Eat Up: Here Are Six Easy, Healthy and (Most Importantly) Cheap Student Meals

It’s not easy making healthy meals on a student budget, even though its students who need them most.

Once you start eating foods with high nutritional value, you’ll notice a difference in your energy levels and overall well-being. That’s why it’s so important to get into the habit of eating healthy, and a transition from your normal fatty fast foods to a healthy lunch is a great step forward.

Though you may think it’s impossible, getting through the day with healthy snacks and meals is definitely doable. Here are six tips for anyone on the go, or those who don’t know where to start.  

1. Smoothie Bowls

They’re the Instagram craze of the moment and a personal brunch favourite. You can make these at home easily and get creative with the toppings. Just grab some of your favourite superfoods and fruits, whip them up in a blender, serve with your choice of toppings and voilà!

Smoothie Bowls are also great because you can drink them on the go without the toppings as well. Here are some great smoothie bowls you can try out!

2. Chia Puddings

Chia seeds are one of the most popular superfoods out there, because they’re easy to use in cooking and the health benefits are enormous. The beauty of chia seeds is that they can expand more than nine times their size, and you can eat them raw or soaked. That’s why chia pudding is a great snack or an easy breakfast for busy bees. Try this basic chia seed pudding recipe and add your choice of berries. For those of you who love green tea, why not give this matcha chia pudding a go.

3. Buddha Bowls

These are great if you like preparing food in bulk, or if you want to add colour and nutrients to your meal in a fun way. But the best thing about Buddha bowls is that there is no single way to make one; it’s entirely up to your own tastes and preferences! A general rule of thumb is to first add your grains, cook your veggies, add proteins and then pop your raw ingredients on the side. Top it off with a dressing of your choice or curry sauce. Or, take my extra healthy suggestion of lemon juice for a nice tang.

This Masala chickpea Buddha bowl only requires you to cook up some chickpea curry (or lentil curry), add brown rice or quinoa as your grains and roast some pumpkin and capsicum, or add some spinach and broccoli on the side with some green leaves. However, my personal favourite is a ‘Pokéd Bowl’. I make mine with a base of brown rice or salad, adding seaweed salad, edamame, pineapple and wonton crisps, and using soy marinated cubed salmon pieces as my protein.

4. Zucchini Pasta

Pasta is a super-simple dish for those who just started out cooking. But you may have never realised the number of carbs in even a small bowl. A great way to make pasta that little bit healthier is to use zucchini strands instead of pasta noodles. You can cook this pasta with your traditional bolognaise or marinara sauce, or with olive oil, crushed tomatoes and basil for that extra punch of flavour!

5. Low-Fat Pizza

Have some leftover pasta sauce? Don’t fret! Use that sauce to make a low-calorie pizza at home. Grab yourself some thin crust pizza bases (low-cal if you can), smear your sauce on the base, add vegies on top with raw greens, and, as an alternative to cheese, some nutritional yeast. Bake for 20 minutes and there you have it: a healthy vegan pizza without the guilt.

6. Banana-Based Desserts

Bananas are nature’s energy bars, with added health benefits. They’re also extremely versatile for cooking. They’re great to use for desserts, naturally adding sweetness without the excessive use of refined sugars. For a great start to the day (or a night time dessert), make some banana pancakes. Simply combine squashed banana (you can do this with a fork or blender), eggs, rolled oats and baking powder. Then, fry on a stove top and eat! Banana Bread is also a delicious snack on the go. To make it healthy, use whole wheat flour and it sweeten with honey.

Andrea Au is one of Student Edge’s student contributors. See more student contributions here.

Photo: iStock.com/Mizina