Cooking is hard enough but in a student kitchen with half a knife and someone elses plate it can be difficult.
As a student, it can be difficult to decide what to cook, especially if you are not skilled in the culinary department. After a day filled with lectures and extracurriculars cooking may be the last thing that you want to do. After Freshers week (AKA week of the free pizzas) you will need to be stocked with the right amount of vitamins, fruit, and vegetables. These recipes are healthy (mostly) and super tasty!
Here are our top 5 easy meals for students
Fresh Fajitas
A sure winner for a flat dinner. This easy meal is great for getting to know your flatmates and showing off what appears to be a fancy dish, but is actually very easy.
Serves 3 – around £2.40 per serving
Ingredients
- Chicken breasts
- Tortillas / Pita bread
- Red onion
- Red pepper
- Cheese (we like mozzarella)
- Kale
- BBQ sauce
- Cocktail sticks
How to:
- Slice the chicken into thick strips and coat in the BBQ sauce, cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes
- Chop the onion and pepper into small slithers and fry until soft
- Boil the kale for 5-7 minutes
- When the chicken is cooked fill the fajitas with the fillings including grated cheese, onions and peppers, chicken, and kale
- Roll the wraps and use the cocktail sticks to hold in place
- Put the wraps back in the oven for 3-5 minutes until crispy
- Serve in halves with a side of BBQ sauce for dipping
Fast fry-up
A fantastic meal for getting your strength up for a big day of lectures (or to cure the morning after a great night out)
Serves 5 – around £1 per serving
Ingredients
- Eggs
- Bacon
- Sausages
- Baked beans
- Tomato (we like the big beef ones)
How to:
- Fry the bacon and sausages in a frying pan for 7-10 minutes
- The baked beans will take 7 minutes to cook in a saucepan
- Slice the tomato into 5 pieces and fry for 2 to 3 minutes until soft and delicious!
- For the best poached eggs (ever), crack the eggs into a bowl and top up with water, then cover the bowl with a plate
- Microwave for 1 minute 10 seconds, when you take them out you will have the fluffiest tastiest eggs
- Plate everything up and serve with a sprinkle of salt and pepper if that is your taste
Brilliant bread
Baking bread may seem like a chore but it is so rewarding eating something straight out of the oven, warm and tasty. This recipe is easy to make with only 6 ingredients. The perfect snack, and it makes your flat smell wonderful too.
Ingredients
- Plain flour (500g)
- Salt (2 tsb)
- Yeast (1 sachet)
- Olive oil (tbsp)
- Water (300ml)
- Egg (for washing)
How to:
- Mix the flour, salt, and yeast in a big bowl
- In the centre, add the oil, then add water gradually to make a dough consistency
- Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface then leave it in a warm place for an hour to rise
- Once risen, take out and knead again until dough is stretchy
- Leave to rise in a warm place for another hour
- Put the oven on at 200c to be preheated
- Arrange dough in the desired form (buns, plaits, etc) and wash with an egg wash (crack an egg into a bowl and whisk with a fork until the yolk and white have been mixed together)
- Cook for 20/25 minutes until golden brown
Photo by Louise Lyshøj on Unsplash
Fake fancy salad
Maybe your parents are coming over or you’re feeling a health kick, a large salad is the perfect way to reach all of the food groups in a nutritious way.
Serves 2 – around £2.50 per serving
Ingredients
- Salad bag
- Peppers (we like yellow and red together)
- Tomatoes (we lie the big beef tomatoes)
- Sliced ham
- Feta cheese
How to:
- Chop the peppers and ham and add to the salad bag
- Slice the tomato and put everything into a bowl
- Add the cheese to top
Photo by Dmitry Dreyer on Unsplash
Perfect pasta
Ah pasta, the student staple. This recipe gets you three of your five a day and is a tasty go-to meal. This dish can be made as a vegetarian option too so all of your friends can enjoy it!
Serves 4 – around £1.40 per Vegetarian serving
Around £1.80 per serving
Ingredients
- Pasta (any shape)
- Red pepper
- Chicken (optional)
- Tenderstem broccoli
- Cheese (we like mozzarella)
- Ketchup (if you want to push the boat out you can add some tomato puree)
- Mixed herbs
How to:
- Boil your pasta in a pan for 10 minutes
- Slice your broccoli through the stem upwards to make it cook thoroughly and boil for 6 minutes
- Slice your chicken breasts and fry until golden brown
- Chop your red pepper into strips and add to the frying pan with the chicken (we like to fry these but they can be added raw if you prefer)
- Once everything has cooked chop the cheese into small pieces and add to the pasta, let it melt
- Add the chicken, peppers, ketchup, and broccoli into the pan and mix in (if you are adding tomato puree use the ratio for ketchup:puree as 4:1)
- Mix together and serve with a sprinkling of mixed herbs
Photo by Heather Ford on Unsplash
We know how difficult keeping track of eating right at University can be, but eating a square 3 meals a day will help your body and mind become healthier.