Eat clean on the cheap with these 35 healthy college grocery list ideas that are perfect for a college student grocery budget.
When I was a sophomore college, I started auditing my experience of living in an apartment and truly on my own for the first time.
Of course living in a dorm is essentially on your own as well, since your parents aren’t there, but apartment living is a whole new ball game…because you have to feed yourself.
This is a bittersweet realization.
You don’t have to survive the dining halls anymore, but you do have to survive your own cooking!
I for one know I experienced some ups (learning to cook chicken) and downs (almost setting grilled cheese on fire), but I’ve come a long way since the beginning of my first college apartment experience.
Cooking aside, one thing that I actually feel like I’ve mastered is healthy living on a college student grocery budget.
When I was in college, I saw so many of my friends living off of frozen meals and hot pockets (no hate, because sometimes that’s very satisfying!).
You don’t have to do that all the time though, if you don’t want to.
That’s why we’re sharing our college grocery list and college student grocery budget ideas below with our top 35 college grocery list ideas.
And you definitely don’t have to be a college student to reap the benefits of this roundup!
I’ve carried over this grocery list into my life as a young adult outside of campus as well.
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Grocery Shopping For One Tips
One of the biggest challenges of creating a college grocery list is of course the struggle of grocery shopping for one.
Not only do you have nobody to split the cost of the groceries with, but it can also be difficult to determine how much food you will really need for just one person (which can often lead to overbuying, and throwing away food!).
When I was in college, I was lucky to live with one of my best friends at the time who had agreed to meal plan and split groceries with me.
This eliminated the problem of grocery shopping for one!
That beings said, if you can’t get out of grocery shopping for one our best tip is to actually buy less than you think you need (because we can often overestimate how much we’re really going to eat, especially in college when you may be likely to eat out with friends some days or just snack in between classes some days).
You’ll also want to create a weekly meal plan ahead of time, so you can determine what meals you’re going to create and how many servings you can expect to get from each.
My roommate and I did this by creating a spreadsheet for each week with what we planned to make for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks each day.
This helped us gauge what we needed to buy and make sure that we didn’t end up overspending or buying more food than we were really going to each (because the impulse purchase is so real at the grocery store, especially if you go there hungry!).
College Student Grocery Budget
Another thing you might be wondering about is how to develop a college student grocery budget.
The truth is, everyone’s college student grocery budget will look a little bit different depending on their personal financial situation and also their dietary preferences.
Like I mentioned, my roommate and I split all of our groceries each week.
We typically spent around $120 per shopping trip, meaning that we each spent about $60 each week on food.
I have also heard of other students spending as low as $30 on food per week, so it really just depends on what you’re able to spend and the foods you like to eat!
Regardless, it is definitely possible to create a healthy college grocery list without spending a fortune.
Dorm Grocery List
If you’re living in a dorm, you likely won’t be adding all the following items on the below healthy college grocery list to your cart.
While most colleges have communal kitchens available for use, most students will be on a meal plan with the college during the years they are living in a dorm room.
That doesn’t mean you won’t want to have a dorm grocery list though!
Here are a few healthy staples we recommend having on hand if you’re living in a dorm room:
- Seeds of Change microwavable quinoa and rice
- Instant oatmeal (we like this protein variety the best!)
- Greek yogurt
- Instant protein soup mix (all you have to do is add hot water, which is super easy if you have an electric kettle like this!)
- Peanut butter
- HealthyPop popcorn
- Canned tuna
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35 Healthy College Grocery List Ideas That Won’t Kill Your Budget
Produce
- Kale/spinach/other greenery for salads
- Bananas
- Oranges
- Bell peppers
- Tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Onions
- Carrots
- Cucumbers
- Sweet potatoes (reasonably priced as fresh produce when you buy a big bag! This is also a lot less expensive than purchasing the individually wrapped yams that boast being microwave ready. You can microwave the ones that are not wrapped too; just poke plenty of holes in the potato and pop it in the microwave for about eight minutes and you’re done.)
Meat
- Chicken (purchase a family sized pack of pre-marinated chicken for budget friendly and easy meals! We love to pop these in the freezer in individual bags and simply defrost one at a time for easy meal planning for one.)
- Ground turkey
Dairy
- String cheese
- Cottage cheese
- Yogurt
- Milk
- Eggs (One word: PROTEIN. I’m always down for a hard boiled egg in some salad or even just plain if I’m in a pinch. Talk about a little going a long way — it’ll keep you full for hours.)
Dry Goods
- Brown rice (great because you can eat it plain or pair it with about a gazillion other things)
- Whole wheat pasta
- Oats (you can do so many things with old-fashioned oats, and they’re cheap considering how much you get in one container. I keep them in my apartment at all times, and the large canisters last me weeks, if not a month or more. One of my favorite ways to use them is in this sweet potato veggie burger recipe.)
- Dried lentils
- Dried beans
- Tuna (You either hate to love it or love to hate it, right? Canned tuna is one of my favorite broke girl groceries. It’s so, so cheap, and you don’t necessarily have to just eat it on just a sandwich or some crackers.)
- Whole grain bread or pitas
- Cereal
- Salsa
- Canned tomatoes
- Canned beans
- Vegetable broth
Frozen
- Frozen fruit
- Frozen mixed vegatables (according to this article from Eating Well, frozen vegetables may be even healthier than fresh. This is because they tend to be frozen at their peak ripeness, which is basically when they are known to be the most nutrient-packed. And did I mention that frozen veggies are SO much cheaper than fresh? Hallelujah for broke college girls around the world. I’ve wasted so, so, SO much money buying fresh vegetables, especially during their off seasons, just to have them rot before I even get around to eating them. And if you’re really picky, buy the vegetables that are in season fresh, and buy frozen for those that are not. You’ll not only get more bang for your buck, but ensure high quality produce at all times too.)
Other
- Olive oil & balsamic vinegar (great for using standalone in recipes, or making your own cheap AF salad dressing!)
- Popcorn (popcorn can actually be a pretty harmless snack! A good idea is to buy a big container of kernels and keep it on hand when you’re in the mood for a midnight snack. I’m also a big fan of homemade popcorn seasonings as well.)
- Hummus (there’s a ton of different ways to incorporate hummus it into your diet, but the simplest is using it as a dip for veggies. It’s a great alternative to salad dressings, and you’ll probably feel better after eating it too.)
- Coffee, tea, sparkling water
Which of these college grocery list ideas are you going to put on your grocery list for college students?
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