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I’m six months pregnant and already thinking about having to cook postpartum. What are some good freezer-safe, one-pot bulk meals I can make in advance that aren’t just lasagna or pasta-based? Also vegetarian. —No More Lasagna
Congratulations! Hope you are feeling as well as can be.
I’m excited you asked this. As soon as The Algorithms learn you’re expecting, your feeds flood you with video after video of frozen burritos, frozen mac and cheese, frozen cookies, frozen lasagna, frozen everything. To your point: A lot of it is pasta. As Anna Hezel, a wonderful cookbook author (and former colleague of mine) put it: “Postpartum meal prep is now a competitive sport.”
I get the instinct to plan ahead. When I was pregnant last year, I filled my freezer with meals. I stuffed my pantry, then reorganized it for good measure. I planned breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for the first two weeks after giving birth. I pre-wrote grocery lists for my family in a Google doc that had multiple tabs, one of which was titled “Recipes Appendix.” And I said things like, “It’s in the Recipes Appendix!” to my husband, who is still married to me.
The truth is no one used the Recipes Appendix. After my son was born, we ditched the meal plan almost immediately. And the ready-to-to dinners sat in the freezer for months because I wanted other, fresher things. (Cold gazpacho. Ripe strawberries. Smoked salmon so thin sunlight shines through it.) But doing all this was a great source of comfort to me. It wasn’t what I cooked that ended up being most helpful—it was the cooking itself. This soothed me in a way that nothing else can.
So if you ask me, the best meal prep for postpartum isn’t just what keeps well in the freezer, or supports your recovery, or is something you like to eat. It should also be something you like to make. What’s a project you find genuinely enjoyable? What sounds like a relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon? That’s the path.
Here are some thought starters (minimal dishes and no pasta!):
Soup. Nourishing, batchable, keeps for an eternity. Double the recipe if you have freezer space. This coconutty lentil tomato soup from Yotam Ottolenghi is a reader favorite. And this summer vegetable soup packs a farmers market worth of produce into a pot (freeze the pistou separately, and if you can’t find fresh corn at the moment, frozen or canned could swap in).
Stew. Heartier for hungrier days. I’m in a serious relationship with this chili sin carne from my brilliant coworker Jesse Szewczyk. It’s bendable to your favorite canned beans (I’ve even done canned lentils). Chana masala is also great to have around. Serve with rice and yogurt, or turn into tacos with grated cheddar.
Veggie broth. Not a meal but I loved sipping this straight from a mug for the first few months postpartum. The dried shiitakes and kombu give this vegetable stock recipe a deep umami. Also, it’s easy to turn into a meal, should you like. You can put it toward this 10-minute template with egg ribbons and leafy greens from Test Kitchen editor Rebecca Firkser’s column Good for You.
