Need some healthy college meals on a budget? Here are 25 perfect options!
This post is all about healthy college meals.
If you’ve struggled with eating healthy in college, you are most definitely NOT alone. It’s no wonder the freshman 15 is so common when it’s easiest to grab fast food on-the-go or get microwave meals at the grocery store that you don’t need to spend your precious energy cooking. But the truth is, there are TONS of great healthy college meals that you can make without overspending your money, time or energy.
These are my favourite 25 healthy meals to make as a college student that don’t require crazy amounts of ingredients, time, energy or money.
With 25 ideas to choose from, there will definitely be a bunch of options on here that will become your go-to meals!
This post is all about healthy college meals.
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25 HEALTHY COLLEGE MEALS:
1. Quesadillas
When my friend suggested making quesadillas to me in my first year of college, I thought she was crazy and overly ambitious. I thought it would be hard and take way too much time, but it’s actually so easy to do!
The other thing I love about quesadillas is that you can often use whatever you have on hand. If you have produce that’s going to go bad if you don’t use it soon, like peppers or onions, these are great to throw in a quesadilla!
Overall prep + cooking time: 10 minutes
Get the recipe >>> Quesadillas
*Make this with just beans instead of adding meat and it’s vegetarian!
[RELATED POST – Grocery Shopping on Budget: Valuable Hacks for College Students]
2. Avocado chickpea salad
This is (and I think will always be) one of my go-to healthy college meals. It is seriously so easy to throw together, so healthy and actually fills you up a lot!
Overall prep time: 15 minutes
Get the recipe >>> Avocado chickpea salad
3. One pan chicken, potato & veggie dinner
This recipe is genius because you literally just throw everything all onto one pan and throw it in the oven. Once you’ve made it a few times, you won’t even have to read the recipe as you cook anymore; it’s that simple!
This will also last you for 3-4 meals.
Overall prep + cooking time: 40 minutes
Get the recipe >>> one pan chicken, potato & broccoli dinner
4. Lemon garlic baked tilapia
One problem you may run into as a college student is that good fish (like salmon) can be suuuper expensive. And if you’re a pescatarian and fish is your go-to for protein, then it can get really expensive buying fish like salmon all the time.
Fish like tilapia tends to be significantly cheaper, but is still so healthy and easy to cook. I’m not pescatarian but I do love fish and this is one of my favourite healthy college meals that I have been making for years!
It goes really nicely with rice, quinoa or potatoes.
Overall prep + cooking time: 15 minutes
Get the recipe >>> lemon garlic baked tilapia
5. Greek quinoa salad (vegetarian/vegan)
This is one of the most common cheap healthy meals I make. It’s so good and if you like meal prepping, you can make a bunch in advance and then keep it in the fridge to eat throughout the next week.
If you want to make it vegan, just skip the feta.
Overall prep time: 15 minutes
Get the recipe >>> quinoa salad
6. “Healthy” ramen
Okay, the ramen itself might make this not the *most* healthy meal on this list, but in my freshman year of college, I learned how to master the art of making unhealthy meals moderately healthy.
Let’s be honest:
Sometimes you just want something unhealthy that doesn’t take long to cook. This healthy ramen recipe is seriously so good because it still won’t take you that long to make but it incorporates protein and other healthy nutrients so that you’re not literally just eating carbs and sodium.
Overall prep + cooking time: 10 minutes
Get the recipe >>> “healthy” ramen
*My secret hack: get some kimchi and add it to your ramen – it’s healthy and tastes sooo good!
7. Stovetop sweet potato fries (vegetarian/vegan)
I know sweet potato fries on its own doesn’t really seem like a meal, but I actually do this pretty often when I just want a small and filling but healthy meal. These are a great healthy study snack or small meal to eat after a late evening class if you don’t want to stuff yourself right before going to bed.
Overall prep + cooking time: 20 minutes
Get the recipe >>> sweet potato fries
8. Chicken stir fry
Stir fry is one of the best healthy college meals because you can customize it to your liking. You can also use up whatever you have on hand.
What do I mean by that?
