I couldn't cook when I left home – but these easy £2.50 recipes became my go-to
Mia says she saved £20 a week on her grocery shop when she started cooking from scratch
ByEmily Doughty
When Mia Jones left her home in Anglesey to go to university in London, she couldn't cook "whatsoever" - but quickly realised this had to change.
"I couldn't live off pasta for the rest of my life," she says - and all the ready meals and pot noodles were starting to add up.
"I'd be spending £45 a week on food," says the 22-year-old. "That wasn't viable."
So she started buying fresh ingredients. "Then I realised, 'Oh, I need to learn how to cook now'."
She started following social media videos for tips and recipes, swapping out foods she didn't like.
Mia says learning how to cook "made me realise I could function on my own"
While there were some early disasters it was not long before Mia was proud to say she could cook.
"It made me realise I could function on my own and live on my own", she says.
"[First year] me would not be able to believe it all".
What's more, Mia cut her weekly shop by £20 - and found she had more energy.
"I was feeling a lot more awake in my lectures, which was very useful," she says.
After finishing her masters degree she now shares her recipes online, hoping to help other students in the same position she was in.
The Food Chain
Rumella Dasgupta asks what dishes you should be able to cook when you leave home for the first time
Mia and other once culinary-challenged students have shared the signature dishes they learned that were cheap, easy - and most importantly tasty.
All of the recipes can be made by stocking up a starter store cupboard for under £13. Then each meal uses additional ingredients for under £2.50 - which make several portions perfect for the next day or popping in the freezer.
We asked retail tracking platform Assosia to find the rough cost of standard sized packs of ingredients using the average pre-promotion price across Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda & Morrisons on 11 September 2026.
Mia's go-to dishes: chickpea curry and udon noodles with tofu
Mia's first recipe is a chickpea curry: "It's very cheap and very nutritious," she says.
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The second is udon noodles. "It's a 10 minute recipe, it's easily customisable [with tofu or chicken] and really useful for a weeknight dinner." Mia says she'll add chilli oil if she's feeling fancy.
Mia recommends adding extras such as chilli oil and sesame seeds to the dish
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Like Mia, Jayda Otuo-Mensah "didn't really cook" before going to university.
The physiotherapy student wanted to know how to make healthy food while spending around 40 hours a week on placement in hospitals.
"It's a lot easier when you're cooking because you know exactly what's going in," she says.
"I can have a chicken burger and it's really healthy because of the way I cooked it."
Jayda says she learned to cook by following TikTok videos
After "a lot of trial and error" following TikTok videos, the 20-year-old Coventry University student felt confident enough to film herself cooking.
Now she buys staples, and while she tries to stick to a weekly meal plan she mostly cooks what she is feeling.
Jayda's go-to dish: crispy teriyaki mince tacos
One of the meals Jayda makes the most is tacos.
"It's a great meal to learn; it's quick and affordable," she says.
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Rob Medhurst credits the student staple of spaghetti bolognese as being his springboard onto greater dishes.
"It's very affordable and it's easy," says the 25-year-old graduate of Nottingham Trent University.
"I know some people love the art of cooking but personally I don't," says Rob
"I quickly learned meal prepping and batch cooking was the best way for me," he says.
"I know some people love the art of cooking but personally I don't."
Rob's go-to dish: spaghetti bolognese
Rob has found the simple spag bol a versatile recipe: "You can just adapt a couple of things for chilli or lots of burritos."
He says he's made the same recipe so many times he describes it as "muscle memory".
When making this you can also add extras such as grated cheese
Remember to bring the store cupboard essentials
Chef and cookbook author Claire Thompson remembers her daughter Grace leaving home to go to university, and wondering: "Can she really cook?"
She sent Grace off with three crates of supplies, which her daughter described as being "stocked for the apocalypse just in case anything went awry".
Chef and cookbook author Claire Thompson says there is an essential store cupboard of items everyone needs to make quick and easy meals
But for Claire there are certain essentials everyone should consider stocking up on when leaving home.
"I think spices are a really good thing to start getting your head around," she told the BBC World Service's The Food Chain podcast.
"They deliver lots and lots of flavour for not very much money, and they last well in your store cupboard," she says.
"Adding a jar of chickpeas to a tomato sauce and adding that [to] your pasta, you're boosting really good levels of protein and bringing nutrients to a really pretty cheap dish really."
After more budget recipes? Try these tasty dishes
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