Tess Rose Lampert is a New York City-based writer, beverage educator, and lover of savings. With over a decade in the alcoholic beverage industry, she strives to enhance consumers' everyday experiences with food and beverage through dynamic and interactive writings, educational seminars, and events.
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Big-batch cooking that can last a few days equals less time spent cooking and cleaning every day, and more time for binging TV series or tackling home improvement projects. These recipes are naturally easy to store for a few days, and most actually improve their flavor the longer they sit. Using a variety of kitchen staples, these dishes can be easily adapted to fit alternative dietary preferences and cover breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert.
This hearty recipe combines bread, eggs, and sausage for a one-pan breakfast. Powdered mustard adds a kick and extra flavor to elevate the dish. With ultimate ease and the convenience of overnight prepping, this is a classic worth incorporating into the weekly repertoire.
Recipe: Life Love & Sugar
Related: Easy Breakfast Casseroles to Start Your Morning Right
One of the most popular breakfasts in Mexico — and now for brunch in the U.S. — chilaquiles are a combination of fried tortillas with red or green sauce, not unlike a stovetop nacho casserole. There are infinite ways of putting the dish together, from frying tortillas to using chips, as well as making salsa from scratch or using a store-bought jar from the pantry. Typically served with beans, eggs, or meat, this is a feast appropriate for any time of day.
Recipe: Abuela’s Kitchen
All of the fun and deliciousness of French toast in a much easier one-pan dish, this might become a new favorite go-to. This recipe uses staples like bread and brown sugar to make a syrup for ultimate ease and the ability to whip up a dish of comfort food quickly. For best results, soak the bread in the pan with the custard mixture overnight.
Recipe: Cafe Delites
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While not the most exciting of breakfasts, oatmeal is cheap, nutritious, and can be customized with toppings and spices to keep flavors interesting. Making a large batch in the slow cooker eliminates the daily hassle of boiling oats, leaving more time for creatively dressing them up with anything from berry compote to the occasional indulgence of chocolate chips.
Recipe: Well Plated
Related: 20 Ways to Jazz Up Your Oatmeal
Who doesn’t want mac and cheese for days? Making it in the slow cooker is as easy as pushing a button — literally. All of the ingredients go into the slow cooker and, as if by magic, turn the ingredients into a creamy, delicious big batch of comfort food. The only catch is that you have to check the pasta after two hours, rechecking every 20 minutes for up to an hour, to catch the pasta at its ideal texture.
Recipe: Delish
There’s nothing quite as cozy as beef stew, which seems to get better and better with each day that passes. Since it is so hearty, a small portion can be an entire meal. This classic recipe is full of veggies and a touch of red wine to add extra richness and flavor to the stew.
Recipe: Damn Delicious
Boiled pasta dishes are best served fresh and hot, to take advantage of the al dente texture — which means they are not ideal for reheating and eating for a few days. Baked pasta dishes, on the other hand, are just as good as other casseroles day after day. This traditional dish is a craveable blend of pasta, red sauce, and cheese, and is always a crowd pleaser.
Recipe: My Food & Family
This easy lasagna recipe is just as satisfying as any other, so why not make it simple? One tip is to include regular noodles and add extra sauce so they cook in the oven, avoiding the often overcooked no-boil noodles and the hassle of pre-boiling. Made with pantry staple sauce or dressed up canned tomatoes, this dish comes together quickly.
Recipe: The Kitchn
This turkey chili uses plenty of healthy and flavorful ingredients like cayenne, onions, corn, beans, and cumin for a dish that is as flavorful as it is filling. Substitute more beans or mushrooms for a veggie version, or choose another meat of your choice to customize this dish. One of the best characteristics of chili is that the longer it sits, the more flavorful it becomes.
Recipe: Ambitious Kitchen
The key to enchiladas is to coat heated tortillas in sauce before rolling them up and baking them in the oven. Essentially, any sauce and filling plus tortillas and some cheese on top will work. If you can’t find ingredients for homemade salsa, a premade one is fine. Likewise, feel free to switch up the filling for alternatives like cheese, beans, rice, or mushrooms.
Recipe: My Latina Table
Tamales are delicious but a pain to make, which is why they are usually a special occasion food that the entire family helps out with. This tamale pie is simple and offers the same great flavors as tamales with a cornbread topping and base of spiced, ground beef and veggies. The best way to make this is in a cast iron pan, which makes it easy to reheat. Another bonus — it’s naturally gluten-free.
Recipe: A Spicy Perspective
This dish incorporates the flavor of a loaded cheeseburger in an easy to make big-batch casserole that will last for days. The ingredients that elevate this dish to cheeseburger status, rather than just a beefy cheesy pasta bake, are the mustard and the pickles on top. Adding favorite toppings into the mix, like bacon or hot peppers, isn’t a bad idea, either.
Recipe: Gimme Delicious
Big-batch meals for the week can be fancy, too. This recipe is ideal if you are thinking about opening a bottle of wine. When it comes to classic French cuisine, Julia Child is an undisputed champion whose recipes actually cater to a contemporary home cook not looking to overcomplicate things. Any red wine works for this recipe, and substituting dry herbs for fresh also works well.
Recipe: Tablespoon
This one-dish meal is straight from the old country, where a large portion would be prepared and enjoyed for a few days. A ground beef mixture is wrapped in cabbage and smothered in red sauce for a casserole-like finished product. Vegetarians can easily omit the meat or replace with mushrooms or other meat alternatives.
Recipe: Bon Appetit
This vegan and gluten-free stew has an ingredient list that sounds like a root cellar, full of onions, carrots, potatoes, and celery. Herbs like thyme and basil add layers of complimentary flavor, though the subtle cooked vegetable base lends itself well to adding your own blend of spices to make it your own, like garlic, smoked paprika, or cumin.
Recipe: Recipe Land
You don’t have to get takeout to enjoy your favorite American Indian dish since it’s actually very easy to make. With just 5 ingredients, this can become a weekly staple. The caveat: one of the ingredients is a masala paste that you make once and can freeze for using in the future. In a pinch, dried spices can also work.
Recipe: Pinch Of Yum
Close to a Mexican take on chili, this dish is all about beans and meat stewed together to create a delicious and filling one-bowl meal. The ingredients are highly customizable to work around what you have. Like most other stews, the longer this sits, the more flavorful it becomes.
Recipe: Mexico In My Kitchen
This casserole is halfway between breakfast and dessert. The best bread for bread pudding is old, stale bread, which also saves it from the garbage. Easy to adapt, this classic recipe is simple and straightforward leaving plenty of room for creative additions and substitutions on top of the basics: bread, eggs, milk, sweetener, and fat.
Recipe: Martha Stewart
Related: 25 Simple Depression-Era Desserts That Actually Are Indulgent
This gluten-free indulgence is easy to make, and made even easier in the slow cooker. Those looking for a vegan version can use coconut milk instead of dairy. Try using rice pudding in place of ice cream with traditional toppings like nuts, berries, and even chocolate sauce for fresh takes.
Recipe: The Country Cook
Stewed berries are a versatile staple to keep on hand. They can be used to top anything from ice cream to pancakes, stirred into baked goods, swirled into yogurt, and so much more. Using frozen berries makes this an anytime recipe that is as healthy as it is delicious.
Recipe: Pick Up Limes
Just like an apple pie without the crust, this recipe works well with any apples, even those that are past their prime. These cooked apples keep a long time in the fridge, and can be enjoyed as a snack, breakfast, or dessert. For those who want maximum indulgence, pair an apple with vanilla ice cream and calvados.
Recipe: Simply Recipes
