Student Budget Week: Fast, Cheap Dinners for One or Two
Cooking for one or two on a student budget calls for fast, forgiving recipes that use cheap staples and not much kit. This plan focuses on quick, budget dinners — fried rice, noodles, quesadillas, skillet suppers — that come together in minutes and cost a fraction of takeout.
Pick the dishes that suit your week, add them to your meal planner, and scale the servings down to one or two so you are not left with waste. Most of these need only a single pan.
How this week saves you money
- Cook single or double portions so nothing spoils at the back of the fridge.
- Build meals around cheap, long-lasting staples: rice, pasta, eggs, tinned beans, and frozen vegetables.
- Choose one-pan and one-pot dishes to save on both washing up and energy costs.
- Batch the base of a dish (rice, sauce) once, then remix it into two or three different dinners across the week.
Build Your Week
Tap a recipe to add it to your planner
Map these dinners across your week and generate a grocery list.
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