Cooking dinner from scratch every evening can take up a surprising amount of time, especially when you’re feeding a large family.
I hadn’t done a proper meal-prepping session in ages, and I had really started to notice the difference. Preparing dinner each evening can easily take a couple of hours once you include chopping, cooking and clearing everything away.
So I decided it was time to get back into one of the habits that has helped me enormously over the years: bulk meal prepping.
This time, my goal was to prepare 10 family meals in one day.
I didn’t completely cook ten separate dinners. Instead, I concentrated on doing the time-consuming parts in advance. Some meals were fully assembled and ready for the freezer, while others were sauces, marinades and proteins that could quickly be turned into a fresh dinner later.
It was a lot of work for one day, but afterwards I had a freezer full of homemade food ready to make life easier.
What I Prepared
My meal-prep day included:
- Homemade vegetable pasta sauce
- Four portions of homemade curry sauce
- Fish pie
- Chicken tikka skewers
- Peri-peri chicken and vegetables
- Lamb kebabs
- Cheese, onion & sausage quiche
Because the large batch of curry sauce makes enough base for four separate curries, this gives me the foundation for around 10 family meals.
Let’s get prepping!
1. Homemade Vegetable Pasta Sauce
One of my favourite ways to meal prep is to make the time-consuming part of a meal rather than the entire dinner.
With this sauce already prepared, I can decide on the day whether I want to add chicken, tuna or something else.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp sunflower oil
- 2 onions, diced
- 300g broccoli florets
- 150g mushrooms
- 1kg passata
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp mixed herbs
- ½ tsp ground white pepper
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
Method
Heat the sunflower oil in a large pan and add the diced onions, broccoli and mushrooms.
Cook until the vegetables have started to soften.
Pour in the passata before adding the salt, garlic granules, paprika, mixed herbs, white pepper and cayenne.
Stir everything together and allow the sauce to cook until the vegetables are tender and the flavours have combined.
Leave the sauce to cool completely.
I divided mine between two freezer bags before freezing. When I want to make the meal, I can cook some chicken or another protein, add my homemade sauce and finish with freshly cooked pasta.
It’s almost as convenient as opening a jar — except you’ve already made the sauce yourself!
2. Big Batch Curry Sauce
This is probably one of the most useful things I prepare in bulk.
Rather than chopping onions and tomatoes and measuring spices every time I fancy a curry, I can do the hard work once and divide the sauce into four portions.
Ingredients
- 10 medium onions, sliced
- 1 cup sunflower oil
- 14 tomatoes, quartered
- 2 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 8 cloves
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 4 tbsp garlic & ginger paste
- 2 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
Method
Heat the sunflower oil in a very large pan.
Add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, cloves, cardamom pods, bay leaves and fennel seeds. Allow the whole spices to roast briefly in the oil.
Add the sliced onions and cook until beautifully soft and browned.
Next, add the tomatoes and continue cooking until they have completely softened. If the mixture begins sticking to the bottom of the pan, add a little water.
Add the garlic & ginger paste, followed by all of the powdered spices and salt.
Stir thoroughly and then remove from the heat.
Allow the sauce to cool completely before dividing it into four freezer-safe containers.
On the day you want a curry, you already have the most time-consuming part prepared. Simply add your chosen meat or vegetables and finish the curry.
I kept one portion out and used it to make our chicken curry that evening.
3. Homemade Fish Pie
Fish pie is perfect for freezer meal prep because you can assemble the whole dish in advance.
Ingredients
For the fish filling
- 1kg cod fillets
- 350g frozen mixed vegetables
- 600ml whole milk
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 25g butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp coarse black pepper
- 1 tsp onion granules
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 100g mature cheddar
For the mash
- 2kg white potatoes
- 25g butter
- 3 tbsp double cream
- Sprinkle of salt
- Sprinkle of coarse black pepper
For the top
- 50g grated mature cheddar
- Mixed herbs, optional
Method
Peel and chop the potatoes. Cover with cold water, season with a little salt and boil until completely tender.
Cook the frozen mixed vegetables separately.
Meanwhile, pour the milk into a pan and add the cod. Bring it to the boil and gently cook the fish.
Add the cooked vegetables and cook everything together for a few minutes.
Remove the fish and vegetables from the milk and set them aside.
In the same pan, melt 25g butter and stir in the plain flour to form a paste.
Gradually return the reserved milk to the pan, stirring as you go.
Bring the sauce towards a boil. As it heats, it should begin to thicken.
Add the salt, pepper, onion granules and garlic granules before stirring in 100g grated mature cheddar.
For the mash, drain the potatoes and add the butter, double cream, salt and pepper. Mash until smooth.
Combine the fish and vegetables with the cheese sauce and transfer to a freezer-friendly baking dish.
Spread the mashed potato over the top and use a fork to make lines across the surface.
Finish with the remaining grated cheese and, if you like, a sprinkling of mixed herbs.
Allow it to cool completely before covering and freezing.
4. Chicken Tikka Skewers
These are brilliant to have prepared in the freezer because all of the messy chopping and marinating has already been done.
