Easy, Good Meals for One or Two
Cooking for a small household can be simple, tasty and easier on the budget.
Prefer to watch? Here is the video version (large print, no sound needed). Watch on YouTube
Cooking for one or two can feel like more trouble than it’s worth. Recipes are written for four or six. The grocery store sells family packs. And after you’ve cleaned up, it hardly seems worth the effort for one plate.
It doesn’t have to be that way. A few tricks make eating well simple, and they tend to save money too.
1. Cook once, eat twice
Make a full recipe on purpose, then plan what happens to the leftovers:
- Tonight’s roast chicken becomes tomorrow’s chicken salad or soup.
- A pot of chili is dinner Monday and a baked-potato topping Wednesday.
- Extra rice or pasta becomes a quick stir-fry or soup later in the week.
Freeze single portions in labeled containers. On a tired night, a homemade meal is only a few minutes away.
2. Stock the freezer
Frozen vegetables and fruit are usually picked and frozen at their peak. They keep for months, you use only what you need, and there’s no guilt about wilted lettuce in the crisper drawer. Keep a few favorites on hand: peas, green beans, spinach, broccoli, mixed berries.
Frozen fish fillets and chicken pieces are handy too, since you can thaw just one or two.
3. Sheet-pan suppers
This is my favorite trick. One pan, one cleanup:
Try this today
- Line a sheet pan with foil or parchment.
- Add a piece of chicken or fish and a handful of vegetables cut to similar sizes.
- Toss with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and whatever herbs you like.
- Roast at 400°F until the meat is cooked through and the vegetables are tender, usually 20 to 30 minutes.
Potatoes, carrots, peppers, onions, zucchini and green beans all roast beautifully.
Smart shopping for a small household
- Buy from the salad bar or bulk bins when you only need a little.
- Ask the butcher or deli counter for smaller portions. They’re usually happy to help.
- Split a warehouse-club pack with a neighbor or friend.
- Keep a short list of go-to meals so shopping stays quick.
If you’re on a special diet or have a condition like diabetes or kidney disease, your doctor or a registered dietitian can help tailor these ideas to you.
The free Weekly Meal Planner and Grocery List makes the cook-once-eat-twice plan easy to stick to.
What’s your favorite easy meal for one or two? Share it on our Facebook page, and let’s build a recipe list together.