Most recipes serve four, and most supermarket packs are family-sized. Cooking for one can mean eating the same chilli five nights in a row, or throwing half the shopping away. It doesn’t have to.
Shop smarter
- Buy loose fruit and veg so you get exactly what you need.
- Use frozen veg — peas, spinach, peppers and berries. You take out a handful and the rest keeps.
- Choose versatile ingredients that work in several dishes: a bag of spinach goes into an omelette, a curry and a pasta sauce.
Cook once, eat twice — differently
Instead of eating the same meal twice, plan a remix:
- Roast chicken thighs tonight → chicken wraps tomorrow.
- A pot of chilli → chilli with rice, then a baked potato with chilli.
- Extra rice → egg fried rice the next day.
Make your freezer work for you
- Freeze leftovers in single portions, labelled and dated, for instant “ready meals”.
- Freeze bread in slices, grated cheese, and chopped herbs in oil.
- Split family packs of meat into single portions before freezing.
See our freezer guide for what freezes well.
Five quick solo dinners
- Egg fried rice with frozen peas and soy sauce.
- Pasta aglio e olio: spaghetti, garlic, chilli flakes and olive oil. Ready in the time the pasta takes to cook.
- Loaded omelette with whatever’s in the fridge.
- Quesadilla: a tortilla, cheese, beans or leftover chicken, and salsa.
- Miso noodle soup: instant noodles upgraded with a spoon of miso, frozen veg and a soft-boiled egg.
Make it worth it
Cooking just for yourself is still worth doing properly. Sit at a table, use a nice plate, and try something new now and then.
In CulinaryFlow, set servings to one in AI Cook, or scale any recipe’s servings before you start. The quantities adjust for you.