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Wanting to try meal planning for one person? It’s actually pretty simple once you have a plan, a short grocery list, and a few easy meals you can stretch throughout the week.
Cooking for one can feel tricky at first. You don’t want to waste food, buy too many ingredients, or end up eating the exact same thing every night. But with a simple weekly meal plan, you can make budget-friendly dinners, use up leftovers, and still enjoy easy meals at home without spending a fortune.
Today, I’m sharing a simple weekly meal plan for one person on a budget with easy dinner ideas, a grocery shopping list, and tips to help you save money while cooking for yourself.
If you’re tired of grabbing takeout because you don’t know what to make, this meal plan is a great place to start.
Weekly Meal Plan for One Person on a Budget
This weekly meal plan is made with simple, flexible meals that are easy to customize. The goal is to buy a few main ingredients and use them in different ways throughout the week so you don’t waste money or food.
You can use this plan exactly as written, or swap ingredients based on what you already have, what’s on sale, or what sounds good to you.
The best part? You don’t have to cook a brand-new meal every single night.
A smart meal plan for one person uses leftovers on purpose, repeats ingredients in different ways, and keeps your grocery list simple.
I hope this weekly meal plan and easy recipes will help you figure out what to cook for dinner every night, so you can spend less time deciding and m0re time doing the things you love.
Look through these meal ideas before you make your grocery list, so you don’t forget anything!
Why Meal Planning for One Person Saves Money
Meal planning for one person can help you save money because you are shopping with a plan instead of buying random ingredients and hoping they turn into meals later.
When you plan ahead, you can:
- Buy fewer ingredients
- Use leftovers before they go bad
- Avoid last-minute takeout
- Cook once and eat twice
- Keep easy pantry meals on hand
- Waste less food each week
Even if you only plan your dinners, having a simple weekly menu can make your week feel so much easier.
Simple Grocery Shopping List for One Person
Look over the meals below before you shop, and adjust this list based on what you already have at home.
Protein
- 1 large chicken breast
- 1 rotisserie chicken, or cooked chicken of choice
- Optional: ground beef, ground turkey, or extra chicken for burrito bowls
Produce
- 1 sweet potato
- Shredded lettuce or salad kit
- Pico de gallo or salsa
- Optional toppings: avocado, onion, cilantro, bell pepper, tomatoes
Pantry Items
- Rice
- Black beans
- Stir fry sauce or soy sauce
- Tomato sauce
- Tortillas or tortilla chips, optional
- BBQ sauce, optional
Refrigerated/Frozen Items
- Frozen stir fry vegetable kit
- Flatbread or naan bread
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
- Salad dressing
Bakery
- 1–2 bakery buns or rolls
Tip: Before you shop, check your freezer, fridge, and pantry first. You may already have rice, beans, sauces, tortillas, or frozen vegetables on hand.
One-Week Meal Plan for One Person
The best part of these meals is that you can customize them based on what you like to eat and buy. And they are very simple and you won’t be leftover with a bunch of extra ingredients.
You can find all the things you need at your local grocery store – without spending a fortune.
One-Week Meal Plan:
Sunday: Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry
Grab one large chicken breast, a frozen stir fry vegetable kit, and stir fry sauce or soy sauce.
Dice the chicken and cook it in a skillet until fully cooked. In a separate pan, cook the frozen vegetables. Combine the chicken, vegetables, and sauce together.
Serve over rice if desired.
Make enough for at least two dinner portions so you have leftovers for Monday night.
Monday: Leftover Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry
Enjoy a night off from cooking and eat the leftover chicken stir fry.
This is one of the easiest ways to save money when cooking for one person. You only cook once, but you get two dinners out of it.
If you want to change it up, serve the leftovers in a tortilla, over rice, or with a fried egg on top.
Tuesday: Burrito Bowl
Make a simple burrito bowl using rice, black beans, cooked meat, and your favorite toppings.
