What to Eat When You’re Too Tired to Cook, Plus 3 Gluten-Free Make-Ahead Meals
It’s 4pm. Someone has just asked what’s for dinner, and your answer is to groan and then stare into your open fridge for a good, long while.
Maybe you had a bit of energy this morning, but it’s gone now, and the part of the day that demands the most from you, feeding everyone, is still ahead.
Batch cooking is how I get around this.
I don’t mean the Instagram version with forty identical containers and spending my whole Sunday in the kitchen though. I’m talking about my version, and I like to think it’s pretty realistic and doable. On a good energy day, you cook once and make extras, so on days when your get up and go has got up and gone, you can chill because dinner has already been made and your only job is to warm it up 💅🏾
I’ve been gluten-free for almost 40 years, since long before the free-from aisle existed, so I’ve had a lot of practice at this. I’ve also seen, again and again, how hard it is for exhausted women to eat properly when cooking becomes hard or impossible, because, for one, you have to decide what to do, then you have to cook it!
I’m not going to lie and say every meal we eat in my household is cooked from scratch, nope. I do like a break from cooking and heating stuff up. That’s what takeaway is for every once in a while, but the majority of the time, I’m a good girl.
Below you’ll find why batch cooking works so well for tired women in particular, three gluten-free recipes you can batch or make ahead, a simple shopping list, storage times, common mistakes, and answers to the questions I get asked most.
Can batch cooking help when you’re exhausted?
Yes. Batch cooking lets you prepare meals when your energy is higher, reduces decision fatigue, supports regular protein intake, and makes it easier to eat nourishing gluten-free meals on low energy days.
Even cooking one extra portion of dinner can reduce stress later in the week, because when you’re exhausted, and you don’t have something nourishing to dig into, it becomes easier to fall back on less nourishing options that don’t support balanced energy as well.
Why is batch cooking helpful when you’re exhausted?
Batch cooking, or cooking ahead, moves the work of meals from your lowest energy hours to your best ones, and removes the decision-making entirely.
Deciding what to cook is a job in its own right. When you’re running on fumes, that decision tends to happen at the exact time of day your energy is lowest, which is how everyone ends up with ready meals or the same meals three days in a row.
Batch cooking removes three of the biggest barriers exhausted women face.
- The decision is already made. You chose the meal days ago, when you had the capacity to make the right choices for your energy and digestion, as well as your taste buds.
- Protein is ready when your energy dips. A balanced dinner containing enough protein may help support steadier overnight blood sugar, which is one factor that can contribute to better sleep and more stable energy the next day.
- Willpower stops being part of the plan. At 5pm on an empty tank, you will eat whatever’s easiest. Batch cooking makes the easiest thing the nourishing thing, and you can give your sensible past self a high five, or a pat on the back for choosing well.
People sometimes think batch cooking is for naturally organised people with colour-coded containers and a perfectly labelled freezer.
That’s not why I recommend it.
I recommend it because when you’re exhausted, every decision you make costs energy. Deciding what to cook, finding the ingredients, standing at the hob, then washing up afterwards can feel like an awful lot.
Cooking once and eating two or three times lets you use your energy when you have it, instead of expecting yourself to find it at 6pm after a long day.
Cook once. Nourish yourself two or three times.
That is the level of fancy we’re aiming for here.
Why I often recommend batch cooking to exhausted women
Something I often see in clinic is women unintentionally under-eating. They’re not dieting. They’re simply too exhausted to cook.
A quick shake at lunch, or a couple of slices of toast with butter to take the edge off as they have no energy to cook yet another proper meal.
Then by evening they’re hoping dinner will make up for the lack of proper eating, except they’re now so tired they don’t have the energy to cook properly, or the appetite to eat a balanced meal once it’s finally ready.
It becomes a cycle. Low energy makes cooking harder. Cooking less often means eating less nourishing meals. That leaves them with even less energy the following day.
One of the simplest changes I often suggest is pretty mundane: cook dinner once, make extra portions, and let tomorrow’s lunch already be waiting in the fridge.
This works because the cooking has already been done when you had the energy for it. Lunch no longer depends on how you’re feeling or how much energy you have that day. You simply reheat what’s already there, making it much easier to eat a balanced meal before you get even more tired.
I recently worked with a client who had been relying on meal replacement shakes at lunchtime because they felt it was easier than preparing food. Even when she increased the amount she was drinking, she was still exhausted. If she did eat something else, it was usually toast or a small sandwich because she didn’t want to spoil her appetite for dinner.
Except by dinner, she was already wiped out.
