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#1 Tip for Cooking for One or Two: The Make Ahead
As someone who has been cooking for one for decades now, I have developed many hacks to make cooking easier and quicker. Though I will not compromise on quality or taste.
My #1 Hack for Cooking for One is the Make Ahead. It is making a large amount of one item, in this case potatoes, and then using them for meals through the week ahead.
It is something I also do by roasting a chicken, a ham or a roast beef. Yes, for one. Enjoy some roast the first night, but the key is in the packaging up the rest, so it is ready for delicious diversity of meals all week.
Potatoes are a great make ahead. You can easily cook up a whole bag of potatoes in one go. Then package them into what you will use this week and freeze the rest! Cooked potatoes freeze exceptionally well and can be heated from frozen to eat right away.
Try doing a Roast Potato Make Ahead and you will be delighted by all the wonderful different meals you can make from them over the coming weeks. Wow!
Cook a 5 Pound Bag of Potatoes at Once
Avoid wasting food yet benefit from bulk buying potatoes or using your full harvest from the garden. Budget friendly and sustainable food. Delicious and nutrient filled meals. Win-win-win-win.
Roasting, baking or boiling potatoes as Make Aheads for future meals is one of the smartest things you can do with potatoes. The recipes will vary if you roasted/baked the potato or boiled, but all methods are great ones.
Potatoes take a while to cook, so sometimes make weekday recipes seemingly take too long. But pre-cooked potatoes are ready to eat or repurpose.
Roasted or baked potatoes can easily just be reheated as delicious meals as they are. But add a few more ingredients and you have amazing Curries, Burritos, Quiche, Fries, Hash, Stew, Chili. Yum!
Consider boiling up diced potatoes as a make ahead to be able to easily put together potato salads or garlic mashed potatoes for one for two. Cooking is so much quicker and easier and food does not go to waste.
Store Potatoes for Many Meals – Fridge and Freeze
Make cooking easier by storing the potatoes ready to go for your next meal. Have a quick think about how many potatoes you will use for the next 3 to 5 days and store that amount in the refrigerator. The others, freeze.
Store in your favorite container. I prefer using glass jars. They are clear, so I can see what I have. They have a small footprint and don’t take up much room. They are sustainable and reusable; just wash and use again.
Freezing cooked potatoes is super easy. Place them in a freezer container and put them in the freezer. That’s it! Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
To eat from frozen, cook them directly from the freezer. Heat in the microwave. Or fry up in a pan. Or roast in the oven. All work beautifully.
Make 10 Meals for One
From one five pound bag of potatoes, you can easily get 10 delicious, easy, nutritious meals. Even more if you use some for side dishes.
Yet the diversity of recipes is endless that you can make from potatoes that are already cooked. Some of my favorites include Potato Hash, Spanish Tortilla or Potato Quiche, Breakfast Burrito, Cheesy Potatoes, and Home Fries.
A few delicious recipes to try are here:
Any place you would use a potato, use the make ahead roast potato. Instantly your recipe is easier and quicker.
Roast Potatoes Make Ahead Recipe – Easy Cooking for One or Two
Roast Potatoes, 10 Meals in One Bake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 5 lbs potatoes convert recipe to amount you have
- 1 stick butter drippings or oil
- 1 Tbsp salt salt to taste
- 1 Tbsp pepper pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare your potatoes
- Wash and cube potatoes to uniform size, ideally about 1 inch by 1 inch (3 cm by 3 cm)
- Place on baking sheet
- Cover with oil, butter or drippings
- Add seasoning (salt & pepper)
Roast Potatoes
- Preheat oven to 425F / 220 C
- Cook for 30 minutes, until golden brown outside and fork tender inside
Enjoy!
- Eat now with your favorite spices
- Save what you will eat in next three days in refrigerator
- Freeze the remaining in a freezer container; can be reheated ready to eat
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Video Tutorial Roast Potatoes and Store for Easy Potato Recipes for One or Two
What’s Next?
Looking for more recipes for potatoes? Check out the Recipe Round-Up!
I have many other Make Aheads – learn more from articles on Extend Food Life page. You will also find great hacks for Cooking for One here. Bookmark Ready and Thriving.
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