BANG!’s top cooking tips for students starting uni

So…you’ve settled into your new uni accommodation, got the awkward introductions out the way and you’re starting to familiarise yourself with your course. Now comes the important part – learning how to make a BANG in the kitchen! And if cooking was never your thing before, fear not – we’ve put together our top cooking tips for new students.

 

Meal planning is key

 

It might sound obvious, but planning your meals for the week ahead will save you so much time and money in the long run. Ever wandered up and down the aisles of the supermarket aimlessly and ended up wasting so much money on things you just don’t need? Exactly…so don’t do it. Make a list of your meals for each day (don’t forget lunches!) as well as the ingredients needed for each. And stick to it.

 

Oh, and try to avoid going to the supermarket hungry if you can. You’ll thank us later.

 

Make sure you’ve got the essentials

 

The base for curries, stir fries and most drool-worthy meals: garlic, onion, chilli and ginger. Make sure you’ve always got a supply of each of these in your cupboards and you’ll be able to make any meal go off with a bang. 

 

P.S. As long as you’ve got the base ingredients, you only need your favourite curry ingredient plus a BANG! Curry spice kit to be able to whip up a meal that feeds four. And if you’re cooking for one, that’s yourself fed four times if you store it correctly.

 

Shop in the reduced aisle

 

Exeter uni grad Saskia (aka sassy__foodie) shared this absolutely gem with us. Head to the supermarkets at around 4-5pm when many items are reduced – you’ll be able to spot them with a bright yellow sticker, or there will be a dedicated reduced aisle. If they’re due to expire soon, just stick them in the freezer and defrost when you want to cook with them! Genius. 

 

Cook in batches

 

Instead of just cooking meal by meal, consider batch cooking so that you can pile your freezer full of meals for the coming weeks. Your future self will thank you for this one. Leftovers can also be reused to make brand news meals – try incorporating yesterday’s veg into a vibrant lunch for tomorrow.

 

Student-friendly scratch cooking

 

Despite what you might think, buying ‘quick and easy’ processed items and ready meals won’t save you money. They’ll actually work out much more costly than buying the ingredients yourself. Plus, they’re full of artificial additives that you’d be better off avoiding. Scratch cooking means that you know exactly what goes into your food, and you can keep costs low. 

 

With BANG! Curry kits, scratch cooking is as easy as 1-2-3. Just grab your favourite ingredients and use the natural spices in the kit to give them some oomph. You can whip up a tasty, inexpensive Bangladeshi curry that feeds four in no time at all. It’s real, fresh, tasty home cooking that is 100% student friendly!