Easy Student Meal ideas please.

Jenner The coddled eggs look just the thing for me recovering from a bad chest infection. I haven't felt like eating at all (happily that has resulted in the much needed loss of a few pounds) but I really fancy that. Thank you!

Elegran

Not allowed use of a slow cooker.

If she can use a slow cooker in her accommodation, a very simple beef casserole could be cooking while she is out, ready to eat when she gets home.
Ingredients are a pack of cubed beef, an oxo cube, a level tablespoon of flour and some hot water.
While the kettle boils, put the flour into a plastic bag, add the Oxo ( fold back the corners of the foil on the Oxo, press the back of a teaspoon onto it to break it up without breaking the foil, then tear the foil and pour the crumbled contents in with the flour) close the bag and shake it around a bit to mix. Open the pack of meat, add it to the flour, close the top again and shake and squidge it around to coat the meat with the flour mixture.

Pour it all into the slow cooker and add enough water to almost cover the meat. Stir well, and wipe the sides of the slow cooker with a bit of kitchen roll if they have got messy.

Cover, switch on to "auto" if it has that setting (It will heat at high for the first hour, then low for the rest of the time) If not, cook it on low. Cook for at least 4 hours, and it is better after six.

Serve it with frozen mash and tinned carrots, and mop up any excess gravy with bread. (for best value, buy a big bag of Auntie Bessie's or supermarket own brand and just use as much as you need each time. She could even eat just mash for an instant snack in 2-3 minutes, with grated cheese and some chutney or a sliced tomato)

Variations - use cubed chicken and chicken Oxo instead of beef, pasta or rice instead of potato, add some Auntie Bessie frozen dumplings to the slow cooker half an hour before it is ready..

hamster58

Forgive me, I'm really not trying to be rude, but I couldn't help agree with someone else's comment that surely it's easy for the young person to look online or buy a book if they really haven't a clue at 18+, but also, as you say yourself you're not a cook but a pierce and ping person - love that description! - why would your friend ask you to do it or not be able to help their child themselves? Perhaps I misunderstood, and you kindly offered.......

Perhaps there is an issue for this young person which doesnt need detailing here. I wonder why you and the other person you agree with needed to comment as it is just completely unhelpful.

Forgive me, I'm really not trying to be rude, but I couldn't help agree with someone else's comment that surely it's easy for the young person to look online or buy a book if they really haven't a clue at 18+, but also, as you say yourself you're not a cook but a pierce and ping person - love that description! - why would your friend ask you to do it or not be able to help their child themselves? Perhaps I misunderstood, and you kindly offered.......

WOW…..thank you so much to all you kind people for taking some time to give me tips, recipes, ideas and actual ‘how to’ instructions, I am really grateful to you all.

Sago

KatyKrunch

Equipment and a “starter box” would be useful.
I would make sure she has one good saucepan and one lidded frying pan and some silicone tongs.

Oil, tinned tomatoes, tomatoe purée, stock cubes, soy sauce, salt and pepper, cornflour, garam masala lentils, kidney beans chickpeas,pasta, tuna and rice.

All my three were able to cook competently when they went off, two bothered the other just ate junk!

They are all now excellent and keen cooks with a healthy diet.

I would love to be tasked with teaching a young person to cook.

I hope you have fun together.

Oooo thanks Sago, when are you available lol.

Paperbackwriter

Some great suggestions on here. But.. I can't help wondering how on earth anyone can get to university-age without learning at least some cooking basics? Has this girl been 100% catered for all her life? How come nobody's ever shown her any cooking skills? Genuinely curious here!

My son could cook before he went to Uni but he had a wobble before he went for ideas and cooking for one as he had always cooked for a family. He just needed a bit of direction to give him confidence. By Christmas at Uni he was cooking the Turkey dinner for 13 with just the occasional text to ask questions. Last year he cooked us a turkey which was far nicer than I could ever cook as he is prepared to faff about more than me!
5 years later he is making proper Tiramasu, a beef wellington to die for and many other very tasty dishes. He regularly gives dinner parties.

Make some supper dishes together, sometimes using a recipe and other just experimenting and cooking with what you have in the fridge/cupboard. Let them know that you learn from experimenting and that it’s OK to make mistakes and improvise and it doesn’t have to be perfect.

This vegetable biryani is quick, easy and delicious.

@cardiffmum who can be found on Instagram and the internet often does thrifty feasts for a week for £25. All the ingredients are purchased from a well known discount supermarket and the recipes are planned so that they use all ingredients purchased over the course of the week so no wastage. Recipes are usually for four people but could be halved and a portion frozen for a future meal. She would need to have a range of basic seasonings, oil, Worcestershire sauce sauce, soy sauce etc. The recipes are really tasty with a number of vegetarian options. Hope this helps.