You can use:
- Rotisserie chicken
- Ground beef
- Ground turkey
- Chicken breast
- Leftover cooked meat
Add rice, black beans, salsa or pico de gallo, lettuce, cheese, and any toppings you like.
Make extra cooked protein so you can use it again later in the week for tacos, nachos, or another burrito bowl.
Wednesday: Pulled Chicken Sandwich with Sweet Potato
Use rotisserie chicken or cooked shredded chicken to make a quick sandwich.
Shred the chicken and mix it with BBQ sauce or your favorite sauce. Serve it on a bakery bun or roll.
For the side, bake a sweet potato. Poke holes in the sweet potato with a fork, place it on a baking sheet, and bake at 425 degrees until tender. You can also microwave it if you need dinner faster.
This meal feels filling, but it is still simple and budget-friendly.
Thursday: Tacos, Burritos, Nachos, or Burrito Bowl
Use your leftover cooked protein from earlier in the week to make an easy flexible dinner.
Choose one:
- Tacos
- Burritos
- Nachos
- Quesadilla
- Burrito bowl
- Taco salad
This is a great night to use up leftover rice, beans, lettuce, cheese, salsa, tortillas, or chips.
Keeping one night flexible helps you use what you already have instead of buying extra ingredients.
Friday: Flatbread Pizza and Salad
Make an easy flatbread pizza with naan bread, flatbread, or a small pizza crust.
Brush the flatbread with olive oil if desired, spread tomato sauce on top, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, and add your favorite toppings.
Easy topping ideas:
- Pepperoni
- Leftover chicken
- Leftover ground beef
- Bell peppers
- Onion
- Spinach
- BBQ chicken with BBQ sauce
Bake until the cheese is melted and the edges are crisp.
Serve with a side salad using part of a salad kit.
Saturday: Chicken Salad
Use the remaining salad kit and top it with leftover rotisserie chicken or cooked chicken.
Add any toppings you have left, such as cheese, tortilla chips, beans, avocado, or vegetables.
Serve with a bakery roll, crackers, or a piece of toast if you want something extra on the side.
This is an easy way to finish up the week and use the last of your ingredients before starting a new meal plan.
Cheap Meal Ideas for One Person
Once you get used to meal planning for one, you can rotate in more easy dinner ideas so you don’t get bored.
Here are some cheap meal ideas for one person:
- Baked potato with chili, broccoli, or cheese
- Quesadilla with leftover chicken or beans
- Fried rice with frozen vegetables and an egg
- Pasta with marinara sauce and salad
- Egg sandwich with fruit or vegetables
- Tuna melt with soup
- Sheet pan sausage and vegetables
- Chicken wraps with leftover lettuce and toppings
- Breakfast for dinner
- Rice bowl with beans, chicken, and salsa
- Grilled cheese and tomato soup
- Rotisserie chicken with frozen vegetables
- Mini pizza on flatbread, English muffin, or tortilla
Keep a list of your favorite easy meals so you can make a new weekly meal plan quickly.
Tips for Meal Planning for One Person
Cook once and eat twice.
You don’t have to cook every night. Plan a few meals that make enough for leftovers, then use those leftovers for another dinner.
Use the same ingredient in different ways.
For example, rotisserie chicken can become a sandwich, salad, tacos, burrito bowl, pizza topping, or quesadilla.
Buy smaller portions when you can.
Check the deli, bakery, meat counter, or freezer section for smaller packages so you don’t waste food.
Keep pantry staples on hand.
Rice, pasta, beans, tortillas, canned tomatoes, tuna, frozen vegetables, and sauces can help you make quick meals without a big grocery trip.
Freeze extra portions.
If you make a family-size recipe, divide it into smaller portions and freeze a few for future dinners.
Plan one flexible leftover night.
A flexible dinner night helps you use up what you already have before it goes bad.
What to Buy When Cooking for One
Some groceries are easier to stretch into multiple meals when you are cooking for one person.
