When my partner is away, I usually avoid this by taking the chance to indulge in meals that he would hate (fish, mostly). But when I lived alone, I riffed on this by eating things I wouldn't usually eat with friends-- a decadent ploughman's dinner or pasta with anchovies. If you think of it as a treat to eat alone and indulge, I think it's much easier to get past the whole "Ugh, cooking alone" thing.

I've found that meal planning really helps. It doesn't have to be anything intricate, but sitting down before or after grocery shopping and coming up w/ a loose plan of how you intend to finish off all the ingredients is really helpful; both in terms of reducing food waste and overcoming 'why bother.'

That being said, it's important to be realistic about what you'll actually have time and energy to do. My meal planning usually means a lot of meals that are assembled rather than cooked from scratch. Frozen veggies, pre-cooked grains, and raw veggies make frequent appearances, usually alongside some protein that doesn't need a lot of intricate prepping/cooking. For example, tonight I plan to make (assemble) pre-cooked chicken sausage and marinated beans (both of which I made last night when I had some time and energy) on top of salad greens.

I generally use the opportunity to cook things I wouldn't normally make for a group or even just two. It can range from something simple like a grilled cheese with bacon jam to something luxurious that I wouldn't make because of the cost of making it for more than one-- wild mushroom crostini with fancy mushrooms from the farmers market or spaghetti with lobster and clams or pasta with fresh dungeness crab.

I agree with MegJ. I also find it more helpful to plan and buy food for the week (for me 3 days worth). This helps me actually cook because I don't want to waste the food or my money.

I also rely on frozen leftovers. I have a few soups that I make and freeze. When I get home exhausted, I just put a frozen serving of the soup in a pan on low and then relax on the couch as it reheats. I end up with a hot, delicious, and nutritious meal that involved maybe two minutes of on-day prep time. (Last night it was a white bean and kale soup with spicy Portuguese sausage. Delicious!)

I have been terrible at this on the occasions I need to fend for myself. Sometimes I end up picking up fast food even, which is something I typically avoid like the plague. But I've stumbled upon the thought process of making a dinner like the mezze you mention above. It feels like snacking, but is really quite good, and works for me where my boyfriend would never go for that for dinner.

I find planning for a whole week too inflexible, but I do plan for the next couple of days. I try to cook things that I can eat for 3 more meals: lunch and dinner the next day, and then lunch the day after that. For dinner that night, it starts all over again.

When you think that way, it's like you're cooking for 4 instead of for 1. That's why I've never really understood all the discussion that cooking for one generates. If I know I won't eat leftovers because I have lunch or dinner plans already, then I'll cook a single-serving meal, but otherwise, it's just like cooking for a group -- it just lasts longer.

I do live by myself, but for these reasons I do cook for myself to try out a new recipe, especially before making it for others. I pretty much always want to try something out on myself before making it for others, also it's less stressful that way as if it's not "right" it's only for me.

As a bachelor, I definitely has many of those nights. I called them chips and cheese nights. At least it's better than saltines and mustard night.

I HATE cooking when I'm hungry--it takes all the fun out of it! Like akay, I cook in advance--when I'm not hungry--and eat leftovers. This works especially well during CSA season, when I've got a bunch of fresh produce to deal with ASAP; I get my box on Thursday, then make a couple of entrees and a salad on the weekend, and that lasts me most of the week. My SO's schedule is a bit unpredictable, but if I have that stuff in the fridge, he can come home anytime and eat right away (helps keep him away from the junk food when he knows there's home cooking to be had!)

When I lived with my ex and cooked dinner every night, I used to clean up the kitchen after dinner, then prep the next night's dinner as much as I could. That cut down on eating out a bit.

As long as you eat nutritious, diverse foods during the day, there's no reason why you can't just have chips and salsa for dinner. It's when you have a doughnut and coffee for breakfast, burger for lunch, and chips and salsa for dinner that it gets you.

One of our favorite spring/early summertime dinners is good bread with butter, radishes, and salt. Or sometimes we do corn chips with seven layer dip or some such thing (seven layer dip is mostly veggies in this house). Because really, chips and salsa is not that nutritionally different from spaghetti with tomato sauce, except that the latter is generally lower in salt and higher in carbs.

