As a student, it’s hard to know what to cook. In between lectures, essays, socialising, and going to the pub, cooking can often fall to the bottom of our to-do list. Beyond the cheffing itself, it's hard to be creative with meals when you have 15 other things on your plate, and I’d bet the majority of students have reached for pasta and a jar of pesto at some point during their degrees.
Enter TikTok (or Reels if you're uncool like me). Virtual recipes are all the rage at the moment and can be the perfect place to go if you're lacking culinary inspiration - you can see the meal you're going to get before you've even made it. However, many food influencers like to use multitudes of often expensive ingredients you just wouldn't find in your average student cupboard. To try to find a happy medium, I decided to cook a week's worth of TikTok recipes, making concessions for my bank account, my busy schedule, and my modest ingredient collection.
Carrot cake baked oats
https://www.tiktok.com/@dietitianrose/video/7320503652140027137
First things first: breakfast. I'm a certified oats fan yet, being bored of the overnight oats trend or my microwave porridge, I decided to try out Rose Maclean's baked oat 'cake'. The odds were high for me to love this recipe, as it combines practical meal prep with my favourite type of cake.
The ingredient list is student-friendly, as I chose to forgo protein powder and maple syrup for the flour and honey I already had in my kitchen. The carrots and bananas were cheap, whilst oats and Greek yoghurt can be bought in bulk and used for breakfast later in the week.
Safe to say, this was a success. It was pretty easy to assemble all of the ingredients before leaving them to do their thing in the oven. The yoghurt topping really made this recipe for me, and I felt like I was having dessert for breakfast every day. My only criticism is that the cake was slightly dry, but warming a slice up in the microwave with some extra honey did the trick.
Credit: Annabel Benton @ The Mancunion
Protein salad pots
I always struggle with what to make for lunch, yet meal prepping for study days is the perfect way to keep costs down as a student. After browsing Reels for a while, I settled on making Amelia Sandy's protein power pots. I was drawn to the prepable aspect of this one, as it's such a pain making lunch from scratch every morning.
With the basics of chickpeas, kale, and quinoa - all pretty cheap - you can probably choose to add whatever veggies you like. I followed Amelia's veg choices and added cherry tomatoes and cucumber, along with some olives I had in the fridge, and invested in a bottle of lemon juice to drizzle on top. However, I did swap out quinoa for lentils to add a bit of interest.
I also ended up popping each portion inside some toasted pitta bread, as it's safe to say some veg and lentils aren't going to keep me full on campus all afternoon. As a salad, the prep was easy and it was good to get some extra protein in, but don't be caught out by online portions and make sure to make the lunch your body needs.
Pasta al-ragù
https://www.tiktok.com/@fitgreenmind/video/7296604384148966689?lang=en
Now we're getting fancy. With a bit of free time on my hands, I decided to try out this vegan ragù recipe. This was one I'd saved on Instagram a while ago, but I did have to plan the time into my schedule to make it - not the most practical.
To stick to my weekly food budget I used slightly fewer walnuts than recommended and also left out the balsamic vinegar, bay leaves, and miso. I think this recipe turned out alright without them, however, if you do give it a go, be warned that making the mince is fiddly, generating a lot of washing up.
Combined with some pasta, the ragù was a hearty meal and it was fun to make my own mince as a pescatarian. However, after cooking for two hours, I did expect a bit more flavour. Maybe it was the ingredients I decided not to buy, but I don't think I'll be trying this one again (unless I'm really bored!).
Credit: Annabel Benton @ The Mancunion
Vegan shepherd's pie
Looking for some comfort food, the next video recipe I attempted was Sophie Waplington's 'Easy, Beany Shepherd's Pie'. This recipe is vegan, yet, unlike the ragù, forgoes meat completely in favour of beans and lentils. The recipe recommends black beans and kidney beans, which are great low-cost protein sources for those on a budget.
Combined with the mushrooms and lots of garlic, this was a lovely meal after a long day. Hearty and just about fancy enough to make you feel like you're putting in some effort, I'd recommend this to anyone wanting to try something a bit different. I made my own mash but left out the expensive cashew cream the recipe suggests. You could even buy pre-made mash to cut the prep time.
My final touch was 34p garlic bread from Aldi, as you can't get too ahead of yourself. By simplifying the ingredient list and opting to boil rather than bake my potatoes, this shepherd's pie wasn't too much effort.
Pesto gnocchi traybake
https://www.tiktok.com/@thefitlondoner/video/7319933391623785760
To stay true to my student pasta pesto roots, I finished the week by trying out this gnocchi traybake by Emma Petersen. By roasting veg in the oven and combining them with gnocchi and pesto, this recipe saved on washing up as well as my funds. Roasted veg is perfect for using up any leftovers in your fridge whilst keeping prices down.
I did choose to leave out the sausages as I wanted to go all in on the vegetable flavours, but I'd imagine they'd be a nice high-protein addition. The gnocchi was the star, however, and felt like a fancier alternative to your basic supermarket pasta. The cooking time was one of the quickest I tried - so easy to pop into the oven after a long day at uni.
The gnocchi kept well and tasted fresh for two days. As a busy third-year, I love a traybake recipe which makes multiple meals and would recommend this to anyone who has spare veg to use up in their fridge. As across the whole week, it was nice to try out some of the endless recipes I see across social media without having to fork out for a whole new store cupboard!
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