One of the most challenging aspects of moving away from your family for the first time is officially being responsible for grocery shopping and making meals for yourself. There are a couple of college student holy grail recipes that are cheap and easy to make. I talked to Emma Seegmiller, a sophomore at Brigham Young University, about what recipes get her through the school year. 

“Freshmen year of college is so stressful, so cooking meals is the last thing you want to be thinking about,” Seegmiller tells me. The less you have to think about what you have to make yourself in the morning the better. “Simplicity is key,”

Seegmiller tells me that what saved her was the dining hall. “It’s a great place to make friends and meet new people,” but over time, dining hall food becomes repetitive and unhealthy, so that’s when Emma learned how to make one of her favorite meals to cook, which is cheap, healthy and tastes good. 

The 15-Minute Chicken & Rice dinner only requires one and a fourth pounds of chicken, one tablespoon of vegetable oil, one can of Campbell’s soup, a cup and a half of water, a fourth teaspoon of paprika, two cups of frozen broccoli and two cups of rice. 

All of this is around 14 dollars to make and can feed up to four people.

“My roommates and I make this when we need a good home-cooked meal that is cheap and takes less than 20 minutes to make.”