Cookery for one person

I have just received my copy of Delia Smiths book, from Amazon

Thank you all for your advice and suggestions. My freezer is not that big so batch cooking is not an answer.

A friend suggested an air fryer but they all seem far too big for my very small kitchen.

On this theme could I ask for suggestins / advice for vegetarians? (including simple cook book if poss)
Thank you

Just half or quarter the ingredients of any recipes. Or batch cook and freeze meals - then you have your own quick ready meals 🙂

Thanks justwokeup, freezer tape is a good tip. Writing the cooking instructions on it is clever too, it saves hunting for the packet when the tub comes out of the freezer three weeks later.

I make enough for at least two meals and have it the next day or freeze the rest. Bolognese sauce, cottage pie, fruit crumbles, etc.

I go to my butchers and get my meat . They are used to people buy individual portions. . A favourite of mine is meatballs with pasta say 30g with pasta sauce . Any sauce left over I freeze using the ice cube tray. Another trick is a bag of frozen peppers/ onions so it adds extra flavour to the pasta sauce.

Susie42

Now that I'm on my own I find I'm eating too many ready meals so can anyone recommend a cookery book with simple recipes for one person? I would prefer a UK book as I find american cup measements are not very accurate.

Thank you,

Delia smith for one is probably the best .
It is hard just cooking for one person I will admit after a lifetime. Delias recipes are easy to follow and are tasty as well

Whenever I batch cook, I label the contents, with the date, so that I know what is in the containers. Not doing so would, indeed, result in wondering what on earth was in the container. You might end up defrosting a dessert rather than a main, otherwise 🤣.

Like most of the other posters, I batch cook whatever fishes I use. To do for the family and freeze the dishes in portions. As I don’t label the boxes and have usually forgotten what is in them, thawing and reheating is fun - lucky dip!
Don’t recommend frozen salads, better fresh.

Batch cook usually. I usually have fish twice a week buying from a local wholesale merchant I buy 4 salmon and 4 white of some sort fillets. Freeze them and just take out freezer usually about kunch time for evening meals. Just add veg or salad as I fancy. I do have a few ready meals in the freezer and buy these from Morrison as a lot of their ready meals can be microwaved from frozen, so good if a last minute choice. I am on my own.

BBC Good Food online recipes are very good.

I do a little batch cooking but I also like Miguel Barclay’s ‘One Pound Meals’ (probably more than a pound now) recipes are for 1 person. Maybe borrow from the library first to see if you like his books. Check if they have other books for cooking for one. Enjoy.

Jaxjacky

Delia Smith, One is Fun! Available online from various places.

I saw that book in a charity shop only this afternoon, priced at 99p

I simply took half the amount of meat and vegetables I had used for my husband and myself, when cooking for myself after he died.

Batch cooking is fine, but only if you clearly mark what goes in the freezer, and even when batch cooking I would advise scaling down the portions. Otherwise some will stay so long in the freezer that they will be less enjoyable when you do get round to eating them.

If you cook as if for two you can freeze a portion and have a meal ready for a night when you don’t feel like cooking to save on ready meals or takeaways

I've just looked online at "Nosh for One" which EkwaNimitee recommends, it does look really good, will probably try it myself!

Humbertbear

I wouldn’t cook for one - always cook for 2 or 4 and freeze the other portions. That said, if I was on my own I would probably live on jacket potatoes.

100% second this & also soup!! 🤩

I recommend Nosh for One by Joy May, interesting, easy to prepare recipes. There’s a section on preparing 4 different meals from one piece of meat and advice on where else in the book to use up those little jars etc of flavourings and spices that so annoyingly go to waste when only one of you is cooking from a standard cookbook.
I don’t like batch cooking!
Available from their website and Amazon, maybe others.

I've now filled 3 freezers with food in single portions. It doesn't help that I have the most amazing neighbours who keep giving me food, then, when I really fancy something different, I'll cook it and have 3 portions to freeze! I'm desperately trying to live out of the freezers but have just had a delivery from a cat food company and the pouches have to be kept in the freezer! I'm craving a thai green curry but have got no room.

I find that a casserole made with chunks of beef makes a nice tasty change from a minced beef sauce, and you can do the same sorts of things with it that you can with the sauce, currying it or adding other ingredients to turn it into a chilli or gnocci with ragout for example. If the chunks are smaller you can have it with pasta too, as they do with ragout in Italy.
I've got quite an old paperback called "Cooking for Crowds" by Merry White which contains recipes with multiplications of ingredients for larger numbers of people (6-50 people!). There's an excellent, rich, beef ragout with orange zest in here which is delicious on its own but can be turned into many other dishes.
One thing I batch cook regularly is chicken thighs with baked shallots, I do them in the air-fryer and then chill or freeze them. They can be safely reheated in the air-frier as you need them, at 170 degrees centigrade - ideally pre-defrosted. Again you can add flavourings that you fancy, or use homemade sauces for fajitas or stuffed pancakes. I sometimes use prepared pastes such as one of the lovely Belazu Harissa Pastes, Gochujang Korean Chili, Thai Green curry or one of the many varieties of pesto available now, they all keep very well in the fridge.
My mother is no longer with us but was widowed for thirty years and always cooked proper meals for herself, usually twice daily. When she died I cleared out her house and took great pleasure in using up all the frozen meals that she had cooked and put into her freezer for herself, I knew that this was was she would expect me to do.

Deudits you can buy freezer tape on which contents can be written, cooking instructions, use by date etc. It’s quite cheap and doesn’t easily detach from the carton so doesn’t get lost in the freezer.
OP have you tried recipe boxes if you like cooking? There are no leftover ingredients (good for one) and the recipe is available to use again if you’ve enjoyed it. There are speedy choices as well as longer cooking times.

Any of the One Pound Meals Books by Miguel Barclay.

Yes, batch cooking is a great way to eat well without faffing with little bits of this & that every day. It doesn't have to be just stews, curries and pasta sauces. I make a batch of patty mix (mine are vegetarian but you could use mince or fish). Divide it up into portions and shape them if you want to - or just leave them in pieces, then defrost and shape them on the day. And you don;t have to cook a huge quantity when "batch" cooking - just cook for 2, 3 or 4 people, eat one portion and freeze the others. Pizza bases are useful - again, either buy them in or make your own, then put toppings on as they defrost. Jacket potatoes are fine, except don't freeze them as they are (the flesh goes weird) - instead, mash the flesh with milk or cream & seasoning (grated cheese is a good addition too), pile the mixture back into the skins, open-freeze for an hour or so, then wrap in foil & fully freeze. Defrost overnight and you've got a quick lunch the next day. I just Googled "batch cooking for the freezer" and got a wealth of recipes. Good luck and enjoy yourself!

Cook for more than one! Freeze into portions and you have a frozen ready meal for the future. If you are turning the cooker on anyway it makes sense