Looking for, simple, 1 person recipes

mattig89ch

Hello all,

I can't seem to find any simple 1 person recipes on google. Every recipe I find is for 4-6 people. So I wanted to know if anyone knew of any simple good 1 person recipes.

I say simple, because I'm not much of a chef. I've tried cooking chili before, but I didn't really like it. Both the taste or the experience of cooking. And besides that, I've never enjoyed cooking. So whatever I make has to be very simple.

Thanks all!

TavistockToad

Joe wicks does loads of single serve recipes, check out some of his body coach stuff

SuzySunshine99

If some of those recipes you found for 4-6 servings sound good to you....either do the math and reduce it to make one serving...or make the 4-6 servings and make single serve packets to put in your freezer for easy meals in the future.

mattig89ch

Yea, I tried that with the afore mentioned chili. I didn't have a great experience with it, so I kinda just stopped. I want something I can make, then eat. Not make, split into containers, and reheat later.

And who is joe wicks?

rlaurain

This is my favorite, simple and delicious. This can feed one or two people-

Parmesan Crusted chicken breast:

Ingredients:
1/4 C. Light Mayo
1/4 C. Parmesan cheese (I use light for less calories)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves (about 3/4 lb)
4 teaspoons Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425
Combine mayo and parmesan cheese in bowl
Arrange chicken on baking sheet
Spread mayo/cheese mixture to coat each chicken breast
Sprinkle bread crumbs on top
Bake 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked

I like to serve this with salad and a little rice.

dragon_girl26

If you don't like cooking, what about ready made meals that you can just heat up, like Lean Cuisines? I do that sometimes when I don't feel like cooking.

toxikon

On Allrecipes.com, you can adjust the serving size however you please.

DaintyWhisper

What are some things you consider yourself comfortable with cooking? For simple, I'd go with tacos, rotini with meat sauce, chicken wraps, ground beef and rice burritos, chicken salad, chicken/beef sliders and frozen fries. You didn't really specify if you're staying away from certain kinds of foods, but these are things I eat quite often and I find them rather simple to prepare!

alicebhsia

http://allrecipes.com/recipes/15050/everyday-cooking/cooking-for-one/?page=2 i've made some recipes from allrecipes that weren't bad

janejellyroll

I feel like the best way for most people to start cooking is to think of the things they're most excited to eat and learn to make versions of those. So what are you most excited to eat?

kemoon0915

Something I like to keep on hand is fully cooked chicken sausage. There are tons of different types and it's easy just to pull out one (or two depending on your calorie intake) and brown it in a frying pan. You can pair them with varying sides of fresh or frozen steam-in-bag veggies and grains like couscous or brown rice to mix things up

aeloine

- Boil 56g pasta, add 1/2 cup pasta sauce from a can
- microwave broccoli or sauté vegetables of your choice
- combine in a pot to heat
- maybe toss in an egg

Anything with eggs.

Sandwiches.

I've been cooking a variation of this for myself every couple of nights for months:
- sauté mushrooms or zucchini or microwave broccoli
- soak 2 oz of rice noodles in boiling water for 12-15 minutes
- combine veg and rice noodles in a pan
- crack in and scramble an egg
- salt, pepper, soy sauce, hot sauce (I use a garlic chili sauce from the Asian food section at walmart).

Iwantahealthierme30

I looked for the same thing recently.

If you're looking for an actual cookbook. James Barber, Cooking for Two or The Everything College Cookbook are the best bets. I could not find anything specifically for one person.

kimothyschma

Buzzfeed is doing this 2 week healthy eating plan and all the recipes are 1 serving. I think you could go back and search years past, too. https://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/day-1-goodful-healthy-eating-challenge-2018?utm_term=.oqdoOarMOW#.oc5VdA1ldP

Kelkat405

Rotisserie chicken is your friend. Most stores sell them already cooked for around $5.00. Take all the meat off and store in a container or bag. From there, you can add noodles and chicken broth for soup, make wraps with them, a little mayo, celery and onion for chicken salad, add chopped veg & a little soy sauce for stir fry, add Barbeque sauce for bbq chicken. Loads of options

getalife9353

Recipe for what?
If you are just looking for some simple meal ideas, here are some ideas: My meals tend to be one meat, 2 vegetables and a starch. Real simple ideas:
meat: chicken - boil a peice of chicken with some poultry seasoning sprinkled over it. (I use boneless/skinless breast or thigh) or pan fry a pork chop, or tuna steak. If you use non-stick or cast iron skillet, you only need a very small amount of oil (teaspoon) for pan frying.
Vegetables: I prefer fresh, but canned or frozen would work also.... broccoli, carrots, corn, peas, grean beens, etc. (canned vegetables can be high in sodium, if that is a concern for you) I cook my vegetables in the microwave, and don't usually add anything to them, just plain vegetables.
Starch: microwave baked russet potato or sweat potato, or microwave rice.
Adjust portion size of meat and starch to met your calorie and/ or macro nutrient goals for the meal.

