Moving away for college is fun until you realize there won’t be any of mother’s home cooked meals or grandma’s version of awesome microwavable, and you’d have to rely on the easiest dorm foods to make. Between not having enough time to cram everything in a day and being cheap to prioritize school stuff, college kids are definitely required to be creative when it comes to food. That is why we have compiled the ten easiest dorm foods to get you (or your kids) prepped for the gastronomic survival challenges that lay ahead at the University.
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For this list, we’ve taken suggestions from Delish, Buzzfeed, and other food-based websites. We have ranked the items according to preparation time, because anything that’s done before you can finish saying ‘Bon Appetit!’ is easy. We’ve also added a 5-star rating system to rate how tasty the food is, how easily it can be made in a dorm room given the lack of proper kitchen equipment, and how easily available its ingredients are.
Don’t forget to bookmark this list along with our article on The 20 Most Useful Websites for College Students to help prep you (or your kids) for University life!
10. Instant Mac and Cheese
Prep time: 3-8 minutes, depending on type
Rating: 5 stars
No list of the easiest dorm foods to make will ever be complete without instant mac and cheese. It’s quintessential dorm room dinner that is consumed about half of all the dinners each student partakes throughout his/her whole college life. It can get pretty monotonous and is not an ideal to-go meal for hurried lunches, but it’s a great break from ramen nights.
8. Toast
Prep time: 5 minutes
Rating: 2 stars
Nothing like a good ol’ piece of toast. It’s versatile, can be as delicious as you want to be, and does not take a long time to make. Stay safe with some butter, or go all-out and experiment with anything you can find – boiled egg, alfalfa sprouts and other power herbs, and the 2015 food of the year: avocado. It’s also very filling and way better than junk. The downside is you need a toaster or a small stove or pan to get the perfect toast, otherwise, you’ll have to take risks and make your toast bread in the microwave (which does not always come out right).
8. Microwave Popcorn
Prep time: 5 minutes
Rating: 2 stars
The only preparation time needed for microwave popcorns is 5 minutes – maybe 5.5 including putting the bag in the microwave and taking it out. The rest is basically waiting – that is why it is such a hit among college kids. The best part is, it is a great, healthy alternative to chips! The bad part is, there’s nothing much to it except a quick snack. Nonetheless, it is still one of the easiest dorm foods to make.
7. Instant Oats
Prep time: At most 5 minutes
Rating: 4.5 stars
The thought of bland oats may be the last thing you want to hear about in college, but real adults eat and love how great oats are. They are healthy and rich in fiber, very versatile, cheap, and best of all easy to make. Instant oats take no longer than 2 minutes in a microwave and no longer than 5 minutes with boiling water. You can add fruits, almonds, milk, instant cocoa mix if you’re feeling a little indulgent. Looking for something easier? Get creative with overnight oats! Just mix your oatmeal with milk or water and add fruits or nuts of your picking inside a jar, leave in the fridge overnight, and eat in the morning! You can add it to your packed lunch as well.
6. Ramen
Prep time: 3-5 minutes
Rating: 3.5 stars
Instant ramen: the food item as common to college dorm dwellers as water, as close to them as best friends, and as cheap as they can get. It wins in prep time, ease of preparation, and in inexpensiveness. In fact, it could easily have taken the top spot on this list of easiest dorm foods to make. Unfortunately, in our opinion, ramen does not hold so much nutritional value (they’re empty sodium and carbs), and there are other foods that require less preparation time. Nevertheless, they are the easiest and best things to have for when you’re out of the budget, and they don’t taste awful either.
5. Fruit smoothies
Prep time: 1-2 minutes
Rating: 3 stars
Fruit smoothies are all the rave these days and for all good reasons. They are so easy to make, can be taken on the go, and can be as filling and as healthy as you decide it to make. Some fruits, sweetener, maybe even a spoonful of protein shake if you’re trying to bulk up, blitz for about a minute or so and you’re good to go! The downside to this being a dorm food is the fact that you need a blender for this. But with so many single serve blenders available on the market that are reasonably priced, it may even be a great investment.
4. Microwave Scrambled Eggs
Prep time: 90 seconds
Rating: 3 stars
Save for all the embarrassing and borderline-dangerous microwave accidents, the microwave is one of the greatest inventions of all time – and every college student who’s lived in a dorm and hates the cafeteria food will agree. This microwave scrambled egg is a clear testament to its greatness. Beaten eggs, placed in a microwave safe bowl, ramekin, or mug can turn into a classic home breakfast staple in 90 seconds. With a few condiments of your own choosing, you’ll have a meal that’s protein-rich, generally healthy, and will fill you up ‘til lunchtime. Downside – it can get old too soon. Expert tip: Around the 1-minute mark on the microwave, take out your eggs and stir it around a bit to get evenly cooked scrambled eggs.
3. Yogurt and Fruit Parfaits
Prep time: 1 minute
Rating: 4 stars
The bad news: it sounds too fancy – the expensive and complicated to prepare kind of fancy. The good news: it’s neither. Forget the parfait thing until your roommate or friends ask you what you’re eating – it’s really nothing more than yogurt and fruit. It’s healthy, it’s cheap, and you can eat it on the go! It’s great for those hectic mornings when you don’t have the time to wait for the water to boil, and an even easier make-ahead meal for after-school snacks. The downside to it is that it cannot be more than a quick breakfast or a snack; this is not something you’d crave for dinner. And it’s practically impossible if you don’t have access to a fridge.
2. Sandwiches
Prep time: Depends on what you put in it
Rating: 5 stars
Sandwiches could easily be the most versatile food item on this list. They can go as cheap or as indulgent as you prefer it to be. Tight on the budget? Stack up some cheap peanut butter and jam. Feeling a little rich? Go all the way with veggies and meat or a homemade BLT with some expensive cheese. Basic sandwiches don’t require anything other than bread, spreads, and a spoon. Plates are completely optional. You can eat it for breakfast, wrap it up in foil or paper towel to take, and it’s not something you’d feel too lazy to make after a long day. Want to get a little creative? Make grilled cheese sandwich without a pan! Just wrap your cheese sandwich in foil and “grill” using your hot iron. It takes less time to make than a ramen and the ingredients are easy to keep in a small cupboard and can last you a month or so.
1. Cereals
Prep time: None
Rating 3.5 stars
Cereals, like microwave popcorn, are dorm room essentials. They are cheap, is done in no time, and take this: does not leave such a mess and requires no more than a bowl or mug and a spoon. And in college, eating cereals for lunch, dinner, or midday snacks is completely acceptable and understandable. It can get boring so mix up your cereal choices!
There you have it, the 10 easiest dorm foods to make. They are easy to make, easy on the budget, and as you or your college-bound kid will soon discover, easy to love.
