Want to Become Better Friends With Your Housemates? Cook a Meal Together!

Housemates that cook together, stay together.

This post is presented in partnership with HelloFresh. Student Edge members, get a total of $80 off your first four HelloFresh Boxes!

When you move out of home and into a flat or sharehouse, there’s one thing that might get you into trouble with your new roomies: food.

Whether it’s 'who bought it', 'who ate it', 'who left it out' or 'who didn’t clean it up', food can often be kindling for fights between new housemates, and lead to a scenario where suddenly every item in the fridge has a Post-It with someone’s name indicating ownership, or worse, a warning. 

But food should not divide us. It should bring us together. It energises us. It tastes good. It gives us something to shovel in our mouths while we’re on hour eight of a Brooklyn Nine-Nine marathon.

Truly, food is the great unifier.

For that reason alone, if you’re wondering how to get to know your housemates, or heal an awkward situation, we recommend a good old fashioned team cook-up. If you need more convincing, read on (and see how you can do it affordably with a service like HelloFresh, too).

Cooking: it’s a team sport.

Instead of everyone individually scrambling eggs or boiling up some Mi Goreng before disappearing to their rooms, suggest a family-style meal. Now, you could get some pushback—for instance, there may be a debate over what to cook, or who should get the groceries—which is why you may want to use a service like HelloFresh, which delivers fresh ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes direct to your door each week. You can choose a plan that suits your house and preferred kinds of cuisine (while still getting a variety of options—especially if you’ve got a vegetarian under the roof).

Having a set recipe and the right amount of ingredients means individual chefs are less likely to go rogue and improvise. Now, you can all follow a recipe and spend less time fretting about how long things should stay in the oven and more time chatting, listening to music and enjoying one another’s company.

It’s also better for you, health-wise.

Food affects mood. That’s just plain science. Ultra-processed foods—like takeaway, instant noodles, fish or chicken nuggets, savoury snacks, cool drink and anything sugary—create havoc in our guts, and studies have found a healthy, balanced diet can help you feel better, physically and mentally. Though it can sometimes seem cheaper and tastier to go for the quick-and-dirty dinner option, in the long run, you’re better off with a cost-effective and easy-to-make home meal (with wholesome ingredients) instead. Plus, if you’re relying on mum and dad for some food funds, they’re more likely to contribute if they know you’re eating right. (Also, healthy food is better at helping you detox from a hangover as well, but your folks don’t need to know that part.)

Save time, and share leftovers.

Of course, we know students aren’t avoiding the kitchen simply because they can’t be bothered. Sometimes, there simply doesn't seem to be the time.

And usually, food-related conflict arises because everyone is so time-poor (and poor-poor) that mild inconveniences, like a missing sachet of noodles, can infringe on time spent studying. But home cooking also allows you to work together, share the load and get a full meal made fast. Plus, do it right (or opt for a slightly more generous HelloFresh plan) and you’ll even have some leftovers for lunch the next day, saving you from having to repeat the whole anxiety-making process of feeding oneself. A well-fed household is a happy one. Get bonding already!

Student Edge members, love easy cooking? Get a total of $80 off your first four HelloFresh Boxes (that's $20 off each box)! HelloFresh delivers fresh ingredients and easy-to-follow recipes to your door each week so you can cook quick, balanced and wholesome meals the whole household will love. They take care of all the meal planning and grocery shopping so you can relax knowing dinner at your place is sorted! Find out more here!

Header Image: NBC