Within a week of replacing those lighter lunches with proper meals, often using leftovers from the previous evening, she noticed she had enough energy during the day to potter around the house again, something she’d been struggling to do before.
Nothing else had changed dramatically. She wasn’t suddenly sleeping more or following an elaborate protocol. She was simply eating enough real food earlier in the day.
That’s why I’m such a fan of realistic batch cooking. I certainly don’t spend all my weekend cooking, and I’m not asking you to. I can’t imagine anything worse than spending all Sunday preparing 21 identical meals. What I’m talking about is removing one of the biggest obstacles exhausted women face: having to find the energy to cook from scratch every single time they’re hungry.
This is also why food is the first part of The FUEL Method. Before we worry about fine-tuning nutrition, we need to make eating enough nourishing food realistic. Batch cooking isn’t the whole answer to fatigue, but it can remove one of the biggest practical barriers to consistently fuelling your body.
One of the simplest changes I often suggest is pretty mundane: cook dinner once, make extra portions, and let tomorrow’s lunch already be waiting in the fridge.
What are the best gluten-free meals to batch cook?
You’ve probably noticed that I keep harping on about gluten-free meals. I don’t mean to make gluten-free eating sound superior, it isn’t, but it’s what I know and do seeing as I’m a coeliac and have been for over 40 years.
The plans I’m talking about can definitely be used for gluten-containing foods too, so don’t be put off. Most foods are gluten-free anyway, when you think about it, meats, eggs, fruits, veggies, gluten-free grains, nuts, seeds, fats, for example. See!
Back to it.
The best gluten-free meals to batch cook either freeze well or keep well in the fridge, hold their texture, contain a decent source of protein, and use ingredients you can buy in an ordinary supermarket.
I chose the recipes below because they:
- Store well without going rubbery or watery
- Contain a good source of protein
- Use everyday supermarket ingredients
- Are naturally gluten-free or easy to keep gluten-free
- Reheat easily or are ready to eat from the fridge
- Work for family meals without needing separate cooking
If you’d like a few more ideas, you can also try these free energy-supporting recipes.
You can absolutely make fancier make-ahead meals if you have the time and energy, but the meals I’m covering here aren’t exactly fancy. They’re filling, tasty and nourishing and will support better energy and digestion.
Whenever possible I choose organic, pasture-raised and minimally processed ingredients, but even if they’re not, you’re still doing yourself a solid eating them the majority of the time instead of multiple ultra-processed foods, TV dinners or daily takeaways. A homemade batch meal made with conventionally grown supermarket ingredients will still support your energy better than skipping meals because cooking feels overwhelming.
I like to say there’s always room, or a place for pleasure foods like good quality chocolate and/or wine, and I stand by that, but for now, I’m going to cover foods you can make at home and make ahead.
Shopping list for all three recipes
To make all three recipes, you’ll need:
- Beef mince
- Chicken breast
- Peppers
- White or red onions or onion powder
- Garlic or garlic powder
- Carrots
- Bottle of passata
- Tomato puree, optional
- Gluten-free rolled oats
- Kefir or Greek yoghurt
- Milk of choice
- Almond butter
- Ground flaxseed
- Cocoa powder
- Gluten-free corn tortillas
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Chilli powder
- Smoked paprika
- Cayenne pepper
- Ground cumin
- Salt and pepper
- Dried mixed herbs
- Fresh coriander, optional
- Vanilla extract, optional but lovely
Do check your spice blends, oats, tortillas, stock cubes if you use them, and any sauces for gluten-free labelling, especially if you have coeliac disease.
Hearty Beef and Veg Chilli
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat.
- Add the onion, carrots and garlic, and cook until they begin to soften.
- Add the beef mince and stir until browned.
- Add the passata, tomato puree, pepper and all the spices.
- Stir, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Scatter with coriander and serve, or cool completely and portion for the fridge or freezer.
Notes
- High protein
- Freezer friendly
- Family friendly
- One pan
- Easy to double or triple
- Reheats well for lunch the next day
- Use a mix of beef, lamb and/or pork like I do.
- Add kidney beans if your digestion tolerates them.
- Add grated courgette for extra vegetables. I like to empty a bag of frozen veggies into mine.
- Serve with rice, jacket potatoes, pasta, salad, tortilla wraps or chips.
- Freeze in individual portions so you can grab one lunch at a time, although I just empty my triple batch into 3 glass containers and call it good.
Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C.
- Slice the chicken, peppers and onion into thin strips and add to a mixing bowl.
