Bulk Cooking the Easy Way

Bulk cooking doesn't have to be difficult and time consuming! Although the original idea behind once a month or bulk cooking was to set aside one to two days each month and cook all day for the freezer, I find the process exhausting—suffice it to say I am not a fan.

The Add Salt & Serve method of bulk cooking (it is even integrated into our free meal plans!) is much easier!

Busy cook’s pyramid

Although cooking for the freezer is the base of the Busy Cook’s Pyramid and the most important method of saving time in the kitchen, our way assumes you don’t have 2 full days to devote to filling the freezer.

The Add Salt & Serve method of bulk cooking (it is even integrated into our free meal plans!) is much easier and relies on two things to help busy cooks:

• Bulk cooking individual ingredients for the freezer
• Doubling or tripling recipes and freezing the extra one(s)

Takes less effort: The combination of bulk cooking individual ingredients and doubling recipes periodically takes far less effort—both in cooking and cleanup—than once a month cooking.

Gives more flexibility: Bulk cooking ingredients gives you much more flexibility. Pulling out a bag of cooked chicken or ground beef that can be added to a recipe cuts the preparation time in half (or more) without locking you into the choice of whatever frozen dish you have left in the freezer.

Fits your schedule: Busy moms can easily incorporate these two things into their existing schedules and fill their freezers by working a little bit at a time. We go into further details about this way of cooking in the Add Salt & Serve meal plan primer.

Bulk cooking ingredients or a recipe base

A great way to save prep time in the evening is to start with bulk cooked ingredients. When a recipe calls for ground beef, instead of browning one pound of ground beef, buy 5 lbs. and brown all of it, freezing the extra in 4 freezer containers. When you need cooked chicken for a soup or casserole, instead of cooking just enough for that recipe, boil or grill 3-4 extra lbs. for the freezer.

Is there a base to a certain recipe that you make frequently? Consider bulk cooking just the base and finishing off the recipe at mealtime.

I make a time-intensive gumbo recipe (I’m bound to secrecy for now) that requires a base of onions, green pepper, celery, and okra sautéed in a browned roux. It takes me about 30 minutes to get the roux to the sweet spot between browned and beyond repair, so I don’t like to make it frequently. When I make a batch, I often double or triple the base for the freezer so that the next time all I have to do is add the liquids, spices, and seafood and simmer.

Bulk cooking with chicken

I use this flavorful recipe for cooking chicken in bulk. Have grilled chicken for dinner the night you cook it, then chop and freeze the leftovers in dated freezer containers.

Marinated Grilled Chicken (Garlic Soy Marinade)

Bulk cooking chicken saves time on busy nights when you need to get dinner on the table in a hurry, and using grilled marinated chicken adds a depth of flavor not found in baked or sautéed chicken when you add it to recipes.

If you prefer a big day of cooking, try Kim Tilley’s plan for Bulk Cooking with Chicken.

Bulk cooking with ground beef

A good way to start stocking your freezer is to buy 10 pounds of ground beef when it goes on sale. Brown it all and freeze in ten equal portions, or try preparing as follows:

• Brown 5 pounds
• Combine 5 pounds with 5 eggs and some bread crumbs and Adobo seasoning (or salt and pepper) and any make combination of patties for hamburgers, meatballs, and/or meatloaf (freeze a cookie sheet individually and then bag once frozen)

This will give you 5 pounds of cooked beef for casseroles, tacos, enchiladas, soups, and more, as well as homemade patties for hamburgers (2 meals), a meatloaf, and meatballs (2 meals).

If you prefer a big day of cooking, try Kim Tilley’s plan for Bulk Cooking with Hamburger.

Bulk cooking freezer onions and peppers

The same principle of bulk cooking can be applied to onions and green peppers either individually or together. If your recipe calls for a sautéed onion, instead of sautéing one onion, buy a whole bag of onions, chop them all and freeze in casserole-ingredient-sized portions. When you have these meal-sized portions of meat and vegetables, it is a cinch to throw together a quick meal late in the afternoon.

Bulk cooking potatoes for the freezer

Many people are surprised that potatoes can be cooked in bulk for the freezer because they assume that potatoes don’t freeze successfully. Wanda Carter, the author of our post on bulk cooking potatoes, has found that they are one of the easiest and most versatile foods in her repertoire. If you would like to try bulk cooking potatoes for the freezer, try Wanda’s Potato Plan.

Bulk cooking beans for the freezer

I regularly cook a bag of dried beans and freeze the beans in their own juice to use in place of canned beans. Dried beans are easy to cook, are more tender, and are less expensive than canned beans. If you do not have any beans in your freezer and would like to stock up, my instructions for how to cook dried beans are below.

How To Cook Dried Beans for the Freezer

Dried beans cost about 50% less per serving than canned beans—here's how to cook them ahead and freeze them.

Bulk cooking planned into free meal plans

Since our easy way of bulk cooking integrates well with the cooking you are already doing—it doesn't take much more time to cook five lbs. of ground beef than one lb., and you certainly don't double your time in the kitchen when you double a recipe add a meal to the freezer—we incorporate it into free weekly meal plans.

Here is an example of how we incorporate this bulk cooking method and the other aspects of the Busy Cook's Pyramid into our meal plans:

Day 1 > Hash Brown Potato Soup - Quick and easy recipe using frozen hash browns

Day 2 > Poppy Seed Chicken - Cook extra chicken during prep and stock the freezer

Day 3 > Black Beans and Rice - Quick and easy recipe

Day 4 > Crustless Broccoli Quiche - Double the recipe and stock the freezer

Day 5 >Baked Ziti - Double the recipe and stock the freezer

Sign up by email below to start painlessly filling your freezer and taking advantage of easy bulk cooking and the rest of the secrets of a busy cook!

Recipes that freeze well

Here are a few of our recipes that freeze well. Give one of these a try or see all of our freezer recipes.

Pin this post