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Easy meal ideas when cooking for one

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B

Benzychenz

Member
So I moved out from home earlier in the year, and I've been trying to cook for myself which has been fairly successful.

Problem is I'd just like some more variety, I have no idea what's really available to me.

At the moment pasta is the biggest thing. I'm having a lot of fun chopping up and preparing ingredients and trying to teach myself. Onion, tomato + pesto. Mushroom, spinach + cream. Ham + cream. etc etc

Chicken is also good. Really easy to buy some schnitzels from the grocery store, cook them, chuck some tomato and cheese on top and put them in the oven. Throw a basic salad together and that's a full meal prepared in under 20 minutes.

But that's about as far as I've managed to teach myself so far so uhh, share your cooking knowledge GAF!
 
J

Jintor

Member
Fish is good stuff. Pan fried salmon + salt+lemon. Steamed white fish (I use barrumundi but maybe that's not available in your neck of the woods). Straight-up sashimi. Baked, seared, whatever. Good stuff.

Keep experimenting with the salads. Salads mostly just chopping and drying the leaves if you're not going crazy with whats in it.

My go-to back in Japan was beef donburi - toss some rice in the rice cooker, thinly-sliced beef + mushrooms + onions, bam.

Get a rice/slow cooker. That shit's good.
 
W

weemadarthur

Member
I like to make full recipes, but divide up the finished product into tupperware or zipper bags and freeze them. But some things don't freeze well.

Get a nice batch of quality spices so the food can have flavor without causing hypertension. It's ok to put commercial sauce on things, but way more expensive. Cooking is much less unpleasant with a good pan and knife.
 
S

Sectorseven

Member
NwqsK.jpg
 
shira

shira

Member
Benzychenz said:
So I moved out from home earlier in the year, and I've been trying to cook for myself which has been fairly successful.

Problem is I'd just like some more variety, I have no idea what's really available to me.

At the moment pasta is the biggest thing. I'm having a lot of fun chopping up and preparing ingredients and trying to teach myself. Onion, tomato + pesto. Mushroom, spinach + cream. Ham + cream. etc etc

Chicken is also good. Really easy to buy some schnitzels from the grocery store, cook them, chuck some tomato and cheese on top and put them in the oven. Throw a basic salad together and that's a full meal prepared in under 20 minutes.

But that's about as far as I've managed to teach myself so far so uhh, share your cooking knowledge GAF!
Click to expand...
You in the US? Get Blue Apron. Copy repeat.
 
W

Weetrick

Member
Burritos! Buy a pack of flour tortillas, can of beans, jar of salsa and whatever else you like (I like green bell peppers). Then grill and shred some chicken (or steak) and you're good to go. You can easily refrigerate them if you make too much.

Can't go wrong.
 
H

HvySky

Member
Oxdh7.png


Oh, and seconding burritos. What I usually do is make a bunch in bulk and then freeze them for an easy meal. Pretty cheap at the end of the day and tastes way better than any old frozen burrito you'd buy at the store. Chicken, brown rice, pinto beans, cheese, with some onions and peppers will make something delish, straight up. Add some spicy salsa and chili powder for some kick, too.
 
M

MC Safety

Member
Amazon Fresh had a neat section where you could sort through recipes by category and then purchase the ingredients through the service.

You might want to try that.
 
A

AntoneM

Member
umm, the above is ummm.

You seem to already be pretty good in the kitchen. Since you know pasta I would recommend trying a lasagna or making up your own pizza dough and making a pizza.

Breaded chicken is good and only requires bread crumbs, egg, and milk (and hot oil in a pan).
 
C

capitalCORN

Member
Easiest stir fry of your life:

Protein of choice,
Bok Choy, or whatever, maybe celery?
Half an onion
Sesame seed oil
Soy sauce.
Sriracha (Of if you're not big on it, easy to omit).
Salt, pepper.

Heat element to medium. Place skillet.
When skillet hot, pour oil on skillet on and add protein and onions. Also dust with salt/pepper.
Cook until protein cooked and onions soft.
Add green and soy sauce and stir for 1-2 min? Stop when you're bored. If you opted for Sriracha, this is the step to add.

