Cheap, Quick & Pretty Healthy: My Favorite Recipes

When I first moved out on my own, I thought I’d just magically whip up a proper meal every day. Spoiler: nope. By day three I was surviving on sandwiches or instant soup.

Healthy eating is usually expensive (thanks, inflation), and cooking in a 1m² kitchen with zero ventilation is not exactly Pinterest-worthy. Still, I realized I needed a few simple recipes I could always fall back on especially when my bank account empties faster than my motivation.

So here you go: my 4 favorite budget-friendly recipes that even you can throw together after a three-hour lecture.

🥒 1. Cucumber Salad (a.k.a. “I’m being healthy because it’s hot outside”)

Ingredients:

1. 1 whole cucumber (the cheapest one you can find)
2. Half a red onion
3. Cottage cheese (just the store brand tub)
4. 500g chicken breast pieces (or veggie alternative—usually cheaper and easier)
5. 120g Greek yogurt
6. Optional: bread rolls on the side

Instructions:

Chop the cucumber into cubes, finely slice the onion (or save your tears and buy it pre-chopped), fry the chicken with some seasoning—and if you want to be fancy, add a drizzle of honey (trust me). Throw everything into a big bowl: cottage cheese, yogurt, chicken, cucumber. Mix well and boom, you’ve got yourself a fresh summer salad.

🥞 2. Cottage Cheese Pancakes (a.k.a. “protein pancakes, student edition”)

Ingredients:

1. Blender or hand mixer (yes, the cheap Lidl one works)
2. 150g cottage cheese
3. 40g flour
4. 1 egg
5. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or just a packet of vanilla sugar)

Instructions:

Put everything in the blender. Mix until it looks like something you’d actually dare to fry. Cook in a pan until golden on both sides. Extra good with fruit on top (bonus points if it was on sale).

🍝 3. Pasta Salad (a.k.a. “meal prep without calling it that”)

Ingredients:

1. Pasta (just cook the whole bag)
2. Cucumber
3. Bag of iceberg lettuce
4. Cherry tomatoes
5. Pesto
6. Mozzarella
7. Optional: olives (for a fancy vibe)

Instructions:

Cook the pasta. While it’s boiling, chop the cucumber and tomatoes. Toss the cooled pasta into a big bowl, add the veggies and lettuce, stir in a generous spoonful of pesto (don’t be stingy, this is your sauce). Finish with mozzarella and olives. Done. Great for dinner and next-day lunch (bonus points for meal prepping).

(Gluten-free? Just swap in GF pasta.)

🍲 4. Puréed Soup (a.k.a. “I want a hot meal without actually cooking”)

Ingredients:

1. 1 pack of purée soup mix
2. Hand blender
3. Optional: bread rolls on the side

Instructions:

Read the instructions on the back. Done.

(Seriously it’s soup. Heat it, blend it, eat it. Perfect for when laundry already drained all your energy.)

Hopefully these help! And let me know in the comments if you’ve got any other student-proof recipes that are cheap, quick, and doable with just one burner and zero motivation. 💚

Published on: 01-07-2025 17:26 Edited on: 18-09-2025 13:19