My freshman year of college was a blur of dining hall cookies, colossal 2 am calzones, boxes of gluten-free cereal, and burritos. Lots of burritos.
Let’s admit: As a college student, meal prep usually meant browsing a selection of all the food everyone told us we weren’t supposed to be eating all the time.
It was a big change, and the unlimited food available in college can easily overwhelm. Putting my dietary preferences into practice in a dining hall was a real challenge.
If you’re in college now or graduated already, you can probably relate.
Eating satisfying meals in college can be a logistical nightmare when you’re also juggling homework, studying, a social life, getting enough sleep, and classes.
Everything in this post comes from what I wish I’d known back in college, when I had full autonomy over my food choices for the first time. I hope that if you’re in college now, or going to college soon, this post helps!
Before we get into it, I want to let you know that you can get access to the full Workweek Lunch College Meal Prep Guide by signing up for the WWL Meal Prep Program for $7.99/month. The full college guide is complete with equipment recs, 83 college-friendly recipes/meal ideas, budget hacks, dining hall tips and so much more. Of course, the membership comes with weekly meal plans, grocery lists, a community and access to all WWL meal prep recipes. Learn more in the link above.
Why I Wish I Had Meal Prepped In College
Like every college student, I was busy — with friends, classes, homework (sometimes…), a part-time job and lots of extracurricular stuff.
So when it came to food, I often found myself making unfulfilling choices in the dining hall, getting takeout, and making meals from vending machine snacks. There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of those food decisions (although at the time I thought there was, so I was constantly trying to “balance” by going to the gym), but food made me feel really stressed out; I was always either guilty or unsatisfied, never just enjoying a meal.
I felt completely out of control around food and I think I spent way more energy than I needed to on food decisions.
In my junior year of college, I had a small kitchen and learned how to cook some really basic foods using a workout plan that I dropped $160 on (I’m still mad about it — biggest waste of my money). I lived on flavorless egg white omelets, crappy tofu stir fries, and grapefruit. I didn’t know how to make food taste good back then.
The worst part? I wasn’t eating enough. And then I’d binge on pizza, calzones, Nutella, cereal, peanut butter right out of the jar and any snacks my friends would let me scarf down.
TL/DR: I was all over the place.
How Meal Prep Would Have Helped Me
Meal prepping in college would have helped me:
- Save TIME by skipping the dining hall and not worrying about what to eat and when.
- Consistently eat satisfying meals and avoid the cycle of starving myself and then binge-eating.
- Avoid fatigue during a long day of classes — I could’ve packed snacks to keep my energy up and get ahead of that “Oh no, I haven’t eaten all day” moment at 10 pm.
- Save MONEY by avoiding the on-campus takeout options. It was either a $15 salad, $12 sandwich or a $7 box of greasy noodles. Ugh.
- Not stress over food. Ever.
The food stress thing is huge.
In college, food took up so much of my brain space and energy. I had a negative relationship with food and exercise, and I struggled with body image issues. I regularly got upset about my body or what I was eating.
Now, I practice intuitive eating, and I’m healing my relationships with food and exercise. Whether I’m munching on cookies, carrot sticks, or chips (all great snacks!), I don’t get stressed about what I’m eating. Meal prepping is a big part of that, and if I’d been doing it in college, it would have helped me calm down around food a lot, think less about it, and avoid extra stress on top of all the other college stuff.
Where To Start With Meal Prep, Even If You Don’t Have A Kitchen
I lived in a dorm the first two years of school, so I get what that’s like — many dorms are ill-equipped for cooking, because you’re meant to be using the school’s meal plan. Not having a good kitchen, or in some cases not having one at all, kind of sucks! At Ithaca College, where I went to school, we were lucky to have communal dorm kitchens on every floor with a fridge, oven, stove, and storage. Plus, some of my friends had a microwave, so even though there wasn’t one in the communal kitchen, I still had microwave access.
I didn’t use the communal kitchen to cook meals. Mostly, I used it to bake cupcakes — lots and lots of cupcakes. So if I’d known about meal prep back then, it would have been doable.
There are so many ways to meal prep; it’s definitely not an all-or-nothing situation. Even just having my morning breakfasts taken care of would have made my life way easier in college. Experiment and see what works for you! One of the most intuitive and obvious ways to meal-prep is the dinner-to-leftovers method: If you’re already cooking yourself a meal, chances are the ingredient quantities are too large for just one serving. So why not make two or three servings, and save the rest for the next few days? If you’re completely new to meal prep check out my Meal Prep for Beginners 101 Guide.