Ingredients
- 1.25kg chicken breast, cut into chunks
- ½ cup low-fat natural yoghurt
- 3 tbsp tandoori masala
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp garlic & ginger paste
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
Method
Combine the yoghurt, tandoori masala, garam masala, salt, lemon juice, garlic & ginger paste, sunflower oil, chilli powder, paprika and turmeric.
Add the chicken chunks and coat them thoroughly in the marinade.
Leave the chicken to marinate.
Thread the pieces onto skewers and arrange them on a baking-paper-lined tray.
I froze mine on the tray so they were ready for a future meal.
5. Peri-Peri Chicken & Vegetable Bake
This is another meal where I prepared the components rather than cooking the finished dinner.
Peri-Peri Chicken Ingredients
- 2kg skin-on chicken thighs & wings
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp onion granules
- 1 tbsp garlic granules
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 4 tbsp lemon juice
- 4 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tsp salt
You’ll also need
A selection of vegetables. I used Mediterranean-style vegetables including:
- Aubergine
- Courgette
- Mushrooms
- Bell pepper
- Red onion
- Cherry tomatoes
Method
Cut slits into the chicken thighs to help the marinade penetrate the meat.
Combine the smoked paprika, cayenne, onion granules, garlic granules, oregano, lemon juice, sunflower oil and salt.
Coat the chicken thoroughly and leave it to marinate.
Chop all of the vegetables into pieces and store them separately.
When you’re ready to cook dinner, spread the vegetables over a roasting dish and arrange the marinated peri-peri chicken on top.
As everything roasts, the juices and marinade from the chicken flavour the vegetables underneath.
Very little work on the actual day!
6. Lamb Kebabs
Kebabs are something I regularly include in my meal prep because they’re versatile and easy to prepare in large quantities.
Ingredients
- 1kg lamb mince
- 1 onion
- 1 tomato
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp garlic & ginger paste
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ cup gram flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp salt
Method
Process the onion and tomato until finely chopped.
Add them to a large bowl with the lamb mince.
Add the smoked paprika, garam masala, cumin, garlic & ginger paste, lemon juice, gram flour, egg and salt.
Mix everything thoroughly.
For this batch, I shaped the kebab mixture around barbecue skewers.
I stacked the prepared kebabs with baking paper between them before putting them into the freezer.
7. Cheese, Onion & Sausage Quiche
For my final big meal-prep dish, I made a large family-sized quiche rather than a smaller traditional round one.
For the Base
- 2 cups plain flour
- ½ cup sunflower oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp coarse black pepper
- Water as needed
For the Filling
- 2 red onions, thinly sliced
- 160g mozzarella, grated
- 160g Red Leicester, grated
- 5 sausages, chopped
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp mixed herbs
For the Top
- 1 egg
- Sliced cherry tomatoes
Method
Combine the flour, sunflower oil, salt and pepper.
Gradually add enough water to bring everything together into a dough.
Roll the dough out to approximately the size of your baking dish and press it into the dish. I used a fork around the edges to tidy mine up.
Place the sliced red onions in a microwave-safe bowl with a little water and microwave for around one minute to soften them.
Combine the onions, mozzarella, Red Leicester, chopped sausages, eggs and mixed herbs.
Spread the filling evenly over the quiche base.
Finish with the remaining egg and sliced cherry tomatoes.
I covered the assembled quiche and froze it ready for another day.
How This Meal Prep Gives Me 10 Family Meals
The clever part of this meal prep isn’t making ten completely different cooked dinners.
The big batch of curry sauce alone gives me the base for four curries. I can change what I add each time — chicken, lamb, mince, potatoes or vegetables — so we’re not necessarily eating the same curry four times.
Alongside those curry bases, I’ve prepared pasta sauce, fish pie, chicken tikka skewers, peri-peri chicken, lamb kebabs and a large quiche.
That’s 10 future family dinners with much of the hard work already done.
Why I Want to Get Back Into Meal Prepping
I’d forgotten how much difference meal prep makes.
When you’re cooking for a large family, preparing a fresh dinner every evening isn’t just the actual cooking. There’s chopping onions, preparing meat, measuring spices, making sauces, washing up and clearing the kitchen afterwards.
Doing some of those jobs in one big session means that on a busy weekday I can open the freezer and already have the foundation of dinner waiting for me.
And meal prep doesn’t have to mean eating reheated meals all week.
That’s actually why I like this style of component meal prepping. Some dishes are completely assembled, while others just have the most inconvenient parts prepared.
You can still cook and serve something that feels freshly made without starting from zero every evening.
A Few Tips for Large Family Meal Prep
If you’re thinking about trying a big meal-prep day yourself, I’d recommend starting smaller if you’re not used to it. Even preparing three or four dinners can make a huge difference.
Make sauces in large batches, because chopping and cooking onions and tomatoes repeatedly takes time. Marinade meat before freezing so it’s already flavoured and ready to cook. Prepare dishes such as pies and quiches in freezer-friendly containers, and make sure cooked foods have cooled properly before putting them into the freezer.
And don’t worry about making everything look perfect!
By the end of this particular meal-prep day, I was definitely tired. The point isn’t to produce ten beautiful Instagram-worthy meals. It’s to make the next week or two easier.
For me, that’s what makes the hard work worth it.
Would you spend one busy day in the kitchen if it meant having 10 family meals mostly prepared afterwards? 💕
