Cheap Easy Meals for 2: Buy One Pack, Cook Two Dinners

Supermarkets are stocked for families. Chicken thighs come in big trays, cabbages come whole, and ricotta comes in a tub sized for a lasagna. Cook for two and the first dinner leaves half a pack behind. Then it sits at the back of the fridge until it goes in the bin.

The money goes on that thrown-out half. So this list is grouped by the pack, and each group gives two different dinners that finish it between them.

What are cheap easy meals for 2 people?

Cheap easy meals for 2 people are dinners built on staples like rice, lentils, eggs, potatoes, cabbage and canned tomatoes. The cheapest way to cook them is in two-night pairs: two different dinners that share one pack, so the half you don’t use tonight becomes another meal.

Leftovers give you the same dish twice, and by the second night one of you is bored of it. A pair keeps the ingredient and changes the dish. Half a cabbage goes into a sausage skillet on Monday, and the other half turns into savory pancakes on Wednesday.

Pairs cover the nights you cook. For the other kind of night I make an app called Today’s Mealow. I set it to downtown Portland and tapped “Staying in,” which finds dishes that deliver nearby. It asked for a style, a flavor and anything to avoid. I said Anything, Bold and nothing. The cat answered “Heavy flavors coming right up, let’s dig in” with a Cajun shrimp po’boy, a BBQ pulled pork sandwich and a spicy chicken wrap.

All three were handheld, and that gave me an idea for the chicken pair below. Its second night is a spicy chicken wrap made from the thighs you roasted earlier. On a cheap week, that’s the one I’d copy at home.

Which cheap dinners for two finish the whole pack?

Cheap dinners for two that finish the whole pack come in pairs. Each group below starts with one thing you buy in a family size, then gives two different dinners that use it up. Pick a group, cook the first dish, and plan the second for later in the week.

A whole green cabbage

• Night one: smoked sausage and cabbage skillet with onions and mustard.
• Night two: okonomiyaki-style cabbage pancakes with eggs, flour and a sweet brown sauce.

A pack of smoked sausage

• Night one: the cabbage skillet above uses half.
• Night two: red beans and rice with the rest sliced through it.

A family tray of chicken thighs

• Night one: lemon-pepper thighs roasted on a bed of sliced potatoes.
• Night two: spicy chicken wraps with the rest of the meat, shredded lettuce and a yogurt and hot sauce dressing.

A bag of red lentils

• Night one: red lentil dal with rice.
• Night two: lentil shepherd’s pie with a mashed potato top.

A pound of ground pork

• Night one: Swedish-style meatballs in a creamy gravy over egg noodles.
• Night two: mapo tofu with the rest of the pork, over rice.

A dozen eggs

• Night one: egg curry, hard-boiled eggs in a spiced onion and tomato sauce.
• Night two: Spanish tortilla, a thick potato and onion omelet, with a green salad.

A can of coconut milk

• Night one: chickpea and spinach coconut curry.
• Night two: coconut rice with a fried egg, cucumber and roasted peanuts.

A tub of ricotta

• Night one: lasagna roll-ups with spinach and ricotta, baked in jarred tomato sauce.
• Night two: lemon ricotta pasta with black pepper and peas.

A big can of crushed tomatoes

• Night one: tomato soup with grilled cheese.
• Night two: white beans braised in the rest of the tomatoes, spooned over toast.

A head of cauliflower

• Night one: roasted cauliflower and chickpeas with a garlic yogurt sauce.
• Night two: cauliflower mac and cheese.

A loaf of bread going stale

• Night one: French onion soup with toasted bread and melted cheese on top.
• Night two: savory bread pudding with cheese and whatever greens need using up.

Some pairs share more than one pack. The sausage and the cabbage meet in the same skillet, and the egg pair borrows potatoes from the chicken pair. Those overlaps are where a week of pairs gets cheapest, because one shop feeds four or five dinners.

How do you plan a week of two-night pairs?

To plan a week of two-night pairs, choose two or three groups that share an ingredient, buy only those packs, and space each pair out. Cook night one, label the rest for its second dish, and put a different pair in between so you never eat from one pack two nights running.

Here’s one week from the list, built around a cabbage and a pack of smoked sausage:

1. Monday: sausage and cabbage skillet. Half the sausage and half the cabbage go in.
2. Tuesday: red lentil dal with rice. A pantry night, nothing fresh needed.
3. Wednesday: okonomiyaki-style pancakes. The rest of the cabbage, shredded, plus eggs.
4. Thursday: red beans and rice with the rest of the sausage. The cabbage and the sausage are both gone.
5. Friday: lentil shepherd’s pie from the rest of the bag.

By Friday the cabbage, the sausage and the lentils are used up and nothing went in the bin. The weekend is free for a takeout night, or a wildcard you pick off the free dinner wheel.

What is the cheapest meal to make for two?

The cheapest meal to make for two is one built on dried legumes or eggs with rice, bread or potatoes. Red lentil dal with rice, red beans and rice, and a Spanish tortilla all fit. Their main ingredients keep for a long time, so nothing spoils before you get to it.

Spoiling is what makes cooking for two cost more than it should, since you paid for the half you throw away. That’s why the pairs above lean on things with a long life: dried lentils, canned tomatoes, coconut milk, rice, potatoes, onions and eggs. A whole cabbage keeps well in the fridge too, which is why it starts the list.

Herbs, salad leaves and soft cheese are the risky buys. If a recipe asks for a bunch of cilantro and uses a pinch, swap in something dried, or plan a second dish that uses the rest.

What are easy meals for two people when you’re both tired?

Easy meals for two people on a tired night are the second halves of your pairs. Night two is usually quicker, because the chicken is roasted, the lentils are cooked or the sauce is open. Cook night one on the evening you have more energy.

Roasting the thighs takes oven time, and the wraps on night two are just assembly. The meatballs take rolling, while the mapo tofu after them is a quick pan of sauce over rice.

On nights you’d rather assemble than cook, the build-your-own dinners shrink down for two. And if neither of you wants to cook at all, ordering one good dish is cheaper than ordering three you’re unsure about. The delivery checkout checklist helps you order once and order well.

Night off from the pairs and nobody wants to choose? Tell Today’s Mealow what you’re in the mood for and what to skip, and it picks 3 dishes from real places near you, each with a one-line reason.

Pick our night off

How do you shop cheaply when you only cook for two?

To shop cheaply when you only cook for two, write the shopping list from your pairs, not from single recipes. Each pack on the list should already have two dinners waiting for it. If a pack has only one dish planned, swap it for something smaller or something that keeps.

Read the list back as a question: where does the rest of this go? A tray of thighs has an answer. A bunch of fresh basil for one pasta usually doesn’t. When you can’t name the second dish, leave the item on the shelf and choose a different pair.

Your freezer also helps. Cooked lentils, meatballs and roasted chicken all freeze, so a second night can wait longer if your week changes. Fresh cabbage and ricotta are better used within the week.