Preparing meals for one can feel like too much work versus reward, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Cooking for one not only saves time and money, but also provides you with healthier meals that fit your individual tastes and cravings. You don’t have to worry about what others want, and can prepare what you like, when you like it. With so many options available to assist you in the kitchen, individual meal prepping can be a delicious experience. Let us help with quick and easy dinner recipes and handy cooking-for-one tips and tricks.
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING BEST FITS YOUR COOKING-FOR-ONE STYLE?
INGREDIENT GATHERER
The Ingredient Gatherer tends to be a cook who doesn’t really enjoy cooking very often. They look for ingredients and premade options that can be added to for a complete meal. Recipes with fewer ingredients and usage of small appliances for faster cook times tend to interest this type of cook. Microwaves and air fryers are among their favorites. For the Ingredient Gatherer, we recommend easy no-cook recipes, quick and easy microwave meals like Healthy Choice® Power Bowls, or whipping up a quick dipping sauce for ready-made Gardein® Chick’n options. Here are a few of our favorites.
BATCH COOK
The Batch Cook enjoys cooking, but is short on time and mindful of resources. They look for deals, seasonal ingredients, and multi-purpose ingredients for their meal prepping. The faster cook times that microwaves and air fryers offer also appeal to this cook, as they tend to multi-task to save time. For the Batch Cook, we recommend batch recipes, which allow for cooking larger quantities and freezing what you don’t eat for future use, sheet pan recipes, which save time on prep and cleanup, and tips for stretching your grocery budget.
AVID CHEF
The Avid Chef loves to cook! Time and resources come in second to the joy that cooking brings this type of home cook. New, latest-and-greatest kitchen utensils and cooking tools are a must for the Avid Chef. They will use all the appliances at their disposal to prepare their meals. They are always searching for new methods of cooking and love to experiment with high-quality and rare ingredients. For the Avid Chef, we recommend trying some of the more difficult advanced recipes, checking out our Chef pages, and considering creating their own vegetable garden.
Whether you love to cook or hate it, preparing meals for one at home offers so many benefits. Healthier meals that oftentimes cost less can easily be implemented a few times each week with tasty single-serving recipes. Partially prepared or ready-to-eat frozen selections provide time-savings that are ideal when you have a busy weeknight schedule. Just because you’re cooking for one doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy gourmet, next-level recipes to feed your passion for cooking.
