Wanted: Cheap student recipe's

[jakejacob0]

Recently moved to university and was wondering if you lot have any recipe's off the top of your head that are relatively cheap to make but also taste better than beans on toast

I don't mind making up a big portion and freezing it for later in the week and am quite proficient at cooking just usually not too bothered about the price, until now anyway haha

Thanks

 

[rhysduck]

You need to get this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Heinz-Beanz-Book-Recipes/dp/0600615995 It's brilliant

Anyway,
Spag bol (The Mrs makes a pan full and it will easily do 6-8 meals)
Chilli Con Carne (as above)
Any soup
Fajita mix (keeps in the fridge for a few days)

You also need to look here : http://studentrecipes.com/ lots of excellent recipes.

 

[FrenchTart]

Pulled pork: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18429636

Use the cheaty oven/slow-cooker methods and you can make enough meat for 3-4 days for about £3.

 

[DcD]

If you have a freezer big enough, Costco is fairly cheap these days where you can buy wholesale, VAT free meat etc ready for doing rhysduck's bulk-made recipes.

Spag bol and chillie are always great for bagging up into portions.

 

[Ahleckz]

You need a membership to get into Costco, and not everyone can get one. Plus, VAT is added at the till for non business users.

OT - Just think about ways to bulk out meals, adding cheap vegetables is good, and think about making big pots of something basic. Learn how to make a good tomato sauce, and cook that up with mince. You can then have that 4 or 5 days in a row but add extra ingredients each day so you could have it with pasta, turn it into chilli, have it over baked potato, use it as a pizza sauce. Etc. It's all about making big pots of stuff. Remember, stuff stays fresh in the fridge for a while just make sure you keep it covered and cook it well when you're reheaitng.

 

[bJN]

Jacket Potatoes are a definite for any student (apart from me, silly college doesn't provide any ovens and I refuse to use the microwave for a jacket potato!).
Spag Bol, very easy to do, can cook in batches and freeze.
Simple curries are easy also.
A good one for quick "snacks" is mini pizza - get yourself some baguettes (or normal bread will work) and lightly toast. Add on a tomato sauce (I've found tinned chopped tomatoes, onions and herbs warmed through in a pan to work well) and cheese on top. Whack in the oven / under the grill for a few minutes. Easy!
Chicken rub is easy - get some chicken fillets and freeze what you don't need straight away. Defrost the day you want them, rub with either a bottled sauce (Nandos etc) or your own (any combination of spices to taste) and cook. Goes really well with mashed potato or sweet potato chips.

Have a look on Amazon (other eTailers are available) for student cook books, there are hundreds and they're all worth the investment!

 

[DcD]

You need a membership to get into Costco, and not everyone can get one. Plus, VAT is added at the till for non business users.

Food is VAT exempt (apart from the luxury confectionary and that kind of stuff).

Also, everyone can get a Costco membership for £30/year, the only condition is you can't go in before about mid day as mornings are trade-only. I think you may be getting confused with Makro, which has a lot more restrictions on who can join.

 

[Ahleckz]

Jacket Potatoes are a definite for any student (apart from me, silly college doesn't provide any ovens and I refuse to use the microwave for a jacket potato!).

I take it that you live in catered halls? If you don't, and you don't have an oven that's just madness. We had 2 for 6 of us.

Food is VAT exempt (apart from the luxury confectionary and that kind of stuff).

Also, everyone can get a Costco membership for £30/year, the only condition is you can't go in before about mid day as mornings are trade-only.

Bit odd that you mentioned that it was VAT free though.

I've always understood that you have to be a business user, or work for certain businesses.

From the website:

"Costco is able to offer Individual Membership to current or retired employees of selected employment groups or professions. To find out if you are eligible for Individual Membership please click on the link below." And a picture

Spoiler

 

[DcD]

I take it that you live in catered halls? If you don't, and you don't have an oven that's just madness. We had 2 for 6 of us.



Bit odd that you mentioned that it was VAT free though.

I've always understood that you have to be a business user, or work for certain businesses.

From the website:

"Costco is able to offer Individual Membership to current or retired employees of selected employment groups or professions. To find out if you are eligible for Individual Membership please click on the link below." And a picture

Spoiler

Thats odd, I've signed a few mates up when I've taken them and they've never been fussed at about all that. Still, I stand corrected!

 

[D.P.]

