Know your portions

Knowing the right portions for different foods is so important. It’s easy to overestimate how much is needed and then end up with far too much that can’t be finished.

Top tips for food portions

Batch cooking

Batch cooking is a brilliant way to use up food items that are often wasted. Lots of recipes may only need small amounts of some ingredients, such as half an onion or a handful of mushrooms. When making a dish, try cooking double what you will eat that day, and then freeze half for later.

This is a great way of planning ahead for those days when you have less time, and makes your food and money go further.

Plate sizes

Another easy switch to make is to use smaller plates. A healthy portion of food should fill a small plate and so this can help us recondition our minds to not over-serve.

Sometimes we have eyes bigger than our stomachs so we take more than we need!

Cooking for children

When it comes to preparing meals for children, start with a small serving and if they are still hungry, they can ask for more.

Guidance on food portions

Check out the food portion calculator from Love Food Hate Waste. This provides guidance on the average amount of food needed for each person, for each meal. This will also help you only buy what you need at the shops, so may also save you some cash.

Please remember that everyone is different. If you know that you would need more or less than the portion planner suggests, adapt the measurements to suit you and your family.