Quick Meals When Cooking Feels Like a Chore.
By: Laura
Finding what to eat can be challenging sometimes, especially when you are on a tight budget. There are countless recipes online that require high effort and spending a lot. But, in reality, you don’t need to compromise your budget and your time to have a nice, fulfilling meal. We understand that while you’re going between studying and working, having to think about what to eat and finding recipes can be overwhelming. So, I compiled my top 3 recipes that you can use as an inspiration for when you don’t feel like spending hours in the kitchen but will still keep you nourished without compromising on the taste.
Fried Rice
One of the easiest recipes to cook is fried rice. You don’t need a large amount of expensive ingredients, and the best part is that you can fit everything in one pan!
These are the ingredients you need:
Chicken breast🍗: dicing them is the best choice, but it’s all about preference.
Veggies 🥗: the good thing about this recipe is that it gives you a lot of freedom. Pick whichever vegetables you like the most. My personal favourites are peas, carrots, broccoli and bell peppers. Just don’t forget the garlic, add as much as you want.
Rice 🍚: This is the core of the recipe. I recommend making the rice the day before for a better result.
Eggs 🥚: Adding two or three eggs increases the protein in the recipe and gives it a great taste.
Soy sauce 🫙: You can use a low in sodium alternative if you desire.
For this recipe, all you need to do is prep the veggies, cutting them in the way suits your taste while cooking the diced chicken breast in a pan in medium-high heat until it’s fully cooked. Once the chicken is done you can remove it from the pan and place your veggies in the pan with some light oil. Cooked them for a couple of minutes while stirring occasionally.
Add the rice and continue stirring. Push the rice to the side, add a bit more oil and drop the eggs in the pan, leave them there until they are almost fully cooked (or until you prefer). And then mix it all together with the rice.
Finally, add the chicken back to the pan with as much soy sauce as you please and your fried rice is ready! This should take you around 45 minutes to make and it’s a great meal prep food. You can keep it in the fridge and pull it out on those days when you don’t feel like cooking.
💡Extra tip: You can replace chicken for any other meat or protein source you want and get the same delicious taste.
2. Pasta with Tomato Sauce
This is a classic, easy recipe you can make in 30 minutes or less. As long as you have any kind of pasta of your preference you would easily sort a meal or two with this delicious combination.
All you need is:
Pasta 🍝: any shape or kind of pasta of your preference is perfect for this recipe. My favourite is either spaghetti or penne.
Tomato Sauce 🥫: there are countless of budget friendly options for pasta sauce you can pick. It also gives you the liberty to pick any combination you want. My personal favourite is vodka sauce because it gives it a bit of a sweet taste.
The best part about this recipe is that you can add ground beef or any other kind of ground meat and you would have all the protein you need. I always go for ground beef because it’s filling and affordable.
Once you have all your ingredient ready, grab a pot, fill it with water and once it boils put the pasta in. Make sure to add salt after the water has boiled, this helps the pasta absorb the salt and gives it more flavour.
While the pasta cooks you can throw in the meat of your choice on a pan and cook it in medium-high heat until browned. Once the meat is fully cooked you can put in the sauce and mix it with the meat it in low heat for around 5 minutes.
Drain your pasta and plate at your liking. You can also add parmesan or shredded cheese at the top for a bit more flavour.
And just like that you have a delicious meal that doesn’t need crazy amounts of money and time. Same as the last one, you can save what’s left of the sauce for another day, that way, you would save your future self some time.
💡Extra tip: Save some of the pasta water to add to your sauce while you’re cooking it. This tiny detail enhances the flavour and it gives the sauce a thicker consistency.
3. Lentil Soup
For this final recipe, I am going to highlight one of my favourite dishes. Lentil soup is cheap, convenient, and so easy to make using only one pot. And the best part about it is that you can later on add whatever protein or veggies you want to it, and the taste will remain the same.
The ingredients you’ll need are the following:
Onions, Carrots and Garlic 🧅: you don’t need too much of these but its up to you the amount you decide to add to your dish.
Condiments 🧂: use as many condiments you prefer. My personal favourites for lentil soup are salt, pepper, cumin powder and a little bit of paprika.
Tomatoes 🍅: make sure to dice them so they integrate easier in the soup.
Vegetable Broth 🍜: there are many affordable options for broth, you can select your favourite.
One Cup of Lentils 🍲: weather you pick brown or red lentils is up to you. Both make a great soup.
Potatoes (optional) 🥔: This ingredient is optional, but it enhances the flavour so much. It is my favourite way of eating lentils.
Once you have all the ingredients, in a large pot over medium-high heat add the oil of your preference, once is hot add the carrots and onions and cook until they soften. Then add garlic, cumin powder, pepper, salt and paprika while stirring constantly.
After that is done add the tomatoes, lentils, potatoes and vegetable broth (you can also use water, but the flavour won’t be as strong) and bring to a boil. Then, reduce the heat, cover partially and simmer until the lentils are tender and the soup has thickened. Check occasionally until it reaches the desired consistency.
This last step is optional but, you can add spinach or cook some pork chops or diced beef to add to the soup. My personal favourite way to eat this dish is with white rice. It will give you a full stomach and they pair perfect together.
💡Extra tip: If you feel like you made too many lentils you can always freeze them and use them later to make lentil patties.
I hope you enjoyed these recipes and found one that it was of your liking. Eating healthy while you have classes and work can feel like an overwhelming task, so I truly hope this gives you different options to diversify your meals and makes cooking less of a chore and more of an enjoyable experience.
If you are experiencing food insecurity, I recommend checking our Food First service available at the student centres on all three campuses. Approach the Member Service Ambassador (MSA) desk to ask for assistance with non-perishable food items, snacks, and learn more about the upcoming food events that can ease the financial burden for you. 😌
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Looking for meal inspiration? Here are some quick, easy, budget friendly meals you can try for when you are not feeling like spending hours in the kitchen or when you simply want a nice, nutritious meal that doesn’t require tons of effort. 😋