If You Give a Kid a Cooking Challenge: 12 Easy Recipes for College Students

My oldest son Aidyn moved off campus this semester. As a college freshman, he had the convenience of eating either at the cafeteria or at one of the many on-campus restaurants through his college meal plan. This summer, my goal was to teach him a few simple recipes that he could make for himself without spending a lot of time in the kitchen. 

Easy Recipes for College Students

We are sharing these recipes because they are serving a specific purpose: to teach a young adult basic kitchen skills while also making sure he can feed himself at college without eating at a fast-food restaurant for every meal. And these types of recipes may be helpful to other young adults too! 

How it started . . .

What does that mean? It means that a lot of the recipes use canned or frozen vegetables, canned soup, quick rice, etc., to get a simple meal on the table quickly.

These recipes aren’t for seasoned cooks. They’re for beginners and specifically include shortcuts for a kiddo who just learned how to cut an onion. But, if you’re looking for some new ideas for recipes that you can make for a quick weeknight dinner, then these recipes might be for you too!

How it's going . . . 

This is the same kiddo who started baking cakes for charity when he was in middle school as a volunteer activity. So does he already know how to read a recipe? Yes! How to make desserts? Also yes! He just needed a little direction to move into making a full-blown meal for himself. And I’m super proud of what we accomplished this summer.

What Basic Kitchen Skills Should a College Student Know?

These recipes will give you the opportunity to review simple cooking skills. And while they may seem very basic to you, they may seem daunting to a teen or young adult who has never tried them before. Once your kiddo has mastered these skills, they can move on to more complicated recipes later in life.

• Boiling vs. simmering
• Browning ground meat
• Chopping vegetables
• Cracking eggs
• Ingredient substitutions (listed with recipes, if applicable)
• Marinating meat
• Measuring ingredients
• Preheating an oven
• Reading and following a recipe
• Sauteing vegetables
• Setting a timer
• Using a crockpot
• And more!

Making Loaf Pan Lasagna

What Types of Recipes Are Included in This Cooking Challenge?

This Cooking Challenge includes three recipe categories: crockpot recipes, casserole recipes, and one pot recipes. Each category includes four easy-to-make recipes that have quick prep times and have a minimal number of ingredients (minus pantry staples like oil and spices). And they all provide enough leftovers for one person to have a few extra meals or to share with roommates and friends. At the end of the Cooking Challenge, he had 12 recipes under his belt that he can rotate through for the school year:

If You Give a Kid a Crockpot (Dump and Go Dinners)

• Pizza Fondue
• Crockpot BBQ Chicken
• 15 Bean Soup
• Crockpot Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken

If You Give a Kid a Casserole Dish (Classic Comfort Food)

• Loaf Pan Lasagna
• Chicken Cobbler
• No Peek Chicken & Rice Casserole
• Upside-Down Pizza Casserole

If You Give a Kid a Cooking Pot (One Pot Meals)

• One Pot Taco Soup
• One Pot Chicken and Dumplings
• One Pot Easy Two-Bean Chili
• One Pot Taco Pasta

Making One Pot Chicken and Dumplings

Join The Harris Sisters Cooking Challenge for College Students

We'd love for you and your college student to join us on this Cooking Challenge. Together, let’s teach your college student the basic kitchen skills they need, so they can enjoy cooking for themselves. It’s not just about meals. It’s about giving them a foundation to feel confident in the kitchen and to build lasting habits for a healthier lifestyle. Let’s make this journey a little easier, together.

Simply choose a recipe above to get started. Walk them through it once, and before you know it, they’ll be cooking that recipe on their own. It's that simple! 

Be sure to Pin this post so you can easily come back to the full recipe series. And when they finish their first dish? We’d love to hear how it went. Those first kitchen wins are worth celebrating!

If You Give a Kid a Cooking Pot: One Pot Taco Pasta

Over the next several weeks, we'll be bringing you recipes for beginning cooks designed to teach basic cooking skills. So be on the lookout for all the recipes in the series. Today's recipe is part of the Cooking Challenge series.

This nostalgic dish is a twist on the hamburger helper you used to love as a kid. Just as simple to make, this creamy Taco Pasta with ground beef, vegetables, and cheese is prepared in one pot in less than 30 minutes, making your weeknight dinner easier than ever. 

