Cooking as a College Student
By Abby, a Peer Tutor
Why I Opted Out of a Meal Plan:
I’ve lived in a dorm for three years and I had a meal plan for my first two years on campus. I was never a fan of the mass produced slop commonly served at dining halls, but the camaraderie of squeezing around a too-small table with my too-large group of friends was a college experience I did not want to give up. Plus, it was a convenient alternative to lugging cooking supplies up a flight of seemingly endless stairs.
However, to be totally honest, I am a picky eater. Growing up I was a mac and cheese queen, and even though I have branched out a lot in the food I eat, I still hate eating most things green. Ultimately, I struggled a lot with eating healthily at the dining hall given that their idea of serving most vegetables was boiled, and honestly, why eat boiled unseasoned carrots when I could eat greasy hamburgers and hot sandwiches drenched in mayo instead?

Obviously there were consequences for food choices. I was tired all the time, and I became so malnourished that I started twitching like a Mexican jumping bean. I’m no Einstein, but these felt like they were maybe good reasons to explore not purchasing a meal plan for my third year.
What I discovered was not only was it a good health decision for me, but also a smart financial one. I used to be on the 120 block plan, which currently costs $1839 a semester. Considering there are roughly only 17 weeks in a semester, that is a staggering $108 for 9 measly meals a week! That’s also $15.33 a meal, which is almost the same price as eating at a casual restaurant on Franklin Street. Also, I don’t want to go hungry, so I would have to purchase more food in addition to the 9 meals. Without a meal plan, I have been able to eat higher quality food and eat out a couple times a week for only $100/week when I budget appropriately.
The first semester off the meal plan, I felt less tired. I no longer felt like I needed to take a nap just to get through my day. I also felt more focused and had less brain fog. I’m an Econ major and I’ve scored significantly better this year in comparison to last year on my tests. I even made my first 4.0 in a semester since my freshman year. Even though it’s not always convenient and it’s been a learning curve cooking for myself (I have set off the fire alarm a few times – whoops!), I feel like it’s been worth it.
How Do I Manage Cooking in a Dorm:
The key for me has been having a very basic set of cooking supplies and sticking to equally basic recipes. I have a small collection of cooking supplies that I store haphazardly under my bed which include a non-stick cooking pan, cast iron skillet, sheet pan, glass baking dish, saucepan, small blender, and a small pot. Buying storage containers would possibly make my cooking supplies more organized. Will I do that? Probably not. In addition to the madness under the bed, I keep a pair of tongs, a large spoon, a meat thermometer, a paring knife, oven mitts, meal prep containers, and eating utensils in the drawers of my desk. I also ensure I’m stocked with basic cooking ingredients like salt, pepper, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, flour, sugar, and butter.

