A Broke Graduate Student's Guide to Cooking Healthy
Living off-campus can be overwhelming sometimes, especially when you live far from campus. I remember back when I was an undergraduate freshman, I took FULL advantage of the mandatory premium meal plan Tufts offered. I won't lie to you; this can get expensive really quickly.
The full meal plan can cost up to $4,453 per semester. That is why most students living off-campus decide to cook at home instead to cut down on costs. When I decided to leave the meal plan back in 2024, I took for granted the time it takes to prepare dinner for one evening, much less for the whole week.
While you may need to snag an occasional bite at the Commons or Kindlevan, you may realize that meal-prepping can be both easy and cost-effective at the same time. How, you may ask? Well, here are some healthy recipes I made throughout my first few years living off-campus.
Recipe 1: Simplified Coconut Chickpea Curry
Source: https://www.thissavoryvegan.com/coconut-curry-chickpeas/
While nontraditional, the beauty of this recipe is how forgiving it is for first-time cooks. I start by stir frying ginger, shallots, garlic, and chili in either ghee or avocado oil until fragrant. I then add in a can of diced tomatoes and a spoonful of tomato paste. During the winter especially, canned tomatoes are much cheaper and honestly taste better than the ones sold off-season.
From there, I add garam masala and Madras-style curry powder and toast until almost burning. Then, I add in canned chickpeas and pour in the coconut milk to deglaze, letting everything simmer and adjusting for salt. The whole thing takes maybe thirty minutes and makes enough for the next two or three days. Serve it over basmati rice and naan to have a full week’s worth of meals for under ten dollars.
One thing that makes a big difference here is the spices. If you have not been to Foodland yet, it's an Indo-Pakistani grocery store about ten minutes from Davis Square and is worth the trip. They sell spices in bulk, so you can stock up on spices for a fraction of what you would pay at a regular grocery store. Buying in bulk sounds like a lot upfront, but those two spices alone will carry you through weeks of cooking and work in way more dishes than just this one.
Recipe 2: Dumplings in Peanut Sauce
Source: https://snackingemily.com/baked-dumplings-in-a-peanut-sauce/
Frozen dumplings are one of the best things you can keep stocked in your freezer as an emergency food. I usually pick mine up from H Mart or Trader Joes. You can bake, steam, or pan fry them depending on what you feel like that day. The peanut sauce is just a few pantry staples whisked together and drizzled on top. It feels like takeout without spending takeout money, and the whole thing is done in fifteen minutes. This meal is also great for when you have friends over since it looks more impressive than the effort it actually takes.
You are welcome to make your own dumpling wrapper and filling, just keep in mind this will take more time. Compared to frozen dumplings, the homemade version costs mere cents per dumpling. You can always freeze them if you end up making dozens more than you need.
Depending on your dietary needs, you can use crumbled firm tofu, ground pork, or ground chicken for the filling along with vegetables like mushrooms, chives, and cabbage. Don’t forget to season with soy sauce, chicken or mushroom bouillon, ginger, and white pepper!
Recipe 3: Hainanese Chicken Rice
Source: https://onehappybite.com/one-pot-hainanese-chicken-rice-with-scallion-oil/
This one has a couple of different paths depending on how much time you have. If you want to go closer to the real thing, McKinnon's in Davis Square usually carries frozen chicken bones for cheap, and you can simmer those with ginger and scallion to make your own stock before cooking the rice in it. If you are using a whole chicken or thighs, I recommend skimming off any excess fat or skin beforehand and rendering it down in the pot first since it adds a lot of flavor to the rice; you can always add the crispy skin bits on top of your plate! If you want a leaner version though, just swap in chicken breasts and use vegetable or avocado oil instead and you will not miss much.
If that sounds like too much for a weeknight, grabbing premade chicken stock and simmering it with ginger and scallion for twenty minutes gets you most of the way there. For a one-pot shortcut, you can just stir fry the aromatics first, then add your rice, broth, and chicken directly to the pot. It is less traditional but still the most beginner-friendly approach.
The components that tie the whole dish together are the sauces. On its own, Hainanese chicken rice can taste bland, but the right condiments fix that immediately. I keep ABC-brand sweet soy sauce (kecap manis) and chili-garlic sauce (sambal oelek) in my fridge, both of which you can find at H Mart without much trouble. If you have a few extra minutes, homemade ginger scallion oil is worth making, too, since it's just minced ginger, scallions, and bouillon powder cooked with hot oill. it keeps well in the fridge for the rest of the week.
Looking for a plant-based alternative to this recipe? Consider swapping out the thighs for pan-fried tofu or tofu skin-wrapped oyster mushrooms. Don't forget about switching the broth to a combination of vegetable stock and mushroom bouillon!
But...I don’t have time!
At the end of the day, cooking at home can take a lot of time after a day’s worth of classes. The first week you try meal prepping it might feel excessive, given the work you put into it. Once you have your pantry stocked with the right staples and a handful of recipes you enjoy making, it starts to feel less like a chore and more like something you look forward to.
The biggest lesson I learned is that cheap and healthy ingredients do not have to mean boring food. So long as you avoid downloading Uber Eats or DoorDash, perhaps your bank account will thank you!