My thing is, you should eat food that makes you feel good. If you're craving fresh, cold, crunchy vegetables with dip - eat that! If you really want macaroni and cheese - eat that! If you're craving beef and really want steak and some roasted veggies - eat that! Of course, you should also think about how those meals make you feel AFTER you eat them. If you feel gross and unsatisfied after eating chips and salsa for dinner, you should probably make yourself something different.

I feel like there is all this pressure to cook hot meals with multiple dishes all the time and it's really just not necessary. Simplification is your friend!

I'm with Cooklyn in that I use the meals alone to indulge in the meals and foods that only I like. I take such pleasure in cooking and eating that doing so for just myself has always been a treat. Granted, when it was just my husband and I, there were more opportunities for this type of solo-indulgence type of cooking. Now that I have a daughter to feed, I don't get satisfy my whims quite as much.

Amen, @VintageJenta. AMEN.

There have been so many articles lately about "cooking for one" is so difficult and time consuming that most people don't bother, and I still just don't understand that attitude. If you have a well-stocked kitchen it is just not that hard.

Last night, for example, I started thinking about what to make for dinner on the drive home from work, and remembered that I had a bunch of asparagus from the farmers market that needed to be used up. Thinking about what I had to go with it, I remembered that I had a log of goat cheese and a lemon in the fridge as well. Perfect - pasta with asparagus and goat cheese. So I got home at 7:30, put a pot of water on the stove to boil, fed the cat, looked at the mail, chopped up the asparagus, cooked some fusilli (throwing in the asparagus with it for the last few minutes), and tossed it all with the goat cheese, a little olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and a few splashes of the pasta water. While the pasta was cooking, I took a piece of bread out of the freezer, added butter and spices, and stuck it under the broiler for a piece of garlic bread. I was eating dinner by 8, with strawberries drizzled with balsamic for dessert, and there was nothing to clean up except the pasta pot as I'd already done the dishes and wiped the counters down while the pasta and asparagus was cooking.

I've mostly lived alone my entire adult life. I LOVE to cook and eat. Most of the time I cook myself full meals, three meals a day. Sometimes I'll fix myself a beautiful picnic or a complete afternoon tea! I make delicious cocktails and canapes just for me!

If I did not love to cook I would put the energy elsewhere. I hope no one who LOVES to cook thinks they shouldn't put in the effort because it is "just me." I can't imagine!

If you don't love to cook, don't worry about it. Eat chips & dip. Live up to your own expectations, not other people's.

Ditto on indulging when cooking for one. When the hubby is away on business trips I indulge in the things he doesn't eat and take extra effort with dinner. It's a nice distraction/compensation for missing the hubby. I can't imagine sitting down alone to a "dinner" of chips and random junk food.. that's depressing! I'd much rather have candles lit, music playing, while I enjoy a delicious steak and braised brussel sprouts with a glass of wine. ^ _ ^

I never cook for myself, although, with 3 kids, I'm rarely in that situation. I would just have a glass of wine, and graze on olives, charcuterie and cheese (quite satisfying, actually).

I should have mentioned this in the post, but I think a lot depends on how often this happens. If eating alone is a rare treat, than the occasional chips and salsa for dinner isn't a bad thing. But if its happening several nights a week, then I don't think it's healthy, both for your body or your mind.

The mezze approach sounds like my occasional weeknight meals of cheese, salami, crackers, pickles, olives, and fruit.

Great post, Dana -- I'm constantly proselytizing against the "bother/just" attitude toward cooking for yourself. I love cooking for friends, family, and dates, but I also gotta eat, and I'm gonna do it well. For me, it's all-important to have a well-stocked pantry (and fridge and freezer), because when I work late (which is pretty much all the time), if I have to stop at the store on the way home to get ingredients, I'm too "hangry" (hungry/angry) to make sensible choices.

My husband is away for months at a time because he's in the Coast Guard. I often find myself enjoying meals alone. I don't cook a whole lot for just me. I have a handful of dishes I like that give me just what I need. I love to snack and enjoy small meals all day like delicious avocado toast, greek yogurt with honey or maple syrup, scrambled eggs with hot sauce and avocado or sweet potato with greek yogurt and maple syrup. Often times I'll just roast a pan of sweet potatoes and eat those throughout the week with a simple salad. It's just not necessary to make a big meal for myself... especially since I don't like to eat leftovers. :)

During evenings when I have to cook for myself nothing is simpler or easier than a baked sweet potato w/ a pat of cinnamon butter and some steamed or sauteed veggies on the side.

