Tufts Blogs

Picture this: You’ve missed dining center hours, you’ve already spent your take-out budget this week, and you are HUNGRY. Situations like this happen more often than you’d think in college.

Never fear though – below are some tips for college ingredients that will help keep those hungry nights at a minimum.

1. Bread – A true staple food. Purchase a loaf for a mid-day snack featuring lunch meat or PB&J.

2. Eggs – Perhaps the most versatile food group on the planet, eggs are pretty quintessential for any hungry college student. You can scramble them, boil them, poach them, or have them sunny-side up. Add a little salt, pepper, and some toast and you are good to go with a quick meal.

3. Ramen – Ramen is royalty among college students. You can usually buy cup ramen for cheap or if you’re fancy, you can find more “luxury” flavors at your local grocery stores. Mix with egg and scallions and you’ve got a quick gourmet meal.

4. Cereal / Granola – Just add milk, yogurt, or fruit and you have a snack perfect for any time of the day.

5. Pasta – Great for a multitude of spaghetti variants. Add your preferred sauce or meat for a filling meal.

6. Soup - There is nothing like a can of Campbell's soup. Purchase a few cans in case of emergency hunger situations from any local grocery store. For anyone who grew eating with Campbell's soup, they might also bring you a nice nostalgic taste for those homesick days.

7. Rice - Steamed / boiled rice can fill you up as either a quick, standalone snack or as a complement to a larger dish (rice with an omelet, rice with ramen, stir-fried rice). It takes a while for rice to expire as well and depending on how much you eat, a large bag might stretch you pretty far through the semester.

Happy eating!