Every college student understands hunger. When you’re studying all day every day, you work up an appetite. But college students also understand what it means to be hungry and wanting your food literally at that precise moment.
So why is it that every time you search “college snacks” on Pinterest or Google, you get a list approximately 10 pages long with recipes that are too expensive, and too time-consuming for the normal college student? To help here are some snack ideas from actual college students.
1. English Muffin Pizza’s: Take an English muffin, put some tomato sauce on it, cover it in cheese and pop it in the microwave. Dinner is ready in one minute.
2. Smoothies: As long as your neighbors don’t mind the sound of your blender, pour frozen fruit and milk into a blender. You have a meal that you can take with you.
3. Grilled Cheese: If you’re a bad ass and you decide to sneak a toaster in your room, put a slice of cheese on bread and pop it in the oven. You’ll have a grilled cheese in no time.
4. Yogurt Parfait: Most college’s sell parfait’s all over campus, but they are typically loaded with sugar and fat. Make your own and save money by using plain Greek yogurt, fruit and nuts.
5. Popcorn: Take a store-bought bag of popcorn and add anything sweet to it like chocolate, dried fruit or honey. You’ve got a sweet and salty snack to accompany you and the paper you’re writing.
6. Rice Cakes: Take a rice cake, chocolate is my favorite, and smear it with peanut butter. Then, add your favorite toppings. My personal favorite’s are bananas and dried fruit.
7. Oatmeal: Oatmeal is the greatest thing ever invented to college students. You can make it overnight in your fridge or in seconds in your microwave. Add toppings such as peanut butter, nuts, bananas and apples. After a bowl of this stuff you’ll be full for hours.
8: Apples: There is literally nothing you can’t do with an apple. Sprinkle them with cinnamon or peanut butter and stick nuts and granola to them to make the snack a little more filling.
9: Cheese Sticks: Slightly melt them in the microwave, yes I’m serious, and eat them with crackers or chips. Who doesn’t love melted cheese?
10. Carrots: Like oatmeal, all college students should have carrot sticks on hand. You can literally dip them in anything like salad dressing, almond butter or hummus to name a few.
11. Cookies: You can make them in the microwave! If you like bananas that is. Mash up a banana, pour in some rolled oats and some add-ins if you have them, chocolate is the best, and form into balls. Microwave them and now you have a cookie.
12. Bananas: Speaking of bananas, you need them in your dorm room. Cover them in peanut butter and chocolate chips to satisfy an ice-cream craving, or roll them in yogurt and cover them with nuts. Yum!
13. Dates: For those of you that are a little adventurous, get a package of dates and roll them in shaved coconut. This will definitely be a step up from your typical snacks.
14. Grapes: Put them in the freezer, and ta-da! You have little grape slushies.
15. Strawberries: Add them to your smoothies or sprinkle them with raw sugar. Then, leave them in the fridge for about an hour, and you will have the sweetest strawberries that you have ever eaten.
16. Other food to always have on hand: As an experienced dorm-room eater, I always have a loaf of bread on hand. As well as honey, cinnamon, milk and any fruit that doesn’t require a refrigerator. For example, I always have oranges on hand!