The 5 Easiest Meals for Students to Make

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This article aims to suggest to both prospective and current students 5 possible meals they can make easily, whilst also on a budget, giving helpful tips, method, ingredients, and price guides.

Recipes

1. Chilli Con Carne

Chilli Con Carne is a very simple recipe with few ingredients and with this recipe serving four people is a very cost-effective meal for a group of friends. Also, as Chilli Con Carne sauce is easily freezable it can be made in bulk and saved to eat at a later date. Another tip for those who struggle cooking rice as I do, Chilli can also be eaten with chips and tastes just as good.

Ingredients:

500g Mince Meat/Quorn Mince

Chilli Con Carne Sauce Jar

1-3 Chillies (Depending on heat tolerance)

Mushrooms

Kidney beans

Rice/Chips

2. Pasta Bake

Another good recipe that can be cooked in bulk in a big shallow dish, pasta bake can be made with a variety of different ingredients for 1-4 people. For instance, mushrooms, bacon, tuna, tomatoes, or chicken can be added to the pasta to make the meal more exciting.

Ingredients:

200-250g Penne pasta

1 Jar of pasta bake sauce (flavours vary)

50-100g of Cheddar cheese

Any extra ingredients previously mentioned

3. Spaghetti Carbonara

A great meal to serve to house guests as it is quick to prepare and cook and not to mention cheap considering how nice it tastes. You can serve this as a dish for 2-4 people and increase the ingredients to increase the number of servings. This meal can also be served as a meat or vegetarian option using either bacon, mushrooms, or both.

Ingredients:

500g Spaghetti

200-250g Bacon

200-250g Mushrooms

2 Eggs

4 tbsp Milk

100g Cheddar cheese

4. Homemade Pizza

Probably my favourite dish to make at home, pizzas are both fun and a lot easier than they look to make. It’s a great meal to make on your own or with friends and once you’ve learnt how to make a pizza base the first time, the second time it’ll be even easier. Furthermore, if you invest in a bag of flour, instead of buying ready-made bases it can really reduce the price of your meal. By mixing flour, yeast, and salt you can create your base, then by spreading that base with tomato puree, you can then just add your own ingredients. Extra ingredients to go on top of the pizza can include meat, such as pepperoni, chicken, and bacon and vegetables like peppers, chillis, and mushrooms, therefore prices of homemade pizzas can vary drastically depending on what ingredients you use.

Ingredients:

300g Bread flour

1 tsp Yeast

Tomato Puree (enough to spread across base)

125g Mozzarella cheese

Any extra Ingredients for toppings

5. Pork Chops, Vegetables & Chips

A simple meal, which can easily be made for 1-4 people depending on how many pork chops you have, and when presented correctly can look very impressive with minimal effort. One of the more expensive recipes on this list as pork chops/steaks can be costly, but I have found that when bought in bulk, 3-4 servings at a time, this cost can be reduced. Also, when served alongside boiled or roasted vegetables, it can add a healthy aspect to the meal that student cooking often avoids and when served with chips or rice.

Ingredients:

Pork chops (1 per person)

Chips/Rice

Carrots

Green beans

Broccoli

Conclusion

Unsurprisingly, staple meals for students at university include noodles, pasta, and takeaways, but if you are looking for something a little bit more exciting, anything on this list can be made to impress a guest or two. A couple more tips I would give though are when buying pasta or rice, to buy as big a bag as possible, as you will get through it, therefore by buying in bulk, you can save a lot of money and time shopping in the long run. Moreover, I would also invest in a few good tubs of spices that you are going to use frequently as they can really enhance the taste of a dish, I would suggest; cajun, paprika, and oregano. Happy cooking!

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