Serve over minute rice or some decent rice, if you're willing to put in legwork. BAM.
 
M

muu

Member
Shrimp. Easy to work with once you've figured the timing out (it's done once they turn into a c). Ez peels are usually pretty cheap. Keep some cheap wine handy to kick it up a notch.

Easiest salmon recipe ever is a decent sized fillet and pineapple habanero sauce from Costco. Smother the shit out of the salmon with sauce, throw in oven at 400 for 20-25 mins till cooked. Invest in a cheap thermometer stick if you're paranoid like me. Works best w fatty cuts or steelhead.
 
E

eddievanclaylen

Member
Boil ramen without flavor packet. Add diced grilled chiken and some fresh sauteed garlic and vegetables for a super easy 5 minute meal. 10 minutes if you have no knife skills.
 
P

Pennywise

Member
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frikadeller

Frikadellen.
German variant, I'll posted my recipe on IronGaF.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=196038125&postcount=923

Basically meatballs with onions,garlic,parsley and some other things.
The great thing about them, you can easily prepare a truckload of them and eat them over the coming days. They are fine within the fridge and taste even better, a day after you made them. You just need to reheat them in the oven/microwave and you're good to go.

I always make a bunch of them and eat them over the course of 2-3 days with different side dishes or just breadrolls.
 
E

eddievanclaylen

Member
Eggs. Learn to cook eggs. All you need is a good non stick pan and you can wing that into a billion things. Thats tier 1 easy shit anyone can do.

I'd rather teach techniques than recipes. Once you understand the basics, you can make whatever you can imagine.


It's just food.
 
S

skullmuffins

Banned
I'm a fan of this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/228293/curry-stand-chicken-tikka-masala-sauce/
I have to admit, I never ordered this at a curry stand or restaurant so I really have no idea how it stacks up to the "real thing", but it's tasty. Serve over rice and top with some cilantro, if you want.

The recipe for the sauce itself is kind of time consuming, but it's not that difficult if you can follow directions. The kicker is, it freezes well. You can cook up a vat of sauce one weekend and then portion it out into ziploc freezer bags. When it's time to cook dinner, all you gotta do is thaw out a bag of sauce and proceed with step 3 (stirring the sauce into the chicken) - a half-hourish of cooking time and very little effort.
 
G

gnomed

Member
weemadarthur said:
I like to make full recipes, but divide up the finished product into tupperware or zipper bags and freeze them. But some things don't freeze well.

Get a nice batch of quality spices so the food can have flavor without causing hypertension. It's ok to put commercial sauce on things, but way more expensive. Cooking is much less unpleasant with a good pan and knife.
Click to expand...
This. I've been making a normal size batch and freezing or using for lunch the next day. Saves time and money.

My goto meal is hamburger helper and I'll omit the seasoning bag for fresh ingredients sometimes. And sometimes if I'm really lazy; ramen with eggs and steamed vegetables.

As for breakfast, always make sure to have a fridge stocked with eggs and some cured meats like sausage and bacon.
 
P

Polari

Member
Felafel wraps are pretty simple. I also like to do huevos rancheros, with a simple homemade salsa and some Herdez guacamole salsa. Pizzas, burgers etc are good. You can make a lot of dough/burgers and freeze them.
 
obin_gam

obin_gam

Member
My go-to food for the life after living with my parents, has been sausages and macaronies. A swedish delicacy:

1699481257_72711364.jpg


Boil the macaronies in water until they get soft, and then switch the water for cream or milk, stirr it until it gets thick and serve with the fried sausages.

Add ketchup and mustard,

Eat.
 
S

SteveO409

Did you know Halo invented the FPS?
Do you have a stove top OP? I usually rotate between ground beef or chicken breasts as my protein. I have an instant pot to steam the vegetables for 8 minutes while cooking the meat https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FLYWNYQ/?tag=neogaf0e-20.

It takes about 20 minutes and it's not difficult to mess up. I put the vegetables into the pan to get all of the juices .


