I’d like to try my hand more complicated stuff, but I live alone and want something that’ll hold in the fridge for a few days and reheat well.

I also own just about every kind of basic kitchen appliance, so there’s no concern over equipment.

How about pasties? If you make your own pastry it gets a bit more involved. Traditional Cornish ones are fairly straightforward but you could also do steak and ale or even curry, in which case making the filling gets a bit more complicated. They freeze really well and are just as good cooked from frozen.

More complicated, savoury pies with hot water crust. If you can get it to stand up on its own without a tin you’re doing better than me, but hot water crust itself isn’t too hard.

Go down the rabbit hole of British Indian Restaurant style cooking with curry bases etc. Glebe Kitchen is a good resource for that style.

Chili is a great one, it actually tastes better the next day once the flavors have time to develop

Most dishes that make for good leftovers make for good leftovers because they reheat well. This is normally saucy or brothy dishes rather than dry or crispy dishes.

From this, my two recommendations where you can get technical are soups and curries.

Curries can get really technical with making your own spice blends, making your own curry pastes, toasting spices individually, using different aromatics in different ways, and more. Lots of different cuisines to choose from. Obviously you have indian, which is actually a whole universe of different dishes from different countries and regions. You have your various South east Asian curries, japanese curry. In a similar vein you have things that are curryesque like a proper mole sauce.

Then with soup, making your own broths and stocks gets very technical, especially improving the clarity and texture of the broth. You could also experiment with making your own stretched noodles, which might be one of the most technical things you could possibly do in the home kitchen.

How about a leg of lamb roast?

The next day, you can use the leftovers to make a bone broth, throw in the leftover roast potatoes and vegetables, simmer for a few hours, add in whatever other veggies you have in the fridge and enjoy.

I’d go for things like lasagna, braised short ribs, biryani, or homemade enchiladas since they’re involved enough to be fun but somehow taste even better the next day. Curries and stews are also perfect when you’re cooking for one because they freeze beautifully.

I’ve really been enjoying making things like moussaka, eggplant parm, baked pasta, enchiladas, etc. I make a pan, eat it most of the week and freeze a few portions. Currently have a bit of everything in my freezer for easy weeknight meals

Chicken pot pie, moussaka, homemade ravioli or a proper beef bourguignon would be fun projects without leaving you stuck eating sad leftovers. I’d also try a good baked ziti or shepherd’s pie because they reheat ridiculously well.

Lasagna is probably the obvious answer:) for me its also chicken or beef curry, braised short ribs, chili, and homemade dumplings

Chicken pot pie, moussaka, homemade ravioli or a proper beef bourguignon would be fun projects without leaving you stuck eating sad leftovers. I’d also try a good baked ziti or shepherd’s pie because they reheat ridiculously well.

Same goes for Japanese Curry.

Biryani.

I enjoy making stew in the crock pot. I have a small 2qt crock pot that works wonders for next day meals. Many dump and go recipes, dips, etc.