Living in a dorm for the first time is exciting, but 8 months of cafeteria food soon becomes a daunting prospect and it won’t be long until you’re cursing the cafeteria for closing so early! These dorm friendly recipes take minutes to prepare and make for a great healthy option when you don’t want to splurge $7 on a salad that (let’s be honest) you wouldn’t even enjoy. Most of these meals are also vegetarian friendly if you want to dip your toes into vegetarianism!

Omelet in a Mug

For 4 months in my first year at university, I had a mug omelet for breakfast almost every morning because they were so fast and so easy. If you wanted to get fancy and add in more toppings, you can just chop them up ahead of time and keep them in a small container to toss into your mug every morning. You can even use your omelette to make breakfast sandwiches, bagels, and burritos!

Overnight Oats

You can prepare this breakfast the night (or even a couple of nights) ahead, making it a great grab and go meal. This recipe includes 4 different ways to make overnight oats but with different toppings, hundreds of customizations are possible! Not only is this a sweet treat for the morning, but oats will keep you full until lunch time.

Burrito Bowl

Who needs to eat out when you can customize your own burrito bowl! You can make this recipe even cheaper by cooking brown rice in the microwave or substitute quinoa or couscous for added nutrition.

Chipotle Stuffed Sweet Potato

These 2 recipes for vegan stuffed sweet potatoes can be made by using microwave “baked” sweet potatoes. You can add in your favourite toppings to customize this healthy comfort food!  

Sriracha Salmon

Who said seafood had to be fancy? This salmon recipe takes just 5 minutes to cook and can be paired with rice, quinoa, or couscous and microwaved frozen vegetables for a protein packed meal.

Lasagna in a Mug

Make lasagna in just 11 minutes with only a mug and a spoon! This recipe can be made healthier and keto friendly by replacing the lasagna sheets with sliced zucchini.

Cheesecake in a Mug

Level up your mug cake game with this Oreo, Nutella, and Funfetti cheesecake recipe that takes only 1 minute to cook. While not the healthiest recipe, now that you’re living on your own, who’s to say you can’t have dessert for dinner?

With these quick and healthy recipes, you have no more excuses for eating 6 cups of instant ramen a week – Happy cooking!