I wonder if I'm the only one who opts for breakfast food for dinner sometimes? I always keep eggs on hand for the last-minute fritatta or omelette or leftover hash of some sort with a poached or fried egg on top. Also, when it gets really hot outside, sometimes just a granola-yogurt parfait with seasonal fruit is enough.

Ha! @chunky_charlie - I've never hit the mustard on saltines level, but cheese on toast has been an option from time to time when the pantry has been really bare.

@Charlotte I hear you. I've also lived alone most of my life and love to cook. I cook for myself basically like I do when I have people over. Just in smaller quantities. Tonight I bought a 1 lb ribeye and cut it into three portions, ate one and froze the other two. I'll purchase chicken in pieces, freeze most of them and prepare one piece at a time for dinner. Same with fish...freeze all of the fillets but one and have that for dinner. With vegetables, instead of cooking up a batch, I'll take, say 3 or 4 stalks of asparagus or brussels sprouts and steam them, top with shredded cheese or browned bread crumbs. Sometimes I'll bake a potato and eat only a half or a third of it and save the rest for another meal (which takes cooking time out for the left overs). When I lived with other's I pretty much did the same thing but doubled everything. Sorry, I know I'm a bit off the subject of this post because isn't really about just cooking for one. It's more for those that normally don't cook just for themselves. I just know so many people are clueless about the thought of cooking only for one.

"Why bother cooking just for myself?" Because I am worth a great meal. I agree with HLG22 (and the other repliers that followed) that articles with this attitude are getting old. I am single. I am one person. I cook for myself and don't see it as a bother. Why should I or any other single person? Aren't we worth the effort to make a meal?

There are people out there with spouses and children who don't like to cook. What solutions do you have for them, because me, I'm doing just fine.

I make slow cooker packages and freeze them. In the morning, just toss into the slow cooker. If it's too much for one person, portion the rest out and freeze for days you don't feel like cooking anything.

I too live on my own and at the start (it's been a year and a half now) I often had the "why bother" mood and ended up with cheese and crackers. Mostly because I hate hate hate doing the dishes and it feels like so much effort to cook a yummy meal and then have to clean all the pots, pans, boards, etc for just me. So I bought myself some rubbermaid containers and cook for 4. One serving for dinner, one serving for lunch or dinner the next day, and 2 for the freezer. I find this super helpful when I just don't feel like making a lunch for work in the morning or if I hit the snooze button too many times. By the time lunchtime happens my meal has thawed enough to take a few minutes in the micro. And when I do the dishes, it's like doing a quarter of the work because I won't have to do it again and again and again.

Why bother? because I love cooking and I love good food. It's pretty easy to plan a bit (say, make a stew or a large pot of soup) on the weekend and then eat what you've made in the evenings. I'm lucky to live in California where we have year-round farmers markets, so for these evenings when I'm lazy I always buy a bunch of radishes or some Persian cucumbers, some fruit. Nothing easier to prep and it's healthy.

In college I used to eat chips and pre-made 5 layer dip from whole foods. (I was chubby). Now I live on my own and cook for myself most nights. I usually cook 2-3 times a week and eat a lot of leftovers...I have this weird thing about ordering take out and don't like to do it.

I just turned my Why Bother syndrome into a weight loss plan. Ta-da!

I have a well-stocked kitchen and no, it's not too much trouble to prepare a meal for one. I just don't have the heart for it...

QUOTE IRRY:: When the hubby is away on business trips I indulge in the things he doesn't eat and take extra effort with dinner. It's a nice distraction/compensation for missing the hubby.

Herein lies my problem. There is nothing the hubs won't eat & he is an excellent cook himself. My fave pastime is leisurely weekends spent in the kitchen preparing meals together. The joy is missing when he's away...along with my appetite. I find myself grazing the fridge to avoid cooking.