Also this is the best method I found for chicken breasts

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-coo...ry-time-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-36891
 
F

Fat4all

Banned
obin_gam said:
My go-to food for the life after living with my parents, has been sausages and macaronies. A swedish delicacy:

1699481257_72711364.jpg


Boil the macaronies in water until they get soft, and then switch the water for cream or milk, stirr it until it gets thick and serve with the fried sausages.

Add ketchup and mustard,

Eat.
Click to expand...

that sound pretty dang delicious.
 
A

Ampersands

Member
I'm in the same situation so I'm definitely subscribing to this thread. My diet for the past two months has been eggs and spaghetti. I don't really mind it but I'd love to learn how to cook other stuff. Will definitely be attempting that German meatball recipe.
 
P

purdobol

Member
At the beggining of the month i always do big batch of dumplings (pierogi ruskie), that can be easily stored in the freezer and are fast to cook. It's my go to meal when I don't have a clue what to eat.
They're easy to make but very time consuming. This recipe is for around 75 to 100 dumplings so plenty for one person.

Dough:
250g warm water
One egg
Two spoons of oil
560g wheaten flour

Filling:
600g cooked and cooled down potatoes (mashed)
500g cottage cheese
100-150g fried onion
salt and pepper for seasoning
you can chop some bacon and add that too

Cooking:
Throw dumplings into salted boiling water and wait till they float to the surface. Melt some butter and pour it over them. That's it.
 
J

Jisgsaw

Member
Omelettes or scrambled eggs. Just put any vegetables you have available in it.
And if you're a meat lover like me, bacon stripes
Easy and fast to make, filling and usually very good.
balsamic-onion-omelette_625x350_71435038647.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Z

Zaru

Member
capitalCORN said:
Easiest stir fry of your life:

Protein of choice,
Bok Choy, or whatever, maybe celery?
Half an onion
Sesame seed oil
Soy sauce.
Sriracha (Of if you're not big on it, easy to omit).
Salt, pepper.

Heat element to medium. Place skillet.
When skillet hot, pour oil on skillet on and add protein and onions. Also dust with salt/pepper.
Cook until protein cooked and onions soft.
Add green and soy sauce and stir for 1-2 min? Stop when you're bored. If you opted for Sriracha, this is the step to add.

Serve over minute rice or some decent rice, if you're willing to put in legwork. BAM.
Click to expand...

Varied stir fries are my staple meal when I cook.
But I generally put in a greater amount and variety of vegetables next to the protein. They don't have a lot of calories in comparison, and when you mix them with the meat/onion juices and some flavorings, even stuff like brussel sprouts, broccoli or eggplant become delicious.
Not every combination works but it's great when you can just throw in basically whatever is in your fridge.
 
C

capitalCORN

Member
Zaru said:
Varied stir fries are my staple meal when I cook.
But I generally put in a greater amount and variety of vegetables next to the protein. They don't have a lot of calories in comparison, and when you mix them with the meat/onion juices and some flavorings, even stuff like brussel sprouts, broccoli or eggplant become delicious.
Not every combination works but it's great when you can just throw in basically whatever is in your fridge.
Click to expand...

Snow peas are also nice, eggplant is good. Carrots suck however. Not big on veggies personally as you can tell. A stir fry literally has no definition, it's just a simple method to throw food on a skillet, add some punchy Asian flavours, and top it on rice.
 
SpinningBirdKick

SpinningBirdKick

Banned
No recipes but some jumping off points for inspiration:

  • Fish - steamed, fried, smoked. If you live near the coast this will be great value.
  • Steak - choose one particular cut and then try cooking different ways from blue to well done. Once you know how you like your steak cooked you can try the different cuts.
  • Eggs - versatile, cheap and readily available
  • Curries - fantastic for using up left overs. Get a few of these under your belt for meals you can rustle up in a hurry.
  • Vegetables and pulses - Venture outside of the typical starches for more variety.
  • Desserts - Make sure you have your own weighing scales if you want to tackle baking and pastries. Making your own ice cream is an easy introduction to desserts.

Try not to get overwhelmed and continue to stretch your self with a new technique or food each week. You will make mistakes but the important thing is to reflect and learn from them so you can cook better food in the future.
 
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