Some great suggestions on here. But.. I can't help wondering how on earth anyone can get to university-age without learning at least some cooking basics? Has this girl been 100% catered for all her life? How come nobody's ever shown her any cooking skills? Genuinely curious here!

I'm currently doing this with GS. So far he has learnt how to make a meat pie with tinned steak and a basic sauce for all sorts of things: Double cream, butter, grated cheese, season lightly with pepper and powdered mustard- melt it all together stirring occasionally and leave on one side till needed - keeps in fridge and reheats beautifully. Use on veg, pasta, as quick caul cheese and mac cheese etc. Also how to Scrunch up mince for home made burgers and just fry with a bit of sliced onion. And a basic batter for pancakes/Yorkshires. And a scone mix with pepper and herbs added, fry on both sides in a round to cover the pan and cover with tomato paste or bol sauce topped with grated cheese. Fried cheese sandwich.
Basic pastry and cake making skills which can be adapted as he thinks fit.

One pot roast using carrots, onions, garlic, cauliflower, potatoes (new or old) with chicken fillets etc, seasoned with salt and drizzled in Olive Oil. You don't even have to peel the potatoes, onion or garlic. You just squeeze the latter 2 items out at the end. It is just divine.

For quick microwave meals with rice, microwave rice cooker is great. You can add other ingredients in the last stage of cooking.

I also use wraps or soft Pitta pockets a lot. I blitz mushrooms, peppers, onions, chopped bacon or the like in the microwave for two minutes. Fill a wrap or Pitta pocket with mozzarella and the other ingredients. Pop back in the microwave for 1 and a half minutes and you have something a bit like a low calorie pizza. It makes me hungry to think about it.

Not an easy task. Jaime Oliver does meals with only 5 ingredients quick and easy, which might be a start also there is a utube series:

Jump to key moments of utube: student learns to cook

Stir fry is great ansdI think fillings for baked potatoes served with salad.

You could learn together and create a ring binder with the successful recipes

Also, take them shopping.
You need to be able to understand shopping to cook on a budget.

Sago

Lentil/chickpea dhal.
Vegetarian ragu,
Meat ragu,
Veg/meat chilli.
Omelette,
Mac and cheese.
Recipes for the above are all available online.

This is largely what I ate as a student but I was vegetarian so no meat. All my dahls were lentils in those days. I don't think I called ragu "ragu" then either though.

Also, cauliflower cheese, endless soups, moussaka, spaghetti and lasagna, eggy bread, pancakes (sweet and savory), casserole.

I had a copy of Cooking in a Bedsitter which alerted me to adding sausages to my stews when
"entertaining".
A student from "Persia" showed me some dishes I'd never have come across on my own at 17.

I think students share techniques and ideas a lot. You probably only need to be able to cook 3 or 4 things to be fair.

I'd show them how to make a cheese sauce, make a soup, make a ragu type sauce. Prepare veg. These are basics.
Good luck.

1 tbsp oil
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized chunks
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
pinch salt and pepper
650 ml chicken stock
200 g dried long grain rice
200 g broccoli florets ( you could add another veg' as a substitute)
50 ml single cream
60 g cheddar cheese, grated

Heat the oil in a large, lidded pan over a medium heat and then add the carrots. Allow it to soften a little (around 4 minutes) then add the chicken.
Once the chicken is sealed, add in the mixed herbs, salt & pepper, stock and the rice, stir to combine and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat to simmer and pop a lid on the pan. Leave for about 15 minutes to cook.
After 15 minutes lift the lid, add in the broccoli and pop the lid back on for a further 5-7 minutes or until the rice is cooked to your liking.
Remove from heat and stir in the cream and cheese so it’s well combined and melted.

All in one pot so less washing up too!

I’d say rice with chopped up stuff in, pasta with chopped up stuff in and to experiment with herbs and spices and tinned things in there too.
If she could have a few basic lessons first she probably won’t go far wrong. Unless of course she never learned to boil an egg.

I wonder whether Jack Monroe’s Tin Can Cook book would be any help? Tinned food may not be as nice as fresh but it’s easy to store and cook and will provide perfectly adequate nutrition. Her recipes are cheap and generally need only the most basic cooking equipment.

