School holidays are lovely, but there is one thing I always notice when all the children are at home — everyone seems to be hungry all the time!
Breakfast is barely finished before somebody is asking what’s for lunch, and before you know it you’re back in the kitchen preparing another meal or snack.
So before the holidays began, I decided to get ahead with a big family meal-prep session and fill the freezer with some easy breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks.
I’ll admit, I enjoy the idea of having a freezer full of prepared food much more than I enjoy the actual process of making it all! But once it’s done, I’m always glad I made the effort.
For this holiday meal prep I prepared chicken spring rolls, tandoori chicken legs, lamb mince burritos, chicken and mushroom pie, breakfast muffins, cheesy chicken nuggets, chicken breast strips and a big batch of homemade curry base.
Here is everything I made.
1. Chicken & Potato Spring Rolls
Spring rolls are always popular in our house, so these were an obvious choice for the freezer.
Ingredients
- 500g chicken mince
- 600g potatoes
- 3 spring onions
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 1 tablespoon tomato purée
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 3 tablespoons sweetcorn
- Spring roll pastry sheets
- Plain flour and water, for sealing
Method
Peel and chop the potatoes and boil until softened.
Cook the chicken mince until white and most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the tomato purée, salt and black pepper, followed by the cooked potatoes.
Add the chopped spring onions, sweetcorn and lemon juice and mix everything together.
Use a potato masher to mash the filling slightly. I find this makes it much easier to fill and roll the spring rolls.
To make a simple paste for sealing the pastry, mix a little plain flour with water.
Fill and roll the spring rolls, seal and then transfer to freezer bags.
I made almost 30 spring rolls in this particular batch, so that’s plenty of easy snacks sorted for the holidays!
2. Tandoori Chicken Legs
Marinating meat is one of the easiest types of meal prep because it takes very little time but saves you a job later.
Ingredients
- 9 chicken legs with skin
- ½ cup yoghurt
- 4 tablespoons tandoori masala
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon garlic & ginger paste
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
Method
Add the yoghurt, tandoori masala, lemon juice, salt, chilli powder, turmeric, garlic & ginger paste and sunflower oil to a large bowl.
Whisk everything together to make the marinade.
Add the chicken legs and coat them thoroughly in the mixture.
Transfer the marinated chicken to a freezer bag ready to freeze for another meal.
That’s dinner partly prepared without actually having to cook anything!
3. Lamb Mince & Bean Burritos
I seem to find a way to include tortilla wraps in most of my big meal preps, and this time it was burritos.
They’re particularly handy because everyone can grab one when they need something filling.
Ingredients
- 450g lamb mince
- 2 x 395g tins taco mixed beans
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic granules
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Tortilla wraps
- Grated cheese
- Chilli sauce, optional
Method
Cook the lamb mince until browned and most of the excess liquid has evaporated.
Add the salt and spices and mix well.
Stir in the taco mixed beans and allow everything to heat through.
Lay out the tortilla wraps and add some of the lamb and bean mixture to each one.
Top with grated cheese and add chilli sauce if you like a bit of extra spice. I left the chilli sauce out of some of ours for the younger children.
Fold the tortillas into burritos and wrap each one individually in greaseproof or baking paper before placing them into freezer bags.
4. Easy Chicken & Mushroom Pie
This was a bit of a cheat’s chicken pie, but it turned out really well.
I’m all for shortcuts when you’re trying to prepare this much food!
Ingredients
- 500g chicken breast, cut into pieces
- 300g frozen mixed vegetables
- 400g tin cream of mushroom soup
- 1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 1 red onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic & ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning
- 100g soft cheese
Method
Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the chicken pieces.
Cook until the chicken has turned white and most of the excess liquid has evaporated.
Add the frozen vegetables and cook until defrosted, followed by the diced red onion.
Add the salt, pepper, garlic & ginger paste and Italian herbs.
Then comes my shortcut: a tin of cream of mushroom soup.
Stir this into the chicken mixture along with the soft cheese to create a lovely creamy filling.
Transfer the filling to an oven dish and cover with the ready-rolled puff pastry.
A very simple family dinner with considerably less work than making everything from scratch.
