I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve never been a great cook — my culinary skills before college were limited to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and microwavable cups of mac and cheese.

Eventually I grew tired of living off of PB&Js and powdery pasta, so I began teaching myself a few cooking skills. I started with the basics (like hard-boiling eggs and roasting vegetables) and worked my way up to making my own pasta sauce and sautéing seafood. Nowadays, I wouldn’t classify myself as a maestro in the kitchen, but my meals have gotten significantly better.

However, despite my newfound cooking abilities, there’s still one skill I can’t seem to master: cooking for one. No matter the dish, I always seem to make too much pasta, too many veggies, too much of something. Trust me, all of those leftovers can add up.

Since I absolutely hate wasting food, I set off on a mission to find an easy, foolproof way to whip up single-serving meals. Imagine my surprise when TikTok introduced me to a hack that was already sitting in my kitchen: my mini waffle maker.

Savvy TikTok users are putting their mini waffle makers (like this one) to work, and they’re making so much more than just waffles. I’ve seen everything from quesadillas to corn dogs, and each dish is the perfect amount of food for one person.

Plus, since the mini waffle maker is rather small, you don’t need a ton of ingredients to cook with it. Instead, you can use up the leftover ingredients in your pantry and fridge (say, the last handful of shredded cheese or the last dollop of pasta sauce) for your recipes.

I decided to put my mini waffle maker to the test and try out a few simple, single-serving recipes I found on TikTok. First, I made a grilled cheese sandwich by cutting the edges off two pieces of bread and layering them in the mini waffle maker with a heaping of shredded cheddar cheese in the middle. The result? A gooey, cheesy sandwich that kept me full until dinner.

I also put my own spin on a mini waffle pizza recipe I’d seen on TikTok. I spread some leftover pizza dough directly onto my mini waffle maker and topped it with a spoonful of that aforementioned homemade pasta sauce, a slice of mozzarella cheese and a few mini pepperonis. After about five minutes, my itty-bitty pizza was ready, and it was so perfectly crispy that I couldn’t help but make another.

So, while I don’t have Bobby Flay-level cooking skills (yet!), I do have my trusty mini waffle maker for all my single-serving needs.

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