Mexican recipes for batch cooking: cook once, eat all week

Mexican food all week without cooking every day

Batch cooking (preparing food in bulk for several days) is a trend that Mexican cooking has always practised. Mexican grandmothers did not call it batch cooking - they called it “cooking on Sundays”. Beans for the whole week. Salsa that lasts in the fridge. Rice that reheats. Stewed meat that is better the next day.

Mexican cooking is, by its very nature, perfect for batch cooking: beans improve with time, salsas keep well, meat stews freeze without losing flavour, and everything can be turned into different dishes throughout the week with a little creativity.

Here is a complete plan for cooking on Sunday and eating Mexican from Monday to Friday.

Sunday prep day: 4 hours worth their weight in gold

Hour 1: Beans and rice (the bases)

Black beans (makes 5-6 portions):

• 500g of dried black beans, soaked the night before
• 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves, 1 sprig of epazote (or coriander)
• Salt to taste

Put the beans in a pressure cooker with water to cover by 5 cm, plus onion, garlic and epazote. Cook for 35-40 minutes from the moment the valve rises. Or in a normal pot, 2-2.5 hours over a low heat. Salt at the end. Store in their broth in glass containers.

Mexican red rice (makes 5-6 portions):

• 2 cups of long-grain rice
• 2 tomatoes, ¼ onion, 1 garlic clove
• 3 cups of chicken stock
• Oil, salt, cumin

Blend the tomato with onion and garlic. Fry the rice in oil until golden (3-4 minutes). Add the tomato sauce and cook for 2 minutes. Add the hot stock, salt and cumin. Cover and cook over a low heat for 18 minutes without lifting the lid. Leave to rest for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Hour 2: Proteins (slow cooking)

Chicken tinga (makes 4-5 portions):

• 600g of chicken breast
• 3 tomatoes, 2 chipotles in adobo, ½ onion, 2 garlic cloves
• Oil, oregano, salt

Boil the chicken in salted water with onion and garlic for 25 minutes. Shred. Blend the tomatoes with the chipotles, onion and garlic. Fry this salsa in oil for 5 minutes, add the shredded chicken and oregano. Cook for a further 10 minutes. Tinga freezes perfectly.

Quick carnitas (makes 5-6 portions):

• 1 kg of pork shoulder cut into large pieces
• 1 orange (juice), 1 onion, 4 garlic cloves
• Cumin, oregano, salt, pepper
• Lard or oil

Place the pork in a pot with the lard, orange juice, onion, garlic and spices. Cover with just enough water. Cook over a medium-low heat for 2.5-3 hours until the water evaporates and the meat begins to fry in its own fat. Shred and brown in the resulting fat. Freeze in portions.

Hour 3: Base salsas

Salsa verde (lasts 7-10 days in the fridge):

• 500g of tomatillos (tinned or fresh), 3-4 serrano chillies (or green chillies), coriander, onion, garlic, salt

Boil the tomatillos and chillies for 10 minutes. Blend with coriander, onion, garlic and salt. Store in a glass jar.

Salsa roja (lasts 7-10 days):

• 3 roasted tomatoes, 3 toasted chiles de árbol (or dried red chillies), roasted garlic, salt

Roast everything, blend and strain. Store in a jar.

Guacamole for 2-3 days:

Guacamole does not last more than 2-3 days even with lime. Make it on Sunday for Monday-Tuesday and make another batch on Wednesday. Storage trick: press cling film directly onto the surface of the guacamole (with no air in between) and refrigerate.

Hour 4: Complementary preparations

• Pico de gallo: Tomato, onion, coriander, chilli, lime and salt. Chop and mix. Lasts 3-4 days.
• Pickled onion: Red onion in rings, cider vinegar, oregano, salt. Ready in 2 hours. Lasts weeks.
• Tortillas: If you have masa harina, make dough for the week and store it wrapped in cling film in the fridge. Each day you only need to press and cook (2 minutes).

The weekly menu: 5 days, 5 different dishes

Monday: Tinga tostadas

Heat the chicken tinga. Spread refried beans (the batch beans mashed with a little oil in a pan) over corn tostadas. Top with tinga, sour cream, shredded lettuce and grated cheese. Prep time: 10 minutes.

Tuesday: Carnitas burritos

Heat the carnitas in a pan until browned. Warm the flour tortillas. Fill with carnitas, red rice, beans, guacamole, pico de gallo and salsa verde. Roll up. Time: 12 minutes.

Wednesday: Mexican bowl

Red rice as a base, whole black beans, chicken tinga, sliced avocado, fresh pico de gallo (second batch), queso fresco, coriander and a drizzle of salsa verde. Time: 8 minutes.

Thursday: Carnitas quesadillas

Corn or flour tortillas with reheated carnitas and cheese (mozzarella as a substitute for Oaxaca cheese). Fold and brown in a pan until crisp. Serve with salsa roja, cream and pickled onion. Time: 10 minutes.

Friday: Green enchiladas

Heat the salsa verde in a pan. Pass the tortillas through the salsa, fill them with tinga or carnitas (whatever is left), arrange them in an ovenproof dish, bathe with more salsa verde, cover with grated cheese and grill for 10 minutes at 200°C. Serve with cream, onion and red rice. Time: 20 minutes.

Freezing: your Mexican pantry

These items freeze perfectly (they last 2-3 months):

• Cooked beans (in their broth, in portions)
• Chicken tinga
• Carnitas
• Salsas (verde and roja, in ice-cube trays for individual portions)
• Red rice (loses a little texture but works)
• Mole (freezes exceptionally well)

With a well-stocked freezer, you are always a Mexican meal just 15 minutes away.

Tips for Mexican batch cooking

• Beans improve every day: Do not throw them out on the fifth day - they are still good. They are better on Wednesday than on Sunday.
• Invest in glass containers: Plastic absorbs the smells and colours of Mexican salsas.
• Label everything: Date of preparation and contents. Your Thursday self will thank you.
• Fat is your friend: Mexican recipes with fat (carnitas, refried beans) keep better than low-fat ones.

“Mexican cooking was designed to last. Our grandmothers had no fridge and their food kept for days. With a fridge and a freezer, your whole week is sorted.”

Find all these detailed recipes on our site, buy the base ingredients in Mexican shops and, when you do not feel like cooking, let the Mexican restaurants near you do it for you.