The Yummy Guide: 8 Batch Cooking Recipes for Students to Make Life Easier!
Eating and eating right is a top priority anytime especially for students.
Let’s face it, no matter how much anyone will tell you to get a good night’s sleep, you won’t. And, you’ll inevitably be burning the candle at both ends, studying and partying.
Getting food in your body is super important to fuel you through the day. But what if we told you that you can feed yourself the whole week by only cooking once?
Forget fancy slow cookers, spiralisers, cooking utensils; we’ve got the ultimate student batch cooking recipes that require basic equipment, max out on flavour, taste and minimise your time.
1. Bolognese Sauce
Laden with meat, veggies and flavour, you can make bolognaise sauces to suit every dietary requirement including vegan and dairy free needs.
Not necessarily eaten with pasta, this versatile sauce is perfect as an oven pie base waiting to be topped up with delicious mashed potato, eaten with rice or other grains or even with a salad.
This recipe is only a guide but it makes a whopping twelve portions. For vegan options, swap out the meat for Quorn or lentils.
2. Moussakà
So, your student kitchen may not be the same as a cliffside restaurant in Santorini, but this Moussaka recipe sure can bring the flavours of Greece to your flat.
Traditional Greek comfort food comprised of potatoes, aubergine and lamb mince, cinnamon, oregano and various forms of tomato, Moussaka is bound to make you look forward to dinner.
Easily cooked in large portions and freezable, you’ll only need 30 minutes of your time to make a week’s worth of meals.
3. Pancakes
Remember that old adage of “breakfast is the most important meal of the day,”? Well, it totally is. Like scientifically.
Rather than grabbing a Greggs or a sugary cereal bar, make your breakfast in advance.
Even the most unskilled cook can make pancakes – they might not be the most good-looking ones but it’s hard to mess these guys up.
We’ve chosen peanut butter as our fave flavour; however, these can be made plain, with protein powder or with fruit.
Pancakes are indulgent so maybe don’t have them every day, because, you know, balance and all.
Super quick, super freezable and super cheap, these batch cook bad boys are a breakfast life-saver for when you’re running late or a bit worse for wear.
4. Granola
Another great breakfast is granola.
Vegan, gluten and dairy free, this recipe is really cost effective and really tasty.
You won’t need any special equipment, but you will need to buy an airtight container, preferably a jar to store this in.
Granola can keep for up to 3 weeks, if you aren’t tempted to eat it all before then.
Again, this recipe is virtually idiot-proof and requires a stir, a sprinkle and a bake. Explore with different fruit, nut and seeds combos as you get more adventurous.
5. Chilli Con Carne and Veggie Chilli
An oldie but a goldie. Chilli Con Carne is the quickest and cheapest way you’ll get to experience Tex-Mex life. Perfect on its own or with delish guac and cheesy nachos, meaty or veggie, this dish is a batch
cook staple. No fuss recipe and no fuss equipment, it is defo one you need on your meal plan. It’s also one of those recipes that tastes even better the day after you cook it. Here is a meat feast and veggie recipe to get you started.
6. Melanzane Lasagne
Lasagne may be cheugy but it is tasty, especially if it’s laden with veggies and totally meat-free.
Easily stored in the freezer, Melanzane Lasagne is bursting with aubergines, oregano and cheese.
Taking only 20 minutes to prep, this is one of the easiest batch cooking recipes, saving you loads of time in the week for socialising and studying.
No fancy equipment needed, just a saucepan, baking tray and oven, which you have in your student accommodation.
7. Curry
The student go-to takeaway can be simply recreated in your student kitchen!
Curry is one of those recipes that can actually be made with anything; it is the spices that are key.
Store cupboard essentials such as turmeric, cumin, ground coriander, tinned tomatoes and chili powder will make your curries mouth-watering and scrumptious.
They are great for batch cooking and taste even better the next day.
We wouldn’t recommend batch cooking accompaniments like rice though; they are best cooked fresh. All you need is a humble hob, a pan and a big appetite.
Sweet potato and chickpea and the famous Chicken Madras should be enough to get you started.
8. Soups
The supreme batch cook recipe; soup!
Soup is so versatile, easily stored and effortlessly made in large quantities.
The humble lunch or dinner is a great way to use up leftover bits in the fridge that might not really go together and a super simple way of getting your 5 a day.
If you are feeling flush, you can get a cheap soup maker whereby you chuck in all the ingredients and let the magic happen.
For the budget-conscious, there are loads of handheld blenders you can pick up for about a tenner, or you can use your smoothie blender to achieve your desired consistency.
When using a blender, make sure you let the soup cool first! The great thing about soup is that you don’t have to do much apart from cutting up the ingredients and they can be naturally dairy, gluten and meat-free.
Our fave recipes include broccoli and stilton, lentil and butternut squash, Italian Veg, Minestrone, sweet potato and chorizo and a classic cream of mushroom.
We hope that our batch cooking recipes have got you inspired, drooling and Tupperware mad. Batch cooking will make your student life so much easier; it just takes a big shop and a bit of planning.
Prepping will not only make sure you are eating right; it will also save you that important student cash by inhibiting those impulsive on-the-go meals.
Fancy some inspo for livening up that pasta? Cheek out five recipes here.