The Challenge of Cooking for One
Cooking for one is harder than it looks, because the modern food system is not built for small households. But with a few adjustments eating well alone can be just as affordable and satisfying as cooking for a crowd.
Key points
- Most recipes are written for four servings
- A few flexible base ingredients can create a wide range of dishes
- Batch cooking and freezing individual portions make the most of bulk packaging
- The biggest challenge is using up food before it spoils
Anybody who cooks for one is up against the fact that food is packaged to suit the needs of larger households. Buying for just one is often much more expensive, and sometimes downright difficult. A great skill is knowing how to scale down recipes, and how to use up extra ingredients or leftovers before they spoil.
Celery stalks go limp in the fridge, a pot of soup is cheap but causes monotony on the menu. Sometimes it feels easier to just buy something ready-made. But that’s not cheap! The solution is not to cook less but to cook differently.
The key is to stop thinking of each meal as a separate event and start looking at ingredients as building blocks for a variety of meals. A batch-cooked bag of red lentils becomes soup on Monday, dal on Wednesday, and the filling for a baked potato on Friday. A can of chickpeas goes into a curry, then a salad, then a quick pan-fried snack. The cost of the ingredients is the same, but the variety is much greater.
Batch-cooking and freezing are the solo cook’s most powerful tools. Almost every soup, stew, curry, and sauce freezes well. Cooking a full batch and freezing individual portions combine the economy of cooking for four with the convenience of a ready-meal. The upfront time investment is fairly modest, but the savings over buying individual portions are significant.
Seven dishes that work particularly well when cooking for one:
- Red Lentil Dal: A single can of lentils makes two portions; it reheats perfectly and improves overnight as the spices deepen
- Egg Fried Rice: One of the fastest and cheapest solo meals from leftover rice and whatever vegetables are in the fridge
- Baked Potato with Toppings: A large potato costs almost nothing and can be topped with beans, cheese, or leftover stew for a complete meal
- Pasta al Pomodoro: A single portion of pasta with a simple tomato sauce made from canned tomatoes and garlic is ready in fifteen minutes and costs very little
- Shakshuka: Eggs poached in a spiced tomato sauce are a one-pan meal that scales perfectly to one or two servings and uses cheap pantry ingredients
- Omelette: Two or three eggs and whatever vegetables or cheese are available become a satisfying meal in just a few minutes
- Canned Fish on Toast: Sardines, mackerel, or tuna on toast with a squeeze of lemon make a complete, nutritious meal that requires no cooking at all
Sources for inspiration:
- Cooking for One Made Easy by one dish kitchen
- Small Batch Cooking by One Girl. One Kitchen
- Delicious Meals for the Single Diner by Cooking 4 One