Are you tired of the dining hall food, but your bank account cringes every time you go out? Food always seems to be an issue while in college. There are some days you just want real, home-cooked food. The issue is that home-styled food requires an oven or stovetop. What if I told you there’s a way to cook real food in your dorm room?
As long as you have a microwave in your room, you’re free to make just about anything you’d like. I tried four microwave-approved recipes in one week. No microwavable mac & cheese or ramen required. Each of these recipes were as homemade as possible. Here’s how it went:
For breakfast, I made an omelet in a mug. This was the quickest, and probably the easiest recipe to make. The total cook time was less than five minutes. The eggs were very fluffy. Surprisingly enough, it was pretty filling too!
These eggs are perfect for a quick, on-the-go meal.
The best thing about this recipe is that you can eat it on the go. If you wake up late but need to eat before class, this is defiantly something worth trying. For my omelet, I added cheese and salsa since that’s what I had at the ready. Other options could be onions, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, tomato, ham, bacon, etc. The possibilities are endless with this convenient, on-the-go breakfast.
For lunch, I tried microwavable nachos. Nachos are one of my favorite pastime foods. When I found out you could make them in the microwave, my head almost exploded.
Microwave nachos can either be a satisfying snack or a full meal.
One of the best things about microwave nachos is the freedom you have. You have the ability to make either a whole meal or an in-between-meal snack. You also have the freedom to make them as simple or complex as you want. I love loaded nachos, so I added kidney beans, black beans, refried beans, shredded cheese and salsa.
Depending on how complex you make your nachos, the prep time may vary. Simply add your nacho chip choice to a microwave safe plate/container and add however many toppings you want. When cooking your nachos, microwave for one to two minutes or until the cheese is melted.
The nachos are quick and extremely satisfying. I would highly recommend to any nacho lovers—a must try!
For dinner, I made a microwavable pizza. You could just pull out a frozen pizza and nuke it for 15 minutes or so, or you could make your own delicious pizza in under five minutes.
You can make a delicious pizza in minutes in the microwave.
I made some slight variations to the recipe I found. Instead of using pita bread, I used a mini-pizza crust from Boboli. I also prefer cheddar cheese over mozzarella. The cheddar had a bit more flavor and was much gooier than the mozzarella. I’m also pretty simple with my pepperoni. Side note: if you do add pepperoni to your pizza, I recommend wrapping the slices in a paper towel blanket and microwave for 30 seconds to get the pepperoni a bit crispier.
For it being a small pizza, it’s surprisingly very filling. The only issue I have with this recipe is that I wish the crust could be crispier. It may have been due to the base I chose, but I like my pizza crust crispy. Since I prepared this at home, I was able to crisp up the dough by laying it on top of a warmed-up microwave.
I am aware that many universities don’t allow toasters or toaster ovens. If you do like a more crispy crust, you may just have to get a little creative. Other than that, it’s a great quick meal that can even double as a late-night snack.
To finish off my dorm-approved meal experiment, I went for something a little more on the sweet side. I made a chocolate chip cookie in a mug. This, I have to admit, was the hardest and most time-consuming recipe I tried. Trust me though, it’s worth it.
Great for those late-night sugar cravings.
It took about 10 minutes to prep. The ingredients aren’t ones that you would typically have in a dorm room. While it may be easier to buy pre-made cookies when you’re craving something sweet, if you’re anything like me and have no self-control around sweets, making one cookie is the safe way to go.
The taste is well worth the wait. It tastes identical to a warm chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven.
If you have a sweet craving but no self-control, this recipe is definitely for you!
There are tons of microwave recipes available in addition to the ones I tried. The website I found these recipes on had a handful more of ideas. I just didn’t have time to try all of them! All these recipes are worth trying if you can’t stand the sight of dining hall food anymore and off-campus options are running your bank account dry.