Kelkat405

Also the Boca flame grilled veggie burgers are delicious for making burgers. You’ll never know the difference

OldHobo

mattig89ch wrote: »

Hello all,

I can't seem to find any simple 1 person recipes on google. Every recipe I find is for 4-6 people. So I wanted to know if anyone knew of any simple good 1 person recipes.

I say simple, because I'm not much of a chef. I've tried cooking chili before, but I didn't really like it. Both the taste or the experience of cooking. And besides that, I've never enjoyed cooking. So whatever I make has to be very simple.

Thanks all!

If you don't want to cook, my advice is to abandon the recipe search.

1. Learn to bake, roast, or pan sear single servings of chicken, pork, and beef.
2. Learn to roast single servings of vegetables.
3. Learn to boil single servings of vegetables in a pot with a little water and fat and one dried herb of your choice.

I guess that last one is a recipe but it's so simple that it doesn't really count as one. The vegetables cook in the water and then, when the water has been absorbed and boiled off, they caramelize slightly in the remaining fat. The only trick is to take them off the stove before they burn.

Cbean08

I hate to cook. Instead of cooking, I have learned how to "assemble" things that are already cooked.

Staples to Buy
Pre-cooked frozen grilled chicken
Pre-cooked frozen meatballs
Pre-cooked frozen breakfast sausage
Eggs
Oil
Shredded cheese
Frozen broccoli spears
Frozen cauliflower
Frozen 3 pepper blend
Canned corn
Canned asparagus
Canned stewed tomatos
Marinara sauce
Instant rice
Tortillas
Ravioli
Minced garlic
Salsa
Salt/Pepper/ Paprika/ Onion powder

You can combine any of that stuff to make mexican rice bowls, tacos, ravioli and meatballs, cheese chicken rice, breakfast burritos, quesadillas, wraps etc.

bpetrosky

You might find some good one person recipes here.

Feeding Hannibal: A Connoisseur's Cookbook https://www.amazon.com/dp/1783297662/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_NjiAAbH5R3SH9

Lounmoun

What do you like to eat?

Simple to me would not be a recipe but doing something like putting a chicken breast in a baking dish with salt, pepper... maybe garlic or an herb mixture and baking. I might have that with a salad, baked potato, rice or heat up some frozen vegetables. I buy a bag of frozen chicken breasts and the bag has cooking instructions.

I'm surprised you can't find recipes for 1 person. I searched for cooking for 1 and got many results. There appear to be cookbooks focusing on cooking for 1 person.
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/15050/everyday-cooking/cooking-for-one/
https://www.amazon.com/Cooking-One-Cookbook-Beginners-Breakfast-ebook/dp/B00LH2YIX0
https://www.amazon.com/Single-Guy-Cookbook-Comfort-Favorites-ebook/dp/B00MSZLB8A/ref=pd_sim_351_10?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3W3GA90S0FWMJB88RM93

hesn92

I miss cooking for just myself. However I was a big fan of making enough for several meals. So I’m not with you on that one. I also liked eating easy things. Like I would make myself breakfast for dinner, eggs bacon etc. cook myself a chicken breast and baked potato.

Teresa502

Not a recipe but an easy put-together: Microwave a steamer package of frozen vegetables and to that add a protein (canned chicken, canned tuna, rotiserre chicken, etc.)

murp4069

When I'm making food just for me, I'm a huge fan of a baked potato and salad. Easy peasy. I've also done mac and cheese and other varieties of pasta + sauce. Those are very easy to just make what you want. Many recipes can be easily scaled down to make one serving. Also many websites also allow you to adjust the serving size and will give you the amount of each ingredient needed for whatever serving size you chose. You can probably find a recipe you like and either with a tool on the website or a little math easily figure out how to make a single serving.

But at the end of the day if you hate cooking, don't do it. You can buy precooked proteins (rotisserie chicken from the grocery for the win here) and frozen veggies. I've seen precooked meatloaf before as well. Again you can pair that easily with a veggie. Make sandwiches and salads. There are about a million brands and varieties of frozen entrees these days, which have come a long way in terms of quality and taste. I'm a fan of Amy's Organic, but Lean Cuisine has come a long way. A few of the "nicer" grocery stores in my area have huge deli prepared food sections with not only standard items like tuna and pasta salad and deli meats and cheeses, but also stuffed peppers, dressed baked potatoes, eggplant parmesan, chicken milanese, pork chops...the list literally goes on and on.

Francl27

That's actually one of the reasons to make 4-6 servings and freeze some to reheat later... it's the same amount of cooking for 1 or 6 person, so you don't have to cook as much.

My meals when I'm alone are usually leftovers or frozen veggies with a protein (ham steaks, already cooked sausage, rotisserie chicken, frozen burgers etc - but it's cheaper to buy a bunch of chicken and cook those in batch to reheat later).

mattig89ch

Thanks for the responces all! I do apreciate the ideas/feedback.