I take it that you live in catered halls? If you don't, and you don't have an oven that's just madness. We had 2 for 6 of us.



Bit odd that you mentioned that it was VAT free though.

I've always understood that you have to be a business user, or work for certain businesses.

From the website:

"Costco is able to offer Individual Membership to current or retired employees of selected employment groups or professions. To find out if you are eligible for Individual Membership please click on the link below." And a picture

Spoiler

My understanding of the UK Costco was almost anyone could become an individual member but certain people could become business members members with earlier opening times.


in the US anyone can join and they make profit by shifting huge amount of products - it is always very busy with long lines at checouts.

 

[Entropy]

An easy cheap pasta sauce i do.

2-3 Tomatoes
1 Clove of garlic
1 Fresh chilli
a few slices of chorizo or salami or bacon etc
Tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 tsp of sugar
salt + pepper.
milk
As much pasta as you are hungry enough to eat.

Cut the tomatoes in half, remove the seeds then grate to remove the flesh from the skin. Fry garlic and chilli in oil for 2mins, add the meat you chose and fry for 2mins. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar and a splash of milk and simmer until the sauce has thickened (4-5mins). Add the pasta and then serve. Add some fresh parsley or parmesan to taste if your fridge is a little better stocked.

 

[Judgeneo]

The secret to student cooking is BULK. Small errors are easier to disguise, its easier to eat well, less fiddly, and takes less time per meal.



I make this chilli recipe:

500g mince
2 red onions
1 tin kidney beans
2 tins tomato
1 red, 1 yellow pepper
assorted frozen veg
2 Tablespoons of instant chocolate
3 Cloves Garlic
Chilli powder, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper to taste.

I eat epic sized portions, but this is good for 4 meals or so.

Dice onions
Start frying,
before they are fully cooked, add mince
when browned add everything else.
Stir, put rice on and leave to simmer

 

[rhysduck]

Why do you remove the seeds? Is it just to give the sauce it's smoothness?

 

[Entropy]

Pretty much, they also don't tend to taste all that great either.

 

[bJN]

I take it that you live in catered halls? If you don't, and you don't have an oven that's just madness. We had 2 for 6 of us.

The halls are supposedly classed as catered, however their idea of catered is vastly different to my own. The only provision for "evening" food we have here is a restaurant that sits on top of the college gym, which serves over-priced bland food, for which you need to book a table for in advanced. Quite a mockery in all honesty.

It's fine though, I'm managing with having a cooked meal (most of the time) for lunch in the college café (different campus to the halls) and then sandwiches or soup in the evening. Always got a micro-wave meal () in my own mini-fridge as well for weekends etc.

Quite a poor show really, would be so much happier with an oven... *sigh*

 

[Doctor McNinja]

First of all you need to make sure you thoroughly wash them because cheap students tend to have poor personal hygiene.... Oh... I think I misunderstood the subject of the thread. In that case, the first thing that springs to mind (other than Spagbol, Chili, curry etc.) is Jambalaya. All it is, is rice, onion, celery and spices. Other than that you can put almost anything you like in... sausage, left over chicken, beef, ham and almost any vegetable you can think of. I'll give it some thought and see what I can come up with recipe wise.

 

[DcD]

Forgot to mention, for a weekend feast (preferably if you like sports) wings are insanely cheap to make. £1.99 for a plastic bucket of wings from Tesco, which when cut down to the individual parts, makes about 30 wings.m A really simple recipe would be to coat them in flour, cayenne pepper and paprika and shallow/deep fry twice at 375F. Have em with Frank's Hot Sauce (£2.50 a bottle?).

 

[joey1211]

If they're not trusted with an oven, I seriously doubt a deep fat fryer is an option

 

[randomshenans]

Even homemade bread and pizzas are a damn site cheaper! It's pence for bread materials, piece of cake to do, too. But I would echo the above with bulk items to freeze is the best way.

 

[Dave]

Disappointed that the obligatory "cheap students recipe's what?" hasn't been said yet

When I was a student it was all bulk purchasing rather than cooking - I cooked with my three other housemates together so we made larger meals and served up at dinnertime. Looking at other houses this was probably the exception rather than the rule, but it made much sense to do as we could do one big trip to the supermarket and take advantage of all the offers. We generally had things that were easy to do in larger quantities like spag bol, stir fry, home-made pizza, chicken wrapped in bacon served with roast potatoes (the best student meal!) etc.