Nine High-Protein Meals You Can Batch On A Sunday

Batch cooking fails for a predictable reason: people cook four identical portions of a finished dish, eat two, and lose interest. The fix is to batch components rather than meals, so that Thursday's lunch is not visibly Sunday's dinner.

These nine were developed and tested in our kitchen. Portion sizes assume one adult; protein figures are per portion.

The component method

Cook three bases (a grain, a pulse, a roasted vegetable tray), two proteins, and two sauces. Combined differently, that is nine distinct meals from about ninety minutes of work.

Store components in separate containers, dress at the point of eating, and keep anything crunchy entirely separate until the plate.

1-3. Built on the chicken tray

Harissa chicken with giant couscous (38g). Roast thighs with harissa, lemon and chickpeas; serve over couscous with yoghurt.

Chicken and white bean soup (34g). Shred the same chicken into stock with cannellini beans, kale and a parmesan rind.

Chopped salad with chicken and feta (36g). Cucumber, tomato, red onion, parsley, feta, chicken, lemon and olive oil.

4-6. Built on the lentil pot

Puy lentils with roasted squash and halloumi (31g). The squash comes off the roasting tray you were already using.

Lentil ragù with ricotta (33g). Standard soffritto, tinned tomatoes, cooked lentils, a spoon of ricotta on top.

Curried lentil and spinach dal with eggs (30g). Two soft-boiled eggs turn a side dish into a meal.

7-9. Fish, tofu and eggs

Salmon, brown rice and edamame bowl (40g). Cook the salmon from cold on the day; everything else is prepped.

Crispy tofu with peanut slaw (32g). Press, cornflour, air-fry. Keeps its texture better than any other tofu preparation we tested.

Baked shakshuka with feta (30g). The tomato base is the batch; the eggs go in fresh in eight minutes.

Storing it safely

Cool cooked food within two hours and refrigerate at or below 5°C. Cooked rice, poultry and pulses keep four days; cooked fish, two. Freeze anything you will not eat inside that window — most of these freeze well except the salads and the yoghurt-dressed dishes.

Reheat once, thoroughly, to steaming throughout.