I notice most of the responses are coming from people who are only cooking for one when the husband/partner/SO is away. Cooking for one three times a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, ad infinitum, is just waaaayyyy too depressing. Especially when you're not very good at it to start with.

Recently separated, still heart-broken, I can hardly ever gather up the motivation to cook for myself.

It seems like a lot of the responses are from foodies. Not everyone enjoys cooking.

I counteract that (as well as, for unrelated reasons, running out of steam long before dinnertime) by having a larger lunch and lighter dinner. It takes the pressure off, I'm still getting what I need, and not ending the day on a super-full stomach.

my problem is that chips and salsa is kind of like my idea of a perfect meal. and homemade popcorn ranks as number 2.

I try to remember that cooking for myself is a long term investment in my health.

I hate shopping for food. I hate cooking. I hate cleanup. So, naturally, we eat out all the time! (So I can never retire because I haven't saved any money. I'd get bored without my job anyhow.) (sigh)

When I lived alone on a smaller budget (not that I'm "rich" now) I ate small, easy, few-ingredient meals. And occasionally some family comfort foods, like "homemade noodles". (I have a personal variation more like tiny dumplings -- mix flour and beaten eggs and a tiny bit of salt into a slightly sticky dough. Pinch off small (about quarter teaspoon) bits with flour dusted fingers and drop as pinched off into boiling chicken broth. (Beef works ok, too. Mom used canned beef and it was more like stroganoff.) When the "noodles" float they are cooked. I eat them with Benecol margarine and salt and pepper. Not super healthy, but I love them!)

As long as you are eating nutritionally sound meals, a night of chips and dip for dinner really isn't that bad. I go by eating what I want for the most part - if steak sounds good and I have some stashed in the freezer, I'm making that for dinner. If nothing sounds good but mac&cheese, that's what I'm eating. Not every meal needs protein, veggie, fruit, grain, etc - just got to get them all in within the day.

My main cooking is food to bring to work for lunches (ham yesterday, baked mac and cheese last week, etc). Food for me to eat at home tend to be more quick-fix type things that I can't have at work (eggs, hot dogs, grilled cheese, french toast (from frozen), etc). As a result, it doesn't feel like I have to do as much cooking since the major messes tend to be once or twice a week. Plus, the variety at dinner time keeps me from getting bored with the less variation in lunch (4 days or so in a row of the same thing).

I'm the most important person in my life, so why not cook for myself? No one else is going to do it for me- and cook exactly what I want at that moment in exactly the way I want it. :)

My husband travels quite a bit for work, so I plan out what I'm going to make when he's on one of his extended trips. That way I don't have to think about what I'm going to have while he's gone. I love a good tuna melt (not his favorite-so I make them quite a bit when he's gone). Quesadillas of any kind, flatbread pizzas, re-worked casseroles from my childhood (made with Ground Turkey instead of Ground Beef, and re-created sauces to lower the sodium and fat content from canned soup). Sometimes charcuterie and cheeses with really good crackers and hummus. My favorite on the weekends is a big bowl of popcorn with parmesan and cracked black pepper and a large glass of wine.

I used to be really bad at this, almost always getting take out, for years. I finally decided to look at cooking and cleanup as part of my workout. It takes energy to pop down to the store, zip down the isles, unload, prep, cook, do the dishes (and inevitably sweep some mess off the floor). A lot more energy then just getting of the couch to meet the delivery guy or eating out of a take-out box.

Why bother? Cause I have to eat. Take out is cool but eating that a few days in a row makes me feel like crap. One because the choices aren't generally nutritious and because I feel fooled for paying for something I know I could have made myself easily. It doesn't take much effort to cook something at home. A sandwich is quick as is a big salad. I'm not that lazy. Besides if I decided to get married or something the bad habit of not cooking wont magically vanish because I'm a couple. It will get worse. Think cooking for one is challanging wait till you have to cook for others. Cooking a few nights a week wont kill anyone.

Why bother cooking for yourself??? Really??? BECAUSE YOU MATTER! YOU'RE WORTH IT!!!! And cooking even a quick meal like a stir fry or a frittata is a great way to put the work day behind you and focus on home, family and friends.

A repost from last year?

One of my favorite little cookbooks.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6677742-the-pleasures-of-cooking-for-one