I also mentioned this about the quesadillas in #1 – if you have some produce that’s about to go bad (e.g. peppers, broccoli, onions, etc) then you can throw it into a stir fry to make sure it gets used and not wasted!
Overall prep + cooking time: 20 minutes
Get the recipe >>> stir fry
9. Tomato, avocado & egg breakfast sandwich
This one is so filling and is seriously one of my favourite healthy college meals (although I feel like I’ve been saying that about all of the meals on this list because it’s true).
Overall prep + cooking time: 25 minutes
Get the recipe >>> tomato, avocado & egg breakfast sandwich
10. Fried rice
The thing I love about fried rice is that you can make a ton of it and then save it and eat it throughout the week! I have done this so many times and I never get tired of it.
The only thing to keep in mind is that it’s ideal to make the rice 24 hours ahead of time to chill it so that it fries properly. If you can’t do that, the meal will still be delicious, but if you really want to be eating gourmet in college, then making the rice in advance is a game-changer. That’s what also makes this a great meal if you’re looking for healthy college meal prep ideas.
My recommendation?
Quickly make the rice on a Saturday evening and then finish preparing the meal on Sunday afternoon/evening. Then you’ll have a meal to eat all throughout the week and you won’t have to worry about cooking again until the next weekend!
Overall prep + cooking time: 20 minutes
Get the recipe >>> fried rice
*My special hack: if you want to make this even faster to cook, get pre-cooked frozen shrimp from the grocery store (rather than putting chicken or beef in your fried rice). This means you won’t have to cook any meat and you can literally just throw the shrimp in in the last 2 minutes of cooking the fried rice and it’ll be ready!
[RELATED – Tips on Meal Prep That Will Improve Your College Life]
11. Guacamole & tortilla chips (vegetarian/vegan)
Here’s another one that doesn’t really seem like a proper meal on its own. But it’s a great recipe to have on hand for when you just need something a little smaller!
Overall prep time: 10 minutes
Get the recipe >>> guacamole & tortilla chips
12. Fettuccine alfredo with chicken & broccoli
Anything with pasta is super easy, filling and mindless (in a good way)!
Skip the chicken to make this a vegetarian option (obviously).
Overall prep + cooking time: 25 minutes
Get the recipe >>> fettuccine alfredo with chicken & broccoli
*My special hack: if you want more protein, add roasted nuts to this recipe! Cashews & pine nuts work really well in this.
13. Tomato & cucumber bocconcini salad
I’ve actually been eating this salad since high school because it’s so healthy, but also has some protein which makes it a bit more filling than you’d expect. This is one of the best 5 ingredient meals for college students (you can even make it less than 5 ingredients and it’s still great).
Takes just minutes to throw together!
Overall prep time: 5 minutes
Get the recipe >>> tomato & cucumber bocconcini salad
14. Creamy Mushroom Tortellini
Not only is tortellini good, it gives you a little protein and adding mushrooms to the recipe just gives it that added nutritional kick! If you know how to boil water then you can make this recipe with ease.
Overall prep + cooking time: 30 minutes
Get the recipe >>> creamy mushroom tortellini
15. Fruit & protein bistro lunch box
This is one of the best healthy college meals because it requires absolutely NO cooking and it’s just a matter of throwing things on a plate or in a tupperware container.
Overall prep time: 5 minutes
Get the recipe >>> fruit & protein bistro lunch box
16. Eggplant bruschetta bites
I know this sounds weird, but it’s actually really quick to make and as you can imagine, it’s super healthy. Even my boyfriend liked this, and he is not a fan of eggplants.
Plus, doesn’t that picture look so good?!
This is often made as a party appetizer, but it’s super filling if you eat a few of them and it’s really healthy.
Overall prep + cooking time: 25 minutes
Get the recipe >>> eggplant bruschetta bites
*My hack: since you’re not making it as an appetizer, skip the unnecessary fancy stuff – like the garnish, even the roasted garlic. You can really get away with just olive oil, salt, pepper, and balsamic.
17. Mediterranean flatbread pizza
I’ve actually only made this a couple times but I keep meaning to make it again because it is seriously SO GOOD!!
