Everyday Dinners for Student Beginners

With seminars, societies, sports and socialising, the start of a new academic year is very busy. If, like me, you don’t always feel like faffing around cooking fancy meals, there are lots of easy recipes out there which are straight-forward, tasty and healthy! These are some of my favourites which I always fall back on.

This is a great recipe to either share with friends at dinner or eat as a packed lunch for the rest of the week! They are also easily adapted to be vegetarian/meaty/spicy/non-spicy.

Chilli is a student staple, and just like fajitas they can be adapted to suit your tastes. I like adding a couple of squares of dark chocolate to mine; it adds a lovely underlying flavour to the whole dish.

This was my favourite dish at home so making it always makes me feel better when I’m feeling homesick. A dash of Henderson’s Relish (a spicy sauce made in Sheffield) is my secret ingredient, or you can use Worcestershire sauce if you’re unfortunate enough to miss out on Henderson’s.

A good stir fry is my go-to quick dinner or weekend lunch as it’s so quick and tasty! It uses up left over vegetables like peppers or baby sweetcorn, and you can often get deals at supermarkets on stir-fry mixes as well. Adding a chilli and some ginger paste makes this healthy dish even more flavourful.

Traybakes are perfect for evenings when you don’t want to do any serious cooking – just chop up some potatoes and veg, pop some meat on top and roast in the oven until cooked! Recently I made a chicken and chorizo traybake which was also just as delicious reheated the next day.

And if all else fails, there is always fish fingers and chips! I always have some in my freezer just in case 😉