The Essential Student Cooking Kit
Having your essential student cooking kit on hand will make preparing and cooking meals for yourself a lot more enjoyable in university halls and in your future student houses.
You’ll make tastier meals, it will make cooking safer and it will even make it easier to wash up afterwards.
By investing in a few kitchen items at the start of university life, you will actually end up saving money in the long term. A good knife can last a lifetime!
As well as purchasing good quality cooking equipment, stocking up a student store cupboard with useful ingredients will greatly improve your cooking. Store cupboard ingredients don’t go off and they will give variety and flexibility to your cooking.
Once you get stuck into cooking for yourself at university, you will build up a store cupboard which you can dip into time and time again. With some imagination and practice, you will be able to create mouthwatering meals from practically nothing!
Essential Student Cooking Kit
There isn’t a lot of storage in university kitchens, so here is a list of the absolute essentials we recommend purchasing:
- 1 x really good large knife
- 1 x really good small knife
- 1 x chopping board for raw meat
- 1 x chopping board for everything else
- 1 x large non-stick frying pan
- 1 x heavy-bottomed casserole pan
- 1 x large mixing bowl
- 1 x wooden spoon
- 1 x whisk
- 1 x tongs
- 1 x spatula
- 1 x good quality peeler
- 1 x grater
- 1 x colander
- 1 x sieve
- 1 x good roasting tin
- 1 x baking tray
- 1 x good garlic crusher
- 1 x good tin opener
- 1 x measuring jug
It’s better to buy these items individually, instead of part of a set, as you will get better quality. It is much better to buy one quality knife for £15 than a low-quality knife set for £15. If you do invest in non-stick pans, don’t use scourers on them when washing up, as this will remove the non-stick coating.
Avoid buying single function items (except a garlic crusher and tin opener) as most chopping jobs can be achieved well with just a knife and chopping board.
Wooden chopping boards give more stability and are longer wearing than plastic ones. Always remember to disinfect your chopping board properly after chopping raw meat.
Plastic items like measuring jugs and colanders can be bought cheaply, but any metal items that have a cutting or slicing jobs, or items that will be exposed to heat, should be invested in more.
ESSENTIAL STORE CUPBOARD ITEMS
There are hundreds of possible store ingredients to buy, but limited space in student kitchens. This list is a good starting point and it can be adjusted to your own tastes:
Oils:
- Vegetable Oil
- Olive Oil
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Sesame Oil
Vinegars:
- Red/White Wine Vinegar
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Rice Wine Vinegar
Seasonings:
- Salt
- Pepper
- Light/Dark Soy Sauce
Dried Herbs:
- Basil
- Oregano
- Sage
Spices:
- Cumin
- Coriander
- Cinnamon
- Turmeric
- Paprika
- Cayenne Pepper
- Chilli Powder
- Chilli Flakes
- Garam Masala
- Nutmeg
Pasta, Grains, Pulses:
- Dried Pasta Shapes
- White/Brown Rice
- Noodles
- Cous Cous
- Lentils
- Quinoa
Tins:
- Chopped Tomatoes
- Kidney Beans
- Coconut Milk
- Sweetcorn
- Chickpeas
Other:
- Tomato Puree
- Ketchup
- Chilli Sauce
- Mustard
- Stock Cubes
- Flour
- Sugar
- Olives
- Nuts
On the Blog
Don’t miss out on the rest of our top tips for cooking at university. Check out our Campus Cooking posts on:
- The Best Places to Buy Food around Uni
- How to Keep an Organised Student Kitchen
- Easy Student Cooking Tips & Tricks
- Campus Cookery at the University of Manchester – course dates information
Need more inspiration? Check out our recipes page for tried and tested recipes that are simple to make at home.
