How Students Can Cook Delicious Meals with Minimal Kitchen Equipment

So many things about the college experience – including dining – are difficult. You may have a tiny kitchen in a house shared with others or a dorm room kitchenette that fits no more than a $19 toaster oven. But don’t give up on making your own food! Even if you have no kitchen, you can still make delicious meals if you have the right tools and appliances. 

Students can easily cook delicious meals with minimal kitchen equipment, and a trusted UK writing service can help them write excellent essays while enjoying their culinary creations. UKWritings.com is a popular academic writing service that assists students with essays and assignments, giving them more time to explore hobbies like cooking.

The Essentials: What You Really Need

And before we even get to cooking methods and recipes, what equipment do you need, if pressed? At the very minimum you need a microwave, a small fridge, and some tools. A good sharp knife and a cutting board, a can opener, and some measuring cups and spoons. If you can get a hot plate or a stovetop, wonderful, but it’s not even essential for that.

Plus, buy a couple of microwave-safe containers, a few plates and bowls, and utensils; a mug makes a decent measuring cup and a bowl for small portions of food. You’d be surprised what’s possible if all you have is those items.

Microwave Magic: Beyond Reheating

And, to tell the truth about the microwave, for all its reputation as a reheating device, it is a great cooking machine – one that cooks almost everything from whole food from scratch. The simplest thing to do in a microwave is eggs. Perhaps there is nothing fancier than a basic scrambled egg made in the microwave or an omelet, for that matter. Whisk as many eggs as you want in a microwave-proof bowl (two or three are usually the max for it to set properly) and splash in a bit of milk if you want. Cook for about a minute, stirring halfway through.

Veggies are a good choice for microwaving as well. Steam broccoli, carrots or green beans by adding a bit of water to a microwavable container and throwing in a lid or some plastic wrap over the veggies. Then, cook for a few minutes until they’re tender-crisp.

Microwaveable rice and pasta can provide the backbone of many dishes. Even canned crushed tomatoes can be given an easy simmered pasta sauce treatment when microwaved with a little herbs and spices.

One-Pot Wonders: Maximizing Your Resources

If you have a stovetop or any sort of hot plate, one-pot meals are your best food prep friends: in addition to being super-easy to make, they minimize your number of dishes-to-wash after a meal. A pot can make soups, stews, pasta dishes – really, anything.

A classic one-pot meal is sauce, pasta and veg: boil some dried pasta in salted water, add a handful of frozen veg 5 minutes before your pasta is ready, drain them together and put the lot back in the pan (no need to wash it yet), stir in a jar of pasta sauce and heat through, sprinkle with grated cheese and you’re done – a full meal with minimum washing-up.

As for one-pot convenience, consider a stir-fry. Use vegetables of your choice, along with protein (or not, according to your predilections). Cook your rice separately (or use microwaveable rice), and you’ve got a substantial meal. 

The Power of Preparation: Meal Prepping for Success

Students can prepare tasty meals with minimal kitchen tools, while still keeping up with their studies by using reliable essay writing services UK to manage their academic workload. Meal prepping can be a great way for hard working students to save time during the week. Spending an hour or so prepping ingredients or even meals in advance can save time and stress later in the week. Anybody can do some basic meal prepping, even without much equipment.

Cook more rice or pasta than you need for one meal at the beginning of the week to reheat portions as you go. Chop vegetables in advance and put them in containers in the fridge so you can make a quick stir-fry or add them to your scrambled eggs.

If you have a freezer, you can make large batches of soup or stew and freeze individual containers for homemade ‘TV dinners’ to heat in the microwave when you’re crunched for time.

