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Learn how to make cooking for one easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable. These simple tips will help you save money, reduce waste, and get meals on the table with less effort.
Cooking for one doesn’t have to feel like a chore. Whether you live alone, your partner travels often, or you’re simply preparing your own meal, these tips will help you waste less food, save money, and enjoy the process. Here’s how to make cooking for one simple and satisfying.
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The Joy Of Cooking For One
Many recipes are made for families, leaving those that cook for themselves with too many leftovers. But with a little creativity and the right tips, you can enjoy meals that are just the right size, without sacrificing flavor or variety.
At One Dish Kitchen, we focus on adapting classic recipes for single servings. These tips will help you cook smarter, waste less, and enjoy the process – whether you’re chopping vegetables with music playing or experimenting with your favorite ingredients.
- Plan Around One Main Ingredient
Choose a main ingredient like chicken, then plan 2–3 meals using it. For example:
- Roast Chicken: Use leftovers in
2. Check What You Have First
Before shopping, take inventory of your pantry and fridge. Use what you already have to avoid buying duplicates and save money.
- Keep Basic Ingredients Stocked
Having a few pantry and fridge staples on hand makes single serving cooking quicker and easier. Stock items like canned beans, diced tomatoes, rice, pasta, and chicken broth, these ingredients are versatile and last a long time. Check out our collection of canned beans recipes for ideas.
Spices are another must. Keep a few blends ready to go, like small batch taco seasoning, small batch Creole seasoning, or small batch garam masala.
These homemade versions are easy to mix, full of flavor, and perfect for seasoning small meals.
Don’t forget the fridge basics: eggs, milk, and cheese can be used in dozens of ways throughout the week.
- Shop The Bulk Bins
Buy only what you need, especially for:
- Spices
- Grains
- Pasta
- Nuts
It’s a great way to experiment with new flavors without wasting money.
- Get Creative In The Kitchen
Try simple, flexible meals using what you enjoy. A few ideas:
- Roast cabbage or roast Brussels sprouts and toss with buttered noodles and cheese.
- Load a baked potato with homemade chili, cheese, and sour cream.
- Buy Meats And Cheese In Small Amounts
Skip pre-packaged portions. Ask at the meat, seafood, or deli counter for exactly what you need. This reduces waste and saves space.
- Use The Salad Bar
Need just a small amount of vegetables, fruit, or toppings? Pick up a handful from the salad bar, perfect for one-person portions.
- Don’t Skip Dessert
Treat yourself to a quick, single serving dessert like:
- Freeze Smart, Use What You Freeze
When cooking for one, your freezer can be your best friend. Portion and freeze leftovers, sauces, broth, bacon, or extra vegetables in small containers so they’re easy to use later. Label everything with the date and contents to avoid waste and make meal planning easier. You’ll always have building blocks for a quick meal ready to go.
- Use Our Leftover Ingredient Recipe Finder
Not sure what to cook with what you’ve got on hand? Try our Leftover Ingredient Recipe Finder. Just enter the ingredients you already have, and we’ll show you single serving recipes that use them. It’s a great way to reduce waste, save money, and build a personalized meal plan around what’s in your kitchen.
Bonus Tip: Make It Enjoyable
Cooking for yourself can be a rewarding part of your day. Light a candle, play music, pour a glass of wine, it’s your time.
Explore more single serving recipes on our site, including:
Perfectly portioned and made just for you.
I love Vanilla Pudding. It has a unique taste and flavor. My children’s are also fond of it. It could be a great menu for evening snacks. Anyway, thanks a lot for sharing this article with us.
I like how you mentioned that the first step of cooking for one is planning your meals for the week so that you can make sure you have all the ingredients that you need. I live alone, and it’s often hard to find meals that I can cook for one person.The next time I make a meal for myself, I will definitely keep your great cooking tips in mind!
Hi there, I must say after spending a ton of time on pinterest looking for post-baby freezer meal prep recipes I am so thankful I came across your website! It is all here. Thanks for the variety of healthy freezer and regular meal prep ideas. I want to try them all!!
I am so. Happy to have found you. As a very recent widow, I have spent the last month eating strangely and not too healthy as I had lost my appitite, but made a menu and went shopping today. I love your recipes!
Thank you, Joan. I’m so happy you found our site and hope you enjoy the recipes.
My husband passed a few months ago, he loved to eat, and starting to cook for one was very hard for me. I was eating out but found it saddened me too much to eat out alone Then I saw your recipes and thought I would try a few, the risotto, Minestrone soup and the fried rice were all excellent. I have printed up several more of your recipes and I am anxious to try them. Thank you so much for having this information.
Hi Janet,
I’m so sorry for your loss. Thank you for your kind note, I am so happy you found our site and have been able to enjoy a few of the recipes. Hopefully you will find many more recipes to try. If you have a favorite dish that you would like to see scaled down to a smaller serving, please let me know.
Have a wonderful week.
Joanie
Are you on FB?
Hi Judy,
Yes, we’re have a Facebook page called A One Dish Kitchen which can be found here – https://www.facebook.com/aonedishkitchen/ and we have a new Facebook Group Page where members can share their favorite single serving recipes. It’s called The Cooking For One – One Dish Kitchen community and it can be found here – https://www.facebook.com/groups/onedishkitchen/
Joanie
I’ve been a widow for a year now and my eating habits have been a rollercoaster. I started eating healthier in the last two months, but have been in a rut so I am really looking forward to trying your recipes.
Thank you, Mary. I hope you find many new recipes to try.
Thank goodness for your site. After having 4 kids it was hard to cut down cooking all that food. Left overs left overs yukkk…I have found out that your recipes are perfect for my husband and me. Just enough and NO LEFT OVERS……Even I’m gluten sensitive I can adjust and substitute GF ingredients. Thank you
Thank you so much for reaching out to let me know you are enjoying the recipes, Nancy. Comments like yours mean the world to me and I’m so happy you are enjoying the recipes and adapting them so they work for you and your husband.
Have a great week!
Joanie
Joanie,
I’ll look forward to a few of your recipes adapted for the microwave! I’m sure a few other of your readers would like that too! I also have osteoporosis, AND i’m lactose intolerant, so while dairy products are wonderful sources of calcium, and I love them, I have to be careful about eating them. I wonder about substitutions sometimes.
Thanks,
Doris
Joanie,
I’m looking forward to trying many of your recipes. Cookbooks with recipes that serve 4 or 6 are ridiculous when you live alone. I’ve experimented with cutting them down but it doesn’t seem to work. Especially as I don’t really enjoy cooking to start with.
May I make a suggestion that I think would help a lot of us who cook only for ourselves? Could you make alternate cooking suggestions for cooking in the microwave, please? I know that wouldn’t work for all your recipes, but it would for a lot of them. I don’t want fancy, I want things I can prep quickly, cook quickly, and eat with pleasure. I’ve been printing out many of your recipes, hoping I can make them work this way. Please help those of us who’d like to cook at least some stage of your recipes in the microwave!
Thanks so much for focusing on those of us who want to cook for one!
Doris
Hi Doris,
I’m so glad you found our site and hope you find many recipes that you love. Thank you for your suggestion to add microwave cooking times and instructions to some of our recipes. I’m sure that would be a benefit to many people. We’ll see what we can do.
Thank you again and have a wonderful weekend!
Joanie