So in order of what I remember reading. I can't say I'm excited for much in terms of food. I know what I like, and what I don't. The only real treats I have, are fast foods. As those are very high calorie, and I can't really afford that many calories in my daily limit. Not unless I really budget for them. Which I do, its just much rarer for me to do so then not.

My food tastes are very simple. And I do like things with cheese/dairy in them. But, those tend to me the most caloric, so I need to avoid more often then not.

Believe it or not, I actually already go out and get some lean cuisine meals. I normally go for the ones with 18-20g of protein. And they are pretty tasty, but they are surprisingly high in sodium. So I was hoping to find some incredibly simple meals to make instead.

RodaRose

mattig89ch wrote: »

Thanks for the responces all! I do apreciate the ideas/feedback.

So in order of what I remember reading. I can't say I'm excited for much in terms of food. I know what I like, and what I don't. The only real treats I have, are fast foods. As those are very high calorie, and I can't really afford that many calories in my daily limit. Not unless I really budget for them. Which I do, its just much rarer for me to do so then not.

My food tastes are very simple. And I do like things with cheese/dairy in them. But, those tend to me the most caloric, so I need to avoid more often then not.

Believe it or not, I actually already go out and get some lean cuisine meals. I normally go for the ones with 18-20g of protein. And they are pretty tasty, but they are surprisingly high in sodium. So I was hoping to find some incredibly simple meals to make instead.

Pork chop, veggie, and brown rice or small potato.

apullum

How do you feel about leftovers, or making things that freeze well? If you're okay with eating a few days of leftovers, or freezing part of what you make, then it's a lot easier to think about scaling recipes.

Produce is probably the easiest thing to scale. Buy frozen veggies and measure out what you need; the rest will keep just fine in the freezer. In terms of fresh produce, stick to things that you'll either eat quickly, or that keep for a while (like apples, carrots, potatoes). You might not be able to eat an entire head of lettuce yourself, but you can probably finish off a bunch of fresh spinach, especially if you cook it just enough for it to wilt. Its volume will decrease dramatically.

You can easily measure out the amount of pasta you want and just cook that much. Other carbs that easily serve one person might be bread or potatoes (or instant rice--I always have trouble cooking small batches of non-instant rice).

Same with a portion of most proteins. Meat, eggs, yogurt, veggie burgers, etc. can all be easily portioned out for one. If you have a block of tofu or tempeh, you can cook part of it and the rest will keep for a short time in the fridge. Canned beans may also be an option (or you can cook a big batch of dried beans and freeze them in whatever portions you want).

Various jarred sauces will keep in the fridge after opening. You can measure out your portion, then put the rest back and use it over the next few days. Jarred spaghetti sauce is one option, but most grocery stores have many other sauces as well. If you have an interest in cooking, you can make many quick sauces yourself, but if cooking doesn't interest you then just grab some pre-made sauce.

So with that "template," you're able to make single serving meals that include one or more veggies, a carb, protein, and a tasty sauce.

busyPK

There are many recipes that are great as leftovers. Off the top of my head I love to cook a beef roast in the crockpot with potatoes, carrots, onion with a bit of dried ranch, dried Italian seasoning and dried brown gravy in about 2 cups water. Low for 8 hours or high for 5-6. Left overs are AMAZING or turn it into a beef sandwich or beef hash and add some beef stock and other canned/fresh veggies. I probably make this 3 times a month and all my kids will eat at least some of it.

MelanieCN77

I am married but I cook for one all the time as we have completely different tastes. For myself, watching what I eat, some of my meals this week were:

Stir fried veg and rice with some frozen potstickers or meat
Soup and a sandwich
Rice, refried beans, avocado all smushed together with some kind of meat and street taco size tortillas
Rice , tuna, peas and corn, broccoli, bit of mayo, S&P - ugly but delicious bowl
Veggie or tater tots and Morningstar nuggets with a side of veg (probably broc or sprouts)
Home made turkey meatballs with veg
Frozen cauli mix sauteed up with bacon and egg, made into tacos
Home made pizza and salad

Is it a question of HOW to cook things for one? The chicken I ate a bunch of times this week I cooked two breasts start of the week in salsa and then just used it for whatever. The meatballs also were 2 servings that I split between different days. If you want to cook fresh protein on a daily basis, chicken breast is easy and ground meat, just cut off what you want and pan cook it is the fastest. I keep squeeze garlic and ginger, onions, soy sauce, rice wine, hot sauce and usually BBQ around at all times, I don't get tired with that rotation of seasoning. Also lemon and garlic is easy, lemon pepper, you can find rotisserie seasoning in a jar which is delicious too. A mess of stuff in a skillet, seasoned right, is probably 75% of my dinners, and easily controlled portion-wise.