29 Cheap Healthy Meals For College Students

Tired of eating cafeteria food? Believe it or not, some of the tastiest cheap family meals make awesome cheap healthy meals for college students!

29 Cheap Healthy Meals For College Students

Have you had your fill of college cafeteria food? I get it! The food often isn’t anything to write home about and it still costs a lot (especially for a co-ed on a budget). In fact, according to the Money for College Project, a survey showed that the average meal price with a college meal plan was $7 – $11. That certainly adds up fast; I mean, for a single week, if you only eat one meal a day that could be anywhere from $49 to $77! Luckily, there are cheap family meals that can easily be used as cheap healthy meals for college students.

Bonus: Since the recipes I’m about to share with you are aimed at families (some of them are even cheap meals for large families), you should be able to share your delicious food or make more than one meal out of it!

Since a lot of these recipes were originally intend to be cheap recipes for families, they’re meant to be made in a standard kitchen. This may pose a bit of a problem if you live in a dorm room, but with a little creative thinking, I’m sure you’ll be able to transform them into cheap healthy meals for college students. For example, you could whip up a few of these cheap family meals the next time your at Mom and Dad’s and take them back to campus with you. Another idea would be to befriend someone with an apartment and offer to share your food in exchange for use of his or her kitchen.

Quick side note: If you’re looking for more ways to save money at college, here are some tips to get free school supplies.

Got it? Great, now back to these delicious recipes!

So, skip the cafeteria, and try some of these yummy cheap meals for large groups and cheap family meals.

Cheap Healthy Vegetarian Meals For College Students

1. Broccoli Flatbread Pizza (Cincy Shopper) – Pizza and college pretty much go hand-in-hand, am I right? Trust me, this recipe is way better than anything you can order! Not only is it tasty, but thanks to the store-bought flatbread, this cheap family meal is pretty quick. Plus, it’ll save you even more money because it’s meatless!

Bonus: As I’ve said before, going meatless (even for one meal) can really put a dent in your grocery bill. If you’re looking for other ways to save money at the store be sure to dive into my groceries shopping secrets.

2. Spiced Sweet Potato & Hummus Buddha Bowl (Rhian’s Kitchen) – 30 minutes (20 of which are cooking time) are all that stand between you and this gluten-free and vegan cheap meal for large families. You can easily scale the ingredients up or down to make just enough for you or enough for your whole dorm! 🙂

3. Chickpea Sweet Potato Peanut Curry (Rhian’s Kitchen) – Unlike many of the other cheap recipes for families in this article, this recipe does call for a fair number of ingredients. However, it’s still super simple to make with only 8 steps, one of which is adding salt and pepper!

Bonus: This tasty dish is gluten-free. If you’re looking for more gluten-free options, look no further. Here are 21 gluten-free recipes that are sure to inspire you.

4. Spiralized Zucchini Quinoa Tomato Salad (Trial and Eater) – There’s a lot to love about this cheap meal for large groups. It requires just 5 minutes of prep time, can be served chilled or warm, stores well, and of course, is super yummy.

5. Taco Lettuce Wraps (Cincy Shopper) – Who doesn’t love Taco Tuesday, am I right? Tacos are tasty, but also an inexpensive option. What makes them inexpensive meals for large groups? The fact that they’re so customizable; you can use whatever you have on hand or is on sale. For example, you can make tacos with ground beef or ground chicken. You can use different toppings, cheeses, etc. These particular tacos are even low-carb since they use lettuce instead of shells.

Bonus: Need to feed a crowd? Here are some fantastic cheap meals for large families. These meals also work well for friendly get-togethers.

6. Veggie Omelet (Midlife Healthy Living) – Omelets are one of the quickest and easiest cheap meals for large groups. You can easily make enough for 1 person or 10. One of my favorite things about omelets is that they never have to get boring. There are infinite veggie and cheese combinations that can keep them tasting like a new dish each and every time. Plus, they’re a great way to use up produce that might soon go bad. 🙂

7. Homemade Spaghetti O’s (Strength & Sunshine) – Okay, when compared to a lot of other cheap healthy meals for college students, this one probably isn’t the healthiest. However, it is definitely healthy in comparison to store-bought Spaghetti O’s. This dish is allergy-free, gluten-free, vegan, and free of a lot of the other questionable ingredients found in the store-bought version.

Bonus: Here are even more cheap and easy meals for college students.

8. Spaghetti Squash Noodles With Spicy Peanut Sauce (Trial and Eater) – Craving Thai food? Then this cheap family meal is for you! There’s virtually no prep time (only 5 minutes) and it’s full of spicy goodness. Plus, since it uses spaghetti squash (instead of noodles), it’s gluten-free and good for you!

9. Microwave Mac and Cheese For One (Strength & Sunshine) – This is one of the cheap meals for large families that you can make in a dorm room. As long as you have access to a microwave, you can easily tackle this ooey-gooey dish.

Bonus: Looking for more easy dinner options? Look no further! Here are 90 quick and easy dinner recipes!