Make Do for cooking for one
Cooking for one, without the waste
Food is sold for families. Cooking for one means half a bag of spinach, most of a pack of chicken and a problem by Thursday.
Supermarkets sell food for families. Chicken comes in packs of four, spinach in bags that would feed six, and a bunch of coriander (cilantro) is more than one person can use before it wilts. Cooking for one means you open something on Monday and are staring at the rest of it by Thursday. The fix is not cooking less. It is planning the second and third use of everything you open.
Shop for one
- Buy loose. One pepper, two carrots, three onions. Loose fruit and vegetables cost a little more per kilo, but nothing goes in the bin.
- Favour food that keeps. Eggs, hard cheese, roots, cabbage, apples, frozen vegetables and tins are all forgiving if you do not cook on schedule.
- Buy fragile food for a specific night. Fresh fish, soft herbs and bagged salad should have a plan attached when they go in the basket.
Use the freezer as a second fridge
The freezer is what makes cooking for one work. Split big packs the day you buy them:
| Freeze | How |
|---|---|
| Meat and fish | In single portions, flat in bags, so they defrost fast. |
| Bread | Sliced. Toast straight from frozen. |
| Cooked rice and grains | In single portions, cooled quickly first. |
| Herbs, ginger, chilli | Chopped, or in oil in an ice-cube tray. Ginger grates easily from frozen. |
| Soups, stews, sauces | In single portions: your own ready meals. |
| Grated cheese | Loose in a bag. It melts straight from frozen. |
Plan the second use
When you open something, decide its next job before it goes back in the fridge:
- Half a tin of tomatoes: tonight's pasta, then shakshuka tomorrow.
- Half a bag of spinach: into tonight's curry, then an omelette for breakfast.
- The rest of the chicken pack: roast two thighs tonight, and the leftovers go into fried rice or a wrap.
- Half a tub of cream or yogurt: a pasta sauce, then a dressing or a marinade.
Meals that scale down cleanly
Some dishes are hard to make for one; these are easy:
- Omelettes and frittatas: two or three eggs and whatever needs using.
- Stir-fries: a handful of each vegetable and one portion of protein.
- Pasta: 100g of dried pasta and a sauce made in the time it cooks.
- Fried rice and grain bowls: perfect for single portions of leftovers.
- Soup: make four portions, eat one and freeze three.
How Make Do helps when you cook alone
Make Do is built around exactly this problem. Photograph your fridge and it lists what is there, including the half-used things. Set servings to one and every recipe it suggests is written for a single portion, with quantities to match. Recipes are ranked so that whatever is closest to going to waste gets cooked first, and each one tells you which ingredient it uses up.
Scan again a few days later and it remembers how long each thing has been in there, so the opened pack of chicken from Monday rises to the top on Wednesday. Mark a dish as cooked and it takes what you used off its list.
See how long food lasts in the fridge for what to cook first, or ten dinners from odds and ends for the end of the week.
Questions
How do I cook for one without wasting food?
Buy loose produce where you can, freeze meat and bread in single portions as soon as you get home, and plan the second use of anything you open, such as half a tin of tomatoes or half a pack of chicken.
Can Make Do scale recipes to one person?
Yes. Set servings to one and every quantity in every recipe is written for a single portion.
What are good meals to cook for one?
Omelettes and frittatas, stir-fries, pasta, fried rice, grain bowls and soups. They all scale down cleanly and use small amounts of many things.
