze, especially in curries or stews. Where
the sauce is the main flavour, it’s almost impossible to detect if the beef
or chicken breasts used were frozen. Just make sure that it is vacuum
sealed so that the meat’s protected from freezer burn.
Poultry
You don’t ever want to fall fowl (sorry!) of a piece of chicken or turkey that has gone
bad, so it’s a really good idea to label up poultry. A tightly wrapped whole chook will
last a year in the freezer. Turkey will be good for seven months and duck, with its high
fat content, six months. But if you only have the various parts of the bird (thighs, wings,
breasts etc) then they should only stay in your freezer for nine months. For cooked
poultry though, you need to take it out of your freezer within six months.
Fish
Well, this depends on what your catch of the day is…lean fish, such as cod,
haddock, hake, plaice, and sole can be kept frozen for about six months. On
the other hand, fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel and tuna, can only be
kept frozen for a couple of months. Again, make sure it’s vacuum-sealed, as
air will destroy it.
Baked goods
When it comes to freezing, sugar is your friend. Sugar helps keep cakes’
texture. Sugar, however, can also pick up other aromas, so make sure baked
cakes are tightly sealed.
Let’s call it a (freezer) wrap...
If you stock your freezer with the right foods in the right way, you
can eat better and stress less because there will always be something
homemade to put on the table.
Batch-cooking can be a real dining saviour, a secret weapon to pull out when the munchies attack or
friends / family invade. Bulk cook and batch-it-up so that your time in the kitchen counts for more,
meals go further, and you can enjoy the fruits of your labour for weeks and months to come.
