Cooking for one: guides

Planning, shopping and cooking for one person, without the half-used bags and four days of the same dinner.

• 20 Quick Dinners for One, Built From One Ingredient
  20 quick dinners for one person, grouped by the one thing you bought: a chicken breast, a fish fillet, eggs, pasta, a sweet potato. Most in 30 minutes.
• A Weekly Grocery List for One Person You'll Finish
  A weekly grocery list for one person, built from three dinners so every item has a job. Includes a sample list, what to buy loose and what to skip.
• Cooking for One After Years of Cooking for a Family
  Cooking for one after cooking for a family feels strange at first. Simple resets for shopping, portions and freezing, plus the upside: cook what you like.
• Fridge Clean-Out Dinners: What to Make Before You Shop
  Fridge clean out meal ideas for one: a two-minute fridge check, then five flexible dinners (fried rice, frittata, pasta, soup, quesadilla) that use it all.
• How Many Dinners to Cook a Week When You Live Alone
  How many meals should you cook a week living alone? For most people, about three dinners is plenty. Here's why, and what the other nights can look like.
• How to Cook for One Without Wasting Food
  How to cook for one without wasting food: plan dinners that share ingredients, buy loose, freeze single portions and roll leftovers into next week.
• How to Meal Plan for One Person: A Simple 5-Step Method
  How to meal plan for one person without eating the same thing all week: plan three dinners, share ingredients and write one grocery list sized for one.
• How to Save Money on Groceries for One Person
  How to save money on groceries for one person: why solo shopping costs more per meal, why waste is the real cost, and the planning habits that help.
• How to Scale Down Any Recipe for One (and When Not To)
  How to scale down a recipe for one: the simple math, handling half an egg and a pinch of spice, pan size and cook time, and which recipes not to shrink.
• How to Split and Freeze a Family Pack of Chicken for One
  How to portion and freeze family pack chicken when you live alone: trim, split, flash-freeze and label in 10 minutes, then thaw one piece at a time safely.
• How to Use a Whole Bag of Spinach Before It Goes Bad
  How to use up a bag of spinach when you cook for one: how to store it, a three-dinner plan to finish the bag, quick add-ins and how to freeze the rest.
• Is Bulk Buying Worth It When You Live Alone?
  Is Costco worth it for a single person? Yes for food that keeps or freezes, usually no for fresh greens and bread. Here's what to buy big as one.
• Lazy Dinners for One: 12 Meals for Tired Nights
  Lazy dinner ideas for one: 12 dinners with 5 ingredients or fewer, sized for one, grouped by effort, from no-cook plates to one-pot, walk-away meals.
• Leftover Cilantro? 8 Ways to Use the Rest of the Bunch
  What to do with leftover cilantro when the recipe needed two tablespoons: store it in water, freeze it in cubes and use the rest in 8 quick, easy dinners.
• Meal Prep for One Without Eating the Same Thing
  Meal prep for one without eating the same thing all week: prep components, not full meals, swap sauces and plan three dinners that share ingredients.
• No Motivation to Cook for Yourself? It's the Setup
  No motivation to cook for myself? You're not lazy. The hard part is deciding, plus recipes built for four. Here's how to make dinner for one easy again.
• One Pound of Ground Beef for One: 4 Different Dinners
  One pound of ground beef, cooking for one: split it into four portions, freeze three, and make four different dinners that don't taste like leftovers.
• Pantry Staples for One Person: A List That Won't Expire
  A short, opinionated list of pantry staples for one person: grains, cans, spices and freezer basics that keep well, portion easily and suit many dinners.
• Sheet Pan Dinners for One: 8 Ideas and a Formula
  A simple formula for a sheet pan dinner for one: one protein, two vegetables, fat and one flavor on a quarter-sheet pan, plus 8 single-portion ideas.
• What to Do With Half an Onion (5 Easy Ideas)
  What to do with half an onion: how to store it, how long it lasts in the fridge, five ways to use it up, and how to stop it happening every week.

Want the planning done for you? See how 3Onions plans for one.