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Cooking For One? You’ll love the easy weekly meal plans found in our Meal Planning For One series. This is the first post of the meal planning for one series. You will find a week’s worth of recipes which will serve one (maybe two) people including grocery lists and cooking tips. Perfect for anyone cooking for one, caregivers, and empty nesters.
Welcome to the first week of our new Meal Planning For One – Cooking For One Meal Plan!
Weekly meal planning and meal prep answers “what am I going to have for dinner?” a week at a time. A meal plan for the week saves you money and no leftovers! Our series of meal plans includes single serving recipes, a grocery list and cooking tips.These meal plans are ideal for anyone cooking for one or two people.
Weekly meal planning and meal prepping helps so much with keeping on a budget as well as eating healthy.
I try to plan my week of meals either over the weekend or early in the week. This way, I know exactly what foods to buy and I don’t run the risk of buying items I won’t use and overspending.
Meal planning helps me stay on track when I am focused on making meals that are good for me. If I don’t have an idea of what I’m going to make for dinner and I’m starving, chances are that I will grab something unhealthy or I’ll order sodium-filled, calorie-filled takeout instead.
Other Single Serving Meal Plans
Meal Planning
Today, I’m sharing with you our new Meal Planning For One – Cooking For One Meal Plan. It’s something new we’ve been working on here at One Dish Kitchen and we would love to have your feedback.
A person cooking meals for themselves may often find that it isn’t always easy to reduce a recipe. The thought of doing that every day or deciding what to cook each evening for dinner, without repetition can be a daunting task. We hope to take some of the pressure off with our “Cooking For One Meal Plans”.
Along with the meal plan, you will also find a grocery list (see link at the bottom of this page to download the grocery list – pdf document) which will include all of the ingredients you will need to make the 5 or more recipes each week.
If you choose not to make all of the recipes on the meal plan, no worries. Just cross those items off of your grocery list.
These meals for one plans are designed for people who live on their own, a parent who wants to indulge themselves while their kids have their favorites, couples that can’t agree on what they want for dinner or caregivers providing meals to a parent or friend.
Weekly meal plans will feature a recipe for Monday through Friday, a detailed grocery list and a bonus recipe and cooking tips.
We get asked all the time for weekly meal planning ideas and I hope this new series fills that need. Have a look and please let us know what you think.
Crustless Quiche Lorraine For One
Mini Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf
Curried Carrot Soup For One
Shrimp And Prosciutto Pasta For One
Stuffed Peppers For One
Bonus Recipe
Vanilla Pudding For One
Weekly Meal Planning Tips
- The recipes are best using the ingredients recommended, however it can also be quite tasty with the substitutions.
- Cheese can be expensive. Feel free to purchase just one type of cheese to use in the three recipes that call for cheese as an ingredient.
- Often, in the deli sections of some grocery stores, you can find very small quantities of pre-cut cheese. If not, don’t feel the need to purchase several different types of cheeses for the recipes.
- In the Carrot Soup recipe, using fresh ginger is suggested. You can find fresh ginger in the produce section of your supermarket. Cut off the amount you need for this recipe, then freeze the rest to use in later recipes. When you want to use the ginger again, no need to thaw it. Just cut or scrape off the amount you need and use frozen.
- For the Shrimp and Prosciutto Pasta recipe, feel free to substitute bacon for the prosciutto. You will already be using bacon in two of the other recipes. Also, I find it helpful to keep a bag of frozen shrimp in my freezer. It’s nice to have on hand for quick recipes like this one.
- Feel free to substitute ground turkey for ground beef (or the other way around) for both the Stuffed Pepper recipe and the Meatloaf recipe.
For more information on the cooking and baking dishes I use in our “recipes for one”, please visit our FAQ page.
For examples of the dishes used at One Dish Kitchen, please visit our Store page.
Great ideas! Cooking for one can be tough!
This looks great! I really need to start meal planning soon.
I cant wait to try the quiche lorraine recipe! Im also hoping this will get me back in the habit of meal planning – I’ve been so lax on it lately!
I love this new format. I really like the shopping list with the tips. I am 79 years old and live alone. I recently purchased a toaster oven along with small cooking pots and pans ect. Now that I have found you and a couple of other extremely talented people to give me recipes I am one happy old woman. It really is very difficult to change the amounts and have the dish taste like it is supposed to.
I just want to say Thank You!
Thank you so much Fran! I am so happy you are enjoying the recipes, if you have any favorite recipes that you would like to see made into single-serving versions, please let us know and we will try to recreate them.
Printable? I am using an iPad. Saving it as a picture makes it too small to read on the phone.
When you click on “Click here to download the grocery list (printable pdf document)” it will open a new page. The new page is actually a pdf of the Grocery List that can be saved on your iPad in iBooks by clicking the square button with an arrow pointed up icon at the top of the screen to the right of the website address block.
Hi Joanie… I have subscribed to your email single serving recipes since August and have enjoyed your recipes a lot. I like the single serving idea because I don’t have to do the math to reduce a recipe. 😉 not that I don’t mind the math thing, but when you get up there in your “golden years” it’s a little more mind boggling to figure a reduced recipe out. You do a great job on describing your recipes and I also like the grocery list, (Not my favorite shopping thing to do). Have a great holiday and stay safe…Betty
Thank you so much, Betty. I am so happy you are enjoying the recipes!
I think this is a great idea. I am a recent widow and having a hard time trying to plan a meal for just myself. Subsequently, I eat instant oatmeal,eggs or dry cereal. Easy and fast. I’ve been following you for a while. Great recipes – but I don’t have the energy to make a decision. This meal plan has made the decisions for me, whether or not I use all 5 meals. Thanks again.
Thank you, JoAnn. I am so happy we can be a resource for you.
This is fabulous! I have friends who don’t understand why I love cooking for myself. Your recipes make it so easy, and besides that, I am totally worth it. Thank you!
I totally agree! Thank you, Connie.
I’m thrilled to see meal planning as this is an area that is beyond my teeny, tiny brain. Thanks for doing this for the planning impaired!
Putting day of use on the menu is *such* a good idea!
I mean grocery list, not menu.