Lunch Ideas For College Students, If you’re a college student, and you are sick of fast food then you want to make some fast and easy healthy meals that fit within your budget. Whether you’re in a dorm room with small appliances or have ventured into your own apartment, you can make a variety of simple recipes quickly and inexpensively with a microwave, toaster oven, and stove-top or electric burner.
Table of Contents
Toaster Oven
If you’re in a dorm but have access to a toaster oven, it’s nearly as good as having a full oven. For a fast pizza with simple ingredients, cut an English muffin in half, spread it with tomato sauce, and add shredded mozzarella cheese, or some cream cheese and any toppings you like. Heat at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for five to seven minutes, or until the cheese bubbles.
Make an open-face grilled cheese or tuna melt on the broiler setting. Put your desired topping on buttered bread, lay foil underneath to keep the oven clean, and broil until the cheese melts. If you want your bread toasted, close the sandwich and set the toaster oven to the toast setting for one to two minutes. Serve with cut-up vegetables or a side of pickles.
Microwave Oven
It’s easy to prepare your own meals if you have a couple of cans of soup in a microwave oven. Stock up when the grocery store is having a sale. Pair a bowl of soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. If you feel like having a more substantial dinner, make meatballs in the microwave. Add ketchup or Worcestershire sauce and spices to 1 pound of ground meat. Shape into balls and cook in a shallow dish for seven minutes on high.
Make sure the finished meatballs are not pink inside. Serve with barbecue sauce and a side of coleslaw. You can even add the meatballs to a french roll for a delicious healthy breakfast sandwich. If you need something fast, and you don’t want to spend much money grab a frozen dinner at the supermarket. There are choices for every palate and they can be cooked in a hurry before your 7:00 class.
Stovetop
Eggs make a delicious, inexpensive, and quick meal for college kids. Whether you scramble the eggs, fry them or make an omelette, you can prepare dinner in minutes with your favourite recipes. For a healthy option, add tomatoes or other vegetables to the eggs. Top with salsa or cheese.
If you can spend a little more time, make a delicious stir fry. Cut up fresh veggies or buy a bag of frozen veggies that are already cut. Saute them in a frying pan with some oil until they are hot but still crispy. Serve over a bed of rice that you cooked in the microwave, or add some leftover noodles to the pan and heat them with the vegetables. If you’re going to add a protein like fish or chicken, cook that before adding the vegetables. Top with soy sauce for extra flavour.
Healthier Options For Cold Meals
You can make a great meal without using any heat. Toss a tuna salad with fresh spinach, cherry tomatoes, a can of tuna, and some lemon juice. Make a sandwich with cheese, lettuce, and lunch meat on crusty bread. Spread hummus on a big tortilla, and add some olives, cucumber slices, and feta cheese for a delicious wrap.
Cut in slices and dip in Greek tzatziki sauce. Or use the hummus as a dip for cut-up vegetables and add a piece of cheese on the side. Have peanut butter on apple slices as a snack, or spread peanut butter on a rice cake and eat with an orange or apple for a quick lunch.
Cheap Meals for College Students
Rather than turning to a package of ramen noodles with their powdered sauce mix, college students can turn to other cheap meal ideas for a more balanced healthy diet. The best student meals take less than a half hour to prepare and contain inexpensive types of vegetables, protein, and grains.
Easy Recipes – Stir Fry With Rice
Rice is one of the cheapest foods for college students, at about $1 per pound of dry rice. An the best part is that you can cook it in a lot of different ways. Make a stir-fry to serve with the rice by cooking a store-brand bag of frozen mixed vegetables with soy sauce or teriyaki sauce. Strips of beef, some pork chops, cooked chicken, or tofu add protein to the meal plan. For a less expensive protein, fry an egg, chop it up and add it to the cooked vegetables.
Soups Are Easy College Meals
College students on the go can make a slow-cooked bean soup during the day to enjoy as a hearty dinner after classes are done. Dry beans are much less expensive than meat and provide similar nutritional benefits because they are high in protein. Make a soup by combining a few types of beans, a can or two of tomatoes, chopped carrots, chopped onion, water, and spices. Make a heartier soup by adding barley. Refrigerate leftover soup and reheat a bowl in the microwave for a quick lunch or dinner.
Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup
Canned condensed tomato soup is very inexpensive, especially considering that each can typically contain two servings of soup and doesn’t take much time to prepare. Serve the soup with a grilled cheese sandwich or two to make a comforting and filling lunch. Rather than paying extra for pre-sliced cheese, college students should purchase a block of cheese and slice it themselves to save money.
Pasta
Dry pasta and cans or jars of tomato-based sauce are inexpensive and can be prepared within 20 minutes. Include more protein in the meal by adding some ground beef to the sauce. To cut the cost of ground beef, purchase it in a large package, which is typically less expensive per pound than a smaller one. Cook all of the beef at once to save time and divide it into plastic freezer bags with one serving each. Thaw a bag in the fridge the day before it will be needed.
Pasta dishes require very few ingredients and a lot of people love it. Spaghetti bolognese is a prime example of a meal with pasta. First, heat up a pan with 2 tbsp. olive oil. Add 1 lb. minced beef and stir fry over high heat for two minutes. Finely chop one onion and carrot and two celery sticks, and crush four garlic cloves. Put these in the pan and stir over medium heat for one minute.
Next, add 14 oz. chopped tomatoes and 1 tsp. dried oregano or another seasoning. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes until the sauce is thick. While you are waiting, cook the spaghetti in boiling water for about 10 minutes, or according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and place the pasta into a serving bowl. When the sauce is done, pour it over the pasta, toss gently, and serve. You can also cook pasta and add cooked shrimp, green beans, or broccoli and Alfredo sauce for another simple pasta meal.
Easy to Make Meals for College Students
College students are not typically known for their cooking talents. College students usually lead very busy lives and have little time or knowledge when it comes to preparing meals. They may rely heavily on microwave meals; however, these are usually unhealthy and do not provide students with adequate nutrition. College students can make themselves many quick, easy, and tasty meals that are also very affordable.
Easy Meal Ideas With Potatoes
Potatoes are nutritious, easy to cook and provide the backbone of many dishes. Hash browns are just one example of a potato meal. To make hash browns, peel and wash a potato, then heat up a large skillet, adding 1 to 2 tbsp. butter or oil to prevent the potato from sticking. Finely grate the potato and scatter it in the pan.
Try to make sure all the pieces are spread out and not clumped together. Use a spatula to flip the grated potato until brown on one side. Sprinkle with a small amount of salt or pepper if desired. Baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese or roasted potatoes tossed with green beans are also easy to make and fairly healthy.
Healthy Recipes With Eggs For Those Busy Mornings
Eggs contain a wide range of vitamins, fatty acids, minerals, and carbohydrates. Omelet is a popular and easy meal made from eggs. To prepare it, mix three eggs in a bowl, with optional salt, pepper, or herbs. Heat a small amount of butter or oil in a frying pan, then slowly pour in the egg mixture. After about 30 seconds the top will start to firm up; at this point, you can add grated cheese if you like. When the cheese begins to melt, use a spatula to fold the omelette in half.
If it is cooked on the bottom, you can serve it; otherwise, continue cooking on each side until done. Scrambled eggs with mixed veggies thrown in are another easy meal idea using eggs. Hard boil some eggs and mix them with mayonnaise, mustard, and celery for an easy egg salad you can put on bread for a sandwich.
Vegetable Dishes
Intense studying requires students to have a balanced intake of minerals and vitamins, which vegetables are rich in. An example of an easy vegetable meal is chicken and vegetable stir fry. To cook the meal, chop up one carrot, onion, bell pepper, zucchini, mushroom, broccoli, cabbage, or any vegetable of your choice. Heat up a wok and add a dash of oil. Put in the chopped onions, then add 1 lb. chicken breast and stir until brown.
Add in all the other vegetables with about 1 tbsp. soy sauce. Keep stirring; add a bit of water if needed. When everything is cooked, you may like to serve the meal with peanuts, sesame seeds, or your own choice of topping. Another easy vegetable meal is a crockpot vegetable stew. Toss vegetable broth and a bunch of cut-up vegetables of your choice into a slow cooker. Add lentils or potatoes for bulk and let it simmer while you’re in a class all day.
