Easy and Healthy Dinners for College Students

As classes ramp up and you find your schedule busier and busier, it’s hard to find time to make meals that aren’t Mac n’ Cheese or super processed (trust, I’ve been there). It’s important to give your body the same love and attention as you do TikTok, so I put together some easy recipes that you can make in your apartment that are super yummy and require little prep!  

1. Greek Bowls 

• Ingredients: chicken (pre-cooked or raw; I cook my chicken in the air fryer with salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika), chopped onions, chopped cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, rice, and tzatziki sauce. 
• Most of this recipe is chopping and assembling! Trader Joe’s has different pre-cooked chicken options and their frozen rice packets are easy to pop in the microwave.  

2. Pesto Pasta 

• Ingredients: chicken (again, pre-cooked or raw), pasta of your choice, Knorr’s Pesto Sauce Mix (usually found in the spices section of your local grocery store), olive oil, and parmesan cheese. 
• My roommate put me on this and it’s so easy to make. I use the same chicken recipe that I use for my Greek bowls, and I follow the instructions in the packet of the pesto sauce. It definitely fills you up! 

3. Teriyaki Salmon Bowl 

• Ingredients: salmon, teriyaki sauce, sesame seeds, rice, avocados, cucumbers, soy sauce, and yum-yum sauce. 
• Most of my protein is chicken, but when I want to mix it up, I make salmon! Air-frying salmon is not hard, just cut it up into bite-sized pieces before cooking so it is easier to tell when it’s done. Similar to the Greek bowl, most of this recipe is chopping and assembling.  

4. Turkey Burger Bowls 

• Ingredients: ground turkey (season with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika), lettuce, diced tomatoes, chopped red onion, shredded cheese, sliced pickle chips, and roasted sweet potatoes. 
• This one is a little more labor intensive than the other recipes, but it is still so good. Personally, ground turkey is easier to cook than ground beef since you don’t have to deal with the grease. Again, air frying the sweet potatoes will save you some time. Top with your sauce of choice! 

5. Chicken Caesar Pasta 

• Ingredients: chicken (pre-cooked or raw), pasta of your choice, romaine lettuce, croutons, parmesan cheese, and Caesar salad dressing. 
• This may be one of the less healthy options, but you could not pry the grip I have on chicken Caesar salad, that’s how much I love it. Season the chicken with whatever you like! 

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I do! It’s totally normal to eat frozen meals a few times a week, but I love making my dinners from scratch and it makes me feel better too. You can make these meals in bulk and have them meal-prepped for the week, so you don’t have to worry about what you’ll eat each night. Bon appétit! 

Xoxo,  

Bridget

• food