Budgeting time between work, school and social events can leave you feeling like you don’t even have time to eat, let alone cook a full meal. However, for those of us who enjoy cooking, here are three affordable meals to save money and time between classes. 

Tuna Hud (or Tuna Pasta)

Tuna hud is a family favorite in my house (don’t ask me why it’s called tuna hud — I don’t know, it just is). If you don’t like tuna, get better taste buds or skip to the next recipe.

All you need is a can of chunky lite tuna per person, some pasta (farfalle or penne are best, spaghetti is not a good choice here), garlic, olive oil and Italian seasonings. While your pasta is boiling, sauté as much garlic as you can dice in a large pan absolutely coated in olive oil. Fresh garlic is best, but pre-minced is cheap and easy for students in a hurry. It will still be delicious either way. It will not be delicious if you use any oil other than olive (I know it’s more expensive, but it’s really, really worth it). 

The garlic will cook fast, so have your tuna cans open and drained — I like to leave a little bit of tuna water to keep it moist, but it’s up to you. Add the tuna and whatever seasonings you like. I suggest going easy on the salt and piling on basil and garlic powder, but anything along those lines will taste delicious. If you have it, parmesan and lemon juice are great. The tuna should reach 145 degrees and turn a slightly gray color when it’s done. At that point, turn off the heat but leave it on the burner. 

Drain your pasta just before your preferred texture and mix it in the tuna pan with a little extra olive oil. With tuna coming in at $0.80 and more than 20 grams of protein per can, this is a quick, cheap and nutritious meal that I absolutely love.

Dumplings and Cabbage

This meal is sort of cheating because it involves frozen food, but it’s still relatively healthy and involves enough cooking to scratch that itch without requiring a lot of time. This is my go-to lunch before class and it’s highly customizable. 

You can find frozen dumplings at most grocery stores, but you can also make them yourself and freeze them to eat later. Just grab some dumpling wrappers and put a little bit of whatever filling you like: I love pork, cabbage and green onion. 

Dumplings can be cooked in a variety of ways, but I love frying them in a mixture of sesame oil and vegetable oil (any oil will work, but keep in mind they will affect the flavor and cook time). I use a lot of oil, fry them on medium until they’re light brown, moving them around so they don’t burn, and then I add about a tablespoon of water to the pan and cover it to let them steam for about 5 minutes. Finally, I remove the cover and turn up the heat to bring back the crispy texture. 

Once the dumplings are fried, I turn off the heat but leave the pan on the burner and throw in some chopped cabbage. Cutting a slice out of a whole cabbage will make it chopped enough for this recipe. I find that the sesame oil already in the pan, plus some salt and pepper, is all I need, but you can add whatever else you like. Stir constantly until the cabbage is nice and soft. I like to combine the dumplings and cabbage with some kimchi — which you can make yourself, but I suggest just buying it. Eating this before class makes me feel like I have my life together. 

Turkey Chili 

Chili isn’t exactly a quick dish, but this recipe takes less than 2 hours total and is dirt cheap. If you don’t have a well-stocked seasoning cabinet, it might be a bit more expensive the first time. But after that, you can make this dish for about $7 and you’ll have chili you can store and reheat all week. Meal prepping!

Start by cooking a can of diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato soup and some tomato paste with black and kidney beans. Chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and coriander are my favorite seasonings, but you can add whatever you like. I personally add gochujang for spice. 

While the beans are cooking, sauté an onion and lots of minced garlic in olive oil before adding a pound of ground turkey. Add the same seasonings as you did to the chili and cook until at least 165 degrees and add it to your chili pot. If you don’t eat meat, just skip this step, but do add some onion and garlic to your pot. 

Once the beans are soft enough, the chili is good to go but it gets better the longer you let it simmer. You can add just about anything you have in your kitchen to this dish. I’ve added brown sugar, milk, lemon juice, even chive and onion cream cheese. It’ll taste great no matter what — it’s chili. I like to serve this with corn bread or a baked potato. 

Your Grades are Not Worth Eating Poorly, I Swear

Whether you try out one of these recipes or something else entirely, prioritize your eating habits. I don’t necessarily mean eating healthy, whatever that means to you, but rather eating food you enjoy and taking the time to enjoy cooking when you can. Mangia che ti fa bene!

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