Meal planning for two: two yeses and a half-size list
Agree three or four dinners, then decide meal by meal whether to halve it or eat it twice.
By The Scullery team · Written
Meal planning for two has one problem most plans ignore: nearly every recipe serves four. So plan in two steps. First agree a few dinners you both want. Then, meal by meal, decide whether to halve it or cook it in full and eat it twice. The shopping list follows from those decisions.
Two yeses
Pick three or four dinners for the week, not seven. Two people's evenings change, and a short plan survives a late night or a meal out.
A dinner goes on the plan when you both say yes. One of you can suggest it and the other can shrug; a shrug counts. A no doesn't need a debate, just a different option.
We make Scullery. Two people in the same household share one shortlist and one plan. Each of you can go through the shortlist and tap Yes or No, and each recipe shows how many household yeses it has. Add the agreed ones with Add to plan. Meals don't need a day, so the plan is a list for the week, not a timetable.
Halve it or cook it twice
Decide this for each meal before you shop.
Halve anything quick that doesn't keep: stir-fries, pasta, omelettes, fish. See how to halve a recipe for odd eggs and small measures.
Cook in full anything that improves overnight or freezes: a curry, a chilli, a tray of roast vegetables. Put the second portion on the plan as its own meal, so it gets eaten instead of forgotten.
Then look for the awkward halves. A 400 g tin of chickpeas, a bag of spinach or a bunch of spring onions doesn't come in half. Either plan a second meal that uses the rest, or cook that recipe in full.
The half-size list
Here's a week for two:
- Courgette and feta frittata, halved.
- Chickpea and spinach curry, in full: once fresh, once two days later.
- Tomato pasta, halved, with the rest of the spinach stirred in.
In Scullery, open each recipe you're halving, choose ½ above the ingredients, then Add all to shopping list (on a computer, Add needed ingredients). The list gets the halved amounts, with each item still showing which recipe it's for. Scullery remembers ½ for that recipe in that browser.
Two things to know. The plan's Make shopping list adds each recipe at its full amounts, so add halved meals from their recipe pages instead. And the list halves exactly: the frittata's five eggs appear as 2½ eggs. Buy the box of six.
If you've saved reels you both like, turn them into recipes first so they can go on the plan and the list. More on building lists from chosen meals is in Build the list from what you chose.
Common questions
How do you meal plan for two people?
Pick three or four dinners you both say yes to. For each one, decide whether to halve the recipe or cook it in full and eat it twice. Then write one shopping list from those decisions.
Is it better to halve recipes or cook for four?
It depends on the dish. Stir-fries, pasta and anything with eggs halve well. Stews, curries, traybakes and anything that freezes are often better cooked in full, with the second half planned as another meal.
How do I stop wasting half a tin or half a pack?
Plan the other half. If one dinner uses half a tin of chickpeas or half a bag of spinach, choose a second meal that week that uses the rest.
Can Scullery put halved amounts on the shopping list?
Yes. Choose ½ above a recipe's ingredients, then add them to the shopping list from that page. The list gets the halved amounts. The plan's Make shopping list uses each recipe's full amounts.
