Student cooking essentials

As a student, there are many obstacles you might come across when learning to cook for yourself. In this blog post, I’ll hopefully be able to help you distinguish what you need to be able to cook healthy, tasty meals for yourself and what you don’t.

Firstly, I recommend getting your hands on a student recipe book. Student recipe books are so much better for students than any other type of recipe book for a few reasons in my opinion. 1) They often take into consideration the cost of each recipe i.e. how much you will have to spend on the ingredients and sometimes even the utensils if there’s anything specific the recipe asks for. 2) They are often basic, healthy meals that are easy enough to cook even if you’re new to cooking. 3) They consider the amount of time some recipes will take as they know as students you have a very busy schedule!

Next, I’ll suggest a list of utensils and crockery you will need as a student, and afterwards, a list of utensils you probably don’t need.

• 2 large plates, 2 small plates, 2 large bowls, 2 small bowls
• 1 set of cutlery (knives, forks and spoons)
• 1 large saucepan, 1 small saucepan
• 1 large frying pan
• 1 bread knife (if you eat things like bagels or rolls that need to be cut before buttering/toasting etc.)
• 1 small chopping knife (for chopping veg)
• 1 larger chopping knife (for chopping meat or more stubborn veg)
• 1 strainer/sieve
• 1 wooden spoon
• 1 baking tray (if you’re in halls, don’t get a very large one as the ovens are quite small!)
• 1 spatula
• 2 chopping boards (for different foods i.e. raw meat and veg, in different sizes if you like)

You’ll be able to cook most things with only these utensils! Next I’ll suggest a few things that you might want if you’re a little more advanced at cooking but you certainly don’t need.

• George Foreman grill
• Various spoons and similar tools used for cooking pasta, for example (you can just use normal cutlery to stir things but these can be useful)
• Blender
• Wok (unless you really feel like a frying pan isn’t going to cut it!)
• Endless Tupperware boxes
• Anything that cuts fruit or veg up for you such as an apple corer (waste of money in my opinion! You can easily use a knife)
• Griddle pan
• Whisk

I hope these lists come in handy for anyone new to cooking for themselves at uni! If there are any more suggestions you have please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Photo by Conscious Design on Unsplash