diff --git a/xbatcher/generators.py b/xbatcher/generators.py
index ec3b2b6..52ff542 100644
--- a/xbatcher/generators.py
+++ b/xbatcher/generators.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 import itertools
 from collections import OrderedDict
-from typing import Any, Dict, Hashable, Iterator
+from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, Hashable, Iterator, Optional
 
 import xarray as xr
 
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ def __init__(
         batch_dims: Dict[Hashable, int] = {},
         concat_input_dims: bool = False,
         preload_batch: bool = True,
+        cache: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None,
+        cache_preprocess: Optional[Callable] = None,
     ):
 
         self.ds = ds
@@ -120,6 +122,9 @@ def __init__(
         self.batch_dims = OrderedDict(batch_dims)
         self.concat_input_dims = concat_input_dims
         self.preload_batch = preload_batch
+        self.cache = cache
+        self.cache_preprocess = cache_preprocess
+
         self._batches: Dict[int, Any] = self._gen_batches()  # dict cache for batches
 
     def __iter__(self) -> Iterator[xr.Dataset]:
@@ -139,6 +144,9 @@ def __getitem__(self, idx: int) -> xr.Dataset:
         if idx < 0:
             idx = list(self._batches)[idx]
 
+        if self.cache and self._batch_in_cache(idx):
+            return self._get_cached_batch(idx)
+
         if idx in self._batches:
 
             if self.concat_input_dims:
@@ -153,15 +161,34 @@ def __getitem__(self, idx: int) -> xr.Dataset:
                 ]
                 dsc = xr.concat(all_dsets, dim="input_batch")
                 new_input_dims = [str(dim) + new_dim_suffix for dim in self.input_dims]
-                return _maybe_stack_batch_dims(dsc, new_input_dims)
+                batch = _maybe_stack_batch_dims(dsc, new_input_dims)
             else:
 
-                return _maybe_stack_batch_dims(
+                batch = _maybe_stack_batch_dims(
                     self.ds.isel(**self._batches[idx]), list(self.input_dims)
                 )
         else:
             raise IndexError("list index out of range")
 
+        if self.cache is not None and self.cache_preprocess is not None:
+            batch = self.cache_preprocess(batch)
+        if self.cache is not None:
+            self._cache_batch(idx, batch)
+
+        return batch
+
+    def _batch_in_cache(self, idx: int) -> bool:
+        return self.cache is not None and f"{idx}/.zgroup" in self.cache
+
+    def _cache_batch(self, idx: int, batch: xr.Dataset) -> None:
+        batch.to_zarr(self.cache, group=str(idx), mode="a")
+
+    def _get_cached_batch(self, idx: int) -> xr.Dataset:
+        ds = xr.open_zarr(self.cache, group=str(idx))
+        if self.preload_batch:
+            ds = ds.load()
+        return ds
+
     def _gen_batches(self) -> dict:
         # in the future, we will want to do the batch generation lazily
         # going the eager route for now is allowing me to fill out the loader api
diff --git a/xbatcher/tests/test_generators.py b/xbatcher/tests/test_generators.py
index c51700b..cc115b8 100644
--- a/xbatcher/tests/test_generators.py
+++ b/xbatcher/tests/test_generators.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+from typing import Any, Dict
+
 import numpy as np
 import pytest
 import xarray as xr
@@ -222,3 +224,55 @@ def test_batch_exceptions(sample_ds_1d):
     with pytest.raises(ValueError) as e:
         BatchGenerator(sample_ds_1d, input_dims={"x": 10}, input_overlap={"x": 20})
         assert len(e) == 1
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("preload", [True, False])
+def test_batcher_cached_getitem(sample_ds_1d, preload) -> None:
+    pytest.importorskip("zarr")
+    cache: Dict[str, Any] = {}
+
+    def preproc(ds):
+        processed = ds.load().chunk(-1)
+        processed.attrs["foo"] = "bar"
+        return processed
+
+    bg = BatchGenerator(
+        sample_ds_1d,
+        input_dims={"x": 10},
+        cache=cache,
+        cache_preprocess=preproc,
+        preload_batch=preload,
+    )
+
+    # first batch
+    assert bg[0].dims["x"] == 10
+    ds_no_cache = bg[1]
+    # last batch
+    assert bg[-1].dims["x"] == 10
+
+    assert "0/.zgroup" in cache
+
+    # now from cache
+    # first batch
+    assert bg[0].dims["x"] == 10
+    # last batch
+    assert bg[-1].dims["x"] == 10
+    ds_cache = bg[1]
+
+    assert ds_no_cache.attrs["foo"] == "bar"
+    assert ds_cache.attrs["foo"] == "bar"
+
+    xr.testing.assert_equal(ds_no_cache, ds_cache)
+    xr.testing.assert_identical(ds_no_cache, ds_cache)
+
+    # without preprocess func
+    bg = BatchGenerator(
+        sample_ds_1d, input_dims={"x": 10}, cache=cache, preload_batch=preload
+    )
+    assert bg.cache_preprocess is None
+    assert bg[0].dims["x"] == 10
+    ds_no_cache = bg[1]
+    assert "1/.zgroup" in cache
+    ds_cache = bg[1]
+    xr.testing.assert_equal(ds_no_cache, ds_cache)
+    xr.testing.assert_identical(ds_no_cache, ds_cache)