Single people: what are your go-to meals?

[dubyalass]

I have fallen out of love with cooking and it feels like a chore. I seem to cook the same six things (that recent thread rang very true!) and am stuck in a rut. Need some inspiration.

I don't mean single parents with kids, or if you live with a partner only - I am interested in what people who live completely alone cook for themselves on a weeknight. Can be with meat, veggie or vegan. I can get hold of most ingredients. I definitely need to eat more green veg.

Current rotation is:
Ready-made chicken pie with potatoes and veg
Saag paneer
Pasta with tomato and bean sauce
Mushroom and pea risotto
Some sort of stir fry
Sausages and puy lentils
Pizza
Dhal and rice

Any ideas welcome. I often batch cook but sometimes I just fancy something different.

It’s also useful to know what people have in their freezers - someone mentioned prawns for instance. I never think to buy frozen prawns but I will now.

Yes frozen prawns are great, especially raw prawns. I particularly like flavoured prawns. Garlic and herb are great but Lidl have tandoori raw prawns at the moment which are lovely but also other flavours like tomato and herb and sweet chilli.

I have a rotation of meals over about 4-5 weeks, I usually cook to serve two and then only cook 3 nights a week - I usually end up being out one night a week for dinner or have a sandwich or cheese on toast or whatever.

I obviously don't stick to this super rigourously but it's a useful starting point for me. Everything here other than the risotto and the roast chicken reheat very well (obviously the chicken part does but not toasties). I would usually cook pasta/potatoes fresh each night, often ask a friend to join me for risotto or turn it into arancini the next day.

They all rotate through to use up the leftover bits or I use them for lunch, for things like cherry tomatoes etc.

Week 1
Butternut squash salad, with prosciutto, parmesan and rocket
Butternut squash and bacon risotto (with a side of rocket generally)
Tomato, pork and spinach ragu (use frozen spinach)

Week 2 Rotation
Thyme Roasted Chicken
chicken and bacon linguine (uses the rest of the bacon)
Panzanella salad - use leftover butternut squash if there is any (can also put any excess chicken in)

Week 3 Rotation
Penne Caprese
Mushroom and bacon risotto
Chicken, potato and feta - use leftover feta from week 2

Week 4 Rotation

Roast chicken
Bacon and mustard penne with blue cheese salad - add in the leftover chicken.
Salmon and roule pasta

Week 5 Rotation

Chicken, pepper and courgette pasta bake - can use leftover chicken from the roast here as well
Pizza (homemade, I freeze the pizza mozzarella so no waste)
rainbow trout w cherry tomato and caper sauce

The freezer is my friend here. Most meals are batch cooked and frozen.

I have a bread machine and make pizza dough, I get 4 large pizzas from a batch of dough and freeze three of them, I portion up Parma ham and other toppings. Grated cheese freezes well too.

I use frozen garlic, ginger and veg a lot. It stops the fresh stuff going off before you have time to use it.

I make more complex things like curries, fish pies, lasagnes and casseroles and freeze them in portions.

I roast a whole chicken and have a full on roast dinner with ready frozen roasties and frozen veg. The rest of the meat I portion up and freeze and add to stir fries, curries, risottos etc.

A nice steak served with green beans mixed with crushed garlic, olive oil, a dollop of tomato purée and some fresh ground black pepper. And a glass of red wine.

Living alone is rubbish I think, but occasionally I put the above together for myself and think - this is the life!

Roast chicken legs or skin-on chicken thighs on a bed made of of a mixture of chopped veg with a tin of chickpeas. Roast it in the oven for about an hour.

Stir fried veg with those duck legs in plum sauce you can buy ready done and some noodles.

Cheese slices, ham slices, crackers with butter and a tin of Heinz tomato soup (slightly less glam that one but tasty and filling).

I always end up making a massive chili or something and have... chili and rice, chili and jacket potato, chili in a wrap for about a week 🤣 It's good but does get a little dull.

I also tend to cook two portions and have one the whole following day, or to freeze. Tonight I had tomato and mascarpone pasta with garlic bread, I'll save the other half for tea tomorrow.

If I don't cook, I just snack. Usually nuts, cheese, hummus, that sort of thing. It works for me but wouldn't for everyone.

Bacon and chilli pasta
sausage pasta quick easy to do too.

Ive never thought to add mustard to bacon pasta or blue cheese. I might have a play.

Sometimes I think it’s easier to stick to one sort of cuisine like curries or Mediterranean as there’s less waste and everything goes together.

I always end up making a massive chili or something and have... chili and rice, chili and jacket potato, chili in a wrap for about a week 🤣 It's good but does get a little dull.

Similar idea- I’ll start by making bolognese then next day turn it into chilli or lasagne. But that is difficult to do for 1.

As well as frozen prawns, Sainsbury's (and probably some of the others too) do bags of very small frozen scallops from Patagonia and they are also handy. They defrost in about an hour on a metal tray, and then I pan-fry them with/without prawns and add to pasta or noodles or risotto with appropriate veg.

