11 Simple Meals to Eat in College

Let's be real, by the end of college you should be cooking for yourself at least once or twice a week. But who has time to cook with homework, extracurriculars, and sleeping until noon? Plus who wants to wait for a real meal to cook? You need calories, and you need them fast. With that in mind, here are some recipes perfectly suited for the college budget, schedule, and appetite.

Scrambled Eggs

Easy, fast, and requires enough effort that you feel like you’ve done something mildly adult. Plus you can call this healthy, especially if the eggs are organic.

Frozen Waffles

A great discovery I made a few years ago is that you don’t need to cook frozen waffles. In fact, they’re kind of good while they’re still frozen. Sounds weird, but don’t judge until you try it. And even if you aren’t a fan of eating frozen food pre-thaw, toss a couple of these in the toaster, add a squirt of maple syrup, and you’ve got yourself a tasty breakfast. Add peanut butter for an even better taste experience.

Pot Roast

May seem out of place, but hear me out. A pot roast really just sits in a slow cooker for five or six hours. So all you have to do to cook it is put a piece of meat in the pot when you leave for class and you’ll have dinner when you come back home.

Milk and Cereal

Easy, extremely fast, and undeniably tasty. You also won’t get sick of this because you can eat it for any meal and you can always pull a cerial switch.

Nutella on Toast

So good. The toast is warm, the Nutella gets a little melted, life is awesome.

Peanut Butter on Saltines

Simple and quite tasty. Also easy to crank out a ton really quickly and if you’re lazy you can even forgo spreading and just dip the saltines in the jar of peanut butter.

Frozen Pizza

Some might say to just get Domino’s or Papa John’s, but frozen pizza is cheaper, usually at least a little healthier, and you make it yourself so you get to feel like you’ve accomplished something more than just get off the couch to answer the door.

Easy Mac

It’s a stereotype for a reason. Easy Mac is tasty and, as the name implies, easy to make. The only problem is if you’re too hungry when you make this you might end up digging in before it gets cool and burn your mouth.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are a little more complicated than the other items on the list, but if you use breakapart dough it’s not too tough. And it’s also pretty fun to put a cookie sheet in the over, wait twenty minutes, and then have the greatest snack known to man in your kitchen.

Grilled Cheese

Nothing tastes better than a super cheesy grilled cheese. Plus, it’s easy to move on the stove. Even if you don’t have a stove, some tin foil and your iron can create the perfect dorm room grilled cheese!

Leftovers

Half a pizza. The end of a chipotle burrito. Whatever you ate when your parents came into town that you didn’t finish. Get your microwave ready to recycle that old meal you kept around.