The Best Meal Planning Apps for Cooking for One in 2026
Most meal planning apps are quietly built for a family of four: recipes default to four servings, shopping lists assume you will use a whole bag of anything you buy, and leftovers pile up whether you want them to or not. Cooking for one needs something different: proper single-serving scaling, small shopping lists, and ideally a bit of help using up whatever a recipe leaves over. We compared six apps that actually handle solo cooking well in 2026.
1. Remy
Remy scales recipes properly down to a single serving, adjusting quantities rather than just dividing a family recipe awkwardly in four, and the shopping list reflects exactly what one person needs rather than a family-sized haul.
Because the plan and the list are built around real portions, there is less chance of ending up with three-quarters of a bag of something you will not use again before it goes off. Verdict: the strongest option for genuinely accurate single-serving planning and shopping.
2. Mealime
Mealime lets you set your household size down to one and builds a plan and aisle-sorted shopping list around it, with the added benefit of recipes designed to cross-utilise ingredients, which cuts down on buying a large pack for a single use.
Scaling down can occasionally produce slightly awkward measurements, since recipes are not always designed from the ground up for one, but the ingredient cross-utilisation genuinely helps offset that. Verdict: a strong free option, particularly for its waste-conscious ingredient reuse.
3. Paprika 3
Paprika suits solo cooks who already know roughly what they like to eat and want full manual control over their own recipe collection, with straightforward scaling and a shopping list you can shape entirely yourself.
It will not suggest what to cook or actively help you avoid waste, but for someone who wants a private, reliable recipe box scaled to their own portions, that manual control is exactly the point. Verdict: a solid choice for solo cooks who prefer control over automation.
4. AnyList
AnyList works well for solo cooking simply because it is flexible: build a short, focused shopping list without any of the shared-household features getting in the way, and import recipes from the web with ingredients scaled as needed.
It is less about deciding what to cook and more about making sure the list for one person stays tight and manageable, without the bloat of planning for a household that is not there. Verdict: a good, no-frills list app for a solo shop.
5. BigOven
BigOven's 'Use Up Leftovers' feature is particularly useful for solo cooking, where a single recipe often leaves you with odd bits and pieces: type in a few ingredients you have spare, and it suggests what to make with them rather than letting them go to waste.
Its sheer size, over a million recipes, also means there is always something to make even on nights when nothing in your own collection appeals. Verdict: a good safety net for using up what a solo-sized recipe leaves behind.
6. SuperCook
SuperCook is particularly well suited to solo cooking's most common problem: buying a whole ingredient for one recipe and then not knowing what to do with the rest. Add what you already have, and it searches for genuine matches rather than requiring a shopping trip for something new.
It is not a full meal planner, but as a way to avoid buying yet another ingredient you will only partly use, it is a genuinely useful tool to keep alongside whatever app you plan with. Verdict: the best companion app for using up what is already in a solo kitchen.
Cooking for one deserves better than a family recipe divided awkwardly by four. Remy scales portions, plans and shopping lists properly to a single serving, so cooking for yourself feels considered rather than like an afterthought.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best meal planning app for someone cooking just for themselves?
Remy scales recipes and shopping lists specifically to one serving, while Mealime and AnyList also work well for a smaller, more focused solo shop.
Do meal planning apps handle scaling a recipe down to one serving well?
It varies. Some apps produce slightly awkward measurements when scaling down sharply, so it is worth checking how an app actually handles single servings rather than assuming it works the same as scaling up.
How can I avoid buying too much food when cooking for one?
Apps like SuperCook and BigOven that suggest recipes from ingredients you already have help avoid buying a large pack of something for a single recipe.
Is it worth using a meal planning app if I only cook for myself?
Yes, arguably more so. Without a household to average portions across, a solo cook benefits even more from accurate single-serving scaling and a tightly scoped shopping list.