We get it. Feeding yourself in college isn’t easy. But rather than depending on eating out (which we all know is not budget-friendly), we’ve assembled this collection of easy, healthy, and affordable recipes for every meal of the day. And when we say affordable, we mean affordable. All of these recipes involve simple ingredients and require no fancy kitchen tools or appliances. To make things even better, all of these meals can be made of ahead of time and reheated. Because who doesn’t love leftovers?
Breakfast
You know what they say: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. To start your morning off right, enjoy a simple breakfast bowl topped with your choice of sausage, vegetable, eggs, or anything else you are craving. What we love about this recipe is that you can prepare some of the ingredients ahead of time, like the sausage and rice. Better yet, you can use any of the leftover vegetables that you might’ve cooked for dinner the night before and add those to your bowl as well. Then in the morning, heat them up, cook the egg, and assemble the bowl. It’s as simple as that!
Looking for an excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast? Count us in. A delicious combination of bananas and peanut butter come together to make this breakfast quesadilla, which is also customizable. Try strawberries, Nutella, and cinnamon for a tasty breakfast meal. Cook your quesadilla on the stove top instead of microwaving it so it’s extra crispy.
Lunch
A childhood classic, grilled cheese and tomato soup is nutritious but also affordable and simple. The soup part is easy but can be as cheap as you want it to be – from a can of Campbell’s to a box of organic tomato bisque. If you are feeling adventurous, try making this simple, homemade tomato soup recipe with grilled cheese.
Nobody likes doing more dishes than they have to. We have the perfect solution. This one-pot sausage and mushroom pasta is a quick clean-up! It’s not only convenient to cook everything in one pot, but cooking the pasta in the sauce will add even more flavor. If you’re looking to have a couple premade meals throughout the week, this recipe can make up to 8 servings.
Dinner
We all grew up eating Campbell’s Soup, and now as a college student we can’t do without it ($1 for soup? Yes, please). With this one-dish chicken and rice bake, you can incorporate your childhood favorite into a flavorful dinner. To make things even better, this meal only has a five minute prep time.
Flavorful beef, sizzling peppers and onions, and delicious toppings…we are drooling over these beef fajitas. Another great meal to cook ahead of time, you’ll be heating up these fajitas all week. If you don’t like beef, it’s not a problem. Try swapping it out for chicken or don’t add any meat at all to make vegetarian fajitas.
Now that you’re basically the next Chef Ramsay, you won’t have any problems cooking yourself some amazing meals (without breaking the bank). If you try any of the meals, let us know! We want to know which recipe was your favorite.