Learn Hardcore German: Für das Abendessen koche ich Nudeln und mache für jede Person eine kleine Portion. - For dinner I cook pasta and make a small portion for each person.

Für das Abendessen = for the dinner (focus on purpose / what you are preparing in advance)
- You’re thinking about the meal as an event you are getting ready for.
- Literally: For the dinner, I’m cooking pasta…
Zum Abendessen = literally to the dinner, but idiomatically for dinner / at dinner (focus on the time/occasion when something will be served or happen)
- Very common in sentences like: Zum Abendessen gibt es Nudeln. – We’re having pasta for dinner.

In your sentence, „Für das Abendessen koche ich Nudeln…“ emphasizes that you’re cooking the pasta for the purpose of that dinner (planning/preparation).
If you wrote „Zum Abendessen koche ich Nudeln…“, it would sound more like for dinner (tonight), I’m cooking pasta; perfectly correct, just a slightly different nuance.

Why does the verb come before the subject: „koche ich“ instead of „ich koche“?

This is the normal German verb‑second rule (V2) in main clauses:

Exactly one element comes first (the „Vorfeld“ / front field).
The conjugated verb must be in second position.
The subject can come after the verb.

In your sentence:

First element: Für das Abendessen
Second element (must be the verb): koche
Then comes the subject: ich
Rest of the sentence: Nudeln und mache für jede Person eine kleine Portion.

So:

Ich koche heute Nudeln. – subject first
Heute koche ich Nudeln. – time expression first
Für das Abendessen koche ich Nudeln. – prepositional phrase first

All of these are correct; German allows you to move different parts to the front, but the finite verb stays in second place.

In the second part, why is there no „ich“? It just says „… und mache für jede Person eine kleine Portion.“

When two main clauses are joined with „und“ (or „oder“, „aber“, etc.) and they have the same subject, German very often leaves out the repeated subject in the second clause:

Ich koche Nudeln und (ich) mache für jede Person eine kleine Portion.

The second „ich“ is understood and therefore not needed.
If you say „Mache Nudeln“ as a standalone sentence, that would be an imperative (Make pasta!). But in a coordinated sentence:

Ich koche Nudeln und mache eine Sauce.
= I cook pasta and make a sauce.

this is fully normal and not confusing, because it clearly belongs to the „ich“ from the first part.

Why is „Abendessen“ capitalized, and what gender does it have?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, and „das Abendessen“ is a noun meaning the evening meal / dinner.

Gender: neuter
Article: das Abendessen
Cases (singular):
- Nominative: das Abendessen
- Accusative: das Abendessen
- Dative: dem Abendessen (e.g. zum Abendessen = zu dem Abendessen)
- Genitive: des Abendessens

In your sentence, „für das Abendessen“ is accusative, because „für“ always takes the accusative case.

Why is it „Nudeln“ (plural) and why is there no article?

„Nudeln“ is the plural of „die Nudel“. In everyday German, people usually talk about pasta in the plural:

Ich koche Nudeln. – I’m cooking pasta.
Wir essen heute Nudeln. – We’re eating pasta today.

Using the singular (eine Nudel) means literally a single piece of pasta, which is unusual unless you genuinely mean one noodle.

As for the missing article:

Ich koche Nudeln. – no article: talking about some pasta in general (indefinite plural, like English I’m cooking pasta).
Ich koche die Nudeln. – die Nudeln: specific noodles already known in the context (the pasta we have, those particular noodles).

In your sentence, you just mean some pasta for dinner, so „Nudeln“ without an article is perfectly natural.

Could I say „Ich mache Nudeln“ instead of „Ich koche Nudeln“? What’s the difference between „kochen“ and „machen“ here?

