Student pulling a plate out of food into the microwave with oven mitts.

Perfect your microwave skills and impress your roommate with these residence hall friendly recipes that are sure to satisfy. All of these recipes are great to make at home or pack with you to campus.

Breakfast recipes

Breakfast burrito

Breakfast burrito cut in half on a plate.

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons low-fat milk
  • ¼ cup black beans
  • 1 whole grain tortilla
  • 2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/5 avocado, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons salsa

Directions

  1. Coat a microwave safe coffee mug with cooking spray.
  2. Add eggs and milk to the cup, beat until blended.
  3. Microwave on high power for 45 seconds; stir.
  4. Add in black beans and stir again.
  5. Microwave until eggs and beans are almost set, about 30 to 45 seconds longer.
  6. When the egg and bean mixture is hot, spoon it onto the tortilla and top with shredded cheese, avocado and salsa.
  7. Wrap tortilla into a burrito.

Fruity overnight oats

Jar of overnight oats topped with fresh raspberries.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup dry rolled oats
  • 1 ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 2 tablespoons chia seeds
  • 1 peach, cubed or apple or ¾ cup berries
  • 1 tablespoon raisins
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Put dry oats, almond milk and chia seeds in a bowl.  Place in the refrigerator and leave overnight.
  2. In the morning add fruit, raisins, vanilla extract (if desired) and cinnamon.  Mix together.

Lunch and dinner recipes

Mac n cheese in a mug

Bowl of macaroni 'n' cheese with panko breadcrumbs on top.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup elbow macaroni
  • ½ cup cheeses of choice
  • Salt, pepper, hot sauce to taste

Directions

  1. Put macaroni in a mug and pour in water. (You may want to add more or less water depending on mug size, but there should be more than enough to completely cover noodles). 
  2. Microwave on high for 8 minutes pausing at the 5 and 2 minute mark to stir and add more water if necessary.
  3. Cook until al dente. 
  4. Add cheese to pasta mixing with the small amount of water remaining at the bottom of the mug.
  5. If cheese does not completely melt, pop the mug back in the microwave for 30-60 seconds.
  6. Add salt, pepper, hot sauce or other spices you desire.

You can also add extras like panko breadcrumbs, broccoli, frozen peas or other toppings. 

Bean and cheese quesadilla

Plate with a toasted quesadilla cut in half.

Ingredients

  • 2 wheat tortillas 
  • 2/3 cup of shredded cheese
  • 1/3 cup black beans
  • Precooked refrigerated or canned chicken
  • Salsa or guacamole for taste

Directions

  1. Place tortilla on microwave plate.
  2. Add cheese, beans, chicken and salsa.
  3. Place the second tortilla on top.
  4. Microwave for 1 minute.  Add guacamole on top.

Snacks

Peanut butter parfait

Clear bowl of yogurt, granola, peanut butter, berries and banana slices.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt or dairy free yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter or nut butter of choice
  • ¼ cup granola
  • 1 banana

Directions

  1. Mix yogurt, peanut butter and granola in a bowl.  
  2. Slice bananas and put on top of yogurt mixture.

Microwave potato chips

Colorful bowl full of homemade potato chips.

Ingredients

  • 1 white potato or sweet potato
  • 1 tbsp cooking oil
  •  salt

Directions

  1. Wash and dry the potato. Cut the potato into thin chips.
  2. Place the potato slices on a plate in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt.
  3. Microwave for 5 minutes, or until they become crispy. 

Campus resources

Nutrition Services

Nutrition Services at Wardenburg Health Center is here to help with a variety of concerns from mindful eating to digestive disorders and gut health. Nutrition Services also provides a number of free online assessment tools.

Buff Pantry

The Buff Pantry is an on-campus food pantry that is here to support students who are experiencing food insecurity. Students are welcome to visit Buff Pantry once per week to receive food.

Campus Dining Nutrition Services

Campus Dining Services has their own Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) on staff who can help address questions about nutrition, dietary needs, dining options on campus and ways to eat healthy.

Feed the Stampede

This program provides food assistance for CU Boulder. They work to ensure students experiencing any level of food insecurity have the necessary knowledge, resources and access to enough food to meet their needs in an emergency or on-going basis.

How to eat healthy on a budget

Eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to increase your budget. In fact, there are a number of tools and tricks to help you stay on track. Here are our top 4 tips to help you stay on budget and eat healthier this year, whether you’re shopping in-store or online.