As a college student, your life is busy. You are fitting in lectures, tutorials, study sessions, assignment writing alongside any extracurricular activities. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t want to eat healthy meals. They might just come further down the list of priorities for you. And when the pile of nachos and sour cream at the local restaurant look so good, it can be tempting to just head out to eat.
The move from high school, where you’re in your own home with (potentially) your parents cooking for you, to college can be a bumpy ride. You might be living in a dorm room, and now need to be making breakfast, lunch and dinner yourself. As well as working out what healthy snacks to add to your day. You might have access to a dining hall, but it’s hard to know which are the healthy foods there. You may not be used to even heading to the grocery store for yourself!
So what do you do? Do you head out for takeaways, stick to simple but non-nutritious meals or spend more time in the kitchen? Sure there are some options that don’t require a lot of cooking, like pre-cooked brown rice. But you don’t have to compromise! You can make healthy, nutritious food that doesn’t require hours in the kitchen and is slightly more exciting than a chicken salad. I want to show you a range of quick and easy meals that you can make that don’t require any cooking. Don’t worry, I’ve included some dessert recipes as well as some mason jar salads to take with you! Use these recipes for college students to build out a meal plan for yourself and take the stress out of eating healthy food.
Healthy No Cook Meals For College Students
Tortilla Chips with guac & veggies
242 calories
Ingredients:
½ Bell pepper, green – 13.5 calories
1 oz Tortilla chips – 123 calories
¼ cup Guacamole – 105 calories
Instructions:
Slice bell pepper.
Dip chips & pepper (sliced) in guac.
Single-serving cookie dough
405 calories
Ingredients:
3 Tbsp Flour (Tbsp) – 84 calories
1 Tbsp Chocolate chips – 70 calories
1½ Tbsp Butter (Tbsp) – 154.5 calories
¼ tsp Vanilla – 0 calories
½ tsp Water (tsp) – 0 calories
6 tsp Sugar – 96 calories
Instructions:
Add butter to microwave safe bowl.
Melt butter in microwave 15 seconds.
Add all ingredients (besides chocolate chips) into bowl, stir.
Fold in chocolate chips once mixture has cooled.
Stuffed dates cheese board
388 calories
Ingredients:
2 Dates (or other dried fruit) – 120 calories
1 oz Cheese, Brie – 80 calories
1 Basil – 0 calories
1 Tbsp Peanut butter – 94 calories
â…› cup Pecans (cups) – 94 calories
Instructions:
Slice dates in halves (but don’t cut through), remove pits.
Fill with: a) brie and basil; b) brie and pecans; c) peanut butter and pecans.
If there’s extra cheese, nuts, or peanut butter, have them on the side.
No dairy? Use extra nut butter. No nuts? Use seeds, e.g. sunflower seed butter.
Avocado Salad Lunch
399 calories
Ingredients:
½ Avocado, small
â…“ cup Cheese, crumbled, feta
2 servings Leafy greens, lettuce, raw
1 Tomato, medium
â…› cup Nuts
1 Tbsp Vinaigrette, light (less than 50 calories per 2 Tbsp)
1 serving Garlic salt, dash
Instructions:
Mix avocado (cubed), tomato (chopped), feta, lettuce, vinaigrette, and garlic salt for the salad
Have nuts as a side dish – or you could mix them into the salad if you like!
No nuts? Use seeds. Roasted & salted nuts/ seeds are fine!
No dairy? Use extra avocado or crumbled bacon.
Note: I like Trader Joe’s fat free vinaigrette – but Paul Newman, Whole Foods, etc. all have good light dressings
Bell Pepper Sandwiches with Tomato Mozzarella Salad
421.25 calories
Ingredients:
1 serving Bell pepper, green
1 cup Tomatoes, grape
¼ Red onion
½ Avocado, small
1 Cucumber, small
1 oz Mozzarella balls, mini
1 Tbsp Olive oil
Instructions:
Slice tomatoes, cucumber, avocado, and mozz balls into small pieces
Mix all ingredients (except bell peppers) in a bowl
Cut open bell pepper, scoop out seeds and remove stems. Fill with salad.