- Add the oil and all the spices to the mixing bowl, then mix until everything is evenly coated.
- Spread over a large baking tray.
- Bake for 15 minutes, stir, then cook for another 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Spoon into tortillas and top with coriander, or cool completely and portion for later.
Notes
– Freezer friendly filling
– One tray
– Minimal washing up
– Ready in under 30 minutes
– Easy to turn into wraps, bowls or salads Easy swaps – Use a bag of frozen mixed peppers to save time like I do.
– When doubled or tripled, either use multiple baking trays or stir-fry the mixture to save time and washing up.
– Use chicken thighs or prawns if you prefer.
– Add mushrooms or shredded cabbage to increase the vegetables.
– Serve over rice, quinoa, pasta or potatoes.
– If using tortillas, freeze the filling without the tortillas.
– Add avocado, salsa or yoghurt after reheating if you want.
Chocolate Nut Butter Overnight Oats
Ingredients
Method
- Mix everything together.
- Spoon into a glass jar or glass container.
- Refrigerate overnight.
- Stir before eating and add extra milk if you want it less thick.
Notes
– Make-ahead
– Contains protein, fibre and fats
– Gluten-free if you use certified gluten-free oats
– Useful when mornings are chaos
– It’s chocolatey, which is never a bad thing Easy swaps – Use peanut butter, cashew butter or tahini.
– Add berries or bananas with nuts in the morning.
– Use Greek yoghurt if kefir feels too tangy.
– Add a scoop of protein powder if you already use one and tolerate it well.
How do you batch cook when you have very little energy?
Start smaller than you think you should.
And I mean smaller.
If you’re exhausted, your first batch cooking goal is not a freezer full of meals. It’s one extra portion.
Try this:
- Double tonight’s dinner and freeze half.
- Cook two trays of chicken instead of one.
- When doing a roast chicken, pop another one in and you’ve got chicken for stir-fries, salads and wraps.
- Make jars of overnight oats while the kettle boils.
- Portion leftovers into lunch containers before you sit down to eat.
- Keep one emergency freezer meal for days when everything goes sideways.
Here are the batch cooking habits you can start cultivating.
Block your cook time like an appointment. One to two hours on your best energy day of the week. If it isn’t scheduled, it won’t happen, and I say this with love as someone who has tested that theory many times.
Cook flat, freeze flat. Portion chilli and fajita filling into freezer bags, roll them flat, and stack them. Flat bags defrost in a fraction of the time and take up almost no space. I prefer to freeze them in glass containers and bring out the night before to thaw in the fridge.
Label everything with the date. You think you’ll remember what the mystery brown block is.
You won’t lol
Cool before you freeze. Let food cool, then get it into the fridge or freezer within two hours of cooking.
Keep flavours neutral where you can. Plain roasted veg, plain shredded chicken and plain cooked grains can then be zhuzhed up later in the week for different meals like: a wrap, soup, salad, or a stir-fry.
Use tomorrow’s lunch as the first win. If dinner is already happening, make enough for lunch. This one habit can be the difference between a proper meal and another day of toast and shakes.
What are the most common batch cooking mistakes?
Here are the ones I see most often:
- Trying to cook seven meals in one day. Start with one recipe or one doubled dinner.
- Forgetting to label containers. Mystery freezer blocks are not a meal plan. Ask me how I know 🤦🏾♀️
- Freezing food before it has cooled safely. Cool it first, then chill or freeze it within two hours.
- Choosing recipes that don’t freeze well. Creamy sauces, watery vegetables and delicate salads can be disappointing and not to anyone’s taste.
- Making meals nobody enjoys eating. Nourishing food still has to be food you’ll willingly eat, don’t cook it if no one likes it.
- Batch cooking without a reheating plan. If the meal needs three pans to reheat, best to save it for when you’re not as tired.
- Forgetting breakfast and lunch. Dinner tends to be mostly covered, but daytime food is often when exhausted women are accidentally under-eating.
How long can you keep batch cooked food in the fridge or freezer?
Most cooked meals keep well for 3 to 4 days in the fridge and 3 to 6 months in the freezer, depending on the food.
Use airtight containers (I like Glasslock containers), cool food before chilling or freezing, label everything with the date, and reheat cooked meals until piping hot all the way through.
| Food | Fridge | Freezer |
| Beef chilli | 3 to 4 days | 3 to 6 months |
| Cooked chicken fajita filling | 3 to 4 days | Up to 3 months |
| Cooked meat dishes | 3 to 4 days | 3 to 6 months |
| Cooked beans and grains | 3 to 4 days | Up to 3 months |
| Roasted vegetables | 3 to 4 days | Up to 3 months |
| Chopped raw vegetables | 5 to 7 days | Not usually recommended, unless they’ll be cooked after thawing |
| Hard-boiled eggs | 3 to 4 days | Not recommended |
| Overnight oats | Up to 3 days | Not recommended |
What foods don’t freeze well?
