The Essential Student Cooking Guide (Part 1)

Posted by David | Filed under The Essential Student Cooking Guide, University Life

Home > Student Cookbook > Basics > Equipment and Essential Ingredients

In this series of posts I shall cover essential student cooking tips for those of us living in self catered and private rented accommodation. Cooking may seem hard to start with, but after a while you will get used to it and will be able to measure out visually rather than using a scales for most of your meals. Cooking can also be a great fun way to relax after a stressful day.

Student Kitchen/Cooking Equipment Essentials

Before you start cooking you will need some essential cooking items. I have covered all of these in my Student Essentials Guide but I shall just recap them briefly.

  • A frying pan with lid and a wok are both very useful.
  • A couple sauce pans, and possibly a steamer (better for cooking vegetables than in boiling water)
  • A colander and a sieve.
  • A casserole dish. (Oven proof dish)
  • Kitchen scissors
  • Chopping Board
  • Chopping Knife, Meat Knife, Bread Knife.
  • Garlic Crusher, Cheese Grater, Bean Shredder, Lemon Squeezer, Potato Peeler
  • Tin Opener, Bottle Opener, Corkscrew
  • Glasses and Mugs
  • Freezer Bags, Sandwich Bags and Sandwich Boxes. Labels or Pens to write on them!
  • Kitchen Scales
  • Cutlery
  • Wooden Spoon
  • Cooking Tray

Student Cupboard Essentials

It’s important to keep a healthy stock cupboard full of all the essential ingredients you will need to cook with, some of these shall vary depending on your taste and dislike or like for certain things, but here are a few ideas.

  • Rice, Pasta, Noodles, Couscous and Potatoes.
  • Tinned Tomatoes, Sweetcorn, Peas and Baked Beans.
  • A Bulb of Garlic.
  • Lea and Perrins (Worcester Source).
  • Soy Sauce.
  • Small Bottle of Red and White wine!
  • Sugar, Salt & Pepper
  • A variety of spices and powders: Basil, Tarragon, Curry Powder, Chicken/Meat Seasoning, Oregano, Italian Spices, Barbecue.
  • Stock Cubes - Pork, Beef, Chicken, Fish (depending on what you eat)
  • Cooking Oil.
  • Block of Cheddar Cheese
  • Butter or Spread.
  • Bread Loaf.
  • Ketchup and Mayonnaise
  • Onions, Mushrooms, your favourite seasonal vegetables.
  • Tea Bags/ Coffee Powder.
  • Milk
  • Plain Flour, Corn Flour.
  • Breakfast Cereal
  • Vinegar/White Wine Vinegar.
  • Tomato Puree
  • Cream for Cooking
  • Ginger
  • Mustard (Dijon or English)

Essential Student Lazy Day Food Supplies

  • Tinned Soup and Instant Noodles
  • Frozen Chips and Nuggets/Fish Fingers/Chicken Kiev etc.
  • Frozen Pizza
  • Frozen Loaf of Bread
  • A Ready Meal (they are expensive though, and taste really very bad usually!)
  • The Takeaway Menu!

In part two, I shall cover realistically thinking about expiration dates, when to throw food out, and planning out what to cook over the week.

Home > Student Cookbook > Basics > Equipment and Essential Ingredients

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Permalink | Comments (2) | Friday, 29th Aug 2008

2 Responses to “The Essential Student Cooking Guide (Part 1)”

  1. The Essential Student Cooking Guide (Part 2) | David's Blog Says:
    August 30th, 2008 at 10:29 am

    [...] The Essential Student Cooking Guide (Part 1) I covered some of the basic cooking equipment and utensils you will need to prepare and cook your [...]

  2. The Essential Student Cooking Guide (Part 5) | David's Blog Says:
    September 2nd, 2008 at 10:51 am

    [...] that we have covered the general basics of cooking for ourselves in Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Essential Student Cooking Guide we can start cooking some basic student [...]

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