Students are lowering weekly food bills by roughly £20 after adopting a small set of low-cost recipes and stocking a basic store cupboard for under £13, an analysis by retail tracker Assosia finds. Assosia calculated costs using average pre-promotion prices across Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons on 11 September 2026, and concluded most suggested dishes need less than £2.50 of extra ingredients when recipes are scaled to produce leftovers or portions that can be frozen.
Mia Jones, who moved from Anglesey to London for university, said she used to spend £45 a week on food in her first year and found that unsustainable. "I couldn't live off pasta for the rest of my life," she said. After she started following short cooking clips online and buying fresh produce alongside cupboard staples, her weekly shop fell by about £20 and she says she felt more alert during lectures. "It made me realise I could function on my own and live on my own," Jones added.
The students point to recipes that are quick to make, affordable and adaptable. Jones’s most-used meals include a chickpea curry and udon noodles with tofu; she describes the curry as "very cheap and very nutritious." On the udon dish she said, "It's a 10 minute recipe, it's easily customisable [with tofu or chicken] and really useful for a weeknight dinner," and sometimes finishes the noodles with chilli oil and sesame seeds.
Coventry University physiotherapy student Jayda Otuo-Mensah, 20, who spends about 40 hours a week on placement, also credits online videos with improving her cooking. "It’s a lot easier when you’re cooking because you know exactly what’s going in," she said. One of her go-to meals is crispy teriyaki mince tacos, which she described as quick and affordable.
Both students now post their recipes publicly. Jones began sharing how-to guides after completing her master’s degree to help peers who arrive at university with limited kitchen experience. The immediate effect is financial: lower weekly spend and tighter control over ingredients. The practical knock-on is predictable weeknight meals that save time, create leftovers, and can be frozen, making independent living easier to manage for busy students.
