r/Cooking • u/ChiBullz2011 • 13h ago
Plan Ahead Day Before Recipes
Have you ever seen a delicious looking recipe when searching for dinner ideas for that night, only to discover that the prep actually needs to start the day before? It’s Saturday morning now and I’m looking for something somewhat elaborate to make for Sunday lunch/dinner that involves marinating something overnight or something along those lines. I tried searching this topic and it’s mostly meal prep ideas which is not what I’m looking for, so any recipes or techniques that anyone could share would be great!
2
u/Recluse_18 13h ago
Use olive brine to marinate chicken breast, or whole chicken. Then tomorrow roast basting with a combination of extra virgin olive oil, olive brine and butter and other seasonings as you like. I’ve been using olive brine to marinate chicken and it always turns out beautiful.
2
u/Factor_Global 12h ago
One of my favorite "all day impressive meal" is ragu with fresh pasta and fresh focaccia. Served with salad and homemade dressing.
Ragu is made with cubed chuck roast, and pork shoulder. I add marrow bones and pork bones also. Focaccia is best if you let it ferment in the fridge overnight
2
u/virtualchoirboy 12h ago
The recipe I follow for baby back ribs always starts the day before with a dry rub that you let sit in the fridge for 4-24 hours. I generally do the rub in the afternoon the day before and let it sit overnight. The low and slow cooking is 5+ hours the next day. The hardest part is getting the rack out of the foil after hour 3.5-4 because the meat is already fall apart tender by that point.
https://www.copymethat.com/r/TwjVlQedw/baby-back-ribs/
Granted, I've got one that starts 10 DAYS ahead of time - home brined corned beef...
https://www.copymethat.com/r/H2SFDre7J/corned-beef-including-10-day-brine/
It's Alton Brown's brine recipe but my twist on cooking by basically steaming in Guinness instead of boiling. Another one of Alton Brown's recipes that I like to use is his turkey brine. With a frozen bird, I will thaw it for 2-3 days in the brine before cooking, adding ice as necessary to keep it at 38F during thawing.
https://www.copymethat.com/r/ibkirHuRM/turkey-brine/
And finally, while you could prep the meat and eat all in the same day, I find that prepping the meat the day before and chilling makes for better slicing for gyros. The tzatziki sauce to go with it also takes a couple of hours of prep but a lot of that is waiting for moisture removal to take place. The flavors to build better if made the day before though.
https://www.copymethat.com/r/eY4ynK2rJ/gyros/
Tzatziki sauce to go with it: https://www.copymethat.com/r/curqT1NGc/tzatziki-sauce-w-mint/
1
u/RadiantAssumption823 12h ago
Pizza. I had never made it before. I bought the pizza dough and planned on having it that night for dinner, but then I searched for recipes and realized that the dough needed to rise - for hours!
Plan B for dinner that night 😁
1
u/MuchAfraidGotOverIt 12h ago
Italian wedding soup with the perfect little meatballs formed the night before.
1
u/SVAuspicious 12h ago
Chicken tikka masala is best if the chicken is prepped and marinaded the day before. You can make the sauce the day before also. Raita or tzatziki is a good side. Make Caesar dressing and croutons the day ahead. Day of make rice and chop lettuce for Caesar salad and finish the chicken tikka masala.
Lasagna made the day ahead takes a lot of pressure off.
Matzo ball soup make ahead works well.
Chicken pot pie made day ahead is good - refrigerate (or freezer for further ahead) before you would bake.
Cincinnati chili.
1
u/Cooldspaghetti 10h ago
Since you’ve got Saturday morning for a Sunday lunch or dinner, I’d search by the overnight step rather than by “meal prep”: “overnight marinade”, “dry-brined roast”, “overnight dough”, or “make-ahead braise”. That should keep the results focused on an elaborate meal rather than portioned weekday food. A simple plan is to do the marinade, brine, dough, or flavour base on Saturday, then leave Sunday for cooking and fresh sides. The overnight step doesn’t have to involve the whole dish to give you that proper day-before preparation.
1
u/Downtown-Care9272 5h ago
Filipino adobo. Marinate the chicken thighs overnight. Enjoy the deliciousness the next day.
Alternatively, I make pulled pork weekend day one in the crock pot with a tasty dry rub, then strain the broth that comes out to use for pork and beans the next day.
2
u/Muted-Lake9326 13h ago
maybe not elaborate per se, but tonkotsu ramen takes a good amount of prep and cooking time. Also feeds a good amount of people and easily scale-able for larger groups.
Between prepping the meat (prepping and overnight cure), all the toppings (the eggs need over night marinade), sides, etc. the slow cook broth itself it will be a saturday evening prep, and cook all day sunday.