As of 13 August 2026, AI can create a batch cooking plan.

What to actually do

1. Use a tool built for this

   The route this page recommends

2. Do it yourself

   Second choice

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open a note or spreadsheet and record the number of people, days, meals, budget, dietary requirements, allergies, disliked foods, available equipment, freezer space and cooking time.
   2. Check the labels of ingredients already at home and paste the exact allergen information, product instructions and use-by details into the chatbot with the prompt.
   3. Paste the completed prompt into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and answer any essential questions before accepting the plan.
   4. Copy the generated recipes, consolidated shopping list and cooking schedule into your note, removing dishes that use equipment or ingredients you do not have.
   5. Compare every ingredient and allergen against the packaging you will buy, then check portions and the total shopping list against your household needs and budget.
   6. Check storage, defrosting and reheating instructions against the packaging and current UK food safety guidance, and replace any guessed instruction with the manufacturer's instruction.
   7. Cook, label and store the meals according to the checked plan, and seek advice from NHS 111 at https://111.nhs.uk or by calling NHS 111 for urgent or worrying symptoms after eating.

   Prompt

   Create a practical batch cooking plan for [number of people] covering [number of days] and [meals per day].
   
   Use these details:
   - Dietary requirements and allergies: [details, or none]
   - Foods we dislike or cannot eat: [details, or none]
   - Health-related restrictions that have already been confirmed by a clinician: [details, or none]
   - Budget: [amount and currency]
   - Available equipment: [hob, oven, microwave, slow cooker, freezer and container details]
   - Available cooking time: [time and preferred cooking day]
   - Meals already in the cupboard or freezer: [list]
   - Preferred cuisines and portion preferences: [details]
   - Shopping location: UK
   
   Produce:
   1. A batch cooking schedule in the safest and most efficient order.
   2. The dishes, servings and portion sizes.
   3. A consolidated shopping list grouped by supermarket section, with quantities and alternatives where useful.
   4. Storage, labelling, defrosting and reheating instructions for each dish. Do not guess where food safety depends on the product, packaging or appliance. Tell me what to check on the packaging or current official UK guidance.
   5. A plan for using fresh, refrigerated and frozen ingredients in a sensible order.
   6. A table showing which ingredients appear in each dish.
   
   Do not diagnose, prescribe a therapeutic diet or claim that the plan is suitable for a medical condition. Flag any requirement that needs a dietitian, clinician or pharmacist. State every assumption clearly, ask only essential questions, and do not invent ingredients, equipment, prices or nutrition information.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

3. Hand it to a person

   The distant third

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.