America's Test KitchenCooking for One: Scaled Recipes, No-Waste Solutions, and Time-Saving Tips

It’s important going into this knowing what you are getting. This is not necessarily a “recipe book” although the recipes are very good. It’s more a technique book. I’m a pretty good cook, but when my husband travels, I often wondered why halving or quartering my usual recipes didn’t produce the results I had with greater numbers of servings. Turns out you need to cook differently when you are making one portion at a time. Everything from cooking time, to pan size, to various make ahead sauces that can instantly spice up a one portion meal. This cookbook is filled with hacks and techniques for cooking small portions. Some of the recipes make more than one portion, but then there are recipes for creatively using the leftovers.Some of the recipes seem deceptively simple. Well, they are. If you are cooking just for yourself, do you want a recipe that requires 12 different ingredients? No, you want quick and flavorful in a reasonable amount of time. I call America’s Test kitchen “the cooking nerds”. They test and test and test until they hit on the foolproof formula. They did that here.I bought one copy for my home for when my husband is away on a business trip and another copy for my RV for when i travel out on my own. Highly recommended.

This is an awesome cookbook for anyone looking to cook for one or two people. The recipes are truly designed for 1-2 servings to limit leftovers. No more math needed to scale down a 4-6 serving recipe. There are tons of suggestions for avoiding food waste, too. For instance, if a recipe calls for half a can of chickpeas, there is another section which will list recipes for using the other half. It also has tips for making many of the dishes vegetarian or vegan. The book is hardcover with beautiful pictures and easy to follow instructions. All of the nutritional information is located in one section for easy reference. It makes a great gift to anyone living on their own or cooking just for themselves.

Pretty good book of recipes that are scaled down for one person although most specify that it makes enough for leftovers. There are a lot of good ideas for small portion cooking.

Well written. Easy and interesting recipes.

full page colored pictures of each recipe. hardcover book lays flat for ease of reading while cooking. tips, hints and alternate suggestions. pantry lists. if you only want one cook book, this one would be a good choice.

I live alone and meals are always a pain. follow the recipe and you wind up with dinner for 4 and leftovers you really don't want to finish after the 2nd time around so you waste all this food. Finally someone has put out a great cookbook for one! I've made several of the recipes and they come out great! I like the fact that you can cross reference leftover ingredients and find something else you can make with it so your waste is greatly reduced.

I love Americas' Test Kitchen. I was excited for this cookbook because as a single person household, I find myself overbuying and, therefore, wasting groceries and my grocery dollars.In trying some of these recipes, there seems to be confusion on my part regarding amounts of ingredients. (ie. 6 ozs of pasta as stated (weight) rather than 3/4 Cup. 6 ounces of pasta for one person by weight is a great deal for one person.Regardless, the recipes are tasty and easily prepped. I'll try the recipe I made as directed with a little more discretion regarding the amounts given.

I've only made a couple of the recipes so far, but I LOVE this book. This is so much more than just a cookbook and I wish when I first started cooking.Not being someone who was born with any sort of innate ability to cook, swap ingredients, scale a recipe, or even figure out "what do I actually need in my pantry" I have spent my adult life wasting a LOT of money on food - either by ingredients going bad before I can use them up (or having no idea what else I can use them for with only the amount I have left), or leftovers going bad in the fridge because I just can't eat the same thing for five days in a row. I've improved in this time, and definitely learned some tricks, but this book is a gamechanger. Pantry recommendations. Ingredient swaps. Ways to use up the rest of the can of beans that you opened but you just didn't need all of it for yourself in one meal.They even mark which recipes make leftovers, and they specify that these are good leftovers. Those sad meals I used to make, that the first night tasted good but just weren't the same day two and I literally dreaded eating by day three? That won't happen with this book. I have read this cookbook, and I will continue to re-read and learn from it. Definitely worth the purchase!