Cooking For One? A weekly meal plan answers the question, “what am I going to have for dinner?” a week at a time. Meal planning and meal prep saves you money and best of all, no leftovers! This is the second of the series of weekly meal plans complete with a grocery list.
Welcome to week 2 of our new Meal Planning For One series. We received a lot of great feedback from our Meal Plans and hope you enjoy the recipes we have featured this week 2 installment.
A person cooking for meals for one 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”.
Each recipe in the meal plan is accessible by clicking the link for each meal and then going to the bottom of the specific meal’s page.
Along with the meal plan, you will also find a grocery list (see link at the bottom of this page to download – 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.
For now, the weekly meal plan will be posted every two weeks. It 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 meal plans and I hope this new series fills that need. Have a look and please let us know what you think.
RELATED: Cooking For One – Simple Tips For Solo Cooking
Meal Plan
Easy Dinner Ideas
Monday – Baked Pasta With Roasted Vegetables
Pasta tossed with roasted zucchini, red peppers, cheeses and Marinara sauce. A single serving dish bursting with flavor.
Tuesday – Shrimp Creole
A classic Louisiana dish made with garlic, onions, green bell peppers and tomatoes. The perfect size when cooking for one.
Wednesday – Oven Roasted BBQ Chicken Drumsticks
Tender and juicy drumsticks served on a bed of seasoned roasted carrots, onions and garlic. A quick and easy one-pan, single serving meal that’s perfect for anyone cooking for one.
Thursday – Chili Cheese Baked Potato
A Baked Potato loaded with sautéed onions and garlic, red beans, tomatoes and spices then topped with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.
Friday – Broiled Salmon with Zucchini
A quick, easy and delicious salmon fillet, for one! This easy to make single-serving meal is made cooks in under 10 minutes.
Bonus Recipe – Rich Hot Chocolate For One
Grocery List
Click here to download the grocery list (printable pdf document)
Cooking Tips
- I love the combination of the cheeses found in the Baked Pasta recipe, however, cheese can be expensive. Feel free to purchase just one type of cheese for the pasta. Singularly, the Smoked Gruyere, the Fontina or even the Cheddar would be quite delicious if used on their own. The recipe is best using the ingredients recommended, however it can also be quite tasty with the substitutions. 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.
- You will need zucchini for two recipes this week, 1 medium to large zucchini will be enough for both recipes.
- Friday’s Broiled Salmon with Roasted Vegetables calls for the dish to be made in a toaster oven, however it can also be baked in a regular oven at the same temperature called for in the recipe.
- If you’re trying to reduce your salt intake, try a squeeze of lemon instead of using salt in savory recipes.
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.
We now have a COOKING FOR ONE Facebook group.
Join us to share your favorite single serving recipes and find new ones too. We’d love to see you there!
Click HERE to join the community!
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thanks for coming up with these delicious recipes for one or two people love it and
it helps me out when alone as Hubby is a Policeman and I eat often alone due to his crazy
schedule . Keep Up the Good Work and Recipes they are Yummy
Sonia
Thank you, Sonia!
I am loving this. It is difficult to cook for one after decades have been spent cooking for a family. Love the recipes and especially the grocery lists. They are a good send. Thank you.
Thank you so much, It makes my day to know that you are enjoying the recipes!
Thanks so much for the recipes.
You are most welcome, Cynthia!
These look so yummy!! This is the first year that I’ve had only myself to cook for and I can’t wait to try out these recipes!
I’m a baked food addict and this literally made me hungry. definitely gonna try them all
These recipes all look healthy and delicious! I know so many people that would benefit from this plan, thanks for sharing!
These sound fabulous….and not too scary to make. lol Thanks for sharing and writing my grocery list!
These meal plans are always for a full family, so I’m so excited to see a scaled-down version! Thanks!
This is such a helpful resource for these delicious-looking dishes! Nice! I passed this along to a friend who was looking for just this thing!
Thank you so much, Patricia.
What a fabulous meal plan, and such gorgeous images! I love all your tips, especially the one about substituting lemon juice for salt. I look forward to making the Hot Chocolate for One at lunchtime today!
Thank you, Denay.
thanks so much the menu looks awesome and the bonus looks so yummy
Lovely recipes, and loving the meal plans.
Love, love your recipes. Also like how you use leftover ingredients to let us know what to do with them and not waste money on throwing them away. This has to be the BEST site I have come across for cooking for 1 and not have to divide the ingredients. Please keep up the great work.
Where can I find the link to week one?
Hi Jan,
Here is the link to week one – https://onedishkitchen.com/cooking-for-one-meal-plan-week-1/
Week three – https://onedishkitchen.com/cooking-for-one-meal-plan-week-3/
Week four – https://onedishkitchen.com/cooking-for-one-meal-plan-week-4/
Hope you enjoy the recipes!
Where is the link for week 2. Have searched everywhere
Found the link. Thank you