Weekly batch cooking menu: cook on Sunday for 5 days

Who is this menu for, and who is it not for?

It is for: people who have little time to cook every day during the week and want varied meals without improvising. It works whether you cook for one person or more; multiply the quantities accordingly. General guidance on weight loss is in our guide to losing fat and keeping it off.

It is not for: pregnancy or breastfeeding, diabetes treated with insulin, or chronic kidney disease. In those situations, your healthcare team should tailor your eating plan. If you have or have had an eating disorder, specialist psychological support comes before any menu.

The Monday-to-Friday menu, day by day

Have fruit or plain unsweetened yoghurt for dessert at lunch and dinner. Drink water. If you are not hungry mid-morning or mid-afternoon, you can skip that snack.

How to organise Sunday: your batch cooking session

You need an hour and a half, an oven and two burners. The order matters so that nothing cools while you wait for something else:

1. Heat the oven to 200 ºC. Meanwhile, wash and cut the aubergine and prepare the tray for roasting (20-25 minutes).
2. Start the pumpkin, leek and spinach soup in a saucepan: sauté the leek, add pumpkin and stock, and leave it to simmer while you work on the rest.
3. Bring water to the boil for the couscous and brown rice in two separate pans, or one after the other if only one is free.
4. Use a free burner to make the lentil stew with turkey pieces; it needs the longest cooking time.
5. When the soup is ready, blend it. Drain the couscous and the rice sautéed with onion.
6. Rinse the cooked chickpeas, season them with lemon juice and spices, and put them in the fridge.
7. Divide each base into individual portions in food containers. Let them cool before covering and keep them in the fridge for up to 2 days. Freeze the rest in individual portions on the same day: everything freezes well except cooked potato and eggs in their shells.

What goes in the fridge and what goes in the freezer: keep covered in the fridge for no more than 2 days one portion of soup and two portions each of couscous and aubergine, for Monday and Tuesday lunch. Freeze the other soup portion, rice, chickpeas, stew, and the third portions of couscous and aubergine on Sunday as soon as they have cooled. Move them to the fridge the night before you need them.

Quantities for each base for one person (multiply if cooking for more):

• Pumpkin, leek and spinach soup (2 portions, for Monday and Tuesday): 200 g pumpkin, 170 g leek, 100 g fresh or frozen spinach, 1 dessertspoon of extra virgin olive oil per portion, salt and pepper.
• Cooked couscous (3 portions, for Monday, Tuesday lunch and Friday dinner): 120 g dry couscous (40 g per portion as a side with protein), water, 1 dessertspoon olive oil per portion, salt and pepper. Refrigerate two portions (Monday and Tuesday) and freeze one (Friday).
• Brown rice with onion (2 portions, for Wednesday and Thursday): 80 g dry brown rice (40 g per portion as a side with protein), 1 onion, 1 dessertspoon olive oil per portion, salt and pepper.
• Roasted aubergine with garlic and parsley (3 portions, for Monday dinner and Tuesday and Thursday lunch): 2 medium aubergines, ½ green pepper, chopped garlic and parsley, 1 dessertspoon olive oil per portion. Refrigerate two portions (Monday and Tuesday) and freeze one (Thursday).
• Lemon-spiced chickpeas (2 portions, for Wednesday and Friday as a complete meal): 400 g cooked chickpeas (one large jar), juice of 1 lemon, oregano, basil and rosemary to taste, 1 to 1.5 tablespoons olive oil per portion.
• Lentil stew with turkey pieces (1 portion, freeze for Thursday as a complete meal): 70 g white cabbage, 20 g celery, 50 g carrot, 50 g leek, 50 g onion, 50 g chopped tomatoes, 80 g diced turkey breast, 60 g dried lentils (or 150 g cooked), 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper.

Shopping list for 5 days (one person)

Vegetables

• 1 small pumpkin and 2 leeks
• 200 g fresh or frozen spinach
• 2 medium aubergines and ½ green pepper
• 1 small broccoli
• Garlic and fresh or frozen parsley
• 70 g white cabbage, 20 g celery, 100 g carrot, 50 g onion and cherry tomatoes
• 1 lettuce or lamb’s lettuce for the green salad
• 1 avocado
• 1 small tin of tuna in water
• 1 lemon for dressing

Fruit

• 5 pieces of seasonal fruit for breakfast
• 1 lemon for recipes and dressings

Fishmonger and butcher

• 1 chicken breast
• 1 hake fillet
• 1 salmon fillet
• 1 sea bream fillet
• 1 lean beef steak
• 1 piece of turkey breast (80 g)
• 6 eggs

Pulses, grains and bread

• 1 large jar cooked chickpeas (400 g) and 60 g dried lentils (or 150 g cooked)
• 120 g couscous and 80 g brown rice
• 1 loaf of wholemeal bread
• 300 g oats

Dairy

• 3 plain unsweetened yoghurts
• 1 tub of fresh cheese
• Semi-skimmed milk, or an unsweetened plant-based drink with at least 3% protein if you use it in coffee

Pantry

• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon and 1 orange
• 2-3 plain or toasted walnuts per portion
• 750 ml homemade vegetable or chicken stock, or check the label to make sure it contains no celery or gluten
• 150 g chopped tomatoes
• A little soy sauce
• Oregano, basil, rosemary and spices to taste
• Olives

Helpful swaps

• If you do not like aubergine, use roasted courgette with the same oil and spices. It cooks in the same way and provides the same vegetable portion.
• If fresh fish does not suit you that week, use tuna or mackerel in water instead of hake, salmon or sea bream. They also provide protein and do not need cooking that day.
• If you are cooking for more than one person, multiply each base quantity by the number of portions and divide the lentil stew into one container per person.
• If the oven is busy on Sunday, cook the aubergine in a covered frying pan over medium heat for about 12-15 minutes.