Some foods are perfectly safe to freeze but disappointing when they come back out.
The ones I usually avoid freezing are:
- Salad leaves
- Cucumber
- Tomatoes for salads
- Creamy sauces that split
- Cooked potatoes
- Fully assembled wraps with fresh salad
- Overnight oats
- Hard-boiled eggs
Freeze the cooked fillings instead, then add fresh ingredients after reheating.
What if cooking feels impossible most evenings?
If cooking feels impossible most evenings, then the meals probably aren’t the real problem.
Consistently low energy often has other causes. Unhealthy blood sugar, under-eating, poor sleep, stress load, nutrient gaps, hormones, and recovery demands can all play a part.
Batch cooking makes life easier, but it doesn’t explain why you’re always tired in the first place.
When I talk about food inside The FUEL Method, I’m not trying to turn you into someone who lovingly marinates chicken at 7am. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; more power to you, I say. My goal with bringing up batch cooking is to help ensure that you create enough food stability so that your body has a fighting chance of producing the energy you need daily.
Sometimes that starts with something very ordinary like cooking once, and nourishing you and yours two or more times.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. The same rules apply to batch cooking gluten-free meals as to batch cooking gluteny (yes, that’s a word) foods.
Yes, but be stricter about cross-contamination if it’s not a sole gluten-free kitchen. Use clean equipment, certified gluten-free oats if you tolerate oats, labelled containers, separate spreads and condiments, and keep gluten-free food sealed away from gluten-containing food.
Yes, and it can be safer than daily cooking because you control cross-contamination once rather than seven times. Use clean chopping boards and utensils, and store gluten-free batches in sealed, labelled containers away from any gluten-containing food.
Start with one recipe first. A chilli, soup or tray bake is usually the easiest first batch because it freezes well, reheats easily, and doubles without any extra technique.
If you’re exhausted, start with one extra meal or one doubled dinner. Once that feels normal, build up to two or three freezer options so you have variety without overwhelming yourself.
Yes. Smaller households benefit beautifully because one cooking session can cover several meals, and individual portions stop you eating the same thing for five days if you accidentally make more than planned.
No. Airtight is the only rule, well that, and avoiding plastic containers. Glass containers reheat well and let you see what’s inside, while freezer bags rolled flat save the most space.
Defrost frozen meals in the fridge overnight when you can. If you reheat from frozen, make sure the food is piping hot all the way through before eating.
Overnight oats usually keep for up to three days in the fridge when stored in a clean, sealed container. After that, the texture and freshness can go downhill.
The best protein to batch cook is one you’ll eat. Chilli, chicken tray bakes, meatballs, slow-cooked meat, lentil dishes and cooked beans all work well because they reheat easily and can be used in several ways in different meals.
Fair enough. Then start smaller: double tonight’s dinner and keep half for tomorrow. That’s batch cooking too.
Never run out of freezer-friendly meals
If you’d like recipes like this done for you every month, this is what The FUEL Kitchen is for.
Every month you get 15 new gluten-free recipes with a meal plan and shopping list, and each recipe is coded at a glance: freezer friendly, make ahead, high protein, or ready in under 20 minutes.
So on your next good energy day, you know exactly what to batch, and on the tired days, dinner is already done, ready to reheat or send your minions to reheat for you.
And if the exhaustion behind all of this is what you’d like to suss out, my free fatigue quiz will show you which tired type you are and where to start so you can stop being tired all the time.
You can also read Why Am I Always Tired? and Is Exhaustion Just Part of Getting Older?.
This post is for educational purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your diet. If you have coeliac disease, food allergies, diabetes, a history of eating disorders, or another medical condition affecting your diet, please get individual guidance from a qualified professional.
Written by
Toki Birch
Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner • Certified Gluten-Free Practitioner • Certified Unyte-iLs Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) Practitioner • GEMM Accredited Clinician
Toki Birch is a certified functional medicine practitioner, nutritionist and health coach who helps women over 40 address constant exhaustion. She’s a coeliac and has been gluten-free for almost 40 years and feeds a busy homeschooling household, so every recipe here has been tried and tested with 3 fussy eaters, including one who prefers “fresh-cooked” meals at every meal.
