Cooking for yourself is a big part of coming to uni, which for some, might seem like hell. So today in this blog post Iām gonna suggest 2 easy meals, with links on how the professionals make it, then show you my student budget-friendly version of that recipe. All the recipes will be super quick to cook and will taste great! Disclaimer: all my recipes are vegetarian/vegan, however, you can add in meat if you wish.
So letās start with an easy one: Tomato rice!
Rice dishes are super easy to make as itās all about throwing your vegetables in a wok with sauce, before placing it on rice. Anyone can make it! So you can either follow the BBC food recipe on how to make spiced tomato rice or try my version!
My version: spicy tomato vegetables with rice!
2 person portion ā price calculated by how much youāre using in the recipe.
Ingredients:
70g of rice for one person, 140g for two people – 5p (45p a bag)
½ a bell pepper – 15p (30p)
A handful of Bean sprouts – 10p (60p a bag)
½ of a Courgette – 15p (30p)
ā
of a pack of Chestnut Mushrooms – 24p (72p a tub)
ā
of a pack of Cherry tomato – 24p (72p a tub)
½ of an Onion – 3p (59p a bag)
½ of a Carrot (optional) – 2p (35p a bag)
3 teaspoons of Jar Garlic – 15p (Ā£1.19 a jar)
½ a jar of Spicy Tomato sauce – 33p (69p a jar)
Couple drops of light soy sauce – 1p (Ā£1 a bottle)
2 teaspoon of Paprika – 6p (49p a jar)
1 teaspoon (or less) Chilli powder – 2p (49p a jar)
1 teaspoon Oregano- 6p (49p a jar)
Salt and pepper
Olive Oil
Total cost: £1.37 or 68p each!
How to guide –
Step 1: Place rice in a pan with water on medium heat until it boils, cover, then let it simmer for about 12 minutes.
Step 2: Cut up all your vegetables. Cut your tomatoes into quarters, and finely cut or half the rest of your vegetables (except the bean sprouts), depending on how you like them.
Step 3: Grab a wok and lightly cover the bottom of it with olive oil, add your garlic and onion, and cook it on medium heat for a minute. Move continuously.
Step 4: Add all of your vegetables, sauce and seasoning to the wok and moving it around every so often, for about 8 minutes.
Step 5: Add rice to bowl, place vegetable mix on top and enjoy!
Next up: Sausage and Mash!
Sausage and mash is a tasty and homely dish to make! So you can either follow the BBC Good Food recipe on how to make sausage and mash or try my version!
My version: Big, Quick and simple bangers and mash!
2 person portion ā price calculated by how much youāre using in the recipe.
Ingredients:
Meat Free Sausages 75p (Ā£1.50 a bag)
3 big Potatoes and 3 smaller ones – 30p (1.50 a bag)
½ of an Onion – 3p (59p a bag)
Carrot – 4p (35p a bag)
Courgette – 30p
Parsnip – 13p (65p a bag)
3 teaspoons of Jar Garlic – 15p (Ā£1.19 a jar)
(Optional) ½ a bell pepper – 15p (30p)
(Optional) 4 Yorkshire puddings – 33p (Ā£1 a bag)
Vegetable Stock 22p (90p a pack)
Parika – 6p (49p a jar)
Chilli powder – 2p (49p a jar)
Cajun – 6p (49 a jar)
Mint – 6p (49 a jar)
Salt and pepper
Olive Oil
(Optional) Mint Gravy
Total cost: £2.60 or £1.30 each!
How to guide –
Step 1: Wash all your vegetables. Peel the 3 bigger potatoes, then cut into 4, adding them to a pan of water on high heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Cut the smaller potatoes into little slices, place them on an oven tray with tin foil on top. Add a dash of oil, and place them on medium heat for ten minutes for homemade roasties.
Step 2: Cut all remaining vegetables.
Step 3: Grab a wok and lightly cover the bottom of it with olive oil, add your garlic, onion, and vegetable stock, and cook it on medium heat for a minute. Move continuously.
Step 4: Add sausages, vegetables and seasoning to wok, moving it around every so often, switching between medium and high heat for about 8 minutes. If you want you can also place 4 Yorkshire puddings on a tray for a couple of minutes.
Step 5: Mash the potatoes. Fry the roastie for a couple of minutes if you have a fryer. Make your gravy, take the yorkshire puddings out of the oven and plate everything. And most importantly, Enjoy!
I hope you enjoyed this post, it was quite a fun one to make! I hope you found this post interesting or found it somewhat useful. I might make more of these in the future as cooking is a very useful skill to have after all. Anyway, thanks for reading.
Until next time!
Film/Show of the day:Ā Isle of Dogs (2018)