8 Cook Once Dinners for Two With Leftovers for Lunch

If you’re like me, packing lunch falls apart at 7am, when there’s nothing ready and no time to make anything.

These cook once dinners for two are made as a full batch on purpose, so two plates go on the table tonight and two go into containers for tomorrow.

Some are sheet pan dinners, some cook in one skillet or one pot, and a couple are bowls you put together from parts.

Have the containers out before you sit down, so the lunch portions are packed before anyone goes back for seconds.

1. Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas

Sliced chicken, bell peppers, and onions tossed in fajita seasoning and roasted on one sheet pan.

It takes about 25 minutes, and almost all of that is the oven.

Cut the chicken into even strips so it cooks through at the same time as the vegetables.

For lunch, pack the chicken and peppers over rice or in a tortilla, with the salsa in a separate container so nothing gets soggy.

2. One Pot Red Lentil Pasta

Red lentil pasta cooked right in a tomato sauce, so the whole dinner is one pot.

A handful of spinach stirred in at the end and some feta on top make it a full meal.

Pull it off the heat just before the pasta is tender, since red lentil pasta goes soft quickly.

It keeps soaking up sauce in the fridge, so add a splash of water before reheating the lunch portions.

3. Halloumi Quinoa Bowls

Quinoa and vegetables with a lemony dressing, topped with golden pan-fried halloumi.

Everything except the halloumi keeps for days in the fridge, which is what makes this work for lunch.

Halloumi turns rubbery once it cools, so fry it fresh when you eat, which takes about four minutes.

Pack the dressing in a small jar so the vegetables don’t go watery.

4. Chicken Burrito Bowls

Seasoned chicken over rice with beans, corn, and a spoonful of sour cream.

This one is built for meal prep, so it portions straight into containers.

Keep avocado and fresh greens out of the lunch containers and add them when you eat, since they brown and wilt overnight.

A squeeze of lime over the reheated rice brings it back to life.

5. Turkey Taco Rice Skillet

Ground turkey, taco seasoning, rice, and salsa simmered together in one skillet and covered in melted cheese.

The rice cooks in the skillet with the meat, so there’s no separate pot.

Keep the lid on while the rice cooks and don’t stir it, or it turns gummy.

Leftovers go into a tortilla for lunch or get eaten straight from the container.

6. Lemon Chicken Orzo

Chicken and orzo cooked in one skillet with lemon, garlic, and spinach.

The orzo cooks in broth right in the pan after the chicken is seared and soaks up the flavor from the bottom.

Orzo absorbs liquid overnight, so reheat the lunch portions with a splash of broth or water.

It’s good cold too, a bit like a pasta salad.

7. Beef and Broccoli

Thinly sliced beef and broccoli in a savory, slightly sweet soy and garlic sauce.

Slice the beef thin against the grain, which keeps it tender after reheating.

Cook a full pot of rice alongside it and the lunch containers are ready at the same time as dinner.

Keep a little extra sauce in each container, since the rice soaks it up overnight.

8. Sausage and Veggie Sheet Pan

Smoked sausage roasted on one sheet pan with chunks of potato, bell pepper, and onion.

Smoked sausage is already cooked, so it only needs to brown while the vegetables roast.

Cut the potatoes small, about 3/4 inch, so they’re tender in the same time as everything else.

Reheat it in a hot skillet instead of the microwave and the potatoes crisp back up.

Notes on Cook Once Dinners

Divide leftovers into shallow containers and get them into the fridge within two hours of cooking, and treat cooked rice the same way, since rice left out at room temperature is a known food poisoning risk.

Cooked leftovers keep three to four days in the fridge, so there’s no rush to eat the lunch portions the very next day.

Use glass containers with locking lids for lunches, since they go into the microwave without staining from tomato sauce.

Pack sauces, dressings, and anything crunchy or creamy in a separate small container.

When reheating rice or pasta, add a tablespoon of water and cover the container so it steams instead of drying out.

Label each container with the day you cooked it, since everything looks the same in the fridge by Thursday.