How do I cook for one without wasting food?

Cooking for one is wasteful mainly because food is sold in quantities for households. The answer is not to cook smaller meals but to cook normal batches and store them properly.

What you'll need

• Freezer space
• Single-portion containers
• Scales (optional)

Step by step

1. Buy loose wherever possible.Loose vegetables, meat from a counter, bread from a bakery. You buy the amount you will use rather than the pack size.
2. Cook full batches and freeze in single portions.The effort is the same and you build a stock of meals. This is the central technique of cooking for one.
3. Freeze in flat, labelled, single-portion bags or containers.Flat packs stack and thaw fast. Label everything with contents and date or the freezer becomes a mystery.
4. Plan meals that share ingredients.Buy a bunch of coriander and use it three times rather than once. This is what stops half of every purchase being thrown away.
5. Use the freezer for ingredients, not just meals.Half an onion, leftover tomato purée in a tray, herbs in oil, bread, cheese for cooking, portions of stock.
6. Buy frozen vegetables without hesitation.You use exactly what you need with no waste at all, and they are frozen at peak freshness.
7. Keep a store cupboard that makes a meal from nothing.Tinned pulses, tomatoes, pasta, rice, stock. It means an unplanned evening does not become a takeaway or waste.
8. Cook things that improve as leftovers.Stews, curries, chilli, soup, roasted vegetables. All are better on day two, so eating the same thing twice is not a compromise.

Tips

• Halving recipes is often more trouble than cooking the full amount and freezing half. The eggs and tins rarely divide cleanly.
• A small freezer is the single most valuable appliance for cooking for one. Keep an inventory list on the door.
• Batch-cook a base rather than a finished meal, so the second and third portions can become different dishes.

Common mistakes

• Buying multipacks because they are better value per unit — They are only better value if you eat all of it. Half a wasted pack is more expensive than a single loose item.
• Cooking small portions from scratch every evening — It is more work and generates more waste than cooking full batches and freezing.
• Freezing without labelling — Unidentified containers accumulate and eventually get thrown out. Contents and date takes five seconds.

Questions people ask