Good Housekeeping Dishes For Two: 125 Easy Small-Batch Recipes for Weeknight Meals & Special Celebrations

by Good Housekeeping (Editor), Kate Merker (Foreword)

Make delicious meals for one or two hungry people with 125 simple and satisfying easy recipes from the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen–all perfectly portioned.

Couples and other smaller families shouldn’t have to rely on recipes for four or six. Here, the experts and recipe testers in the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen take the guesswork out of small-batch cooking and share their favorite weeknight meals such as Pan-Fried Chicken with Lemony Roasted Broccoli, Air-Fried Steak Fajitas, Speedy Eggplant Parm, Short Ribs with Polenta, and Seared Pork Chops with Cherries and Spinach you also get the Test Kitchen’s secrets on how to downsize any recipe, including your own family favorites. You’ll never get stuck with endless leftovers again!

Inside you’ll
Whether you are craving a hearty Pork Ragu Rigatoni or lighter fare like Ginger Pork & Cucmber Salad, these recipes will come out perfectly portioned and deliver delicious results every time.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Reference, Food

224 pages, Hardcover

Published December 6, 2022

About the author

The Good Housekeeping Institute was created to provide readers of Good Housekeeping magazine with expert consumer advice and delicious, classic and contemporary east-to-follow recipes. These ideals still hold true today. The institute team are all experienced cooks, home economists and consumer researchers. They test the lastest products in purpose-built, modern kitchens, where every recipe published in the magazine and its range of bestselling cookery books is rigorously tested so that you can cook any Good Housekeeping dish with confidence.

Reviews

[K. East · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to do a lot of batch cooking when my husband and I were still working but since retirement and a change in the way we eat our meals, having excessive leftovers has only led to throwing out expensive, uneaten entrees after a few days. We either eat the same thing for two or three+ days or we toss out what doesn't freeze well. Hence, my attraction to this book. I found several easy, interesting new recipes for us to try, but as we have moved to a more plant-based diet for health reasons, there weren't a lot of appropriate recipes for us. However, just the inclusion of two dozen vegetarian recipes in a standard American cookbook was a surprise and a plus for me. There was also an unusually large number of entertaining recipes for snacks and alcoholic drinks -- 44 pages worth -- if entertaining for two is your thing. There were only one or two recipes with what I call exotic spice or ingredient needs, which makes this a pretty friendly cookbook for someone looking for some fairly easy recipes for two.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

A concept that I don’t think I need is meals for two. I just got this from the library for fun. I don’t understand why someone would want to go to all the trouble of making, say, lasagna, for only two servings. That’s one dinner!

I personally love 4-person dinners for me and my husband, as then we get two meals out of it for only cooking once.

Anyway. This book has a few typos (wrong page number for photos) and some missing text in the condiments chapter (serving size for some sauces and how much it makes). Also, some of the ideas are a bit kooky. Who wants to make a mug cake for only one person? Side note—this includes nutrition info for each recipe and I don’t want to know the calorie count for desserts, thank you very much.

Overall, not for me. I love Good Housekeeping as a magazine but this just seems like a cash grab. I feel like it’s easy enough to halve most 4-serving recipes if you really wanted to do that. For me, I’ll stick to regular cookbooks.

[Gigi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this cookbook to be very uninspiring. Perhaps it is because the first pages are devoted to "Mix and Match Magic" where you are just supposed to put different things together and add a sauce. I do that anyway without a cookbook, so I briefly looked at the chapter but didn't find any new ideas there.

And then they have a thing called: Sear-Sear-Roast, but really it should be Season-Sear-Roast, since you don't sear the protein two times, you pat it dry and salt it then sear it. Just poor thinking on someone's part to call it Sear-Sear-Roast. And my point is, if there is poor thinking in 1 spot, there is most likely poor thinking in other spots - so I didn't really want to try any of the recipes.

[Gayle Cappelluti · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are anything like me, and find yourself cooking for one or two people after a lifetime of planning and preparing meals for a loud and hungry family, and if you are tired of having so many left-overs bthat your freezer is jam packed, or you eat the same meal three days in a row to get rid of them, then this book is for you. I found it so helpful in getting a grip on recipe size. Plus, it gave me a slew of new recipes that will satisfy while also offering variety and full meals, including desserts and beverages. It also offers tips for shopping, making recipe adjustments, and so much more. Dishes For Two came in really handy for me as I make this transition to cooking in a new way.

[Ella Seuberling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cookbook delivers exactly what it promises- dishes for two! The recipes are very beginner friendly and organized well within the book depending on what type of meal you’re looking to make. I liked the single serve dessert options because I can never stick to one portion when I batch-make sweet treats. This was also an AMAZING date night activity for my partner and I when we went long distance as we both enjoy cooking together. 5/5!

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was so excited to find Dishes for Two at my library but I only found three recipes to keep and try. It is just not for me. Many dishes are over 2 hours to make, take multiple bowls and pans, and cooking methods. Some ingredients like caramelized onions, or sautéed mushrooms are included but without instructions. And it uses ingredients not readily available to stores in my area. Sigh.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating three stars for now because I only flipped through it and haven’t tried any of the recipes yet. I do wish I would’ve done some more flipping in stores because there’s A LOT of pork recipes and I’m not huge on pork. I do love the second chapter with the mix and match ideas so I’ll probably end up keeping it for the sauces and sides section of that.

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too American E.g. cups, kosher salt, canola, ounces, cheez whiz etc.
Recipes weren’t that exciting either.

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tasty recipes, some with the air fryer and instant pot.

Hysterical low reviews by people who prob should have skipped this one.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh...Too fancy at points and not enough good old recipes.

[East Greenbush Community Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good premise--dishes just for two but a few of the recipes that I tried were quite dry in taste.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were great recipes! I saved a lot for later.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple recipes. Nothing super amazing or crazy, but definitely would make a lot of things in here.