Updated Sept 2023
My wife and I are at the stage of our life cycle where our offspring have married and have their own offspring. There is just the two of us now and cooking for two is a bit of a challenge, recipes are usually found for 4 or 6 people. The first hurdle is buying the food to cook, it’s even worse if you are only shopping for one 🙁 The second hurdle is getting the quantities right. I try not to cook when I’m hungry but even then I still seem to cook more than we can eat. Adjusting recipes is often a challenge so I usually cook using the recipes I’ve always used and then have left overs to put in the freezer. See Batch Cooking.
My wife was diagnosed as a Coeliac (UK Spelling) some 40 years ago and this is an autoimmune disease. Coeliacs are unable to eat food that contain gluten. it isn’t an allergy, it is a food intolerance and it certainly isn’t a fad. Foods that contain gluten are usually the foods that make you fat (carbs). Avoiding gluten used to be a challenge but is easier now due to the fad of avoiding gluten.
Buying veg isn’t too bad (all veg is naturally gluten free) if you can buy what you want but you mostly have to buy a pack of something which is usually more than you want and often results in food waste. When it comes to meat, you can buy a couple of Pork Chops but if you want Beef, you have buy something like Beef Medallions or maybe steaks. You can’t really buy a “Joint” (for a Sunday Roast) that is only enough for two people. Part of the problem is that you can’t really successfully roast a small bit of meat and get it medium rare. Gone are the days when you used to buy a lump of meat big enough to feed “the family” and have a bit left over for sandwiches etc.
Catering for two people means having to make some adjustments to both your shopping and cooking habits. Fortunately I don’t have to buy for one, the Rhod Gilbert “Single Potato” sketch is hilarious but is a good example of wanting to buy less.
Meal planning is probably more important than it ever was when you were feeding the family but with only two to please, the meal plan can be more fluid. The fluidity will be governed by “What is in the freezer” (and needs defrosting) and the availability of “Fresh meat & produce”. There are lots of “Frozen meals” that can be cooked from frozen so with just the two of you to please, you have plenty of options and don’t need to stick rigidly to the meal plan.
There is always that “I don’t fancy that today” factor so its either finding something that doesn’t need defrosting or finding something that is fresh and doesn’t need defrosting or its a lets have a takeaway 🙂 Popping out to the chippy is always an option as is having something like a Chinese / Indian Takeaway but if budget is a constraint, cooking at home is often the best option.
Ideally you don’t want to be shopping every day so having a meal plan helps. Having the freezer well stocked helps as does having fresh meats and veg available that can be used over a few days. This makes the meal plan more of an idea but gives the option of not sticking to it rigidly.
Once you have a meal plan (for the week). You now have the basis for a shopping list. Having a shopping list and sticking to it will help with the budget.
The meal plan needs to be things that be cooked for two or it will include “Batch Cooking“. There are 100’s of meals that can be cooked for two people that don’t create waste but sometimes you will need to make use of “left overs”. I hate wasting food and often use leftovers as part of another meal. My wife calls me “Leftover Larry” 🙂
A nice stew is almost impossible to make for two so this would involve freezing the spare for a meal another time. Something like a Gammon Joint could be used over 2 days. A 1.5 KG chicken will do 2 meals for 2 people, you de-bone the left overs and freeze them to make a chicken (and maybe mushroom) pie at a later date.
Making a curry out of left overs is often a good idea, it doesn’t have to be hot and spicy. Something like a Biryani is a good option as you can adjust the spiciness / heat to your liking. For those that don’t eat meat a Biryani is mostly a vegetarian dish, adding meat is optional.
Your biggest challenge of cooking for two is joints for roasting e.g. Beef, Pork, Lamb, Venison etc. If you want to roast a large lump of meat that is browned on the outside but nice and pink in the middle and have little or no waste, the easiest is to invite your family or friends to help you eat your large lump of meat. What could be better than eating a meal with family and / or friends. A meal that you have enjoyed preparing and cooking for the enjoyment of all.
You could of course cook the large lump of meat and then have some as left overs and some that you freeze for later but I prefer the invite family and / or friends option because there is nothing nicer than having a crowd eating together and enjoying the food and maybe wine.
When there is only the two of you, your meals can still be awesome and full of taste and flavour. Simple foods like “Dippy egg and toasted Soldiers” or “Poached eggs on toast” or even “Beans on Toast” are nutritious and are lovely.
Hotpots / Casseroles / Stews are nutritious and tasty.
Jacket spuds with different fillings (Cheese, Beans, Ragu, Tuna etc) with the addition of a side salad can be amazing.
