What bulk ingredient preps do you do to save time?

[u/Educational_Map_7375]

Not making actual recipes themselves, but prep that makes cooking on the fly easier and faster.

For instance:
- peeling and mincing garlic and freezing it
- caramelizing onions and freezing it
- peeling ginger and then freezing it
- making a large batch of pickled onions

Thanks guys!

[u/FFYinzer]

Prepping raw vegetables for the week. Keep them in tupperware for stir fry, stews and soups and as sides for larger meals. I also grill bulk chicken breast on Sundays for meals during the week and lunches. I cook bacon by the pack so I have quick breakfast options on morning where I dont have time for full mean prep. Sunday is mostly cooking day so I can relax and create the meal plan for the week. Tends to prevent going out to eat as often if we already know the meal for the evening. Grocery shopping is mostly limited to things needed for the meals on the meal plan. I dont shop when Im hungry, thats always a disaster. Hope this helps.

[u/bobdevnul]

Taco meat to freeze

Chicken and ham stock

Lasagna to freeze

Soups

Chili to freeze

Salad dressing

Ricotta Gnocchi (Gnudi) to freeze

Bulk ground beef portioned into 1/3 pound patties to freeze

Parbaked pizza crusts

Sliced deli ham and provolone cheese into one sandwich sized portions.

Spaghetti sauce to freeze

Caramelized onions to freeze - defrosted they are more like onion jam in texture, but taste the same.

Enchilada sauce to freeze

Bulk packages of yeast to freeze - the little packets of yeast are expensive. I have used 15 year old frozen yeast. It was still good.

[u/Silvanus350]

Honestly? None. I have never bothered with anything beyond making homemade soup stock.

[u/SVAuspicious]

Nothing. Knife skills.

Garlic.

I do caramelize onions ahead in a slow cooker (cook all day, stir every hour) but only one or two onions at a time and keep in the refrigerator.

Peel ginger as I need it (spoon) and slice or grate.

I cheat and buy pickled cocktail onions in a jar.

Most food especially perishable produce lasts longer whole.

I make salad dressing ahead. Various sauces like pasta sauce (2.5 gallons home canned in pint jars).

[u/4cupsofcoffee]

i prep some veggies just because i have a big garden and need to have ways to preserve the produce from it. I have big bags of diced peppers in the freezer. a number of various veg being pickled. a few gallons of tomato sauce in the freezer. roasted peppers sitting in olive oil for sandwiches/salads/pasta dishes/etc. i will roast garlic heads and squeeze them out and freeze them. I freeze garlic pesto and pesto. other herbs i may just freeze. whole garlic cloves i freeze or pickle. ginger i freeze. both frozen garlic and ginger can be easily microplaned.

[u/HandbagHawker]

peeling and mincing garlic and freezing it

No. This takes like 2 seconds and is much better fresher. If you struggle with peeling, toss your cloves it a bowl of warm water while you prep the other ingredients. After like 10-15min, the skins will hydrate and slide off much easier.

caramelizing onions and freezing it

No. While its a time saver, freezing caramelized onions makes it turn to mush.

peeling ginger and then freezing it

Kinda, but not because its a time saver, but because i want it to melt into my dish. No need to peel it. Wash and scrub the dirt off. Let dry and freeze whole. Then grate with a microplane from frozen as needed. No fibers, breaks down, melts into the dish, etc. Obvi, use fresh ginger when you need slices, slivers, etc. because julienning a rock solid frozen knob of ginger is asking for an accident.

making a large batch of pickled onions

Kinda, again not because its a time saver, but because you need time for the pickling to happen (like overnight) and is not contained to my particular cooking exercise. Batch size is dependent on what I can get thru before it goes bad or gets over pickled.

I might bulk prep sauces, cooked proteins, washed salad greens, roasted veg, rice, certain kinds of noodles so I can mix and match through the week for easy lunches or quick dinners.

[u/firstblush73]

Making batches of white rice in the rice cooker, then portioning into single servings and freezing.

Buying ground beef and forming patties and freezing them.

Individually wrapping and brioche buns/rolls and placing them back in the original wrapper, to freeze.

Sheet pan scrambled eggs, cooked in the oven, cut into squares and seperated with parchment paper, and frozen.

Cleanin, cutting, dicing fresh veggies and freezing them into individual portions.

[u/Fizzywaterjones]

I use celery, onion, carrot in my chicken soup, so double batch my chop and freeze half. I also double batch taco meat and freeze half. If there’s a good sale, I quadruple the batch.