The Sunday Two-Protein Batch | Alex Busse Nutrition

Name: The Sunday Two-Protein Batch
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Ingredients: 1.2 kg bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs; 1 kg beef mince; 2, sliced capsicum; 2, diced brown onion; 4 cloves, minced garlic; 2 tsp smoked paprika; 2 tsp ground cumin; 3 tbsp olive oil; to taste salt and pepper

Two sheet pans side by side, one with roasted chicken thighs and one with browned spiced beef mince and capsicum

Prep20 min

Cook45 min

Total65 min

Servings8

Moderate

Calories: 480
Protein: 42 g
Carbs: 20 g
Fat: 24 g
Fibre: 4 g

Per serving. Estimated from ingredients as listed.

This isn’t a recipe in the usual sense — it’s an hour of Sunday afternoon that buys you out of deciding what’s for dinner four times. Two proteins, cooked in parallel, neither one dressed up as a finished meal yet. That’s deliberate.

The reason two proteins beats one: variety without extra shopping or extra time. Same hour in the kitchen, same clean-up, but Tuesday’s dinner doesn’t taste like a rerun of Monday’s.

Don’t skip letting both proteins cool before you portion them. Sealing a container while it’s still steaming traps condensation, and condensation in a fridge container is how you turn a four-day protein into a two-day one.

1.2 kg bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
1 kg beef mince
2, sliced capsicum
2, diced brown onion
4 cloves, minced garlic
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground cumin
3 tbsp olive oil
to taste salt and pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 200°C. Pat the chicken thighs dry, season well, and roast skin-side up on a tray for 35–40 minutes until the skin crisps and juices run clear.
While the chicken roasts, heat olive oil in a large pan and cook one diced onion until soft, about 6 minutes. Add half the garlic, then the beef mince, breaking it up as it browns.
Stir the paprika and cumin into the mince once it's browned, add the capsicum and remaining onion and garlic, and cook a further 8–10 minutes until the capsicum softens.
Let both proteins cool to room temperature before portioning — packing hot food into containers fogs the lid and speeds up spoilage.
Split into 4 sets of two portions: one chicken, one beef mince, ready to become whatever dinner you want on any given night that week.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to eat these plain?

No — treat both as a base. The chicken goes into a grain bowl, a wrap, or on top of a salad. The spiced mince goes over rice, into lettuce cups, or becomes the start of a quick chilli.

How long does this keep?

4 days refrigerated, or freeze in flat bags for up to 3 months. Thaw the mince in the fridge overnight; the chicken reheats fine straight from frozen in a low oven.