Cooking for one has its unique challenges in a world that has recipes, equipment and food packages designed for large families. But with a few hacks, you can put the balance back in your favor. Make cooking for one easier, quicker, more delicious, budget friendly and actually enjoyable!
Do Just 5 Things to Make Cooking for One Easier, Tastier & More Fun
- Cook “Make Aheads”
- Use the Replenishing Power of Fresh Food
- Buy Big, Store for One
- Right Size Your Kitchen Kit
- You are Worth It! Learn Recipes & Kitchen Hacks that Improve your Life Every Day
Tutorial Video Counting Down Top 5 Hacks to Improve Cooking for One
1. Cook “Make Aheads” to Make Everyday Cooking for One Easier and More Delicious
Make cooking for one easier and tastier with “Make Ahead”s. Make Aheads are food you cook in large quantities with intention to repurpose and use them in tasty, easy ways.
For example, roast a chicken, enjoy what you want to eat that first night. Then, save the rest of the chicken in two ways – slices and dices/pulled. Use the slices as a meal, on a sandwich, sliced elegantly on top of a bowl of hot Japanese noodles, etc. Use the dices to make chicken tacos, in a quick and nurturing casserole / hot dish, in fried rice or stir fry, etc.
Imagine yourself enjoying a roast chicken and the next day delighting in chicken enchiladas and a work lunch of a fresh, tasty chicken Caesar salad or cheesy sandwich. Yes, you are cooking for one. Eating delicious, complete, healthy meals. Easy food prep because you now have cooked chicken on hand and ready to be eaten in other quick yet spectacular ways.
They key to success is in the “make ahead” prep that you do as you put the food away.
Don’t put the roast chicken away whole, or pick it clean and into one huge storage bin. Put it away in single serve use. Slice the remaining breast meat and put into a container. Cut the uneaten leg and thigh away in a separate container. And pick the rest of the chicken to save in a jar.
Now you have one “leftover” leg-thigh meal to heat and eat later. And you have two “make aheads”. Slices for dinner entrees, sandwiches, soup topping. Pulled chicken for tacos, enchiladas, fried rice, quiche, etc.
You will find loads of recipes for these make aheads to cook or bake for one on the Ready and Thriving Recipe Roundup page.
My favorite make aheads include:
- Roast chicken
- Cooked ham
- Roast beef
- Seasoned ground beef
- Full bag of potatoes – roasted, baked or boiled all at once
- Rice – make a double-batch to make fried rice later in the week
All of these provide two things:
- Luxury, delicious, healthy food that is easy to prepare for the first roasting/cooking
- Multiple options for diverse meals throughout the coming week (or even longer if you freeze some)
You are worth it! Enjoy that roast dinner. They are surprisingly easy to make.
And at the same time, make all your cooking easier and tastier for the rest of the week. Win-win!
2. Use the Replenishing Power of Fresh Food to Make Meals Tastier and Healthier with almost No Cost and No Food Waste
When is the last time you bought a package of fresh herbs? And used the entire bunch? It is not easy when you are cooking or baking for one or even for two.
But if you bought a basil plant instead, you could use what you need at the time. The rest would stay fresh for the next time you want to use fresh basil. And even better, it will replenish and grow more for you!
Even if you don’t have a green thumb. A small herb garden is super easy to keep healthy. Placed in a kitchen window sill with smidge of water every now and then. That’s it!
What will it give you? Fresh herbs … so likely will improve your daily cooking and the deliciousness and health of your current menus. And replenishing food that reduces food waste.
A pot of fresh herb is about the same price as a bunch of herb from the grocery store. And if you want to make it nearly free, then grow herbs from seed. There are loads of easy kits. And I will take you through the whole thing in my Herb Garden video and blog article.
Don’t leave this just at herbs. Another favorite is scallions / spring onions. Buy a bunch for the store, and poke a couple in soil outside or a glass of water inside. It will keep growing and regenerating. You can have all the green onions you need, when you want them and only buy one bunch ever.
No food waste. Healthier, living food. Regenerating to keep it on hand whenever you want it. Almost free.
Give it a try. What have you got to lose? And you may just find that your food improves without any more expense.
3. Buy Big, Store for One and No Longer Pay the “Single Tax“
Have you ever eaten a whole large onion at one sitting? Me neither.
Have you ever had that half an onion sitting in your refrigerator wishing itself to be used, but in the end you discarded it? Me, too. But not no more!
Cooking for one taught me a favorite kitchen hack. “Cut it once” and freeze the rest.
Buy that large onion, when you go to use it. Cut the entire onion. Use what you need for your meal. Then pop the rest, already sliced, into a freezer container. The brilliant part is that you now have diced or sliced onion to grab any time to use direct from frozen in your future cooking.
Vegetables Cut and Ready to Use Any Time
Onions of all types work well to cut and freeze. And importantly, to use directly from frozen into your pans, soups, recipes of all types.
Carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and other sturdy vegetables all keep well this way. Peas and corn also work well frozen and then to use directly from frozen whenever you want. So buy frozen. Or buy fresh, cut it fully and store the rest in the freezer for later.