I always have portioned-up homemade pasta sauce in the freezer - as soon as it's running low I make another big batch. Onions, garlic, celery, grated carrot, finely chopped or shredded courgette, dried mushrooms (add the soaking water as well as some stock), tinned tomatoes, anchovies and a good dollop of pesto. It's a bit of a faff to make but if you have a stockpot or big saucepan you can make 8 or more portions. I buy fresh linguine or tagliatelle to go with it as it cooks so quickly

I make a Greek spinach & filo pastry pie because that is very nice cold or room temperature & I don't seem to go off it as I do with some dishes.

Also love Greek salad - ripe tomatoes, cucumber, black olives, feta cheese, with a bit of red or spring onion (optional). And mozzarella, tomato and avocado salad with pesto mixed with vinaigrette or lemon juice.

I make soup and freeze that in individual portions too, and have it with toast or bread. Stir in some sour cream to make it more luxurious.

I keep frozen cooked portions of mushrooms, spinach and courgettes in the freezer, along with a bag of grated cheese (I buy a big block of extra mature cheddar and grate it myself, ditto Parmesan) so I can always make e.g. an omelette or a fish dish that has some veg in it.

Frozen onions and frozen parsley are absolutely brilliant. Onions mean you can start something off without chopping and crying, and parsley means you can make almost any dish look prettier.

I also have some comfort ready meals that I always like to have in the freezer - melting middle smoked haddock fishcakes with loads of frozen petits pois is my go-to "I'm tired and cold and miserable" supper. You can defrost the fishcakes in the microwave and then put them in the oven to cook.

Also, as a storecupboard standby, I recommend the Merchant Gourmet sachets of precooked lentils. The beluga and puy ones are excellent for making fridge-clearing salads, and the tomatoey French ones are gorgeous just heated through with whatever else you've got.

Chicken Kievs (packs of 2, one goes in the freezer) with chips/beans or salad in summer

Smoked mackerel, potato salad, green salad

Fish finger /chicken goujons wrap

Chicken breast wrapped in Parma ham, mozzarella on top with mash or salad

Beef stew with crusty bread in winter (batch cooked & couple of portions frozen)

Also, I also write a shopping list and buy for one less meal than I need for the week and inevitably there’s stuff left in the fridge or in the freezer that I can use for that other day, or even two days. But I do live a short walk from 2 supermarkets if that plan backfires, it might be different if I was miles to drive to a shop!

Noodles
Toasties
Noodles
Toasties
Fried rice
Noodles
Toasties.
I really must eat better.

Not very original but filled tortellini(Spinach and ricotta is a favourite) is one of mine. I throw some peas in with it while it cooks then drain and toss it in garlic butter, pesto or other sauce of your choice then put some mozzarella or other cheese on top. That's one of my favourite can't be bothered dinners.

I also make a pasta with chopped feta, fried red onions, garlic,(sometimes lemon too) and a variety of green veg(Asparagus/peas/spring greens/green beans are my usual go to veg)

I'm often home alone during the week. The logistics (and extra expense) of buying and cooking small amounts are a pain, as is doing all the cooking and cleaning with no respite! Anything quick and easy helps.

The Mumsnet chicken is always good! I like to do a Sunday roast (not necessarily chicken), then some kind of salad, could be a classic, like caesar or Nicoise, or an Asian or Middle Eastern salad, then a curry or casserole, then something with pasta or ramen. The cooked roast will be good for 3/4 dinners and there are a gazillion recipes to inspire you if you search for leftover recipes.

Individual quiches are quite good. You can buy the pastry cases ready made or freeze your own. I make a 1 egg custard then make 2/3 different flavours of mini quiche, one to have hot for dinner, the others to use up the mix and have cold for lunches.

Anything pan fried eg steak, chicken or duck breasts with different sauces/spices.

Ravioli or tortellini (homemade or shop bought) drizzled with olive oil or garlic/chilli butter with fresh parmesan, maybe bacon pieces, crispy onions (the kind you buy in a pack), fried bread crumbs and fresh herbs or rocket.

If I can't buy small amounts from the butcher's/fishmonger's counter, I try to cook different things using similar base ingredients rather than eat the same meal several times eg sausage and mash, toad in the hole, sausage meatballs with pasta or cook mince with an onion, use some to make a cottage pie, add tomatoes to the rest of it to use as a base for spag bol, chilli, lasagne, or teriyaki salmon then poached salmon and potato salad... Bonus points if I can prep all the meals at the same time so I don't have to cook for several days!

If you live in a city, delis are great for picking up small amounts of freshly made (ie not ultra processed) food. We have Lebanese, Spanish, Greek, Turkish and Italian delis and several Asian supermarkets nearby.

Agree with others about frozen - fish especially easy to buy and defrosts quickly so you can use what you want. Also batch cook a lot and a huge fan of cooking joints and freezing in portions. I cook a whole chicken almost every week so always have cooked frozen chicken to add to things. Also a big help are good airtight containers - I bought a bunch of Pyrex dishes with air tight lids off Amazon and that helps a lot with storing fresh things and leftovers

I do the sauce with whole grain mustard, creme fraîche, a chicken stock cube crumbled up, grana padano/any similar cheese, and fried shallot (easier than half an onion). I'd probably shove a bit of white wine in if I had any open.

