Quick and Budget Friendly Meals

With everything from student textbooks and transport to factor into your student budget, often there’s not a lot of cash left over for nutritious meals.

If you’re sick of the staple two-minute noodles and cans of tuna but don’t want to blow your student budget, here are some easy meals at a wallet friendly price.

Breakfast – Oats with honey

For a breakfast that will help you kick start the day and maintain energy levels throughout the morning oats may just be the ingredient for you.

Oats are cheap and go a very long way, as you don’t need a lot to feel full. As our Australian winter kicks in, there is something lovely about waking up and eating warm oats before starting the day.

There are two ways to make oats, one is in a pot on the stove, the other in the microwave. Both options require milk, this can be full-cream, lite or even soy, then add any additional flavours you like.

For the stove option, place some oats in a pot, and add milk until oats are just covered. Turn the heat to medium and cook, stirring until the oats get thicker in consistency and the milk has absorbed into the oats.

For the microwave option, get a serving bowl, place oats into the bowl and top with just enough milk so the oats are covered. Cover with a paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring if necessary, until the milk has absorbed.

Or, try this recipe for overnight oats.

The final touches are up to you but we recommend a drizzle of honey, cinnamon and banana for a delicious and nutritious start to your day.

Lunch – Roast chicken

Looking for a protein filled lunch that will keep you full until dinner swings around? Then a roast chicken lunch could be just for you.

As most students are short on time, we know it is essential that you are able to whip up lunch quickly. Our tip is to head to your local supermarket, such as Coles or Woolworths, and purchase one of their warm roast chickens. The beauty of this is you save hours waiting for a chicken to roast in the oven and there are endless possibilities in regards to meals.

An easy fix is to get a wholemeal roll, some salad of your choice and have a fresh chicken roll. You will definitely have leftover chicken, which can be used for future lunches throughout the week as well as dinner.

Dinner – Lentils

We haven’t forgotten about our vegetarian students out there and this lentil dish is a light and delicious meal.

Just like when you cook rice, you can cook lentils in water and bring to boil. You’ll then need to cook uncovered for another 30 minutes. Once they are done you can add your choice of flavours to spice up the meal, including cherry tomatoes, beetroot, parsley and any other spices you like! This is a tasty student dinner fix and budget friendly too.

For those of you who like to have meat with most meals, this dish is a perfect way to use leftover chicken by chopping up some of the meat and throwing it on top of your lentils right before serving.