Smart Student Meal Prep Ideas for Efficient Cooking

Cooking during your time living in student housing doesn’t need to be expensive, overwhelming, or something you avoid until you’re off instant noodles and crackers. For anyone who’s living in a studio apartment or a shared flat, a slightly more defined cooking schedule can go a long way in improving your health and wellbeing at university.

Why Meal Makes University Easier

Life as a student can be busy. Between studying, part-time work, social plans, and everything else, it can be easy to put cooking on the back burner when you arrive home.

Common Problems:

• You can be short on time and energy following long days of study.
• Ordering food to your door is so convenient at university, but it’s expensive.
• Groceries can go off very quickly if they aren’t cooked or stored properly.

The Solution:

Meal prep. Essentially, you cook once and eat several times. It can also assist you as you try to stick to your schedule, avoid wasting produce, and enjoy some nutritious meals that you would otherwise miss out on.

Fast and Flexible Student Meal Prep Ideas

As a student, it’s unlikely you’ll have a large selection of utensils or particularly advanced cooking skills (if you do, then bravo). These simple meal ideas are designed to make plenty of portions without costing too much. You can also adapt these recipes to suit what you have in the fridge.

Easy Meals for Students

• Traybakes: Cut up some veg and a protein of your choice along with some spices and oil. Mix it all up and bake in the oven for a flavoursome dish.
• Pasta bakes: A similar process that involves adding some extra liquid to ensure your pasta cooks through.
• Rice bowls: Start with rice or couscous, then add whatever you’ve got in the cupboard. Vegetables, eggs, meat, the choice is yours.
• Stir-fry kits: A superb supermarket cheat. These cheap kits include all you need for a healthy stir-fry, just add protein if you want to bulk it out.

Budgeting Tips That Aren’t Sacrifices

Meal prep is as much about saving money as it is saving time. Once you begin making larger meals for yourself, you’ll soon see the difference it makes to the cost of your weekly shop.

Ways to cut costs without cutting quality:

• Buy certain items such as rice, pasta, and lentils in bulk.
• Find the bargains by looking at supermarket reduced sections. Cook things that night and freeze to keep them fresh.
• Plan meals around discounts to ensure variety and value.
• Use your freezer to store meals for longer.

If you’re stuck on what to make, check out BBC Good Food’s student recipes for ideas that are cheap, filling, and actually taste good.

Tools That Make Cooking Quicker

You don’t need much to cook well, but these helpful tools can improve the efficiency of your mealtimes.

• Microwaveable containers: Perfect for storage and quick re-heating of your food.
• Chopping boards: Don’t cut food on the countertop, it’s not very hygienic.
• Portable slow cooker: Set and forget at its finest. Perfect for hearty winter meals.
• Freezer bags or tubs: For storing soups, sauces, or smoothies.

Keep Things Interesting

Variety is the spice of life as they say! It’s important to make sure you give yourself enough change to your mealtime each week so that you actually stick to the plan and avoid the temptation of takeaways.

You can still buy the same pack of chicken you have since freshers week, but a few other small adaptations can make things different:

• Change your sauces regularly.
• Try adding different toppings or herbs for a different take on the same dish.
• Alternative your bases so that you aren’t eating four pasta dishes in as many days.

Final Tips to Make it Stick

It can take around three weeks to create a habit, so there’s no shame in breaking up your meal prep plans as a new student. We’ve got a few bonus snippets of advice for you to keep you on track:

• Start small by prepping two meals each weekend.
• Create a list of your favourite meals with how to make them and how long they take to prepare.
• Use a whiteboard in your student accommodation’s kitchen to allocate cooking duties to different flatmates (or to note your schedule if you live in a studio).
• Don’t aim for perfection. Leftovers can be one of the best options for lunch.

Ready to Level Up Your Cooking?

Student meal prep isn’t about being super organised or living off chicken and rice. It’s about giving yourself a smoother week, better meals, and more control over your time and money.

Explore more tips for making the most of life in UK student accommodation.