Healthy Eating on a Budget

Eating healthily as a student doesn’t have to be an expensive habit. Especially if you are a good shopper and cook. Not only will your budget thank you for choosing cheaper food, but also your body can be grateful for the nutrient-rich diet. Here are some of the cheapest, nutrient-rich ingredients:

No-Cook Meals: When You Can't Even

And there will be days you aren’t even home from work when you don’t have the time – or the mental energy – to microwave something: brain-fried days when the last thing you want to do is pick up a chef’s knife, but you still don’t want to go to bed hungry. That’s when it’s good to have a few ready-made no-cook ideas. No-cook meals are easy; they save on time; and by their very nature, they are heat-free.

Sandwiches, in fact, are perhaps the easiest meals, as bread is satiating and starchy, and fillings lend an infinite variety: peanut butter and banana is simple but filling and healthy, or go for something as easy as a caprese sandwich – sliced mozzarella, tomatoes and, if you can find it, a few leaves of fresh basil.

Salads are another no-dish meal. Start with pre-washed salad greens of some kind and a selection of vegetables, plus a can of beans, a piece of tuna or some previously roasted chicken to boost the protein content. An olive oil-vinegar or lemon juice dressing pulls it all together.

Wraps! Fill a tortilla with your favorite ingredients to create a meal in a flash. Hummus, cucumber and tomato is a great veggie choice, while deli meat and cheese make a fast take on a classic wrap. 

Snacks and Small Bites: Keeping Your Energy Up

Irrespective of this, inexpensive and fast bites at times are the most crucial things to do, like when you are a student and crave energy between meals, or study at night. My opinion is - there is no need to have expensive equipment in order to make tasty and healthy foods.

Microwave popcorn is a classic college student meal, but the next-best thing is to ball up some popped corn and air-pop it in a paper bag; add a sprinkle of something to spice it up – cinnamon, chili powder.

It totally depends on your affinity for fresh fruit as to whether the snack will appeal. Apples, bananas and oranges are easy to take on the go. Take it up a notch and enjoy it with a small handful of nuts.

Hum great no-cook snack - you can typically buy it pre-made, and use it as a dip for raw veggies or pita chips. If you have a blender, try making your own hummus with canned garbanzo beans (chickpeas), lemon juice, garlic, and tahini (if you can get your hands on it).

Desserts and Treats: Because Everyone Needs a Little Sweetness

There are a lot of desserts that can be made using only a microwave and some that require not a drop of hot water (cooking or otherwise).

Mug cakes are a recent microwaveable dessert. Mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder and a few other ingredients in a mug, and microwave for about a minute. Ready! A warm, gooey cake.

No-bake: To create a simple chocolate bark, melt some chocolate chips in the microwave, spread the melted chocolate on a piece of parchment paper, cover with toppings (nuts, dried fruit, crushed cookies), and chill in the fridge until hard. Break into pieces.

Healthy dessert with fruit: make a fruit platter with whatever fruit you have lying around, then drizzle with a little bit of honey or sprinkle with a little cinnamon to make it more indulgent.

Cleaning Up: Keeping Your Space Tidy

It can make a huge difference when you have limited pans, and even less space, like in my small apartment. If you have rinsed off whatever you have just used, it is easier to keep yourself and your space tidy. At the same time, you prevent a build-up of mess and the tiny kitchen seems much more manageable.

Want to de-gunk a particularly grimy microwave? Heat some water in there with a few slices of lemon for a few minutes to produce a bit of steam and loosen any browned-in mess.

Have a stock of dish soap, sponges and paper towels on hand. If you don’t have a dishwasher, buy a good dish drying rack – it’ll save time and energy.

Conclusion: You've Got This!

It might seem difficult for a student who doesn’t have a lot of equipment, but if you use your imagination and plan ahead, you can cook delicious and nourishing food for yourself. Cooking is a skill, and the more you practice it, the better you’ll get at it. Don’t be afraid to experiment. You’ll make mistakes, maybe quite a lot of them, but that’s part and parcel of learning how to do something. 

And you’ll learn a lifelong skill that will save you money and eat healthier long after you’ve graduated. Pop pops from the microwave and the can opener is ready for another go. We’re going to teach you how to cook in your dorm room.