26 Uni Kitchen Essentials For Students

Your go-to student list for uni kitchen essentials.

With the right uni kitchen essentials, you can make some fabulous meals. It also helps with bonding with your flatmates too (just make sure you get your stuff cleaned and put back!).

Plus, in the long run, it can save you some money, as you’ll have a full arsenal of equipment to make almost anything you fancy.

So, if you’re moving to halls for the first time, or want to upgrade your current kitchen set, we’ve popped a list together of all the student uni kitchen essentials you’ll ever need.

We’ve got brands like Amazon and student discounts and deals from the likes of Wowcher where you can get some premium kitchen products for students at a lower price.

With our student uni kitchen essentials list, you’ll be able to cook some banger recipes, like these 40p meals, or recipes for world vegan month. And to help you on your student budget, here’s how to get cheap food shopping with a £20 a week food budget.

Plus, if you need a list of everything you need to take to uni, check out our what to take to university checklist.

Jump to:

• Cooking equipment
• Crockery & cutlery
• Appliances, tech, gadgets
• Other uni kitchen essentials
• Learn to cook

Student uni kitchen essentials list

To save you the hassle of forgetting crucial uni kitchen essentials, and overpacking, we’ve got all the bits you need to take that will make your life easier (and tastier, hopefully).

Just remember to check with your university’s rules if you’re staying on campus in the uni’s halls of residence — they won’t always let you take your own electrical appliances!

Cooking equipment

• Pots & pans — 50 piece kitchen starter set, Argos
• Wok — non-stick wok, Amazon
• Frying pan/s — Tefal frying pans, Amazon
• Oven trays — set of 3 baking trays, Dunelm
• Oven dish – oven roasting dish, Dunelm

To help you save more money, check out our Argos student discount, Amazon student discount, and Dunelm student discount.

Crockery & cutlery

• Forks, spoons, knives set — 16 piece cutlery set, Dunelm
• Utensils — kitchen utensils set, Amazon
• Knife set — knife set of 3, Amazon
• Mugs — set of 4 mugs, Dunelm
• Plates & bowls— 12 piece dinner set, Dunelm

Appliances, tech, gadgets

• Airfryer — Tower 4.3L airfryer, Amazon
• Kettle — 1.7L kettle, Amazon
• Toaster — 4 slice toaster, Argos
• Toastie maker — Tower toastie maker, Amazon

Toasties are a uni student’s staple meal and snack; they’re just too good to stop at one. If you’re bored of the simple but tasty cheese toastie, we’ve got the best toastie fillings and ideas to inspire you.

Other uni kitchen essentials

• Measuring cups — set of 12 measuring cups and spoons, Amazon
• Measuring jug — plastic measuring jug 2L, Amazon
• Reusable containers — food prep containers, Amazon
• Colander — stainless steel colander, Amazon
• Oven gloves — double oven glove, Dunelm
• Chopping boards — set of 4 colour-coded chopping mats, Dunelm
• Grater — grater with lid, Ikea
• Can opener — stainless steel can opener, Ikea
• Tea towels — pack of 4 tea towels, Ikea
• Corkscrew — silver corkscrew bottle opener, Ikea
• Veg peeler — peeler, Ikea
• Kitchen scissors — stainless steel kitchen scissors, Ikea

Make your uni kitchen essentials shop more affordable with Ikea deals and discounts.

Now you’ve got the kit, you can learn to cook!

Check out our video on 5 essential cooking skills for Freshers:

And that’s our best uni kitchen essentials rounded up! We hope it’s given you a well-rounded view of the type of items to kit out your uni kitchen with.

How long does pasta take to cook?

Dried pasta, including spaghetti, penne, linguine, and tagliatelle takes roughly 10-12 minutes to cook. On the other hand, ravioli or fresh pasta is much quicker to cook and only takes between 3-5 minutes to boil in a saucepan.

How long to cook sausages in the oven

Assuming you cook at a temperature of 200C, it takes roughly 30 minutes for meat sausages to cook in the oven. Bear in mind that it will take an extra 10 minutes to cook if the meat sausages are frozen, and less so if they’re vegetarian sausages (roughly 15-18 minutes).

Always check the package instructions, which will usually give you the time and temperate if the sausages are chilled for frozen.

How to cook mince

How to cook mince depends on what you intend to do with it. If you want to brown the mince, you’ll only need it in the pan for a few minutes to turn brown (but not cook all the way through), but if you’re cooking, say, a spaghetti bolognese, then there’s a method to cooking mince the best way.

1. Add a little oil to a hot pan
2. Add your pack of  mince
3. Break the mince up and keep stirring it so it doesn’t stick and cooks evenly
4. If too many juices pool at the bottom, strain the mince and pop the mince back in the frying pan
   1. You can even keep the juices to create a stock
5. Cook until the mince is medium-brown and no red (raw) parts remain. 

What is induction cooking?

Induction cooking as essentially hobs that use electricity to heat up pots and pans. You’ll usually find these in your university dorm, as they’re much safer and simpler to use. 

It’s different to thermal conduction, such as gas or electric element transferring. Instead, it heats the pot or pan and itself until it’s ready to be used for cooking. The infrared energy of an induction cooker ensures even heat distribution from the burner to the pan, which then transfers to the food. A major difference between an induction cooktop vs electric cooktop is that once you turn off a burner from an electric cooktop, the surface will continue to be hot for some time.

Sign up to Student Beans to get even more home student discounts, and redeem the brand discounts we mentioned above.