By: Eric Detienne 

Finding good meals to cook as a busy college student can be difficult.  It’s often hard to find a variety of good foods, and tasty options can be expensive.  Thankfully there are plenty of ways to make cheap and otherwise repetitive meals better and more unique. 

 Possibly the most important thing to remember is to stock up on essential spices like salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano.  Here are some great recipe ideas to make some popular college meals more special, tasty, and nutritious.

Spaghetti 

Instead of just boiling some noodles and heating up red sauce to pour over the top, consider something like this:

  • In a medium-high heat saucepan, heat up some oil and saute diced onions, bell peppers, carrots, and/or garlic.  Along with the veggies consider adding some ground beef or ground sausage for protein and even more flavor. Once the vegetables have softened and built some light caramelization, and the meat is cooked and seared add the red sauce. 
  • Finally, instead of fully boiling the noodles and then adding sauce on top, consider straining the noodles a minute or two before they are done and add them along with the sauce and a little pasta water into a frying pan on high heat. This will help to infuse the noodles with the great flavor of the sauce and fully mix the two together.  Finish it off with a little fresh parmesan cheese and an otherwise ordinary dinner is now delicious, unique, and full of nutrients. 

Stir Fry 

Next time you go to make plain rice or ramen consider turning it into an amazing stir fry:

  • Start by sauteing some onions, peppers, broccoli, carrots, garlic, snap peas, and/or bean sprouts.  Almost any veggies you like and have access to will work for this.
  • Next add some protein, if you have time, thaw some chicken and pan fry it with oil on medium high into crispy nuggets or feel free to use some frozen chicken tenders as well.
  • Then make your noodles or rice of choice.
  • Finally, mix all of the veggies, chicken, and choice starch in a pan and stir fry them. 
  • The most important thing is it pick some tasty sauces to add, consider using some soy, teriyaki, hoisin, and/or sesame ginger sauces during the stir frying process and try finishing everything off by cracking an egg into the frying pan and topping with some sesame or poppy seeds. 
  • The result will be a noodle or rice dish packed with some delicious veggies, protein, and tons of flavor added from the sauces.  

Pizza

Everybody loves a good frozen pizza but there’s no need to eat the same basic flavors each time. 

  • Next time you go to make a frozen pizza try getting creative with some new toppings.  Any of the aforementioned veggies would be great to throw on top.  For protein, toss on some bacon, ground beef, your preferred style of sausages, ham, bite sizes of chicken or even some diced up chicken nuggets from the freezer.  
  • Adding additional cheese, especially fresh mozzarella balls, can also make for a delicious enhancement. 
  • Making your own pizzas can also be incredibly fun and tasty, just buy some pre-made pizza dough and add whatever sauces and toppings you’d like before cooking.  This allows you to make a crust catered exactly to your preferred style.  In the end, don’t be afraid to get creative and try something unique.  

Mac and Cheese

So many delicious things can be done to spice up Mac and Cheese:

  • Sear up ground beef, onions, and peppers and add to Mac and Cheese to make a tasty Tex-Mex variety.  Also think about adding some tomato soup to the combination for an upscaled beefaroni.
  • Adding barbecue or buffalo sauce and shredded pork or chicken bites can make for an excellent southern style mac. 
  • Lastly, don’t be afraid to ditch the cheese dust mix from the box and add your own cream, favorite choice of cheeses, and even breadcrumbs for a hearty homestyle option. 

UWW Resources 

To help decrease grocery bills, keep food from going to waste, and find great, fresh ingredients, remember to use UW-Whitewater resources. 

  • The Warhawk pantry located in Drumlin Dining Hall offers tons of good, ready-to-reheat meals, fresh produce, frozen meats, and shelves of other quality ingredients at no cost. 
  • During warmer months also remember to take advantage of the campus garden and incorporate fresh produce directly from the garden into your meals!

These are just a few options for spicing up some super common college meals but it can extend far beyond these specific recipes.  If you ever feel like a meal is getting a little boring or lacking some nutrition, remember to be creative and throw in spices and new ingredients wherever you want.  The internet is full of cheap, easy, and quick recipes so don’t feel like you have to keep yourself in a box with the same old meals.  Get adventurous and try new things!  Food is what fuels us to do great things so make sure it’s fun, nutritious, and delicious.