How to Cook in Bulk to Save Money

Time is money. Thus time is probably the number one reason why people go out to eat. They don’t want to spend time grocery shopping, prepping, cooking, cleaning and putting things away. It can take a lot of time. If your time is worth a lot, you may actually be better off not cooking. But what if you could drastically reduce the amount of time you spend cooking? What then? Could you eat for less without sacrificing much time?

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The way to do this is by cooking in bulk.

 

It’s simple really. It’s just like scaling a business. Once you have a basic formula and proof of concept, you can keep stacking.

 

When cooking, it’s important to think ahead. Cook for more than just one small meal. Make enough to last a week.

 

I began cooking in bulk. I save tons of money and more importantly, tons of time. I cook the most food on the weekends when I make the time to do it. On the weekdays, I usually just want to eat and get on with life.

 

The process of cooking in bulk is simple. To start, buy in bulk. The bigger the buys, the better. It’s cheaper and easier than cracking open ten tiny cups of tomato sauce vs one big 36-ouncer.

 

Next, find recipes that work well as leftovers. Then you’ll be happy to eat them. You don’t want to feel like you’re sacrificing anything here.

 

Tomato-based recipes are really good as leftovers. Think chili, enchiladas, etc.

 

Then you want to cook when you have at least three hours at home. This gives you time to prepare, cook big batches, portion everything out and then put everything into the fridge/freezer without it being warm. Never put warm food into a refrigerator or freezer. It’ll cause the unit to work overtime. This will waste a lot of power. If the unit can’t keep up, everything in the fridge can spoil. This happened to my mom one time after Thanksgiving. She rushed to put everything away and things ended up spoiling since the fridge temp was raised so high.

 

Spend those three hours cooking like a pro. This means being in the kitchen at all times. You’ll also end up using lots of utensils, bowls, etc. Don’t worry about this. I’ve found that worrying about this hinders your ability to cook quickly and with joy.

 

Always keep your phone or a laptop in the kitchen. If you run out of an ingredient, Google replacement alternatives. There’s an alternative to everything. Going back to the store is a non-option if you want to cook in bulk like a money-saving master.

 

Keep things going one after the other. Fill your oven. Fill the dishwasher. Whatever you do, do it big. By consolidating these activities, it’ll save you money. IE: Instead of heating up the oven over and over, keep things at the same temp and fill it full. I also don’t preheat it. It’s just a waste of energy to me. Take advantage of all the heat. And there’s also no need to open the oven door once it’s finally up to temperature. It also simplifies things, not having to run to the oven to preheat and to cook.

 

Make sure to have tons of storage containers as well. All sizes. The last thing you want to do is avoid cooking in bulk just because you don’t have enough containers. Also make sure you have enough fridge/freezer space before making big batches. They need a place to go, after all.

 

To make quick and cheap meals, I do so like this. Start with a protein. I workout alot and care about staying lean so I prefer turkey, tofu, chicken breasts and sometimes I’ll do some lean beef or pork. Then I move to vegetables. I use frozen veggies because they’re super easy and taste great. Then I add other ingredients until i have a complete meal. It’s surprising how simple recipes can rival the taste of complicated recipes that ask for things like “½ tsp of organic oregano” bleh.

 

That’s how to cook in bulk to save green. It’s a huge money saver than anyone with a decent sized kitchen can do. It saves me tons of time and money. I couldn’t imagine living any other way. Except if I were to have a personal chef. I could get used to that I suppose!