5. Egg & Cheese Breakfast Muffins
Meal prep doesn’t have to be all about dinner. Having a few breakfasts prepared can be just as useful.
These egg and cheese breakfast muffins were incredibly simple.
I cooked eggs into round shapes, sliced some breakfast muffins and spread them with a little olive spread.
I then topped each muffin with an egg and a slice of cheese before packing them away.
That’s one more breakfast option ready for the holidays.
6. Homemade Cheesy Chicken Nuggets
I hadn’t actually made these before this meal-prep session, but I thought they’d make a great easy lunch for the children.
Ingredients
- 450g chicken mince
- ½ cup grated cheese
- 1 spring onion
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic & ginger paste
- 1 egg
- Golden breadcrumbs, for coating
Method
Add the chicken mince, grated cheese, chopped spring onion, salt, paprika, Italian herbs, garlic & ginger paste and egg to a bowl.
Mix everything together thoroughly.
I placed the mixture in the fridge for a little while before shaping it. Chilling it helps firm the mixture up and makes it easier to handle.
Shape into nugget-sized pieces and coat each one in breadcrumbs.
They’re then ready to store for an easy lunch another day.
7. Pan-Fried Chicken Breast Strips
Not everything I prepare needs to be a complete meal.
Sometimes having one useful ingredient already cooked is enough to make lunches much easier.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts (approximately 500g)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic granules
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Method
Mix the salt, pepper, garlic granules, ginger, chilli flakes, olive oil and lemon juice together.
Coat the chicken breasts in the mixture and leave them to marinate for a little while.
Cook the chicken thoroughly in a pan.
Once cooked, slice into strips and transfer to a container for the fridge or freezer.
You can then use the chicken for sandwiches, wraps or salads without having to cook something from scratch every lunchtime.
8. Homemade Curry Base (Tharka)
This is probably one of the most useful things I batch prepare.
Rather than making an entire curry in advance, I prepare the base of the curry and freeze it in portions.
Then on the day we’re having curry, I can add chicken, lamb, fish or vegetables and much of the preparation has already been done.
Ingredients
- 8 onions
- 14 tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons garlic & ginger paste
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons ground coriander
- 2 tablespoons garam masala
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 2 tablespoons cumin seeds
- 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
Method
Chop the onions and cook until lovely and soft.
Dice the tomatoes, add them to the onions and allow everything to cook down thoroughly. I let mine cook for around 45 minutes so the onions and tomatoes had plenty of time to soften.
Add the garlic & ginger paste, salt and spices and mix everything together.
Once cooked, allow the curry base to cool.
This batch made enough for approximately four curries. I divided mine into four portions, froze three and kept one portion to use that day.
When you want to make a curry, take out a portion of your tharka and add whatever meat, fish or vegetables you’re using.
It’s such a simple shortcut, but it saves me a lot of time.
Meal Prep Doesn’t Have to Mean Complete Meals
One thing I’ve learnt from meal prepping for a large family is that you don’t necessarily need to prepare complete meals.
A freezer full of identical containers isn’t the only way to meal prep!
For me, it’s often more useful to have a mixture of:
- breakfasts that can be grabbed quickly
- easy lunches for the children
- homemade snacks
- marinated meat ready to cook
- burritos and spring rolls in the freezer
- cooked chicken ready for sandwiches and salads
- curry bases that turn into different dinners
This gives us variety while still cutting down the amount of work I have to do each day.
Is Holiday Meal Prep Worth It?
For our family, definitely.
When the children are at school or college, our days have a natural routine. During the holidays, everyone is home at different times and somebody always seems to be looking for something to eat!
Without any preparation, I can end up spending a surprising amount of the day deciding what to make, preparing it and then cleaning the kitchen — only for somebody to announce that they’re hungry again.
Having even a few homemade options waiting in the freezer makes things much easier.
And you certainly don’t need to prepare eight different things in one day.
If you’re new to holiday meal prep, start with two or three foods your family eats regularly. Even a batch of burritos, some marinated chicken and a few breakfast muffins could save you a lot of time.
For me, the hard work is worth it when I can open the freezer during the holidays and realise that at least one thing is already sorted!
