There is a lot of beauty in simplicity, and this recipe is exactly that. The few cooking techniques that are needed for this is breading (which is explained in the recipe below) and baking. Since the cooking technique used here is a dry technique, we have included helpful tips and reminders for anyone of any level of skill: preheat the oven BEFORE you begin the recipe, set a timer that is split up into two times in order to flip it halfway through, and how to tell when the chicken is cooked thoroughly. This last tip is particularly important because no one wants to bite into half-cooked chicken! From our own procedure, we agree that the best way to gauge its readiness is to examine the outer crust of the chicken, which should be a deep golden brown, not pale or soggy. And if you want further proof, cut open the thickest part of the chicken in the MIDDLE of the pan, and see if there is any pinkness left. If not, you are good! If you don’t want to ruin the look of the chicken, poke a thermometer into the meat and make sure it reaches at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

These may seem like tedious details, but it is incredibly important in order to create a safe, crispy product. We hope that this recipe can teach you proper roasting techniques, so that you can become a pro for other recipes in the future!

When experimenting with our recipe, it became clear some things which may seem like a good idea at first are not as effective as one might hope. In the original experiment we decided to double coat our chicken with the butter milk and dry mixture, this ended up creating a semi-soggy coating even after cooking thoroughly; in this case more is not always more.

When it comes to serving the chicken after cooking, it’s best to decide some dishes to serve with it beforehand if you aren’t in a rush or are cooking for more than one. Since the chicken provides the bulk of protein in the meal it’s good to pair it with some roasted veggie or in the summer maybe some fresh cut fruit to add variety to the palette. A classic addition would be any sort of grain like rice or pasta.

Additionally, another option would be fried potatoes or coleslaw! This would be best served as a backyard barbecue treat, or a nice meal on a snowy day to deter the winter scaries.

College life can be hectic and rushed leaving little time for you to eat, we get it! Follow along to make this quick and nutritious meal that can fit into your busy schedule. These step-by-step instructions won’t leave you feeling lost. And don’t worry, it will leave your tummy feeling satisfied.

First, gather all the ingredients. (You can find a detailed list of ingredients at the bottom of this post). Noodles, chicken, broccoli, mayo, cheese, olives, kidney beans, and Slap Ya Mama seasoning. Slap Ya Mama can be found at the grocery store, it’s a cajun seasoning that adds a hint of spice to your dish, but not overpoweringly hot. Don’t have broccoli? No worries substitute it for a vegetable you do have! (We know it’s tempting to leave the veggies out, but trust us, add one in! They can help your immune system stay healthy during your busy school schedule). Don’t like kidney beans? We understand, just add your favorite type of beans! This recipe is not only easy and fast but it’s also super flexible. Use what you have and save some of your money for your college funds.

This recipe is a great way to use a variety of ingredients in your meal (including veggies and canned chicken) and also how to use the oven. The process in making this dish was pretty straight forward. It mostly consisted of combining ingredients. Other than that, the noodles needed to be boiled and the whole casserole needed to be baked. We did not come across any other issues while preparing this dish.

Time management for this recipe was also super simple. Besides cooking the noodles, this recipe does not require very much attention at all. Once all the ingredients are combined, it just bakes in the oven until done. The only thing to manage is making sure not to overcook the casserole and to take it out of the oven on time.

Overall, the ingredients are very easy to find, and were very cheap. No recipe alterations had to be made, but like we mentioned prior veggies and beans are interchangeable to your preference. The hardest part, or the part that took the most time and effort, is boiling the noodles. Overall, it was very simple and easy to follow. We added more cheese than the recipe called for, and added plenty of Slap Ya Mama- all of which we would recommend. Serve fresh out of the oven so you can enjoy while hot

Cost Breakdown

Here’s the cost breakdown for this meal:

Tips to Make this Cheaper

• Use canned food or generic brand ingredients.
• Use ingredients that have a long storage life and can be stored at home.

As a college student, you might feel like you don’t have time to cook a nutritious meal or have money to buy healthy ingredients. Most don’t know you can make healthy and nutritious meals quickly at a more reasonable cost. This simple, fast, nutritious, and inexpensive meal incorporates many food groups. You could even have some grains and fruit on the side if you want to incorporate all the food groups.

This recipe really doesn’t take much time at all, especially if you measure everything out and cut the vegetables and brats up first, so all you have to do is add the ingredients as you need them.

The most difficult part about making this recipe might be making the alfredo sauce but if you follow the right amounts of flour and butter to use it should be great. Just make sure to taste test it so you can adjust it if needed! Our sauce tasted a little off at first, but we added a bit more milk and it was delicious so just keep trying! Overall, this is a great recipe because it has relatively few ingredients, takes little time to make and has only a few, easy steps to put it all together.

This meal will only cost you $12.43 breaking down into about $3.11 to $2.07 per serving. Here is the cost breakdown:

Additional Tips to Save Money

• When looking for healthy meals and snacks to make, try to find produce ingredients that are in season, they are usually the cheaper fruits and vegetables, making healthy food more affordable.
• Try looking at different stores. Some stores may be getting more of one fruit or vegetable, so the cost is less.