Buy Budget Friendly “Family Size” Quantities of Meat and Stop Paying the “Single Tax“
Large quantities of meat are normally available at a substantial savings. But as a single, those packages may look intimidating at first. But they are your friend, too. Just store them ready for one.
As a single person or an organized meal preparer … the freezer is your friend!
Buy that large package of ground beef, chicken pieces, fish fillets, pork chops or steaks. But before you put it away, open the package and put the meat into single serve containers or freezer bags. Keep fresh what you will use in the next couple days and put the rest into the freezer.
Then you have meat ready for now and the future. Just the night before you will cook the frozen meat, bring it down into the refrigerator to defrost. It will be ready for you that next day.
A few things, such as bags of frozen shrimp / prawns, can even be used directly from frozen. Prawns can be added frozen into your stir fry dish or sauté pan to cook up, making them an almost instant entree.
Bread for One
You can buy small rolls or baguettes in many places that are single sized. But there may be many breads that only come in a large loaf or package. Well, good news! Bread can be packaged for one, too.
Bread freezes very well. In the case of sliced bread, you can even store the entire loaf in the freezer and take out only the slices you need, when you need them. Either use them immediately by toasting them or leave them out over night to defrost and come back to almost fresh quality.
Packages of English muffins, rolls and similar save well frozen as well. Go ahead and buy that multi-pack deal, even for couples or singles. Freeze what you don’t need now and take it out when you do.
4. Right Size Your Kitchen Kit for Cooking for One to Make Cooking Easier and Higher Quality
The world of recipes and cooking equipment still seems set up for huge families. Some of these things just don’t work when cooking for one. But with a few wise choices, you can have the gear that will make cooking for one or two super easy.
Baking and cooking are both an art and a science. The scientific part means that using the right tool for the job really does make a difference. A pan that is small enough will heat your entire meal better if it is the right size and cups the heat around your food.
Plus it is just easier. You can make a tray bake for one easily, if you have the tray that is perfectly sized.
Use the right tool for the right job.
My dad (and maybe yours, too)
Top equipment that will benefit someone who cooks for one or two are:
- Oven safe ceramic dish, sized for one
- Ramekin and/or mini dutch oven (petites cocottes)
- Tray bake pan for one
- Mini loaf pans
- Egg sauté pan
- Small sauce pan
Recommended Kitchen Gear for Cooking for One
Oven safe dishes and ramekins will empower you to bake up a hardy meal or delicious dessert any time.
For those who love brownies, cakes or homemade breads, try mini loaf pans. Make a full batch, cook in the mini loaf pans. Keep one for today and freeze the other loaves to enjoy later.
To help you cook with higher quality, use smaller pans. An egg sauté pan is just the right size to sauté a piece of meat. It will provide better heating around the sides of the meat for a better cook.
My father taught me to use the right tool for the right job. In the case of cooking for one, have a few single size oven dishes and stove top pans to help you make cooking and baking easier and better.
5. You are Worth It! Learn Recipes for One & Kitchen Hacks that Improve your Life Every Day
Some get much of their enjoyment from cooking by sharing their creations with others. Other believe it is just not worth it to cook when it is just for one. And some think heating a microwave meal or buying a take away meal is time and effort saving enough to compromise on taste and health. Many were not taught to cook and just find what you can manage.
There are loads of reasons for not cooking for one. There are even more good reasons FOR COOKING FOR ONE. The main one is that you are worth it! You deserve a life of robust health and enjoyment. Food can bring you both – in the eating and in the creating.
Challenge Yourself to Try
Try a few recipes. Implement some kitchen hacks from 1-4 of the Top 5 Hacks for Cooking for One. Before you know it. Your confidence in the value and ease of cooking for yourself will deepen.
Its okay to dip in and out. But you are worth having the best. So keep trying.
Step one, try a recipe. Enjoy it. Step two, try another. By the time you’ve taken several steps, you will develop a repertoire of “go to” recipes that suit you.
Free Support is Here for You
Ready and Thriving is here to support. Try recipes from the Recipe RoundUp such as those below, which are good for cooking for one. They all have a video tutorial to learn cooking tips. They all have recipes, so you know just what you need and how to do it.
Highly Recommended Recipes to Try for One
Ready and Thriving recipes are (almost) all easy and quick. They are all meant to be made in a sustainable way and be absolutely delicious. Made for pleasure in eating, in making and in their limited impact on the earth.
Recommended Cookbooks for One and to Learn to Cook
There are also a couple good books that I have and use and highly recommend to help with Cooking for One or Learning to Cook.
But there are loads of great resources in books and online. Find the path that is best for you.
Invest in trying, learning and adopting some new positive habits. You are worth it!
In Summary
- Cook “Make Aheads”
- Use the Replenishing Power of Fresh Food
- Buy Big, Store for One
- Right Size Your Kitchen Kit
- You are Worth It! Learn Recipes & Kitchen Hacks that Improve your Life Every Day
What’s Next?
More recipes, hacks and tips are coming soon to Ready and Thriving YouTube Channel, so SUBSCRIBE to see them in your YouTube feed and Facebook / Twitter / Instagram feed.
Bookmark the Recipe Roundup and Extend Food Life pages for recipes and blogs for those who want to eat tastier, better, easier food and avoid food waste.
