Cooking together is one of the best bonding experiences when you move into a new flat. I’ve really enjoyed cooking with my flatmates as it is quite cheap and often creates a lot of laughs. Below I’ve included some of the meals that I think work best when cooking as a group and a few tips to help the process.

Pasta Bake

The great thing about a pasta bake is that you can customise it however you like to accommodate all of your flatmates. I particularly like including halloumi, chicken, bacon and sweetcorn into my pasta bakes. This meal is SUPER easy to cook meaning you’ll spend more time talking than cooking! 

Fun fact: When my flatmates and I first made a tuna pasta bake together I was astounded to learn they both topped theirs with… wait for it… smashed crisps! Can you believe it? I certainly couldn’t and thought that they were trying to joke around until I tried it and actually liked it! Learning new things is one of my favourite things about moving in with new people.

 Pizzas

When making pizzas, everyone can make their own which can be quite fun but also inclusive of any dietary requirements. I love the recipe from BBC good food as it doesn’t take long and includes minimal ingredients (https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/pizza-margherita-4-easy-steps). I love topping mine with simple mozzarella and fresh basil leaves (Aldi sells a cheap basil plant!).

To make this recipe easier here are some tips:

• You don’t need to use olive oil- any vegetable oil will do the trick!
• For the base you can just use plain passata, tomato puree, tomato ketchup or BBQ sauce depending on what you have in your cupboards.
• Normal cheddar cheese would work fine as a cheese topping!
• You can add a basic Italian herb seasoning to the top for extra flavour.

Sunday Dinner

Having a roast dinner every Sunday is quite typical for a British family and mine is no different. Although it didn’t cross my mind before I moved away, I really missed sitting with my family and sharing this wholesome meal every week. It can be quite difficult to purchase everything needed for a roast dinner by yourself at university, so I recommend cooking one with your flat and splitting the costs. The moor market has a few great fruit and vegetable stores for if you want to get your veggies packaging free! 

Tacos and fajitas

These can be great to cook together as you can put all of the ingredients into separate bowls on the table and help yourselves to what you each enjoy. 

Top tip: if you’re finding that there’s too many cooks in the kitchen suggest stepping back and doing the washing up instead. I know it’s a boring job, but someone has to do it and cooking is sometimes easier and safer with fewer people!

I hope some of these tips have given you some delicious ideas for cooking with your flatmates and remember… when all else fails order a takeaway! 

Good luck!

Rhianne ☺

(P.S. I’m going to leave you with one final tip, if you are ordering a takeaway make sure to check any fresher leaflets you got posted or UNiDAYS to get the best deal. Dominos always do a good student discount!).

Written by #HallamInsider Rhianne Saunders