However, cooking supplies can get expensive and I am a college student so I am poor (womp womp). To mitigate costs, I asked my parents and other family members if they had spare cooking supplies they didn’t use that often. When I went back to school in the fall, I discovered that some thrift stores in Durham have cooking supplies for cheap, but I will say a lot of them looked like they survived a wildfire. The supplies that I had to buy came from Walmart, Target, and Amazon. Occasionally, for additional items like a tall pot for making pasta, I borrow one from the community office.
As a college student with a full class load and a part time job, I don’t have a lot of time to cook. I manage this by cooking once a week and storing food in meal prep containers. This way, all I have to do is heat up my food. On the plus side, I get good, nutritious meals readily available for cheap. On the downside, I will admit it can be hard to eat the same dinner several times in a row. I do find that it’s manageable if you cook a meal for a few days and change it out with something that doesn’t require a lot of effort in between. For instance, I have a blender and will make protein shakes for easy meals. I also like going to Trader Joe’s and getting some frozen meals. They’re some of the best frozen meals I have ever tasted, they’re not that expensive (often $3-$5 a meal), and they’re not made with a lot of preservatives.
My Favorite College Student Meals:
Now my favorite part, an opportunity to blab about my favorite foods I like to make. These recipes are easy, take little time to prepare, require few ingredients, and not a lot of equipment. They’re all perfect for a college student like me with no time to spare.
Cajun Chicken Pasta
My all time favorite meal to make at school is cajun chicken pasta. It’s inspired by the cajun chicken pasta from Chili’s, and I have versions of it that can be made with as little work as possible or with maximum effort. I will say that the more work you put into it, the better it is. The best part of this recipe is that it’s easy to scale up. I have fed ten people with this recipe before, so I can imagine someone could make two weeks of food and freeze some. My friends love eating this with roasted asparagus (asparagus tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper, put on a tin foil lined pan in the oven).
Simple Version, Minimal Effort:
Ingredients: 1.5 lb chicken, cajun seasoning, olive oil, water, salt, 1 box of pasta of choice (I prefer penne), and a can of alfredo sauce.
Equipment: Strainer, tall pot, pan (to cook chicken), tongs, meat thermometer, large spoon, cutting board, knife, and meal prep containers.
Steps:
Pasta: I typically have to check out a pot and a strainer from the community center for the pasta. I fill the pot most of the way with water and salt it while turning it on high heat. I boil the pasta water as I cook the chicken. Follow the directions on the pasta box to cook the pasta once the water is boiling. After the pasta is cooked, put the pasta in a strainer and then put it back in a pot. Put your alfredo sauce and chicken in with the pasta and mix well.
Chicken: Chop your chicken into bite sized chunks. Pat dry & season chicken with cajun seasoning (I prefer to coat the whole thing in a bowl). I typically cook the chicken in a cast iron skill in olive oil until it cooks to 165-170 degrees in the center.
I would like to take a moment and say I like my food to hurt me. I literally roll my chicken chunks in the cajun seasoning so they’re completely coated. I like that when I mix the chicken into the pasta, some of the seasoning gets into the sauce so every mouthful is tangy.
Medium Effort:
This is the same thing as the simple version, but I may add salt, pepper, and garlic to the chicken for more seasoning. Additionally, I grab another pot to heat up the alfredo sauce and add salt, pepper, garlic (minced if you have it, powder is also fine), and cheese.
Maximum Effort:
This is my favorite form of the recipe, but it does require more effort: https://damndelicious.net/2015/11/30/cajun-chicken-pasta/.
Lemon Chicken
This recipe (https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/lemon-chicken-recipe-1939793) requires very few ingredients to be bought in addition to the staple ingredients. I sometimes like adding fresh rosemary or basil to the sauce to cut some of the sweetness of the lemon curd. I have eaten it with rice, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, risotto, and it’s always good.

Hamburgers & Sandwiches
I’m not going to lie, hamburgers and sandwiches are my favorite foods. I lay awake at night thinking about different things I can put on a sandwich. I love that there’s so many things that I can put on them to make them different. I can make them gourmet and buy nice cheeses and fancy spreads from Wegmans, or I can make a PB&J and top my burger with only ketchup and mayo. It’s whatever I’m feeling, you know? They’re also easy to make on a busy school night. I can make a hot sandwich very quickly and have freshly made food every night. My favorite sandwich is inspired by a sandwich from Dulce Cafe, which is near Southpoint Mall. It has turkey, brie, red pepper jelly, and mayo on ciabatta bread. Ciabatta is hard to find sometimes, so I typically buy sourdough and toast the sandwich in a nonstick pan with butter.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
This recipe is inspired by the sweet potatoes served at Burger Bach, which is a delicious gourmet burger restaurant in Durham. They used to have a side that is similar to this recipe before they changed it to a cinnamon-y roasted sweet potato (boo). I have used them as side items for burgers, chicken, and pork, but they can also be used for vegetarian dishes in tacos or mediterranean bowls.
Recipe:
Ingredients: Sweet potatoes, salt pepper, shallots, rosemary, butter, maple syrup.
Equipment: Knife, cutting board, pan.
Peel & cube sweet potatoes and put them on a sheet pan or in a baking dish. Mince rosemary (which can be found on campus in the small garden plots near Lenoir and outside Lower Quad on North campus) and shallots (garlic is fine too). In the pan, pour enough melted butter and maple syrup to coat the chunks, the rosemary, and the shallots and mix everything together. I also make sure to season them thoroughly. Put in the oven for half an hour at 425 degrees.
To Sum It Up:
For the people who have read this far, I applaud the effort. It’s easy to toss aside nutrition like a salad and get lost in the sauce of studying, but please consider putting down the ramen and eating some veggies like a real ram.