If she has access to a freezer , one of the things that I found when I first lived in a bedsit (many years ago!) was to base things on cook once for two meals. So I would get a larger amount of stewing steak, then do the first basic to both meals, So begin by chopping up onions, a green pepper , a couple of sticks of celery and 2 or three carrots. Then start with a frying pan and a little oil, and fry the onions until soft - fried onions have a totally different taste to my mind - and also quickly fry the pepper. Then brown your meat in the same pan. so then divide it into two and from there you add the chopped up vegetables to both and at that point you add gravy and any good stock you might have to one, and to the other a decent curry sauce from a tin or packet . so then you an cook them slowly in a pan or oven would take both dishes on different shelves and hey presto you have a casserole for one day and a curry for another. Both will be even better for leaving for a day anyway, so with the casserole you could have a jacket potato that you cook whilst the casserole is reheating, with the curry the simplest would be a packet of rice that you open the lid and cook for 2 minutes in the microwave. You could do rice from scratch which would be cheaper but the packet idea again is quick to do. The main point is that you only do one lot of cooking to get two decent meals that you an do easily when you are tired. So if you made the effort to cook these up say sunday you definitely have a decent meal to come into on monday with little to do. You need to get into that idea of cooking something from scratch but that is going to be worth the effort. it can be easy to end up eating poorer quality food or getting instant stuff with very little vitamins etc . Jacket potatoes , I found also meant if you had only a little bit left from a bolognaise or casserole you could do your potato and make up some fresh coleslaw with onion, cabbage and I put carrots in mine and celery, then a dollop of mayonaisse or salad cream and a little lemon juice . So then you have a very nourishing potato with your salad , filling and warming on a cold day. Another great favourite is baked apples. Get a good bramley apple , make sure it sits flat on a surface (I get odd looks as I check this out) so then you core it and run a knife right round the circumference. Then add your filling. I put sultanas or raisins, brown sugar (I dont take sugar in my coffee so any packets of sugar i get with a cup in a cafe I bring home and you can use those to add ) and add a pinch of cinnamon an mix that up and into the apple and then into the microwave. a lovely warming quick sweet. You can go mad and add some home made or packet custard or push the boat out with a little cream. Then of course the greatest waste not want not. If you have a banana going a bit brown, peel banana , put in dish add brown sugar (as before) a little orange juice and if you have a very little whisky, or brandy , that makes it even better . Stick into microwave and hey presto cheaper version of banana flambe! You can feel virtuous too as you are using up old fruit and not wasting it. (Perhaps I should not encourage the student to add the alcohol but to GN's who have had a tough day can recommend it for a warming and cheering quick pudding!! Hope these are useful ideas

Would a casserole be any good ? Chicken or sausages with veggies. Nutritious and easy .

Spaghetti bol with pre washed spinach. Use one of those tomato based jars of sauce and add onions to the mincemeat. Spaghetti from Aldi or similar, just boil 10 minutes. Nice white wine to go with it. Easy Peasy.

I live alone so my meals have become quick and easy.
My go-tos are spaghetti or other pasta and a sauce made from scratch:
Onion, garlic, courgette, mushrooms fried in olive oil add tinned tomatoes or a pasta sauce.
Spiced fried rice with nuts is another.
Baked potato (microwave) with toppings.
Salads.
Omelette.
I make soups too. Carrot, sweet potato, coconut milk and curry paste.
Leek and tattie.
I like cooking though and I'm vegetarian so find most ready meals are not nice.
I hope your student is filled with confidence!

This is one I wrote out with simple instructions for students in my family.

Spaghetti with lentil and tomato sauce

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, large, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, large, crushed
1 400g tin tomatoes, broken up, or fresh tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
225g split red lentils, washed
400 ml water
30 ml / 2 tablespoons red wine

Method
1. Prepare all the ingredients as described in the ingredients list above.
2. Heat the oil in a largish saucepan and fry the onion and garlic until they’re tender – about 10 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, herbs, cinnamon, lentils, water and wine and bring up to the boil. Simmer mixture with a lid on the saucepan (not fully on) for 20-25 minutes, until the lentils are tender.
3. Taste, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. About 10 minutes before the lentils are done, start cooking the spaghetti. Half-fill a large saucepan with water, add some salt and bring to the boil. Add the spaghetti to the saucepan by holding it upright in the boiling water and gradually pushing it down into the water as it softens. Simmer the spaghetti until it’s just tender, or ‘al dente’ as the Italians say, then drain it.
5. Pile the spaghetti onto a warm serving dish, pour the sauce on top and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Serve with a green salad.

Can be served with a baked potato (microwaved) instead of spaghetti.

Can be frozen.