Tips:

• For any ham fried rice, leftover rice is actually best. Use the opportunity to make something fun with rice the day before, then use the leftover rice to use your ingredients to the best of your ability
• I love growing my own herbs! It is not as hard as you may think. I have grown green onions in the past, and having those are extremely useful and encourages creativity with flavoring your dishes!
• Buy generic brands! The costs I used were Smith’s prices, and almost everything on here is their Kroger brand. Here is a cost breakdown:

The way you hold a knife can affect the precision and ease of your cuts as you prepare your food. The proper way to hold a knife for the best results is to curl pinkie, ring, and middle fingers around the handle. Then rest your pointer finger on the bolster of the knife and position your thumb on the other side of the blade.

It is also important to curl in your fingertips of the hand holding the food to be cut. This can prevent accidents as the curling protects your fingers from the blade. The knuckle can also align the knife as you cut.

This fruit pizza is the perfect recipe to practice your knife skills because you will spend some good time slicing fruit to make your masterpiece beautiful! Try to get out of your comfort zone and use cuts you’re not used to. You can also mix up the fruit depending on what’s in season and how you want your pizza to look!

Cost Breakdown

Pro tip: Buying generic brands will help make all ingredients cheaper. Buying in bulk ingredients such as flour, sugar, salt will also be cheaper. As far as fruit, research fruit that is currently in-season these will be cheaper options. The SNAC pantry will occasionally have canned fruit so be sure to check out the options there!

Crust

Do not fret if your crust turns out a little cracked or the shape is funky you’ll cover it with beautiful and tasty cream cheese frosting and you can experiment with a favorite fruit design!

Crust covered with cream cheese frosting.

If you have kids or nieces and nephews, this is a great time to enlist their help! They will love decorating the pizza with fruit, and don’t fret if it doesn’t look like a Pinterest masterpiece … it will look colorful and beautiful no matter what. Not to mention it will be super tasty!

This recipe is great for a fresh dessert to share with your friends or family. It’s fun to try new designs and different fruit depending on what is in season. It truly is a food that your eyes can enjoy as much as your stomach. Plus, it never gets old!

Cost Calculator

This recipe makes one serving, so the total cost is the same as an individual serving cost. This recipe is easy to double if cooking for more people, but does not make very good leftovers. There are a few ways to make this recipe more budget friendly. The thing that will have the largest impact is the type of ramen you buy. There is a wide variety of instant ramen to buy, and the generic maruchan or top ramen brands are generally the cheapest. Sapporo or other brands, while they taste better, cost more. Buying a pack of 24 ramen packages will lead to a lower unit price as well, as opposed to buying singular packages. Another way to reduce cost is to use frozen broccoli instead of fresh broccoli, and steaming it in the microwave. This recipe only uses a small portion of a head of broccoli and a package of spinach. Don’t just use them for this recipe! Plan to make other recipes that use broccoli or spinach to reduce food waste. None of these items were listed as ingredients that the SNAC pantry was offering.

I make this recipe often and use different variations. One thing I do sometimes that allows the egg to cook faster is to crack it into the pot and cook it more like a poached egg and then add the ramen noodles to the same pot once it begins to boil and reduce the heat. An issue I run into with this is some pots are ridiculously hard to clean after cooking an egg this way which defeats the purpose of a quick meal. Another issue is different amounts of broccoli cook for different amounts of time, so it is important to check it every now and then to ensure it doesn’t burn.

This recipe is very versatile, and the cost can vary a lot depending on what ingredients are used. Buying ramen in packages of 12 or 24 significantly reduces the cost. There are also many different types of ramen noodles. Lotus Foods sells a kind of ramen made from millet and brown rice that is significantly more nutrient dense and sustainable, but also more expensive than the typical Maruchan or Top Ramen. Another way to mix it up is to use other vegetables in place of the broccoli! A fun way to prepare the egg is by frying it in a separate pan. If you break the yolk it cooks very quickly.

General information:

• Time management during preparation went pretty well. The way the recipe works tends to help all the ingredients be ready at the right time.
• It was very easy to find the ingredients needed for this recipe! All of the ingredients are pretty standard ingredients and grocery stores.
• I did not make any alterations to lower the cost, but I did make sure to try to buy the cheapest type of each ingredient.
• The cooking techniques for this recipe are pretty simple, just make sure not to forget about the broccoli in the oven

I love this recipe! One thing to note about it is that this recipe does not keep very well. Refrigerating and reheating ramen noodles gives them a weird texture and the liquid gets too absorbed into the noodles. This is best served hot, right when it is off of the stove. I like putting some spinach on the bottom of the bowl before the noodles and then some on top of the noodles with the broccoli and egg, and then pouring the broth over it all. It is an easy recipe to adjust for different numbers of servings. Some fun ideas to change it up would be to experiment with other vegetables and greens! Happy cooking!