The first time I made this, I actually just made it so I could use up a bunch of extra chicken breast that I had cooked a couple days prior. This is a great idea to keep in mind if you ever have extra chicken in the fridge that you don’t want to go bad but don’t know what to do with!
Overall prep + cooking time: 15 minutes
Get the recipe >>> mediterranean flatbread pizza
18. Chicken caesar wrap
This is super simple to throw together and it’s something that you can prep and then eat for a couple days after.
Another option?
Get pre-cooked chicken from the grocery store if you don’t have the time to cook it (although this is usually a bit more expensive than buying raw chicken which honestly doesn’t take that long to cook anyways).
Overall prep + cooking time: 15 minutes
Get the recipe >>> chicken caesar wrap
19. Scrambled eggs that use up your leftovers (sounds gross but it’s genius)
Ok, so I’ve mentioned a few times now the idea of using up leftover produce that’s gonna go bad soon. For this one, you can even use leftover meat if you want to – chicken, sausage, bacon, ham – it’s all great in this.
It might sound gross, but I promise it’s not. This is actually a super genius way to make sure you’re not wasting food or the precious money you spent on groceries.
You can pretty much throw whatever veggies you want into scrambled eggs, and that makes it an even healthier meal as well!
Overall prep + cooking time: 12 minutes
Get the recipe >>> scrambled eggs that use up your leftovers
20. Cheese board lunch box
Like, not the cheese & ritz crackers your mom used to give you when you were 5 but also not charcuterie board type fancy…. You feel me?
This is a really simple lunch idea that requires absolutely no cooking but is healthy and filling!
Overall prep time: 5 minutes
Get the recipe >>> cheese board lunch box
21. Rice dolmades & lemon potatoes (vegetarian/vegan)
This might look like something that’s super complicated to make, but you don’t even have to do it all from scratch for it to be healthy.
What do I mean?
Literally all you need to do is get these canned rice dolmades (they’re super healthy, don’t worry) and then make the lemon potatoes. This is one of the most delicious healthy meals for college students!
Overall prep + cooking time: 1 hour
Get the recipe >>> lemon potatoes
22. Avocado egg salad sandwich
Here’s another example of those healthy college meals that is super filling while being healthy! A great option if you have a heavy day of classes or assignments.
Overall prep + cooking time: 25 minutes
Get the recipe >>> avocado egg salad sandwich
23. Filling energy booster protein smoothie (vegetarian)
For those days where you just want a small lunch or an energy boost between classes, this protein smoothie is a great option.
In my freshman year, I’m not kidding when I say that my friends knew me as the girl who ALWAYS had a smoothie on her if I had a full day of classes. If you throw it in this tumbler that will keep it cold, it’s the perfect on-the-go snack!
Overall prep time: 10 minutes
Get the recipe >>> filling energy booster protein smoothie
24. Crispy grilled cheese (vegetarian)
I’m probably one of the biggest grilled cheese fans out there.
My favourite part about grilled cheese?
Customizing them! Sometimes, I love putting ham or salami on my grilled cheese, and maybe a slice of tomato. This just adds nutrition and makes it taste even better. Another weird thing I like (but it’s so good) is dipping it in this zucchini relish.
Overall prep + cooking time: 15 minutes
Get the recipe >>> crispy grilled cheese
25. Loaded baked potato
Baked potatoes are one of my favourite healthy recipes for college students in apartments because you can just throw one in the oven and then spend an hour or so doing assignments, studying, or cleaning while you wait!
Overall prep + cooking time: 1 hour
Get the recipe >>> loaded baked potato
Healthy packaged foods for when you just don’t have time:
- Amy’s organic soups
- Kombucha always helps me feel like I’m getting something healthy in me
- Kashi bars are a great healthy on-the-go snack
- You can also buy frozen veggies that are already seasoned – you literally just have to throw them on the stove, in the oven or in the microwave!
Which of these meal ideas are you going to try?
This post was all about healthy college meals.
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What a fantastic variety of recipes! I often do “open” grilled cheese sandwiches by toasting the bread first, then baking the bread topped with cheese, tomatoes and cooked asparagus. Totally yum!
that sounds soo good!! ?