Cooking for One Doesn't Have to Be Depressing

In 2014, 34 million Americans aged 18 and older lived alone. Surely, not all of them will be solo dwellers forever; presumably, a substantial share have lived or will live with partners, or roommates, or shacked up with mom and dad. But it’s likely that, at least for a while, millions of people find themselves cooking for one.

That can be easier said than done, says the pastry chef Klancy Miller, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu. For one thing, despite the recent uptick in solo restaurant dining, and regardless of the success of meal-subscription services such as Blue Apron, which delivers pre-measured ingredients to a million homes each month, there’s still a stigma against spending time and energy on something that seems indulgent. Miller says that folks tend to feel guilty about investing energy in meal prep for one, shrugging it off as, Why bother? It’s just me. It can be a little anti-climactic to tear herbs into the perfect teensy pieces, or stir a from-scratch sauce, only to either scarf the meal down over the sink or sit quietly at the table, trying hard to think, This is great, everything’s great, this was totally worth it.