If you don’t like leftovers, you can also prep ingredients to be cooked later. Chopping and portioning is often the most time-consuming part of cooking a meal, so If you have chopped up onions, garlic, and veggies and exactly 3 teaspoons of garam masala ready and waiting, that curry is going to be a breeze on the day you actually cook it.
You can ease your way into meal prep by just meal-prepping ONE meal — breakfast is often the easiest and quickest, but if your schedule is wide open in the mornings and crammed with classes in the afternoon or evening, maybe having a prepped lunch or dinner will make the biggest difference for you. Whatever meal you choose, try prepping enough for three days and see how it feels, then adjust based on what works for your routine and amount of free time. It may change from week to week — be flexible and gentle with yourself.
Here are some ways to get around not having access to a full kitchen:
- Make friends that have kitchens. I’m not kidding! I bet if you made a few extra goodies for them, they wouldn’t mind.
- Check out some microwave-only meals. Buzzfeed has an awesome list here.
- If you can have a mini fridge in your dorm or room (if you share a fridge with lots of people in a house) DO IT. Best investment ever. You can grab one for under $60 on Amazon here.
- You can do a lot with just a crock pot or Instant pot. If you don’t have access to a stove or oven, this would be an excellent investment too. Here’s a cheap crock pot (slow cooker) on Amazon. How easy would it be to throw in a bunch of ingredients and let it cook while you study or chill with friends?
- Even just a low-watt rice cooker is a great investment. Of course, it’s always helpful to have rice on hand, but you can also use it to make things like oatmeal and soup.
- Try some no-cook meals. I have three vegan no-cook meal recipes here! You can make these on the cheap without a kitchen.
I don’t want you to let a lack of kitchen access stop you from eating delicious home-cooked meals!
Get creative. The sooner you start cooking, the sooner you’ll become awesome at it.
Now let’s talk about those of you who do have access to a kitchen. Chances are, it’s a pretty small one or you’re sharing it with way too many people. Possibly both. While you have access to plenty of equipment with with to do the actual cooking, there are challenges unique to college student that you may be facing. A big part of meal prepping is storing food, so if you don’t have anywhere to store it, having the equipment to cook it with becomes a moot point.
For example, one thing I remember running into in college was that my roommates would keep old, moldy food in the fridge, so that it was just sitting there taking up space. In that situation, I mandated an occasional fridge cleanout to purge all of that. You could also try agreeing on a takeout rule. For example: “If the same box of takeout has been sitting in the fridge for 5 or more days, whoever put it there should toss it out. If they don’t do so after 7 days, then other roommates have the right to throw it out to make room.” Make sure it’s specific, and make sure that everyone knows about it and agrees to it. Another way to ensure that you have space is to divide up fridge and pantry space. For example, assigning each person one shelf or one half of a shelf.
In tiny kitchens, it can be really hard to cook when someone else is trying to cook at the same time. Plan ahead and let your roommates know you’d like to use the kitchen for a few hours at whatever time you set for meal-prepping, and make sure none of them will need it at the same time. If your roommates are into the idea, you could even try making a kitchen schedule so that you don’t have to deal with too much overlap.
And if your kitchen is tiny, you’re probably dealing with storage shortages regardless of how many roommates, or lack thereof, you’re sharing space with. That’s where kitchen organization comes in. I have lots of advice and tips on storage solutions and kitchen organization on my Instagram and in other blog posts, but you can start by following four basic principles:
- Kitchen minimalism: Prioritize what you need and use on a regular basis. If you have a pot you haven’t used for 6 months or an appliance with an extremely specific function that other multifunctional appliances can also perform, you probably don’t need it. Not sure what is essential? Check out this list of 21 college kitchen essentials!
- Smart storage: Make sure you’re using the space you have to its full capacity! Remove things from bulky packaging and store them in the smallest container they’ll fit into, for example. If something isn’t fitting, try to shift things around and reorganize.
- Embrace the freezer: There are SO many things that can be frozen, and live a happy life in your freezer until you’re ready to use them. If your fridge is looking cramped, see what you can freeze. This also helps cut down on food waste.
- Inventory: It’s important to know what you have so you’re not wasting unnecessary space on something you already own, but forgot you stuffed into the back of a cluttered drawer. The same goes for your fridge. Before buying a package of meatballs, make sure you don’t already have a bag of them, forgotten underneath an ice pack.
Another thing I want to point out: you can easily meal prep snacks and even some meals without a kitchen. Even having snacks on hand can make a huge difference in the way you feel and your energy levels!
How To Carry Meals Around Campus (And College Meal Prep Tools and Snacking Ideas)
When I asked my audience on Instagram what their biggest struggles were around college and meal prepping, being able to carry meals around all day was a BIG one.
