What six recipes would you teach a teen about to head off to university??

[loveyouradvice]

Love your thoughts....

I'm thinking a two or three pasta sauces, a chocolate mousse, a vinaigrette and a simple cake ....

What would be your top six??

My husband is going to teach our some how to make a pasty for when they leave home etc. Shop bought pastry, potato, turnip, onion and skirt (meat), hour in the oven, job done.

How to poach a chicken breast - they can be a meal with salad, sliced into a stir fry or noodles, in a wrap, added to spicy rice. All easy ways to add protein to a meal with minimal effort.
Baked fish - wrapped in foil with a spot of butter and seasoned, also easy for adding protein.
How to make decent mash and gravy

When I was learning how to cook I was given a copy of Red Jumper Delia and I basically worked my way through it. Taught me everything.

Bolognese Sauce (with foot Note That adding kidney beans and chilli powder makes chilli; and any mince can be used)

Burgers (again using any kind of mince, Turkey will be cheapest). Note I just add finally chopped cooked and cooked onions to mince. Long since stopped adding egg or breadcrumbs.

Sausage risotto

white sauce as this is a game changer - add cheese and cooked pasta and any cooked veg for a complete meal; or use to make a lasagne with the Bolognese as above; mix cheese sauce with boiled eggs and leeks, top with mashed potato and grated cheese and cook til cheese melts

Show how to make a really good omelette

How to bake a potato and ideas for lots of toppings

When I was a small child I did quite a few kitchen jobs regularly, simple things such as picking & making mint sauce, mixing vinaigrette, mixing mustard, shelling peas, topping & tailing beans, making egg mayonnaise, grating carrots, are just a few I remember.
So measuring, using a knife etc was learnt early. Later, when I was a Mum, I always encouraged a little helper in the kitchen too. Start them young!

Chilli, curry, stir fry, bolognaise, tomato sauce, omelette.

More important - recipe/meal planning...so how to turn one onion, pepper, tin toms into pasta sauce first day, then add beans or whatever to make it another meal.

DS is pretty much veggie at university - pulses cheaper protein, and he can also add different herbs/ spices to a basic lentil ragout for variety, and would split a meal and reheat a couple of days later so he isn't eating the same thing 3 days on the trot - he would be more wary of leaving a neat dish in the fridge for more than a couple of days.

*meat not neat!

Chicken curry
Spagh Bol
Chilli
Stir fry teraki beef and noodles
Omelette
Pasta bake
And how to turn a microwave and oven on.

It's highly unlikely a student will batch cook even if they have enough fridge and freezer space (unlikely IME). You need to concentrate on things that can be cooked for one with minimal ingredients and equipment.

Yes, fridge space is usually tight and freezer space may be nonexistent. (So they need to be able to do green veg other than frozen peas). They may find a small steamer pan useful.

Dd cooks really well - pasta sauces, bread, stews, chilli, stir fry sauces etc from scratch. But I taught mine to cook whilst still at primary as did my mother me. Money goes a lot further if they can adapt ingredients and scratch cook

@Softleftpowerstance

You forgot seasoning the perfect steak!

Actually dd does cook steak but she's a sponsored student