Good budget-friendly groceries for one person include:
- Rotisserie chicken
- Eggs
- Rice
- Pasta
- Beans
- Tortillas
- Frozen vegetables
- Salad kits
- Potatoes
- Sweet potatoes
- Flatbread
- Canned tuna
- Ground beef or ground turkey
- Shredded cheese
- Oatmeal
- Soup
- Sandwich bread
You don’t need a huge grocery haul to eat well for the week. A few simple ingredients can turn into several easy meals.
How to Avoid Food Waste When Cooking for One
Food waste can be one of the hardest parts of cooking for one person, but a little planning helps a lot.
Here are a few easy ways to avoid wasting food:
- Choose meals that use the same ingredients in different ways.
- Freeze extra meat, bread, or cooked meals.
- Buy frozen vegetables instead of fresh if you don’t use vegetables quickly.
- Use salad kits for multiple meals.
- Make one “clean out the fridge” meal each week.
- Keep your grocery list short and realistic.
- Don’t buy too many fresh ingredients at once.
A meal plan does not have to be fancy to work. It just needs to help you use what you buy.
More Easy Dinner Ideas for One
If you need more dinner ideas for one person, try:
- Frozen meal kits with added chicken or vegetables
- Sheet pan meals that make two servings
- Family-size recipes divided into freezer portions
- Pantry meals with rice, pasta, beans, or tortillas
- Breakfast-for-dinner meals
- Simple sandwiches, wraps, and salads
- Leftover bowls with rice, meat, vegetables, and sauce
The more simple meals you have on your go-to list, the easier it will be to meal plan each week.
Making a meal plan for a single person can be pretty simple. Find some meals you like, make a list to hang on your fridge, and make yourself a new meal plan each week with any new recipes you want to try, simple dinners you can make quickly and easily, and budget-friendly recipes with just a few ingredients.
You can eat a delicious dinner at home on a budget and avoid fast food!
Start making your own weekly meal plans once you come up with several meals you can make easily and quickly – these will be your go-to meals.
For now, the weekly meal plan above is a great place to start so you don’t have to spend time finding new recipes all the time.
Need some more dinner for one ideas?
- Look at the frozen meal kits and frozen vegetable options.
- Try some sheet pan meals that can make two dinners.
- Don’t be afraid to make a family size recipe and divide it into smaller portions for a few dinners (you can even freeze some).
- Keep pantry staples on hand for quick dinners when you don’t want to come up a with a full meal (ready rice, tortillas, flatbreads, frozen vegetables).
- Use leftovers to your advantage! Make a larger serving for two dinners, or cook enough meat at once for two meals.
Final Thoughts on Meal Planning for One Person
Making a weekly meal plan for one person can be simple, budget-friendly, and flexible.
Start with a few meals you already like, choose ingredients that can be used more than once, and plan for leftovers on purpose. You don’t have to cook something new every night, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money to eat good meals at home.
Use this weekly meal plan as a starting point, then adjust it based on your schedule, budget, and favorite meals.
Once you find a few easy dinners you love, meal planning for one person will feel so much easier.
Need more help deciding what to make for dinner?
Planning meals and eating at home can help you save so much money, but it’s not always easy to figure out what to cook!
If you need some dinner ideas that are simple, quick, and budget-friendly, you’ll love the FREE 60+ Easy Dinner Ideas List – the handy resource you’ll love to use for quick, easy, and budget-friendly meal ideas to make meal planning simple and effortless!
Grab the FREE Easy Dinner Ideas List right here!
Here are some more cheap meal ideas to help you make your own frugal weekly meal plan:
20 Things to Eat on a Tight Budget
Easy Two Week Rotating Meal Plan on a Budget
10 Pantry Meals: When the Menu Plan Doesn’t Happen
Theme Nights Meal Planning: Easy Dinner Ideas for Every Night of the Week
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