S21 ditched the meal plan and wants to prepare his own meals. He is NOT a cook (mostly grills out while at home.). Can you share simple but tasty meals that your students have made in dorm rooms, dorm microwaves, or even one pot meals?
And, do you have tips on storing the food in a dorm fridge?
Thanks for asking this! My first will be off to college next year so I’ll be interested in seeing the responses. Bookmark CHECK!
Will he have access to something he can use a pot or pan on?
Easy dish
Mix can + spices + salt. Warm (low heat) in microwave.
Break 2 eggs and put back in (not sure how long it’d cook - white needs to solidify but not yolk)
Grill bread.
Eat by starting to dip bread into tomato and egg yolk. Finish with spoon. 
What kind of heating element is allowed in your son’s dorm room?
Storing the food in the dorm fridge seems like the least of the issues - will there be a sink suitable for washing pans and dishes?
He can use the dorm kitchen space. He has use of a real stove, oven and microwave. The microwave is in his room. Yes, they have a sink for washing up.
Instant. Pot.
Seriously!
Some good fancy bread, nuke some frozen veggies or toss a salad, Instant Pot a pork tenderloin or some chicken breasts. Bam, you’ve got dinner for a few nights! Best part is that it doesn’t smell up a small space like a crockpot does. And it’s waaaaay quicker! I did a 3 lbs pork tenderloin in about 18 min. I did an entire boston butt for carnitas in an hour (something that takes literally all day in the crockpot & the whole neighborhood knows when I’m cooking it!)
Chicken fried rice takes about 30 min start to finish. It looks hard, but is deceptively easy.
Does he have access to a Trader Joe’s? They have alot of very easy meals. My S lives for their frozen tamales. Their frozen mac in cheese (nuke for 5 min) rivals my own made from scratch.
Breakfast for dinner practically gets a ticker tape parade in my house. My DH will make up a big batch of pancakes over the weekend & freeze them for me. He’ll also do up extra bacon. We don’t like eating warmed up bacon on its own, but it’s great for burgers, BLTs, omelets, and breakfast bagels.
I gave a small hardcover book called “Recipes Every College Student Should Know” as stocking stuffers to my friends’ kids last year. They loved it, and you can get it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Cost around $8.
Also easy is to just get thin chops or poultry. Sprinkle a ready made spice mixture and saute it on both sides. While it’s cooking you can steam some vegetables. They can also be made more interesting with spice mixtures. Try zahtar!
When I want a lazy night I go to the international section of the store and get a jar of sauce - my favorites are the Indian ones, except for vindaloo which is very hot. For that you just open a jar stick it in a sauce pan and put in whatever vegetables or proteins you like. You can use tofu (even though it’s not authentic), beans, or paneer (an Indian cheese that doesn’t melt). I usually stick in some vegetables - cut up peppers, peas and carrot slices all work well. Instead of rice, if that is too troublesome he can look for naan, an Indian flat bread.
Is he actually allowed to not have a meal plan at all if in a dorm? I don’t think my kids schools allowed that.
I would suggest loading up on fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese, whole grain crackers/bread, nuts, lean luncheon meats/summer sausage - so, make a charcuterie meal often.
If he goes the frozen meal route, encourage him to still stock up on fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains. He doesn’t have to have 5 fruits and vegetables on hand at all times but buy a couple items (like bananas and strawberries for fruit and baby carrots and broccoli for vegetables) and then that’s what you eat until those are gone and you head to the store to get two new varieties.
Will he be permitted to have a small refrigerator in his dorm room ?
I’d suggest a crock pot (or something similar) and a cookbook of recipes for ‘one pot meals’. I have not used a crock pot, but I hear people who have, love them.
Thanks for all of the ideas. I was trying to make the post as general as possible so that it would apply to any college student. He is in a single room, actually in a fraternity house, which has dorm style rooms and a kitchen. The meal plan the fraternity has is “awful” according to him; a cook brings in two individually wrapped meals per person per day. Thus, he cancelled the plan for himself wants to cook his own meals.
He has a low wattage microwave and a dorm fridge in his room. He owns a skillet, a saucepan, a strainer, a large bowl, a cutting board, one knife, one fork, one spoon, one plate. He has access to the barebones kitchen which includes a stove and oven and microwave.
He is private, so I imagine much of his “cooking” would be done in that dorm room microwave using that one bowl. However, he could use the kitchen if he has a recipe that’s easy enough.
The intent though of this post wasn’t meant to be specifically about my student. I hope others in college can get tips for quick and easy meals to prepare in a college dorm room.
CC has introduced a couple of hard boiled egg cookers that have proven popular with posters. The Dash egg cooker plugs in and can cook soft, medium or hard boiled eggs. It also can make poached or an omelette though I haven’t tried those methods. There is also a microwave hard boiled egg device. Both are available on Amazon.
@ChaosParent23 is right. InstantPot. Seriously.
Is there a smaller size Instant Pot?
My son bought a small rice cooker for his dorm room and a small non-stick skillet to use in the kitchen. For the summer he was on campus he lived on rice bowls and omelettes…both of which can be made in endless varieties. He kept a good selection of sauces on hand: soy sauce, curries, salsas, etc. and would throw in a protein and some veggies and called it a meal.
For simple meals, peanut butter & jelly sandwich with coffee. Foil packets of tuna (one variety is Hickory Smoked Tuna) on toast or crackers. Bananas & cereals. CranApple juice. Water.
P.S. Of course, the correct answer is Domino’s Pizza phone number.
Oh, forgot to mention that for proteins other than eggs, DS used pre-cooked proteins to keep it simple (and fast). Frozen, “grilled” chicken pieces were a favorite. (Stirring a small amount of peanut butter into any curry or soy sauce based rice bowl is a good way to up both the protein and taste.)