Budget diet food for university student?

Ah I miss being in halls!

Omelettes, tortilla wrap pizzas or bagel pizzas (put topping on a wrap or bagel and whack in the oven til crispy), home made chips with chicken, stirfry, pasta with loads of different sauces and veg - can use left overs for the next day, jacket potatoes, I used to do enchiladas a lot..

Hope these help and good luck at uni!

Uni kid here as well :flowerforyou:

I like to cook a heck of a lot of food (up to a week's worth) in one go. Stir-frys and curries are pretty easy to make on a budget, especially if you buy rice in bulk. Plus you can cram in a lot of veggies.

Things with mince like shepard's pie, tacos, and bolognaise can be done quite cheaply as well. And home-made burritos/burgers/wraps are good ways to get salad in without eating it as, well...a salad. While take-out pizza and pasta bakes can be horrible in terms of fat/calories/salt, if you make it from home there's really nothing wrong with it provided you're careful choosing what goes into them and how much you serve yourself (and with what sides, if any, you do).

Slow-cooking is a good option if you're busy - just chuck everything in and forget about it for a few hours. You can make...pretty much anything in them. Soups and stews seem to be popular options though and tend to be good for budget-wary individuals. But you can make sandwich fillings and stuff in them as well (I threw in some salsa, pork, and beans once and it was quite delicious).

Hope this helps :happy:

I start uni on Monday and I'm on a pretty strict budget of about £25 a week... Going to raid the kitchen cupboards for olive oil and condiments etc before I go so that should save me some cash!

I reckon that the staples will be things like spag Bol, chilli, stirfry and homemade soups.

From what I've been told its fairly easy to cook healthy food if you batch cook it, freeze individual portions and also go to supermarkets for fresh veggies/ fruit at about 6.30-7ish in the evening to pick up some bargains.

Hate to state the obvious [been there done that - would do it again LOL] - but easiest kcal saver at uni is to reduce alcohol OR drink spirits with diet mixers instead of beer/wine.

Back to food... would say a lot is to do with the balance on your plate... so err (sp?) on the side of coloured veggies (not just root veg!) being the major player on the plate and you're well on your way there! Roasted veg great in winter (do your own, less oil than ASDA metal foil trays), including stuffed mushrooms (ASDA do some nice prettied up veg trays).

Make sauces from chopped tomato base rather than buy pre-made Dolmios etc. LARGE shepherd's pies and bolognese are great and just as cheap (and just as quick) if made with chopped tomatoes or no added sugar Passata (I use Marmite and Worcester Sauce for flavor) and bulked up with lots of mushrooms and onion chunks (even baked beans) with less potato/pasta (+ low kcal grated cheese)... don't be fooled into cheap mince, the lean mince is more expensive (though often on deals, buy and freeze when they are!) but will go further i.e. the other stuff just reduces down to water when cooked anyway.

ASDA was also my student supermarket and there are always offers on, so you can pick veg/meat that fits what's on sale on the given week (or as I said buy meat when on deals and freeze). Other than that in their freezer section they have loads of (I know you can argue processed) but relatively low kcal microwave meals (350-600) often for £1 each - I always stock up on these in Winter.

I would also say the trick at uni is to eat meals - not eat on the go - otherwise you'll end up with sarnies and pasties and kebabs on the way home!

But most of all don't count kcals, make healthy decisions and enjoy uni!