Let's make a list of meals for a student to learn to cook

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What would you help your kids know how to cook ahead of going to uni? My youngest will hopefully go next year and has suddenly decided she wants a broader list of meals she can comfortably cook, which won't break her bank.

What would be on your list? We already have chilli, spag bol, a couple of simple curries. What else would be cheap, quick and easy, and preferably freeze well for future meals.

Various soups? Once she’s mastered the bolognese she could assemble a lasagna, portioned up that freezes well. Mac n cheese or pasta bakes? Was going to say chilli and curry.

Look for a recipe book by Sam Stern, it’s written for students and it’s very good.

Stir fries
Jacket spud with fillings

Jacket potatoes

Cheese sauce. Omelette. Scrambled eggs. Tomato based sauce for pasta. A good lentil dahl or similar dish. Hummus.

Casserole
Dahl
Omelettes

Chana Masala is easy and healthy.

Stews of various descriptions. Probably with beans or lentils with little to no meat.

Stir fry is a student classic.

Steaming veg in microwave.

Nigel slaters blue cheese pasta - basically spaghetti, blue cheese and spinach - my son loved it !!

Also really easy things like chicken fried rice if using packets at all - chicken, peas, bit of ham, soy sauce and you are sorted

Shepherds pie, can make a big one and portion it up to freeze.

Curries- cheap and nutritious. Egg curry, Dahl, cauliflower and potato, all favourites in our house. Fajitas, tray as keys with chicken and potato and peppers etc or gnocchi, veg and pesto.

Meatballs in a tomato sauce
Lentil Dahl
Learn how to make a white/cheese sauce (lasagna, pasta Alfredo, chicken pie etc)
Risotto
Paella
Mushroom stroganoff
Make a quiche using bought shortcrust pastry
Omelette
Spaghetti Carbonara
Pasta Norma
Aubergine Parmigiana

Sausage and mash
basic curry
baked spicy chicken wings
scouse
chilli

a student cookbook is a really good idea. A basic spice kit is a great gift for a new student

My dd is an excellent cook and so are some of her international uni housemates but they rarely cook ‘curries’ or ‘spaghetti’. It’s usually a quick meal for one like avo toast, or fried egg sourdough sandwich, flatbreads, or spicy noodles. The boys tend to discover working out so it’s all protein shakes and chicken fillets. They cook up a feast for get together events though - it’s very impressive - so maybe one signature side dish is worth practising?

Spaghetti bolognese
chicken fried rice
Sweet and sour
Chilli

As others have said... jacket potatoes. Started in microwave, finished in airfryer (if there is one, and only needed to crisp up the potato skin.)

I love them with anything, but if doing them not as a side, tart them up a bit by scooping out the insides, mashing with butter and a knob of yeast extract (sounds weird but works) and then putting back in their cases with grated cheese on top - grill or airfry till sizzling and crusty.

Traybakes are great - ds cooks a lot from The Green Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer. He’s vegetarian, but there are non-veggie books in her series, too.

Egg fried rice
Spanish omelette/frittata

Learn how to roast a chicken and use it in a mumsnet way for a week.

One of the very many upsides of my child going to university in a much more culturally mixed community than they were brought up in,is that they learned how to cook using ingredients from their local chinese,Vietnamese, Indian ect shops. They'd talk talk to the shopkeeper about what was good, how they should cook it.

I've reaped the rewards. We live together now and, for example, tonight I was asked if I'd like spiced lamb kebabs or prawn curry for lunch tomorrow.

they left home knowing the rudiments of lovely British cooking (they can easily make a lovely full roast lunch), but going to university turned them into a cook who is comfortable with cuisines from many areas of the world.

So, id say, teach the basics, making heavy for example, which translates to making sauces, but encourage them to explore.

Egg fried rice
Fruit bread / plain bread
Veg soup
Pasta bakes
Toad in a hole
Breakfast muffins
Granola bars
Pancakes
Raman

Do not assume they will either have lots of freezer space or flat mates that want to cook with them. And they may not want to eat the same meal for most of the week.

DD's fallbacks are rice with sausage/chicken/bacon and some chopped up vegetables or pasta with a basic tomato sauce (made with actual tomatoes, not a tin as a tin will make loads) and sausage/chicken/bacon and vegetables. Work well for a single person meal or enough for leftovers the next day.

Stuffed peppers - top the tops off red peppers, scrap out the insides and pack with sausage meat. Put the lids back on and bake in the oven for 45 mins. Add a baton of garlic bread half way through.

Omelettes and oven chips - grated cheese & tomato

sausages, mash & peas

Tomato & bacon sauce for fusilli pasta.

pan fried white fish with capers & sweetcorn (fish is the original fast food)

My ds17 can make all these, and he has a sandwich toaster. Hopefully he'll survive.

Honey & mustard chicken.
Chicken thighs or breast throw in a dish, heat honey, whole grain mustard and a dollop of crème fraiche in a pan, pour over chicken and bake in oven 40 mins or so (but check with a thermometer if unsure). Serve with rice, vegetables or potatoes etc. easy peasy