Cooking Tools That Make Cooking for One Person Easier
Cooking for yourself doesn’t have to feel like a chore—the right tools make single-serving meals faster, simpler, and way more enjoyable.
You know the feeling. You’re hungry after a long day, but the thought of dragging out a full-sized skillet and chopping vegetables for one feels like too much effort. So you order takeout instead. The problem isn’t your cooking skills—it’s that most kitchen advice is written for people cooking for families of four or more. A 28cm skillet, a 5-litre stockpot, and a full set of matching pans might make sense for a crowd, but in a solo kitchen, half of that is just clutter you have to move around to find what you actually use . The best way to make cooking for one easier is to choose tools that are sized right for single portions and designed to minimize prep and cleanup.
TL;DR
- The Problem: Standard kitchen tools are sized for families, making solo cooking feel like more work than it’s worth.
- The Solution: Choose smaller pans (20cm skillet, 16cm saucepan), smart prep tools, and single-serving appliances.
- How to Fix It: Start with three core pans and one good knife. Add tools like a push chopper, garlic peeler, and personal blender as you go.
- Key Takeaway: A solo kitchen needs fewer tools—but the ones you keep should be the right size for one person.
Key Takeaways
- Downsize Your Pans: A 20cm non-stick skillet and a 16cm saucepan are the perfect sizes for cooking for one .
- Smart Prep Tools Save Time: An OXO push chopper and a garlic peeling cone cut prep time in half .
- Batch Cooking Works: A multi-cooker lets you cook once and eat leftovers for days .
- Storage Matters: Small containers and produce savers reduce waste from half-used ingredients .
- A Personal Blender Makes Sense: Single-serve blenders like the Nutribullet are perfect for solo smoothies .
Main Topic: The Solo Kitchen Toolkit
The gear that makes cooking for one easier is different from what you’d buy for a family. You don’t need less—you need smaller and smarter .
The Three Pans You Actually Need
Most solo cooks only need three pans. Here’s what they are and why they work:
1. A 20cm Non-Stick Frying Pan This is the most important piece of equipment in a solo kitchen. It’s the right size for eggs, searing one chicken thigh, making a single-serving stir-fry, or a small omelette. A 24cm pan is actually too big—a single egg spreads thin and cooks too fast. A 20cm pan does everything perfectly . You don’t need to spend a lot on non-stick either—the coating wears out over time regardless of price, so £15-25 is plenty .
2. A 16cm Saucepan This size is perfect for one portion of pasta water, soups scaled down to one, and single-serving sauces. A larger saucepan means your sauce spreads too thin and scorches more easily. At 16cm, everything reduces at the right pace .
3. A Small Sheet Pan A sheet pan about 30x20cm is ideal for roasting a single portion of vegetables or one chicken thigh. A full-sized baking sheet is overkill—the food spreads too thinly and the pan takes longer to heat .
The Mini Skillet That Solo Cooks Love
Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa herself, recommends Lodge’s mini cast iron skillets for solo cooking. The 3.5-inch version is perfect for skillet brownies, a single baked potato, or one fried egg. The 6.5-inch size gives you a bit more room for charred broccolini or a small cornbread. At around $18, it’s an affordable piece that feels like an heirloom—made in Tennessee and pre-seasoned, ready to use out of the box .
The Knife Situation: You Only Need One
One good knife, kept sharp, handles everything a solo cook needs. An 18cm chef’s knife is the sweet spot—large enough to be efficient, small enough to control for detailed work. Spend about £30-60 on a decent knife (the Victorinox Fibrox is the standard recommendation) and learn to keep it sharp with a honing steel. A sharp £40 knife outperforms a blunt £200 knife on every task. You don’t need a bread knife, a paring knife, a carving knife, or any specialist single-use tool .
Prep Tools That Make Cooking Less Annoying
A Push Chopper When you’re cooking for one, dragging out a cutting board for a single shallot can feel like overkill. The OXO push chopper solves this instantly—you just press it down and watch it turn out uniformly chopped onions, peppers, or whatever you’re about to cook .
A Garlic Peeling Cone Nothing drives solo cooks crazier than garlicky fingers that smell for days. A tiny silicone cone like the Chef’n GarlicCone lets you roll cloves inside to remove the skins in seconds—no stinky fingers required. At just $7, it skips one of the most annoying parts of cooking .
A Microplane This tool is a solo cook’s secret weapon. It zests lemons, minces garlic, and grates fluffy clouds of Parmesan. One Wirecutter editor grabbed hers during an emergency evacuation—along with her cat and laptop—because she uses it more than her cutting board .
