Buying and making food while at university is often very daunting. How do I know if this is cooked? What do I need to have on my plate to eat healthily? How much is this going to cost?!

All of these questions appeared in my mind when I started university. So, to help you out, I am going to tell you what I always make sure I have in the cupboards and how your dinners can make everyone jealous! Then I’ll share some of my favourite recipes. 😋

Cupboard essentials

There are a couple of items that are essential for cooking, and are so versatile! So make sure you have some/all of these in your cupboards at all times.

1. Chopped Tomatoes – chopped tomatoes are used for so many dishes, everything from bolognese, chili con carne, curry, and soup.
2. Coconut Milk – coconut milk, like chopped tomatoes, is used as a base for so many dishes, particularly curry and soups.
3. Onions – onions add so much flavour to pretty much everything, and I use them in everything, and they are so widely available so you can buy them quite cheaply!
4. Mixed Dry Herbs – adding seasoning to your dishes can elevate them so so much! It adds an extra depth to your cooking with something so simple.
5. Potatoes – Potatoes can be used for so many things. I often make my own chips/fries, mashed potatoes, jacket potatoes, and crispy potato skins! I’ve even made those TikTok 15-hour potatoes (they are so worth it!).

Recipes

Deciding what to eat can be annoying, looking in the fridge and cupboards for ages!! Well, hopefully I can help alleviate that stress with a couple of recipes.

Smoky Bacon Egg Fried Rice

Ingredients: 2 eggs (whisked), microwave packet of rice, frozen mixed vegetables, smoked bacon (chopped into squares), onions (optional)

1. In a frying pan, fry the chopped up bacon to your desired level of crispiness. Meanwhile cook the frozen mixed vegetables as the packet says then add into the frying pan (you would fry the onion before this step if you wanted onion)
2. Add your microwaved rice and mix for 2-3 minutes. Then put all the rice mixture to one side of the pan
3. Add the whisked eggs to the other side of the pan and cook for about 30 seconds then mix with the rice
4. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!!

Bolognese and Homemade Tortilla Chips – (batch cook: 4 servings)

Ingredients: 450g beef mince, 1 onion, 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, 2 tortilla wraps (per serving), oil, salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 160 Celsius
2. In a frying pan, fry the onion for about 4-5 minutes until slightly translucent. Add the beef mince and fry till browned. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir until well combined. Simmer for 15-20 minutes
3. On your tortilla wraps, spread a tablespoon of oil evenly then season with salt and pepper. Cut each tortilla into 8 triangles (like a pizza!) then bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. (be careful, they can burn easily!)
4. Serve and enjoy.

Tip! – if you are batch cooking, separate the portions into individual tupperware boxes to have the right amount every time!!

I hope this helps, and there are also plenty of projects targeted at students promoting healthy eating!

One of which is a project run by students at Bournemouth University called ‘BudgetBitesBU’ which was a collaboration by Nutrition and Media Production students. (*cough cough* I am the Producer haha).

So, feel free to check it out when we go live in September on YouTube and Instagram.

Find out more

Budgeting while at university