Five filling, low-cost winter lunches you can batch-cook on a Sunday and enjoy piping hot on the job all week.
When the weather turns cold and wet, a hot lunch stops being a luxury and becomes the best part of the day. The good news: the cheapest winter food is also the most comforting. Soups, stews, and one-pot dinners are built from low-cost ingredients, they scale up easily, and they reheat better than almost anything.
1. Big-batch vegetable and lentil soup
Onions, carrots, celery, a tin of tomatoes, and a bag of red lentils make a thick, filling soup for pennies. Cook a large pot on Sunday and portion it out. Lentils add protein, so it keeps you going on a long shift.
2. Beef and barley stew
Stewing beef is a cheaper cut that turns tender with slow cooking. Add pearl barley, carrots, and parsnips and let it simmer. It makes a lot, and the flavour improves on day two.
3. Chicken, potato, and leek bake
Chicken thighs are far cheaper than breasts and stay juicy when reheated. Cook them with potatoes, leeks, and a splash of stock in one tray, then box up the portions.
4. Chilli with rice
Mince, kidney beans, tinned tomatoes, and spices stretch a small amount of meat a long way. Serve it over rice, and you have a meal that holds up well to reheating.
5. Curried chickpeas and spinach
Chickpeas, tinned tomatoes, onion, and a spoonful of curry paste come together in 20 minutes. It is filling, cheap, and works for anyone cutting back on meat.
Heating it without a microwave
The catch with batch cooking is the lunch break itself. Most sites, vans, and farmyards have no microwave. A plug-in electric heated lunch box heats your meal from your vehicle's 12V or 24V socket, so the stew you made on Sunday can be hot and ready when you stop for lunch. If you want a bigger portion for a full day outdoors, the Model S holds 1.8L.
Make it a routine
Cook two or three of these on a Sunday, portion into stainless steel meal prep containers, and you have the week sorted. Our Irish Meal Prep Recipe Guide has more ideas if you want to build a rotation.