Learn how my Cook Once, Eat Twice approach helps you turn one cooking session into multiple healthy meals—so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time around the table.

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If you’ve been around here for a while, you know I’m all about the Cook Once, Eat Twice strategy.

After more than 35 years of feeding my family through every season of life—from little kids at home to empty nesting and now a multigenerational household—it’s still my favorite meal-planning strategy.

It isn’t complicated.

It doesn’t require spending your entire Sunday meal prepping.

And it certainly doesn’t mean eating the same boring leftovers every night.

Instead, it’s about making one cooking session work a little harder so you spend less time in the kitchen throughout the week.

If you’re already chopping vegetables, browning ground beef, or grilling chicken, why not make a little extra while you’re at it?

That one simple habit can save you time, reduce food waste, and make getting a balanced dinner on the table so much easier.

What is the Cook Once, Eat Twice Strategy?

I call it “Cook Once, Eat Twice,” but the goal is to make a single cooking session work as hard as possible. If you can turn it into three meals or more, that’s even better!

Sometimes it means making a double batch of soup or chili and freezing half for another busy night or for lunches, or doubling your protein pancakes, waffles, and muffins so you have simple breakfasts waiting in the freezer.

Other times, it means repurposing ingredients to create a completely different meal later in the week.

Both strategies make eating balanced, nutrient-dense meals so much easier.

Here are just a few other reasons I love cooking once and eating twice:

• Saves time on busy weeknights.
• Cuts down on dishes and cleanup.
• Reduces food waste and saves you $$$.
• Provides easy lunches.
• Keeps your freezer stocked for those extra busy weeks or when things don’t go as planned.

One of the benefits my clients appreciate most is that it eliminates some of the what’s for dinner decision fatigue.

When you’ve already planned how you’ll use those extra ingredients, you’re much less likely to find yourself standing in front of the refrigerator at 5:30 wondering what’s for dinner. And on the days when life doesn’t go as planned, you’ll have a freezer meal ready to save the day. Future you will be so glad you used this strategy.

Some of My Favorite Ways to Cook Once and Eat Twice

• Double soups, chili, or casseroles and freeze half for another dinner or freeze in individual portions for lunches.
• Brown extra ground beef and use it for tacos one night, then chili, sloppy joes, stuffed peppers, or pasta sauce later in the week.
• Grill or roast extra chicken for salads, wraps, grain bowls, soup, tacos, or pizza.
• Double your marinara sauce and freeze the extra for pizza night or another pasta dinner.
• Prep chia pudding or overnight oats on Sunday for grab-and-go breakfasts throughout the week.
• Make extra protein pancakes, waffles, or muffins and freeze them for busy weekday mornings.
• Cook extra rice, quinoa, or roasted vegetables and add them to meals all week long. 

The key to this strategy is making a plan for those extras instead of hoping you’ll figure out what to do with them later.

Putting It Into Practice

Try this example from Dinner Done, my quarterly subscription meal plan service. Throughout the plan, I intentionally use my Cook Once, Eat Twice strategy to help you get the most out of your time in the kitchen.

One night, make Chicken Souvlaki and serve with rice or quinoa, tzatziki, and a salad or roasted vegetables. While you’re already grilling the chicken, you will make a little extra.  Get the chicken recipe here.

Later in the week, you’ll use that extra chicken and leftover tzatziki to make Greek Nachos. It feels like a completely different meal, and you’ve already done most of the work! Get the recipe for the nachos here.

I hope the Cook Once, Eat Twice strategy helps you save time, stretch your grocery budget, and take some of the mental load out of getting dinner on the table.

Get One Free Week of Dinner Done!

While I love sharing recipes on my blog, most of my recipes in Dinner Done are exclusive to the meal plans and aren’t available on the blog.

If you’d like to experience how it works, I’ve created a free week of Dinner Done that includes:

• 4 family-friendly recipes
• 1 alternate recipe
• 1 salad recipe
• 4 freezer meal recipes
• shopping list
• pantry staples list
• time-saving meal-prep strategies

👉 Grab your free week below and be sure to share this post with a friend! Be sure to check your spam folder if you don’t receive the plan in your inbox. 

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