Student kitchen essentials

Cooking at uni doesn’t have to be a chore and there is no need to rely on takeaways and ready meals. I really enjoy cooking for myself and with friends and find that it is a relaxing process and a good way to end the day. Available space in your kitchen and a tight budget may mean that you have to keep your equipment to a minimum, but here are some suggestions of the essential kit to make tasty and nutritious meals.

Utensils:

• Basics such as plates, bowls, cutlery, mugs and glasses.
• Chopping board, sharp knife, cheese grater
• Wooden spoon, sieve, big and smaller sauce pan, frying pan
• Can opener, potato peeler

Products

• Salt and pepper, mixed herbs
• My most frequently used spices: paprika, chilli powder/flakes, cumin, mixed spice (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg)
• Olive oil
• Stock cubes/powder
• Tins of chopped tomato
• Pasta, rice, potatoes, couscous
• Frozen peas, frozen chopped peppers
• Onion, garlic
• Chedder cheese, eggs, pesto

Pepper, salt, vegetable stock powder

Family of spices: cumin, mixed herbs, mixed spice, chilli powder, turmeric

Frozen peas and peppers

Then you can just buy other ingredients when and as you need them. Of course you will need more than just what is listed, but I find that if you have these basic stocked in your cupboards, fridge and freezer, it is much easier to think of and prepare meals.

As you can probably tell from the photos, I like to get my food from Morrisons. It is cheap and good quality. I tend to do a big online order once in a while and get it delivered (for me this is way easier than actually going to a big supermarket). Then I just pick up the odd bits from Sainsbury’s Local on Queens Road.

Hope this is helpful! Let me know any suggestions for what you most use in the kitchen!