Autumn batch cooking recipes
These fall meal prep recipes are for batch cooking: braises, bean pots and lentil dishes that keep for days in the fridge, several of them tasting better on the second day than the first. Cook two or three at the weekend and lunches and dinners are covered well into the week.
Pulled pork turns one 2.5 kg shoulder into eight servings, mujadara is arguably better on its second day, cold or barely warmed, and a night in the fridge rounds off the wine in boeuf bourguignon. Rajma chawal and arroz e feijão start with an overnight soak. Every recipe gives exact amounts, scales to the number of people and sends what you still need to a shared shopping list.
15 recipes
Pulled Pork🇺🇸 American recipes · Dinner · 8 h 30 min
Rajma Chawal🇮🇳 Indian recipes · Dinner · 10 h 10 min
Mujadara🌍 Middle Eastern recipes · Dinner · 1 h 10 min
Gulasch🇩🇪 German recipes · Dinner · 3 h 45 min
Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers🌍 Mediterranean recipes · Dinner · 1 h 5 min
Shorbat Adas🌍 Middle Eastern recipes · Lunch · 55 min
Arroz e Feijão🇧🇷 Brazilian recipes · Dinner · 9 h 50 min
Boeuf Bourguignon🇫🇷 French recipes · Dinner · 4 h 10 min
Harvest Bowl🇺🇸 American recipes · Lunch · 1 h 20 min
Kuru Fasulye🇹🇷 Turkish recipes · Dinner · 10 h 45 min
Red Beans and Rice🇺🇸 American recipes · Dinner · 11 h 30 min
Sarmale🌍 Eastern European recipes · Dinner · 4 h 15 min
Ropa Vieja🌎 Caribbean recipes · Dinner · 3 h 25 min
Greek-style Chicken Bowl🌍 Mediterranean recipes · Lunch · 50 min
Rotkohl🇩🇪 German recipes · Side dish · 2 h 5 min
Planning a batch-cooking weekend
The long times on the bean recipes are mostly soaking. Rajma chawal, kuru fasulye and red beans and rice all begin the night before with at least eight hours in cold water, so soak on Friday or Saturday evening and cook the next day. Pulled pork spends six to seven hours in a 150°C oven and needs only a check every couple of hours, which leaves the hob free for a pot of beans or mujadara.
Salt kuru fasulye only once the beans are tender, since the sauce reduces a lot and early salt can leave it too salty. Rajma chawal, arroz e feijão and red beans and rice are all thickened by mashing some of the beans back into the pot, with no flour or cream.
Storing and reheating
Cool boeuf bourguignon completely before it goes in the fridge, keep it up to three days and reheat it gently on the hob. Sarmale are better the next day: cool them, refrigerate them overnight and reheat them slowly in the pot. Kuru fasulye is even better the next day, once the sauce has thickened around the beans.
Pulled pork freezes for three months and ropa vieja freezes well. Rotkohl, the sweet and sour red cabbage for roast pork, duck or goose, is better made a day or two ahead, and mujadara keeps four days and can be eaten cold.
Bowls that hold for four days
Bowls keep only if their parts stay apart. The Greek-style chicken bowl holds for four days with the chicken, lemon rice and toppings stored separately, but goes soggy by the second day once assembled. The harvest bowl keeps its wild rice, roasted vegetables, kale and dressing in separate containers for up to four days; slice the apple on the day so it stays crisp, and whisk the dressing again, since it separates in the fridge. Mediterranean stuffed peppers are as good cold the next day, which makes them worth doubling.
Frequently asked questions
- What are good fall meal prep recipes?
- Slow-cooked meat, bean pots and lentil dishes made in quantity. For meat there are pulled pork, boeuf bourguignon and gulasch; for beans, rajma chawal and arroz e feijão; for lentils, mujadara and shorbat adas, a red lentil soup blended smooth and finished with lemon. The beans in arroz e feijão are better on the second and third day, and Mediterranean stuffed peppers are as good cold the next day.
- Can you freeze pulled pork?
- Yes, for up to three months, and it keeps three days in the fridge. Store the meat undressed in its skimmed cooking juices, because separated from its liquid it dries out within a day. Reheat it covered at 150°C with a splash of stock, and toss it with the thin cider vinegar sauce as it warms rather than before you freeze it.
- How long does meal prep last in the fridge?
- It depends on the dish. Pulled pork and boeuf bourguignon keep three days, mujadara four, and the harvest bowl and Greek-style chicken bowl four as long as their parts are stored separately. Cool food before it goes in: boeuf bourguignon is cooled completely, and the harvest bowl’s wild rice is spread out so it cools quickly.
- Why do kidney beans need to be boiled hard?
- Raw red kidney beans contain a natural toxin that only a full boil destroys. Rajma chawal and red beans and rice both boil the soaked beans hard for 10 minutes before turning them down to a simmer; a gentle simmer from the start is not enough. After that, rajma chawal simmers for 1 to 1½ hours, or 20 minutes in a pressure cooker.