I do the salad as lettuce and pear and blue cheese and a mustardy dressing.

Augend23 that sounds lovely, thank you for the recipe

I will second the Greek feta filo pies. You can make individual ones folded like samosas and freeze them.

Bacon is a good freezer standby for when you want an easy meal too. I split the pack into portions. It defrosts really quickly but you can cut it into pieces with kitchen scissors then cook from frozen. Great for adding to salads, soups, pasta sauces, baked potatoes or rustling up a quiche, mac & cheese or carbonara. Homemade soup with really nice bread is always a good quick supper or lunch.

I batch cook a lot and freeze in portions from recipes here
https://www.dontgobaconmyheart.co.uk

Freezer has
Bags of steam veg
Jacket potatoes
Beige food so chicken something, chips/waffles, fish fingers etc
Bag of cauliflower cheese
Sweet potato mash
Takeaway pizza that's leftover - freeze it in portions, reheat in air fryer and it's perfect
Above batch cooked stuff

Mostly I eat
Batch cooked meals
Eggs - omelettes usually or scrambled egg/bacon in a wrap
Pizza/quesadilla
Salad stuff - I buy the merchant gourmet grains and add salad bits plus halloumi/feta/roast chicken
Soups
Stuff on toast - eggs, beans, cheese etc
Egg fried rice with stir fry veg and chicken or prawns or a fried egg on top
Avocado toast with tomatoes and feta

I have found that life is far too short to cook every night for one. Firstly I often can't be bothered and am not that hungry when I get in, then when it's later I'm too tired!

So I try to eat well during the day on reasonably healthy stuff, and often just make a sandwich or a poached egg/quick omellette for tea. If I get a fit of enthusiasm I'll make bolognaise and chilli sauce and freeze in portions, then (if I remember to defrost!) make ciabatta pizza, just bread and pizza toppings under the grill, and the usual pasta and rice for the chilli.

But seriously I have often eaten just a bowl of raw veg sticks, a mix em up sandwich etc. I am in awe of those of you who cook such wonderful things in the evenings. I feel so lazy, but I don't really care 😂

Thai red curry. I also order simply cook boxes sometimes

I aim to be 90% single person veggie at home - the odd pack of bacon or sausages but it's pretty rare

Super fast 'ready meals' ready in under 15 mins:
I do a lot of pasta ravioli/pesto as my go-to no-effort - at least once a week, more like 2 or sometimes 3 if I'm just exhausted
A pizza c. once a week/fortnight
I also really like the frozen breaded cauliflower and cheese things from Sainsbury's which I do with 'side veg'
Just a massive chunk of fried halloumi!
Asparagus and poached egg on toast
Omelette

Longer time cooking things:
I also love a dahl / lentil thing that just uses up a load of food-cupboard long life ingredients
Couscous and roasted veg (butternut squash, peppers, red onion)
Pasta pesto with above roasted veg and boursin
Baked potatoes regularly
Quiche with a good hunk of a bag-o-salad (the tortoise gets the rest of the bag!!)
Mushroom / spinach / butternut squash risotto
Aubergine parmegiane (however it's spelt) over 3 nights
Salmon wrapped in foil with butter in the oven, with side veg (plus couscous sometimes)
Veggie chille and rice

I find carrots as fresh veg, and frozen spinach and peas are my go-to side veg as they keep forever, so easy not to get stuck having them all week long. Broccoli is also quite often a good keeper. French beans go a bit brown spotty quite quickly so I don't usually go for them.

I have a 50/50 fridge freezer and the freezer is always rammed with portioned meals (and a family-sized amount of ice cream)

Weetabix tonight for me. I know! Sometimes we just can’t be arsed!

@Dontfuckingsaycheese I hear you! I hear you!

Nothing wrong with cereal for dinner! I think one of the benefits of singledom is nobody sees what you eat so there's no judgement.

I often have a fish finger sandwich with lots of tartare sauce.

Speaking of roast ham, I tried to buy a piece of gammon in Sainsbury's yesterday but they didn't have any uncooked ones. Was looking forward to honey mustard roast ham but no, denied!

One tip I got was to use the same base ingredient for several meals.
For example, if you boil rice, you have some with tonight’s meal (chilli) and then tomorrow use the rest of the cooked rice to make a cold salad (add cheese, gherkins, capers, whatever jar you have open in the fridge and bits of veg that need to be eaten).

A punnet of mushrooms are too much for one meal, if you add a few to your omelette, the rest stays in the fridge and dies. So I fry the whole lot, with some garlic and herbs. Tonight I’ll add a handful to the omelette, tomorrow I’ll mix it with some double cream over the stove and turn it into a stroganoff.

To answer your question, this past week I made a batch of falafels. Had some with toasted putts, hummus etc. Had some for lunch the next day in a salad.
I had a day off so I cooked pasta with tomato sauce and mushrooms and veggie meatballs. I had some, then for lunch the following day I HAD the leftovers and a salad and had that.

I have wraps with cheese and salady bits with peri peri mayo for the times when I need something NOW.

HTH