Tom Kerridge shares pro kitchen trick everyone should be doing at home

Between juggling our work, home and social lives, cooking three square meals a day can often feel like a chore you simply don't have the capacity for, especially at the end of a busy, tiring workday.

However, if there was ever one great piece of advice that will change the way you approach cooking and eating at home, it's the most important thing that professional chefs do every day – and Tom Kerridge is keen for everyone to know it.

As a Michelin-starred chef, Kerridge runs his kitchens like a tight ship, adhering to rigorous food planning schedules to ensure there is enough food and drink for guests while saving money and reducing waste wherever possible. His ultimate tip? Meal planning. 

"Meal planning is the biggest and most useful tip from professional kitchens and hospitality that people can take home for their own use," Kerridge tells Yahoo UK. 

"In my business, we know how many people we're feeding, what to order and how far to order it in advance, [and] what the cost is going to be. We don't just buy stuff willy nilly, and that translates into a real-life environment, too."

This year, many Britons pledged to lead healthier lifestyles as part of their New Year's resolutions, according to a YouGov poll, and meal planning plays a major role in ensuring you have healthy, home-cooked meals at the ready.

However, by this point in January, most resolutions will have been abandoned. According to new data from Trainline, nearly half of people (49%) blame a lack of motivation, while others say they simply don’t have the time (34%).

However, Kerridge is encouraging Britons to keep up with their 2026 resolutions as part of Trainline's campaign to get people back on track, and says meal planning is a habit worth sticking with to reach long-term health goals.

Tom's top 5 meal planning tips

Here are the chef's tips for successful meal planning.

Use your weekend wisely

When the weekend rolls around, set aside some time to review the week ahead and decide what you'll be eating.

Kerridge says: "At some point on a Saturday or Sunday, you look at your schedule. If you know that Wednesday night, you're out with friends, then you'll need to know what you're eating on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

"This is also a good time to take stock of what you have in your kitchen and what you'll need to replenish or buy for the dishes you want to make for the week ahead.

"This is so important because you're in control of what you're putting into your body and what you're spending. You won't spend any extra, which means you're able to budget better and even save money."

Cook bigger batches

Once you know what you'll be eating in the coming days, cook a big batch of the dish you're making so you can portion it for your future meals.

"Double or triple the recipe you're cooking, then box it all up and freeze it," Kerridge says. "It's a great opportunity to get ahead with your meal preparations and makes things a lot easier if you have a particularly busy day or nobody's got time to cook – dinner's already waiting in the freezer."

Soups, stews and curries freeze best

Not all dishes are good for freezing, as the freezing and reheating process can change the texture of certain foods.

However, you can't go wrong with soups, stews and curries, which are perfect for cooking in large batches and freezing in portions.

Kerridge explains: "When it comes to things like vegetables that have a high water content, they don't freeze very well. The best thing to do is get those vegetables cooked in stews, soups, curries [and] minces, as these are the best types of meals to freeze, and they reheat really well too."

When you freeze vegetables with high water content, such as leafy greens, cucumbers and tomatoes, ice crystals form within the plant and rupture the cell walls. Thawing the vegetables out then turns them into a mushy mess.

However, cooking draws water out of vegetables. Once they are cooked within a soup or stew, the surrounding cooking liquid helps maintain their texture and flavour better.

Put your own twist on recipes you love

A common complaint about meal prepping is that it can become dull if you make the same dishes week after week. However, learning how to put your own twist on a recipe you've made numerous times can help keep things exciting.

Cooking often helps us develop a deeper understanding of recipes and how to adjust dishes according to our wants and needs, Kerridge explains.

"Once you make something enough times, you'll know instinctively whether you're buying enough to cover three or four meals, or what you can swap and add to make it more suited to your tastes," he added.

Different spices and herbs can create new flavour profiles, and trying new types of proteins and vegetables can also help you learn more about what you like, giving you new skills and knowledge each time.

Have a fridge clear-out meal regularly

Weekends are a great time to see what odds and ends you might have rolling around the fridge and cupboards and throw together a "fridge clearance" meal, as Kerridge calls it.

His go-to is an omelette, which he fills with "bits of cheese, a little bit of crispy cooked bacon that's left over" and anything else that's at a loose end.

"All those bits we put into a kind of Spanish-style frittata omelette that works really nicely," he says. "It's an opportunity to use things up and to create as well, utilising all of the ingredients you've bought with your hard-earned money."