Simple dishes that are perfect for uni by a uni student

When starting university, a lot of people worry about what they're going to eat or not wanting to cook something too difficult and time consuming. They then end up ordering takeaway every night and going skint after the first month of uni.

This is my personal guide on how I managed my money by making cheap, easy and delicious dinners.

The main basis of what people should get is things with a long shelf life or frozen foods, which means you don’t have to cook them the day before it goes off and can choose whenever to cook them. It also means you can stock it and save yourself trips to the store.

TORTELLINI

Cheap store-bought ones last a very long time in the fridge which is good for students who are spontaneous and don’t know if they’ll be home for dinner or not. Best to get these from ALDI as they are the tastiest ones, especially the spicy sausage one! Combine this with mascarpone sauce, some butter and seasoning, and if you're feeling healthy then get some spinach too.

Vegetables

There is quite a broad range but anything like spinach, lettuce and broccoli is super cheap. Vegetables usually have more nutrients in them than fruits making them better to prioritise getting when on a tight budget as fruit can be more expensive and out of season at this time of year. Cooking vegetables is easy, most of the time it’s just boiling in water or cooking in a pan after you’ve cooked your meats.

Shin Kimchi Ramyun

These are known as the godsend of late-night meals when studying, the obvious choice. These are bought in bulk and are super cheap if you buy them from authentic local Chinese shops like in China town, don’t buy the individual ones or from big stores as they are a rip-off! Yes, these may not be packed with the most nutrients but it’s the student life and if you really need some food and are strapped for cash then noodles it is.

Pesto pasta

Simple and effective, just buy a jar of pesto from your local shop along with a pasta of choice and boom dinner in 10. Just boil a kettle, cook the pasta, make sure to taste test it so it’s not too hard, empty the water, add the pesto and then cook till the pesto is hot enough to serve. Obviously, you can add other things in there like chicken but if you like it simple and plain then this will do.

Frozen foods

The GOAT of needing to cook but too lazy, just go to Aldi/Lidl and buy a big bag of chicken nuggets and pre-made meals. Or if you’re fancy and your family has a Costco card (personally I just tag along with my friend) then go buy a big bag of Southern fried chicken and shrimp fried rice. It’s super simple and mega yummy. The fried chicken just needs an air fryer or oven for 18min while the shrimp fried rice just needs a low temp for 10 min in a pot (don’t let it stick though).

Ice cream

I’m cheating here and counting it as a meal but if you eat enough of it then technically it is one. Yes, Ben and Jerry's is the goat but when you're a student sometimes the branded stuff isn't in your budget, I'm a big advocate for Aldi/Lidl as you’ve noticed because they are both in the centre of Liverpool and both offer the best value. On brand at Lidl and off brand (cheaper) and Aldi. Aldi have some great off brand ice cream so don’t worry if it’ll be bad, trust me it’s still yummy.

Whole Cooked chicken from costco

This thing is a MONSTER of a bargain, super duper cheap that makes McDonald’s seem costly. Buy one of these and you’re set for a few days, no worry about salmonella due to it already being cooked, just shred it or rip the parts off that you want and heat it up with your rice!

Rice

Not just any packet rice, this is coming from someone raised in a Asian house hold, you gotta get the huge 10kg bag of rice. It’s super cheap, with rice costing pennies, you get sooooo much rice it’ll last you months on months. This is super easy to make with all you need is a rice cooker, or a microwave rice cooking container, or some other mysterious way to cook rice. Just wash it and then cook it, make sure to cook it in three chunks with first two being the bulk where you mix it up and then the last one just to alter it in case it’s too undercooked.

That's it from your cheap cook ant! I will probably do a V2 of this in the future when I come across more student food gems.