5 Meals I Batch Cook Every Sunday (With a Toddler Underfoot)

Here's how my Sundays used to go: vague intention to "meal prep," followed by scrolling Pinterest for 45 minutes, followed by ordering pizza. Meanwhile my toddler dismantled the living room.

Now I have a system. It's not aesthetic. Nobody's filming it for Instagram. But by Sunday evening I have five meals mostly done, and my weeknights go from "what are we eating" panic to "reheat and serve." That trade is worth every minute.

The Setup

I spend about two hours on Sunday afternoon. My son "helps" — which means he stands on his learning tower and stirs things occasionally, eats raw vegetables, and dumps measuring cups on the floor. It's fine.

Here's what I keep on hand:

• An Instant Pot (the 6-quart does everything)
• A big sheet pan
• Glass meal prep containers (Pyrex — I gave up on plastic years ago)
• A good knife and cutting board

That's genuinely it. No special equipment, no dehydrators, no vacuum sealers.

The Five Meals

1. Turkey Lentil Soup

This is the anchor. I make it almost every single week because it's the most forgiving recipe I know and my kid actually eats it.

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 cup dried green lentils
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 3 carrots, diced
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cups broth (I use Pacific Foods organic)
• 2 cloves garlic
• Salt, pepper, cumin, smoked paprika

Brown the turkey in the Instant Pot on sauté mode. Add everything else. Pressure cook 15 minutes, natural release. Done.

It makes a huge batch — enough for dinners plus lunches. I freeze half in silicone freezer bags so there's always soup available for desperate nights.

2. Black Bean Sweet Potato Casserole

This one looks impressive but it's basically just layering things in a dish and baking it.

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
• 2 cans black beans, drained
• 1 can corn (or frozen)
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• 1 tsp cumin, chili powder, garlic powder

Layer: sweet potatoes, beans and corn mixed with salsa and spices, cheese. Repeat. Bake at 375°F covered for 40 minutes, uncovered 10 more.

My son picks out the sweet potatoes and eats them separately. My husband puts hot sauce on his. I eat it as-is. Everyone's happy, one dish.

3. Chicken and Rice Grain Bowls

"Grain bowls" sounds fancier than it is. I'm really just cooking components and putting them in containers.

• 2 lbs chicken thighs (bone-in is cheaper, boneless is faster — pick your priority)
• 2 cups brown rice or quinoa
• Whatever vegetables are in the fridge — usually broccoli, bell peppers, zucchini

Season the chicken with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and whatever herb I grab first (usually oregano or thyme). Sheet pan at 425°F for 25 minutes. Cook rice in the Instant Pot. Roast the vegetables alongside the chicken.

Portion into containers. During the week, reheat and add whatever sauce sounds good — soy sauce, tahini, salsa, ranch. Having the base ready means dinner is five minutes.

4. Beef and Veggie Chili

Another Instant Pot winner. I make this every other week and alternate with the soup.

• 1 lb ground beef (we get grass-fed from a local ranch, but use what works for your budget)
• 2 cans kidney beans
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic
• Chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, salt

Brown the beef, dump everything else in, pressure cook 20 minutes. That's the whole recipe.

This freezes beautifully. I usually make a double batch and freeze half in individual portions. Future me is always grateful.

5. Baked Oatmeal Cups (Breakfast Prep)

Okay, this isn't dinner. But prepping breakfast saves me just as much sanity as prepping dinner, maybe more. Mornings with a toddler are not the time for cooking.

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk (we use oat milk)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Mix-ins: blueberries, chocolate chips, diced apple — whatever you want

Mix everything, pour into a greased muffin tin, bake at 350°F for 25 minutes. Makes 12 cups.

My son grabs one from the fridge every morning and eats it cold. I reheat mine with a little butter. They last all week and they're way better than the sugar bomb instant oatmeal packets.

How Sunday Actually Goes

Here's the real timeline, not the idealized one:

1:00 PM — Start the soup in the Instant Pot. While it pressure cooks, prep veggies for everything else. Give toddler a carrot to chew on.

1:30 PM — Assemble the casserole and get it in the oven. Season the chicken. Toddler dumps a cup of rice on the floor. Sweep it up. Start rice in a pot on the stove (Instant Pot is occupied).

2:00 PM — Chicken goes on the sheet pan into the oven with the veggies. Mix up the oatmeal cups. Toddler wants a snack. Give him oatmeal batter on a spoon.

2:30 PM — Swap casserole out, oatmeal cups in. Portion the soup into containers. Shred or chop the chicken.

3:00 PM — Everything's in containers. Kitchen is a disaster. Toddler is covered in something. But the fridge is full and the week is handled.

Some Sundays I skip a meal or two. Some Sundays I add something extra. The point isn't perfection — it's having food ready so Tuesday at 5:30 PM isn't a crisis.

What I've Learned

Simple recipes survive toddler chaos. Anything with more than 10 ingredients or precise timing got cut from the rotation. If I can't make it while being interrupted every four minutes, it doesn't make the list.

The Instant Pot is not optional. I resisted getting one for years because it felt like a trend. I was wrong. For batch cooking, it's genuinely a game-changer. This is the one I have — the basic 6-quart model does everything I need.

Glass containers matter. I switched from plastic to glass containers a couple years ago and the difference is real — no staining, no weird smells, no worrying about what's leaching into hot food. They cost more upfront but mine have lasted years.

Let your kid participate. My son's "help" adds about 20 minutes to the whole process. But he eats better when he's been involved in making the food, and it counts as a homeschool activity. Pouring, stirring, tearing lettuce — all of it is fine motor skills and practical life stuff.

I'm not going to pretend this is fun every single Sunday. Sometimes I'd rather sit on the couch. But the payoff — walking into my kitchen on a Wednesday and knowing dinner is already handled — is worth it every time.