Note: You could also cut up the bell pepper into smaller pieces & mix iit n with the salad, if it’s easier for you to eat it that way
No dairy? Use bacon or chicken
Caprese Salad
343.5 calories
Ingredients:
2 oz Cheese, sliced, mozzarella, full fat/ regular
½ Avocado, small
1 Tomato, medium
2 cup leafy greens, lettuce, raw
2 Tbsp Vinaigrette, light (less than 50 calories per 2 Tbsp)
1 serving pepper
1 serving basil
1 serving oregano
Instructions:
Slice tomato & chop avocado into small chunks
Mix all ingredients together
No dairy? Use extra avocado
Vinaigrette: I like Trader Joe’s fat free vinaigrette – but Paul Newman, Whole Foods, etc. all have good light dressings
Deli-Turkey Lettuce-Less Salad
328 calories
Ingredients:
1 Cucumber, small
â…“ cup Cheese, crumbled, feta
4 oz Deli meat slices, turkey
½ cup Celery stalks, chopped in half
1 serving basil
1 serving oregano
2 Tbsp Vinaigrette, light (less than 50 calories per 2 Tbsp)
Instructions:
Cut deli turkey, celery, cucumber into small pieces.
Mix all ingredients.
No dairy? Use a dairy-free cheese, avocado, or olives. No turkey? Use canned tuna.
I like Trader Joe’s fat free vinaigrette – but Paul Newman, Whole Foods, etc. all have good light dressings
Greek Salad & Edamame Bento
407.5 calories
Ingredients:
â…” cup Edamame, in shell
1 cup Grapes, red
½ Cucumber, small
½ Bell pepper, red
1 ½ oz Mozzarella balls, mini
2 Tbsp Vinaigrette, light (less than 50 calories per 2 Tbsp)
1 serving salt
1 serving basil
1 serving oregano
1 serving garlic salt
Instructions:
Defrost or boil edamame if cooking from frozen. Season with garlic salt when ready to eat.
Chop cucumber and bell pepper into small pieces.
Combine with mozz balls, and toss with dressing and seasonings to make salad.
Serve grapes and edamame on the side.
I like Trader Joe’s fat free vinaigrette – but Paul Newman, Whole Foods, etc. all have good light dressings
Greek Salad and Avocado
366 calories
Ingredients:
1 serving Cucumber, small
1 cup Tomatoes, grape
â…“ cup Cheese, crumbled, feta
½ Avocado, small
2 cups Leafy greens, arugula, raw
½ oz Olives, sliced
1 Tbsp Vinaigrette, light (less than 50 calories per 2 Tbsp)
1 serving salt
1 serving pepper
1 serving basil
1 serving oregano
Instructions:
Chop tomato, cucumber, and avocado into small pieces.
Mix all ingredients into a salad.
I like Trader Joe’s fat free vinaigrette – but Paul Newman, Whole Foods, etc. all have good light dressings.
Tuna & Turkey Lettuce Wraps
410 calories
Ingredients:
4 servings Lettuce leaves for lettuce wraps
1 oz Cheese, sliced, cheddar, full fat/ regular
1 can Tuna, canned
1 Tbsp Mayonnaise
1 serving salt
1 serving pepper
2 oz Deli slices, turkey
1 Tbsp Mustard, regular (brown, deli, etc.)
Instructions:
Combine mayo, tuna, salt & pepper, and place evenly in two lettuce leaves.
Fill other two lettuce leaves with cheese slices, turkey, and mustard.
No dairy? Use a dairy-free cheese, or avocado. No turkey? Use canned refried beans.
Tuna Feta Bowl
347 calories
Ingredients:
â…“ cup Cheese, crumbled, feta
1 Cucumber, small
1 Bell pepper, green
1 can Tuna, canned
1 serving salt
1 serving pepper
1 serving basil
1 serving oregano
2 Tbsp Vinaigrette, light (less than 50 calories per 2 Tbsp)
Instructions:
Chop cucumber and bell pepper.
Combine all ingredients.
Top with dressing and seasonings.
No dairy? Use a dairy-free version or avocado.
Note: I like Trader Joe’s fat free vinaigrette – but Paul Newman, Whole Foods, etc. all have good light dressings
Watermelon Feta Salad
414.75 calories
Ingredients:
2 cups Leafy greens, spinach, raw
1 Cucumber, small
¼ cup Cheese, crumbled, feta
¼ cup Pecans (cups)
1 cup Watermelon chunks
2 Tbsp Vinaigrette, light (less than 50 calories per 2 Tbsp)
1 serving salt
Instructions:
Chop cucumber into coin shapes.
Mix all ingredients.
Roasted & salted nuts are fine. No nuts? Use seeds. No dairy? Use extra nuts.
Note: I like Trader Joe’s fat free vinaigrette – but Paul Newman, Whole Foods, etc. all have good light dressings.
2 Tbsp PB & Chocolate Chip Apples
335 calories
Ingredients:
1 small Apple
1 Tbsp Chocolate chips
2 Tbsp Peanut butter
Instructions:
Slice apple
Top with peanut butter and chocolate chips
No peanut butter? Swap for your favorite nut butter.
No nuts? Use a seed butter e.g. sunflower seed butter
Note: slice apple the day of to preserve freshness