Tips for Cooking in Groups | The Student Food Project

Tips for Cooking in Groups

Cooking with other students is great. It’s cheaper, there’s less washing up, everyone can get involved, and it’s fun. But be careful, you don’t want to end up becoming the personal chef of everyone in your halls for a whole year! Here’s our tips for successfully cooking with other students:
Post by:  
Alex Harvey
September 12, 2017

Plan in Advance

Choose what you’re going to cook before you go to the supermarket. We have a growing selection of student recipes on our website - change the portion sizes to match the size of your group. If you’re going to try and do this semi-regularly, you might want to pick a certain day of the week to cook as a group.

Split the Cost

If you’re in charge of coordinating this, you don’t want to end up paying for everyone else’s dinner. Get everyone to throw in a couple of pounds before you start buying ingredients.

Share Responsibility

You don’t necessarily want to be the one cooking every time. You don’t have to make a chart or anything, just agree with your group to take it in turns to do the cooking and/or planning. If you’re doing it weekly, decide whose turn it is to cook at the end of each meal.

Keep it Basic

Just because you’re cooking for a group, doesn’t mean you need to start cooking super fancy dishes. Find something simple with basic instructions - ADD LINKS HERE

Take Your Time

When you’re cooking, take it slow and stay calm. We suggest that you leave a bit of extra time for cooking if you’ve never made the meal before.

Get People to Help

It’s a good idea to get someone else to cook with you. It’s more fun, but it also means you can both do different parts of the recipe at the same time. Don’t get into the habit of doing the cooking all the time - make sure everyone pulls their weight.

Make it Fun

Don’t take it too seriously. Put on one of your favourite playlists, grab a drink and give it a try! Don’t worry if the food doesn’t turn out exactly how you imagined, you’ll know what to do differently next time.

Washing Up

There’s going to be less washing up than if everyone cooked individually. Make someone else do this if you’ve done all the cooking.

Don’t Waste Leftovers

Depending on the recipe, it’s usually fine to keep a container of leftovers in the fridge or freezer for another day. Then you’ve got another meal sorted too!

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