Pork Chops / Pork Loin steaks / Spare ribs / Slow cooked belly pork, bring it on, along with mash or chips and greens or beans.
Beef medallions, Steaks, Minced Beef can all be made into tasty nutritious meals for two.
Lamb / Mutton also has a variety of nutritious meals that can be cooked for two. Slow cooked mutton e.g. Shoulder or neck is awesome but check out “Moroccan Lamb or Mutton Tagine“, the wonderful taste and flavours are awesome. Try the Iraqi Dolma, this is normally a Turkish dish which is also lovely but the Iraqi recipes seem to get the best of the flavours and it is fun to make, unfortunately there is always more than 2 people can eat so it will involve left overs and / or batch cooking. Ideally invite family and / or friends to help you eat it.
Catering for two people doesn’t mean you have to have boring tasteless meals but it probably means you will need to make more use of left overs and will probably mean you need to do more “batch cooking”.
Plan your meals and keep them exciting, don’t get stuck in a rut make sure they are nutritious and tasty. Explore the cuisines of other nations like India, China, Vietnam, Japan, Europe and Caribbean. There are lots of recipes online that were considered to be “Peasant Food” or “food for the poor” these are recipes that use simple low cost ingredients along with herbs and spices to give great tasting and nutritious food. “Gastropubs” encompass these simple low cost foods but make them become food for the rich 🙂 Lamb shanks, pork belly, offal and many others used to be almost given away by butchers but the Gastropubs have made butchers aware that they can charge very much more and these low cost items are no longer low cost. Oysters were at one time “food of the poor” but now it is “food for the rich”.
Cooking for the two of you doesn’t mean you have to cook “food for the poor” but some of the best tasting and nutritious food is often achieved by using recipes from this type of food. You could of course have the finest steaks everyday where expense is not a problem. If you don’t eat meat, you can still push the boat out and have nutritious and tasty meals but might need to make more use of herbs and spices. Mushrooms are very versatile and can have the texture of meat.
Cooking for two isn’t really much of a problem, the problem is buying the food in small amounts but that is often easy to solve. Cooking for two often allows you to experiment with the wonderful choice of cuisines from around the world. The main problem of cooking for two is adjusting the recipes but batch cooking will help you sort this.
Give your taste buds a treat, throw off your mental chains and explore the wonderful tasty and nutritious food from around the world.
Most recipes you will find online will be for 4 or 6 people (often more), you can try to adjust the amounts but it is easier to follow the recipe and then freeze the spare or use it as left overs or maybe pass it on to friends and neighbours or even pass it on to someone needy!
With that in mind, have a go at cooking a meal for more than two and share it with neighbours, try to find neighbours that want to do the same. If you can expose yourself to the cuisines of other nations / cultures, you might find that your taste buds can be re-awakened.
Food is a necessity to give us the nutrients our bodies need. We don’t need to cook and serve bland food with no taste. The cuisines from around the world can give us tasty and nutritious meals. Cooking for two gives us the chance to explore the food we eat and the myriad of flavours.
Often simple foods along with herbs and spices will give us tasty and nutritious meals.
If you get chance, try to go “foraging” for edible plants / flowers etc. If you are near the coast, try the numerous “seaweed” options. There are quite a lot of different seaweeds that you can eat and are mostly nutritious but if you want to forage, you need to have some expert advice.
The danger of cooking for two and not having a meal plan is that you can end up with just a few recipes that you cook e.g Mondays: chicken, Tues: Pork etc and this is repeated week after week and becomes predicable e.g. It is Wednesday so it will be sausage and mash or it is Friday so fish is on the menu! Boring.
Fortunately my wife and I are omnivores, we eat meat and vegetables and try eat a balanced nutritious diet. We consider this to be the most natural way of providing our body with the nutrients it needs to keep it healthy. We don’t have a problem with people that make the choice to not eat meat or flesh, we are all individuals. We do have a problem with people that try to tell us what we should be eating and that we should not be eating meat / flesh but that’s a different topic.
Meat and two veg is probably the standard for most normal people but I tend to lean towards meat and at least 3 veg because I love meat and love vegetables. I eat a wide variety of vegetables including (Brussels) sprouts 🙂 I love vegetables so much that I could be described as vegetarian that also eats meat 🙂
We do occasionally have a meat free meal but not to satisfy some fad, it just comes up as a meal we enjoy.
Give a thought to those who have to cook for one (themselves) and maybe invite them round to eat with you. It might help you make more friends. You could maybe take in turns to do the cooking with your new friends or you could just be helping lonely people that can’t be bothered to cook nutritious meals for one.