A Weekly Grocery List for One Person (That You'll Actually Finish)
Most grocery lists for one are just long lists. Chicken, rice, spinach, peppers, yogurt, bread, some herbs. They look sensible, and they still leave you with half a bag of greens going soft by Friday.
A good weekly grocery list for one person isn't about the right items. It's about the right amounts, and giving every item a job before you buy it. The easiest way to do that is to build the list backwards from the dinners you'll actually cook. Here's how, with a full sample list at the end.
Start from dinners, not aisles
The usual approach is to walk the aisles in your head: produce, dairy, meat, pantry. That produces a list of things you might want, not things you'll use.
Flip it. Choose three dinners for the week first. Then write down what each one needs, in the amounts it needs. Only then combine it all into one list.
This matters because "spinach" is not a quantity. "One 5 oz bag, half for Tuesday's pasta and half for Saturday's eggs" is. When every item on the list is attached to a dinner, you stop buying things that have no plan.
Three dinners is a good number for one person. With leftovers, an easy night and a night out, it covers most of the week. More on that in how many dinners to cook a week.
The rule of two: every fresh item should land in two meals
Pantry items like rice, pasta, oil and spices can wait for weeks, so they don't need a plan. Fresh food does. So here's the one rule that keeps the list honest:
Every fresh item should appear in at least two meals.
If a bunch of cilantro only goes in one dinner, most of it will wilt. Put it in two, and you'll use nearly all of it. The same goes for half an onion, the rest of a lemon, a partly used bag of spinach or the second half of a pack of chicken.
When you choose your three dinners, check them against this rule. If one dinner needs a fresh ingredient nothing else uses, either find a second use for it (eggs, a sandwich, a quick side) or swap that dinner for one that fits.
A sample list for three dinners for one
Here's an example. The three dinners:
- Chicken and pepper fajitas
- Spinach and chickpea curry with rice
- Fried rice with egg and peppers, using leftover rice and the rest of the pepper
Plus a couple of easy meals made from what's left: eggs with spinach on toast, and a chicken wrap for lunch.
Produce
- 1 yellow onion (half in the fajitas, half in the curry)
- 2 bell peppers (one and a half in the fajitas, the rest in the fried rice)
- 1 bag of spinach, about 5 oz (most in the curry, the rest with eggs)
- 1 small bunch of cilantro (fajitas and curry)
- 2 limes (fajitas and curry)
- 1 small knob of ginger (curry; freeze the rest)
- 1 head of garlic (all three dinners, and it keeps for weeks)
Protein and dairy
- About 1 lb of chicken thighs (cook it all on fajita night: half for the fajitas, the rest for the wrap and fried rice within three to four days)
- 6 eggs (fried rice, eggs on toast, backup breakfasts)
- A small block of cheddar (fajitas, wrap, easy nights)
Pantry and bread
- 1 can of chickpeas
- 1 can of coconut milk, or a small carton
- Small flour tortillas (fajitas and wrap)
- Rice, curry paste or spices, soy sauce, oil (check what you have first)
- A loaf of bread (freeze half)
That's a short list. Everything fresh on it has at least two jobs, and the rice you cook for the curry becomes the fried rice two days later. Cooked rice keeps in the fridge for about three to four days, so cool it quickly and keep it covered.
No prices here, because they vary so much by store and region. What we can say is that a list where everything gets used costs less than one where some of it ends up in the trash.
What to buy loose and what to buy frozen
Buy loose when you can: onions, peppers, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, lemons and limes. You take exactly what you need, not the bag of six.
Buy frozen for things you use in small amounts or that spoil fast:
- Peas, corn and spinach. Take out a handful and put the rest back.
- Berries, for breakfast or yogurt.
- Fish fillets, often sold individually wrapped, and shrimp, which you can take out by the handful.
Buy big and freeze on day one if a smaller pack isn't available. Split a pack of chicken or ground meat into single portions before it goes in the freezer.
Keep long-lasting staples on hand: eggs, hard cheese, whole onions, garlic, a bag of rice, pasta, canned beans and tomatoes. These turn an unplanned night into a ten-minute dinner.
What to skip (one-recipe ingredients)
Some ingredients are almost built to be wasted when you shop for one. Be wary of anything that:
- Only one recipe uses, like a jar of a specialty paste, a whole celeriac or a big bunch of an herb you don't use elsewhere.
- Comes in a pack sized for a family and doesn't freeze well, like a large tub of cream or a whole head of lettuce.
- Is a "maybe", like the bag of salad you'll get to at some point. If it isn't attached to a dinner, leave it.
That doesn't mean you can never buy these things. It means you plan two uses before you do.
A list that's already sized for one
If building the list backwards sounds right but tedious, 3Onions does that part for you. It plans three dinners that share ingredients and writes one editable grocery list for all of them, with notes like "Nothing left over" when an item gets fully used, and a grocery cost line so you know roughly what to expect.
Join the 3Onions early-access list (the iPhone app is almost here, and your first week will be free), or read more about cooking for one.
FAQ
How much food does one person need for a week?
It depends on how many meals you eat at home. A simple way to plan is three cooked dinners that each give you a leftover, a few easy meals from staples like eggs and bread, and your usual breakfasts and lunches. Build the list from those meals, not from a fixed amount of food.
Should I shop once a week or more often when I live alone?
Once a week works well for most people, with a short top-up trip if you need bread, milk or a fresh herb. A planned weekly list tends to keep impulse buys down.
How do I stop buying food I don't use?
Only buy fresh items that are attached to a specific dinner, and give each one at least two uses. Check the fridge before you write the list, and put anything still there into next week's dinners first.