Kitchen Shears Sharp kitchen shears are surprisingly useful for solo cooks. They snip herbs, trim meat, and even break down small cuts of poultry without needing to bring out a full knife set .
Single-Serve Appliances That Earn Their Space
Personal Blender No matter how hungry you are, finishing a full-size smoothie is tough. A personal blender like the Nutribullet is perfectly sized for single servings. It’s powerful enough to handle frozen fruit and ice, but small enough that it doesn’t feel like a whole production to use. It stashes neatly in a cabinet when you don’t need it . The Thyme & Table Single Serve Blender is another chic option at $60, with a 25-ounce cup you can take on the go . The Ninja Fit is also compact at just 13 inches tall with two 16-ounce cups .
Multi-Cooker Yes, an Instant Pot is big. But it earns its counter space by doing basically everything—pressure cooking, air frying, slow cooking, baking, and even dehydrating. The large capacity lets you batch-cook grains and make one-pot meals, so you can cook once and coast on leftovers for a few days .
Electric Kettle An electric kettle heats up in a flash—perfect for solo cooks who need hot water fast for French press coffee, tea, or instant ramen on a busy weeknight .
The Overlooked Category: Storage
Good single-portion storage containers make batch cooking viable and reduce waste. You want containers in two or three sizes that stack neatly. A set of 300ml and 500ml glass containers with lids covers 90% of storage needs—glass because you can see what’s in them, heat them directly, and they don’t absorb smells .
Food Huggers Cooking for one means constantly dealing with halves of things—half an avocado, half a lemon, half an onion you swear you’ll use tomorrow. Stretchy silicone covers like Food Huggers keep produce fresher longer, cutting down on waste and the guilt that comes with it .
What You Don’t Need
Here’s what solo cooks can safely skip:
- Stand mixer: If you bake occasionally, a hand whisk or £15 hand mixer is enough .
- Large food processor: A mini chopper or personal blender handles the tasks one person actually needs .
- Matching pan sets: You’ll use two of the five pans. Buy individually .
- Specialist gadgets: Rice cookers, egg cookers, sandwich makers, panini presses—unless you eat the same thing every day, these live in a cupboard 350 days a year .
Quick Comparison: Solo Kitchen Tools vs. Standard Options
| Tool Type | Solo Kitchen Pick | Why It’s Better | Standard Option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frying Pan | 20cm non-stick skillet | Right size for one portion, heats efficiently | 28cm skillet (too big) |
| Saucepan | 16cm saucepan | Sauce reduces properly, less scorching | 20cm+ (spreads too thin) |
| Blender | Personal blender (Nutribullet) | Single serving, no leftovers, easy cleanup | Full-size blender |
| Chef’s Knife | 18cm chef’s knife | Efficient but controllable for detailed work | 20cm+ (clumsy for small tasks) |
| Food Prep | Push chopper, mini chopper | Handles small quantities without overkill | Full-size food processor |
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What size pan is best for cooking for one?
A 20cm non-stick frying pan and a 16cm saucepan are the ideal sizes for solo cooking .
2. Do I need a full set of knives for cooking for one?
No. One good 18cm chef’s knife, kept sharp, handles everything you’ll cook .
3. What’s the best blender for a solo cook?
A personal blender like the Nutribullet is perfectly sized for single servings. It’s powerful, compact, and easy to clean .
4. Is a mini skillet worth buying?
Yes. A 3.5-inch or 6.5-inch cast iron skillet is perfect for one fried egg, a small cornbread, or a skillet brownie just for you .
5. How do I reduce food waste when cooking for one?
Use Food Huggers to keep half-used produce fresh, freeze chopped ingredients in ice cube trays, and store leftovers in single-serving containers .
6. What’s the most underrated solo cooking tool?
A microplane. It zests, minces, and grates without needing a full cutting board setup .
Conclusion
Cooking for one doesn’t mean eating sad leftovers or relying on takeout. The secret is choosing tools that match how you actually cook. Downsize your pans, invest in a few smart prep tools, and embrace storage solutions that keep half-used ingredients fresh. With the right gear, you’ll wonder why you ever thought solo cooking was a chore.
Essential Solo Cooking Tools for Single-Person Households
- Food & Wine – Kitchen Tools That Cut Solo Cooking Time
- Wirecutter – Vegetable Chopping Solutions for Solo Cooks
- Food & Wine – Ina Garten’s Mini Skillet for Solo Cooking
- The Solo Kitchen Toolkit
Which solo cooking challenge do you want solved next? Share your thoughts in the comments.
