Easy meals for students

Short answer: good student meals follow four rules: ready in 30 minutes, around $2 a serving or less, no oven needed, and ten ingredients or fewer. Dishes like egg fried rice, garlic chilli soy noodles or a one-pot creamy orzo tick every box and take 15 to 25 minutes.

Student cooking has its own constraints: a shared kitchen, two hobs that work, a budget that ends before the month does, and energy that ends before the evening does. The good news is that a lot of real recipes fit inside those limits.

The four rules of a student-friendly meal

1. 30 minutes, total. If it takes longer, it will not happen on a Tuesday.
2. Around $2 a serving or less. Beans, eggs, pasta, rice and frozen vegetables carry most cheap meals.
3. No oven required. In the Chef Drago catalogue, more than 6 in 10 main dishes need no oven at all: a frying pan and a saucepan are enough.
4. Ten ingredients or fewer. Fewer things to buy, fewer things to go off.

The minimal kitchen kit

You do not need a full kitchen. With this, you can cook almost every recipe below:

• a large non-stick frying pan (the most used piece of equipment across all our recipes)
• a medium saucepan with a lid
• one sharp knife and a cutting board
• a colander
• a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon

A starter pantry for about one shop

Buy these once and most weeks you only need fresh vegetables and a protein:

• Carbs: rice, pasta, noodles, tortillas, couscous
• Proteins that keep: eggs, canned beans and chickpeas, canned tuna, frozen chicken
• Flavour: garlic, onions, soy sauce, stock cubes, curry paste or powder, chili flakes, cumin, dried oregano
• Basics: olive or vegetable oil, butter, salt, pepper, canned tomatoes, peanut butter, a hard cheese like parmesan or cheddar

Eight student dinners to start with

Dinner	Time	Equipment
Garlic and chilli soy noodles	15 min	saucepan, pan
Egg fried rice with veggies	15 min	pan
Creamy egg and cheddar ramen	15 min	saucepan, pan
Quick peanut butter noodles with carrot	15 min	saucepan
Quick tomato soup with toast	17 min	saucepan, pan
Creamy stovetop mac and cheese	18 min	saucepan
Quick kidney bean and corn chili	18 min	saucepan
One-pot creamy tomato, parmesan and spinach orzo	25 min	saucepan

Cook once, eat twice

Make a double portion of anything with rice, beans or a sauce, and keep the second half in the fridge for the next day’s lunch. Cool it quickly, keep it covered and reheat it until it is steaming hot.

For the cheapest options, with estimated prices, see our guide to student budget meals. And when you cannot decide between two of them, let Chef Drago settle it: swipe, duel, cook.