Meal planning and Cooking

Cooking For Smaller Households

Cooking for a smaller household can present unique challenges when it comes to avoiding food waste, especially with pre-packaged food, and the challenge of using up ingredients before they go off. For those adjusting to a smaller household or cooking for one for the first time, it can feel like a big gear change. The good news is, you can adjust how you buy, store, cook, and use up your food so that you’re managing your food more efficiently and reducing your food waste.

So, whether you want to make cooking for one or two people easier and more flexible or mealtimes at home are changing as your kids become more independent or move out, we have some practical tips to help you:

Shop smarter for smaller households
Manage portion sizes when cooking for fewer people
Make the most of your leftovers

Tips on how to shop for less people

Shop in places where the quantities are flexible – Look for options where you can buy unpackaged meat, fruit, and vegetables. Shopping at your local butcher, veg shop, or fishmonger allows you to purchase exactly what you need. GoodFood has put together a range of recipes that are perfect for cooking for one. Check them out here.
Shop frequently – if you’re cooking for one or two and have an unpredictable schedule, try doing small shops more often. This way you can buy just what you need for a few days at a time and avoid those wishful thinking buys.
Buy frozen veg – Buying frozen means you can have single portions of great quality veggies without any going to waste. Try veg like broccoli, spinach, and squash that, when fresh, can be hard to use up.
Befriend the freezer – if you have freezer space, you can batch cook meals and freeze single portions. Also consider buying large packs of meat, butter, and other freezable items, divide them into single portions and use as you need.
Make a shopping plan – having a shopping plan is even more useful when you’ve only got one mouth to feed. Before you shop, look at what you have and write a list or record on your phone. Try planning to cook 2-3 days during the week and use the leftovers for meals for the other days.
‘Use first’ fridge shelf!– create a ‘Use first’ shelf in the fridge so you always have an eye on what needs to be used up.
Shop online together– if you and a neighbour or friend are both shopping for a small household, consider clubbing together when ordering groceries online. This allows you to divide up larger packs of food and get better value for money.
Start a dinner exchange – organise with friends or family to take turns making dinners. Cooking group meals can reduce food waste, save time and money, and create a nice opportunity to catch up!

Tips for households cooking for fewer people

Make the most of fresh food by matching meals with similar ingredients – e.g. including spinach in a curry for dinner tonight and using the rest up in a salad for tomorrow’s lunch.
Cooking for less people than usual? – make sure to measure your portion sizes so you don’t cook too much. You can easily measure your portions:

- By count (e.g. number of potatoes),
- By volume (cups, spoons, and ladles) or,
- By weight

Teenagers didn’t show up for dinner? – freeze their portions to use another time – when dinner plans change, freezing is a great way to save food for another time. Make sure to label it so you know what you have and when you froze it.
Batch cook and freeze for a ready store of meal portions –There are times when it’s hard to know how many people you’ll have for dinner. Having a ready store of meal portions in the freezer gives you lots of flexibility and can save you time and money.

For more inspiration on how to batch cook efficiently for one check out A Weekend Cook’s top tips on how to start batch cooking and freezing single-serving portion, here.

Love your leftovers – if you’re cooking for one, or less people than usual, you may have more leftovers but fear not, leftovers can make a great lunch the next day or the basis for another meal, here are some great leftover recipes.

If you’re looking for more tips on making the most of your food now that you’re cooking for fewer people, Over the River has 10 top tips you can read here.

Tell us how you stop food waste in a smaller household

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