Both verbs are possible, but they don’t sound the same:

kochen = literally to cook, often used for food you actually cook/boil.
- Ich koche Nudeln. – I’m boiling/cooking pasta.
- Ich koche Suppe. – I’m cooking soup.
machen = to make, very general and often used for preparing food and drinks, especially whole dishes or meals.
- Ich mache Nudeln mit Tomatensauce.
- Ich mache ein Sandwich.
- Ich mache Kaffee.

For plain pasta, „Ich koche Nudeln“ is more precise and natural, because you literally cook/boil them.
„Ich mache Nudeln“ is not wrong, but it’s vaguer: I’m making pasta (as a dish).

Why is it „für jede Person“ and not „für jeder Person“ or something like that? Which case is used?

The preposition „für“ always takes the accusative case. So whatever comes after „für“ must be in accusative.

Noun: die Person (feminine)
Accusative singular: die Person (same form as nominative)

With „jede“ (each/every), the feminine singular endings are:

Nominative: jede Person
Accusative: jede Person
Dative: jeder Person
Genitive: jeder Person

Because „für“ requires accusative, you must say:

für jede Person – for each person (accusative)

„für jeder Person“ would be wrong because „jeder“ is dative feminine, but „für“ never takes dative.
„jeden Person“ would also be wrong because „jeden“ is masculine accusative, and „Person“ is feminine.

Why is it „eine kleine Portion“ and not „eine kleinen Portion“ or „einen kleine Portion“?

You have three pieces to consider: article, adjective, and noun.

„Portion“ is feminine: die Portion
In the sentence it’s the direct object (what you make), so it’s accusative.
Feminine singular accusative with „eine“ looks like this:
- Article: eine
- Adjective ending: -e
- Noun: Portion

So the correct form is:

eine kleine Portion
- eine – feminine accusative article
- kleine – adjective with -e ending after eine
- Portion – noun

The other versions are wrong:

eine kleinen Portion – wrong ending on the adjective in this position
einen kleine Portion – einen is masculine accusative, but „Portion“ is feminine

Can I change the word order and say „… und mache eine kleine Portion für jede Person“ instead? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can absolutely say:

… und mache für jede Person eine kleine Portion.
… und mache eine kleine Portion für jede Person.

Both are grammatically correct and mean the same thing.

German word order inside the „middle field“ of the sentence is fairly flexible. The difference is only stylistic:

für jede Person earlier: slightly emphasizes „each person“.
eine kleine Portion earlier: slightly emphasizes the small portion as a unit.

But in everyday speech, both versions sound natural, and native speakers wouldn’t perceive a significant difference.

Could I drop the second „für“ and say „… und mache jeder Person eine kleine Portion“?

Yes, that’s also correct German, and actually quite natural:

Für das Abendessen koche ich Nudeln und mache jeder Person eine kleine Portion.

What changes is the grammar pattern:

With „für jede Person“, you use „für“ + accusative, and „Person“ expresses for whom via a prepositional phrase.
With „jeder Person“ (dative), you use „jemandem etwas machen“ = to make someone something (double object: indirect + direct).

So:

… und mache für jede Person eine kleine Portion.
– literally: I make a small portion for each person. (prepositional phrase)
… und mache jeder Person eine kleine Portion.
– literally: I make each person a small portion. (dative „jeder Person“ as indirect object)

Both are idiomatic. The version with „für jede Person“ may feel a bit more neutral/explicit for learners; the dative version is very typical German once you’re comfortable with double objects.

The verbs are in the present tense: „koche“, „mache“. Can this also refer to the future, like I’m going to cook?

Yes. In German, the present tense (Präsens) is very often used to talk about the near future, especially when there is a time context or it’s clearly about a plan.

So:

Für das Abendessen koche ich Nudeln…
can mean:
- For dinner (tonight), I’ll cook pasta… / I’m cooking pasta (for dinner).

You can use the future tense (Futur I):

Für das Abendessen werde ich Nudeln kochen…

but in everyday spoken German, people prefer the present tense unless they need to stress the futurity or distinguish it from present time. Your sentence in the present tense is completely natural for a future plan.