One Pot Taco Pasta

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

15 oz. can tomato sauce

10 oz. can Rotel, undrained

15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

15 oz. can corn, drained

2 cups beef broth

1 packet taco seasoning

8 oz. elbow macaroni, uncooked

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. In a large saute pan, brown the ground beef over medium high heat, breaking it up with a spoon. Drain off any excess grease.
2. Dice the onion, add it to the pan and cook until softened, about 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the tomato sauce, Rotel, black beans, corn, beef broth, and taco seasoning. Stir to combine.
4. Add the uncooked elbow macaroni, ensuring it’s submerged in the liquid. Add more beef broth or water if needed.
5. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked through and the liquid has been absorbed into the pasta. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and test noodles.
6. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar cheese until melted.
7. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

You Can Get with This or You Can Get with That (Recipe Substitutions):

• Substitute ground turkey or chicken instead of ground beef.
• Substitute chicken broth or veggie broth for the beef broth.
• Substitute your favorite beans for the black beans.
• Reduce sodium by choosing a low-sodium taco seasoning.
• Substitute shell, rotini, or penne pasta for elbow macaroni, just make sure to adjust the amount of broth in the recipe, if needed.
• Substitute your favorite cheese for the cheddar cheese.
• Serve with hot sauce, sour cream, or guacamole, if desired.

This Is How We Do It (Kitchen Skills You'll Learn in This Recipe):

• Boiling vs. simmering
• Browning ground meat
• Chopping vegetables
• Measuring ingredients
• Reading and following a recipe
• Setting a timer

Mama Said Knock You Out (Prep Ahead for Easy Dinners):

If you have leftover taco pasta you want to freeze, put the taco pasta into individual airtight containers. It will keep well for up to two months.

When you are ready to serve, take the container out of the freezer and let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat in the microwave.

If You Give a Kid a Cooking Challenge

This recipe is part of the three-part If You Give a Kid a Cooking Challenge recipe series. These recipes are designed to: 

• be easier to make
• have a minimal number of ingredients (minus pantry staples like oil and spices)
• be quick to prep 
• make enough for one person to have leftovers for a few days

If You Give a Kid a Casserole Dish: Chicken Cobbler

Over the next several weeks, we'll be bringing you recipes for beginning cooks designed to teach basic cooking skills. So be on the lookout for all the recipes in the series. Today's recipe is part of the Cooking Challenge series.

Chicken Cobbler is a TikTok-famous recipe that presents a new and updated way to make a chicken pot pie by layering a few pantry and freezer staples right in a casserole dish. With just 15 minutes of prep time, this recipe will have a hearty weeknight dinner on the table in no time flat!

Chicken Cobbler

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

3 1/2 - 4 cups shredded, cooked chicken

12 - 20 oz. frozen mixed vegetables

11.36 oz. box Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit Mix and enclosed seasoning packet

2 cups milk

2 cups chicken broth

10.5 oz. can cream of chicken soup

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Add butter to 9 X 13 casserole dish and put in oven while preheating. (When butter has melted, remove casserole dish from oven and swirl around until the butter coats the bottom of the dish. Set aside.)
2. Spread shredded, cooked chicken evenly over the butter in the dish.
3. Top shredded chicken with the frozen mixed vegetables in an even layer.
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit Mix, contents of the enclosed seasoning packet, and milk until just combined.
5. Pour the biscuit mixture over the frozen mixed vegetable layer, being careful not to mix the layers.
6. Using the same mixing bowl as before, add the chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper. Whisk until fully combined with no lumps of soup remaining. Carefully pour the soup mixture over the biscuit mixture, being careful not to mix the layers.
7. Bake uncovered for 60 minutes, or until the crust has risen around the edges, is lightly golden brown, and the liquids are bubbly. Let it sit for at least 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

You Can Get with This or You Can Get with That (Ingredient Substitutions):

4 cups of shredded chicken equals approximately:

• 2 pounds of chicken breasts cooked and shredded
• 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
• 3 12.5 oz cans shredded cooked chicken, drained

You can substitute:

• Your favorite frozen vegetables for the frozen vegetables in the recipe (we used mixed peas, carrots, corn, and green beans)
• Canned mixed vegetables for frozen mixed vegetables.

This Is How We Do It (Kitchen Skills You'll Learn in This Recipe):

• Measuring ingredients
• Preheating an oven
• Reading and following a recipe
• Setting a timer

Mama Said Knock You Out (Prep Ahead for Easy Dinners):

You can cook the chicken ahead of time for this recipe and assemble the rest of the recipe on a different day.

If cooking chicken breasts ahead of time, add them to a crockpot in a single layer. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours, checking at the earliest time. Use your meat thermometer to be sure the chicken has reached 165 degrees F. Let rest 10 minutes before transferring to a clean bowl or cutting board to shred. 

If you have more than the 4 cups of shredded chicken needed for this recipe after you're finished cooking it, it will last 3-4 days in the refrigerator and can be used in other recipes. If needed, you can let it cool, and then portion it out into freezer bags or reusable plastic containers to freeze for other recipes in the future. Make sure to label and date any food item that you freeze.

If You Give a Kid a Cooking Challenge

This recipe is part of the three-part If You Give a Kid a Cooking Challenge recipe series. These recipes are designed to: 

• be easier to make
• have a minimal number of ingredients (minus pantry staples like oil and spices)
• be quick to prep 
• make enough for one person to have leftovers for a few days

Special thanks to Your Barefoot Neighbor on TikTok for the original recipe.