I get it. You want to be able to carry meals around without lugging a gigantic lunchbox and you don’t want them to go bad without being refrigerated AND they have to taste good without being reheated.
But that’s not as tall of an order as it sounds. I hope these tips help!
LOOK FOR SPECIFICALLY COLLEGE-FRIENDLY RECIPES
The things that college students never have are: time, money, and a decent kitchen area to actually prep with. So, meal prep is always going to be a challenge. But this doesn’t mean you should neglect your meals—you can’t think or study appropriately on an empty stomach!
Instead, when you’re looking for recipes, find ones aimed explicitly at college students. The recipes are basically easier versions for college meal prep, with more accessible ingredients, and you don’t need complicated kitchen tools to make them.
SATISFYING SNACKING IDEAS
Yes, planning your snacks also needs to be part of your meal prep ideas. For college students, it’s almost second nature to just grab a couple of bags of chips or whatever else we can get our hands on.
But the kind of snacks you have should be satisfying while giving you the energy to power through the next class. Look for snacks like trail mix, roasted chickpeas, granola, or energy bars.
They’re hiking food for a reason—they give you energy. These snacks tide you over until the next opportunity to sit down for a proper meal.
MEAL PREP MUST-HAVES
You may not have a full kitchen at your disposal, but you still need the right tools to prepare your meals. You won’t need highly sophisticated kitchen gear anyway, so head to the nearest dollar store and find yourself the following:
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring cup and spoons
- Cooking spatula, ladle, and slotted spoon
- A serrated knife and cutting board
- Paring knife
- A vegetable peeler
- A colander
- Tongs
- A can opener
If you have access to a stove, don’t forget to bring your own things. A deep pot or saucepan should fulfill a bunch of different cooking needs, and you might want to grab a cast-iron skillet for frying.
These two will be your all-around cooking pans. They can handle the different meal prep ideas that college students might come up with.
Not all lunch bags are obnoxiously huge.
This is my favorite one from Lock and Lock that also comes with containers inside. It fits inside my backpack with my laptop and it’s perfect for keeping meals cool all day with the help of an ice pack.
Consider researching “no reheat” recipes specifically.
If there’s a type of recipe you need, I promise the internet has already taken care of it. WWL has lots of options when it comes to no-cook/no-reheat meal prep recipes! Here are some options:
Cold Lunch Ideas: Meal Prep Recipes When You Don’t Have A Microwave
4 No Cook Lunches | Easy Snack Box Lunch Ideas
I know that this isn’t a possibility for many college students. During my senior year I usually went home to eat meals in my apartment. I lived fairly close to campus and had a car, so it was pretty easy to come home and eat whatever (boring) salad I’d made that morning before class. If you can squeeze in time to go home, I highly recommend it. If not, there are tons of great meals you can carry around all day. Creativity is key.
Balance: Is It Possible In College?
Let’s say you have a kitchen and nothing is stopping you from meal prepping or cooking. But you don’t want to just eat at home all the time. You want to be able to spontaneously decide to get takeout without worry about wasting a meal. Cooking for one is tough… so is it even possible?
Yes. I promise that it is.
Like anything else, it takes some time to learn how to fit meal prep and cooking into your lifestyle.
Let’s get a couple things straight:
- Meal prep IS the answer to cooking for one. If you make a batch meal, you end up using WHOLE ingredients. For example, a whole can of beans, a whole zucchini, a whole thing of spinach etc. This helps you not waste ingredients (and money.
- You do NOT have to meal prep breakfast, lunch and dinner like I do. You can choose one meal to prep to lighten the load a little, like just breakfast or just snacks. This helps you be more spontaneous and less “tied down” to cooking and staying in all the time.
- Meal prep gives you so much more control over your diet. It helps you be more consistent, but you can also choose when you want to indulge. In making those decisions, you can find the best balance between eating healthy and eating the fun foods FOR YOU.
I believe balance is possible and it even becomes easier with meal prep in the picture. Keep in mind, just because you START something (like meal prep) doesn’t mean you have to do it forever. Try for a week or two. See what happens. You literally have nothing to lose.
If you want help with the planning, or don’t know where to start with finding good recipes and making a grocery list, you can get that all taken care of in the Workweek Lunch Meal Prep Program. Weekly meal plans, a support group and exclusive new healthy recipes for $7.99/month? That’s a steal and it saves you even more time as a busy college student.
Note: this post contains Amazon affiliate links. This has no effect on the price of the items in the post, but by clicking on them you’re supporting Workweek Lunch and helping us keep the meal prep magic coming to you!
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