5 min read · updated September 1, 2026
Cooking for one without wasting food or eating the same thing three days straight
Portions, groceries and recipes adapted to living alone. How to divide a recipe for 4, and what to do with the rest of the cream.
The problem with recipes for 4
Most recipes are written for four. Divide by four and you get three quarters of an egg and a third of an onion. So you make the whole thing and eat the same meal until Thursday.
Ingredients that divide badly
Eggs, cartons of cream, cans, burrata. For those, it's better to choose recipes written for one, or plan two recipes that share the ingredient.
- One carton of cream: vodka pasta Monday, scrambled eggs Tuesday.
- One can of chickpeas: hummus, then the rest in a salad.
- One block of feta: baked feta, then orzo salad.
Automatic portions
In Mezze, every recipe can be set to "just me". Quantities get recalculated and rounded to something realistic: one egg, not 0.75.