Cooking for One: 15 Recipes That Don't Waste Food

Cooking for yourself sounds simple until you realize recipes are written for four. You buy a bunch of herbs and use a sprig. You open a can of beans for one meal. Half a cabbage slowly turns to slime in the drawer. The waste is the part that quietly wears you down.

The fix is not smaller shopping, it is smarter pairing. Pick a few flexible ingredients and plan two or three meals that all draw from the same things, so a whole pack of mince, a tin, or a head of broccoli gets used up across the week instead of half-forgotten. Every idea here is a real single portion, and most cover any meal, not just dinner.

Shop so nothing gets stranded

Waste-free cooking for one starts in the shop, not the kitchen. A little planning means a whole ingredient gets eaten, not binned.

1. Buy ingredients that stretch across meals: eggs, a bag of frozen veg, a block of cheese, a pack of tortillas.
2. Lean on the freezer. It is the single best tool for one, because it pauses anything you cannot finish.
3. Pick one fresh hero per shop, like a head of broccoli or a bunch of spring onions, and plan two meals that both use it.
4. Choose cans and jars in smaller sizes where you can, so half a tin is not left in the fridge.
5. Buy bread you can freeze in slices and toast straight from frozen, so a loaf never goes stale on you.

Eggs, three real meals

A box of eggs is the most waste-proof thing you can own for one. They keep for weeks, they are a meal in three minutes, and a single box turns into breakfast, lunch, and dinner without anything going off.

1. Soft scramble: beat two eggs, cook low and slow in butter, pull off the heat while still glossy, eat on toast.
2. Use-it-up omelette: beat two eggs, pour into a hot buttered pan, scatter in any leftover veg or cheese, fold.
3. Fried egg rice: fry a cold portion of leftover rice with an egg, soy, and a handful of frozen peas.
4. Boil a couple extra eggs while you are at it and keep them in the fridge for tomorrow's salad or snack.
5. Store the box away from strong-smelling food, since eggs pick up odors through the shell.

One tin of beans, two dinners

A single can of beans is too much for one meal and annoying to half-use. So build two small meals around it on purpose and the tin disappears with nothing left to fester in the fridge.

1. Night one, warm half the can in a pan with cumin and smoked paprika and spoon it over toast with a fried egg.
2. Keep the other half in a sealed tub in the fridge, not the open can.
3. Night two, toss the cold half with tinned tuna, lemon, oil, and any leaves for a no-cook bean salad.
4. Or blitz the second half into a quick dip with oil, lemon, and garlic for crackers and veg sticks.
5. Either way the tin is finished within two days, while it is still good.

A small traybake that stretches

A traybake is ideal for one because the oven does the work and you can roast exactly the portion you want. Roast a little extra veg on purpose, and it becomes the base of two more quick meals.

1. Chop one portion of veg plus a bit extra: potato, pepper, onion, broccoli, whatever needs using.
2. Add a protein, like a couple of sausages or a chicken thigh, drizzle with oil, and season well.
3. Roast at 200C (400F) for about 30 minutes until everything is golden and cooked through.
4. Eat one portion hot tonight straight from the tray.
5. Fold the leftover roasted veg into tomorrow's omelette or pile it cold into a wrap with hummus.

More single-portion meals that finish the fridge

Here are more recipes for one, each built to use a whole ingredient rather than strand half of it:

• Pesto pasta for one: a single nest of pasta, a spoon of pesto, a splash of cooking water, frozen peas.
• Single-portion stir fry: a handful of frozen mixed veg, leftover protein, soy, and ginger over rice.
• Loaded jacket potato: one microwaved potato split and topped with beans, cheese, or tuna.
• Soup for two, frozen for later: make a small pot, eat one bowl, freeze the rest in a tub.
• Quesadilla: cheese and leftovers between two tortillas, the rest of the pack frozen for next time.
• Tuna melt on toast: tuna, a little mayo, cheese on top, grilled until bubbling.
• Yogurt and fruit bowl: thick yogurt, frozen berries, a drizzle of honey, a handful of nuts.
• Cheese and tomato gnocchi: a single pouch of gnocchi pan-fried with tomatoes and torn mozzarella.
• Fried halloumi wrap: a few slices of halloumi seared and rolled with salad and hummus.
• One-pan chicken and rice: a thigh, a portion of rice, stock, and frozen peas in a single pan.
• Avocado toast with egg: half an avocado smashed on toast, the other half saved with the stone in.
• Mug-sized porridge: oats, milk, and a spoon of peanut butter for a fast breakfast for one.