One week at UC Berkeley in meals
During my first year at UC Berkeley, one of my greatest worries was what I’d eat when I eventually lived off campus. I didn’t grow up in the kitchen and only knew a few recipes, so my meal plan was my saving grace.
As second-year students, my roommates and I forwent our meal plans, moving out of our residence hall triple and into an apartment off campus. While I was terrified by the prospect of having to cook for myself every day, I slowly but surely learned how.
This article covers what I eat in a week as a fourth-year student living off campus. It also includes advice on grocery shopping and meal prepping while on an out-of-state student budget.
Plan for the week
As a busy out-of-state student, I save time and money wherever I can, and meal prepping is an easy way to do both. If you’re thinking of trying meal prepping, determine how many different meals you’d like to eat in a week and repeat meals when you can. I’ve found that I don’t love eating the same dinner more than three nights in a row, so I plan two to three dinners per week. I don’t prepare lunches because I’m usually in class around lunchtime.
During the school year, I buy my groceries from Trader Joe’s, taking the 51B bus line to get to either the College Avenue or University Avenue store. Trader Joe’s sells single or small-serving meals at a reasonable price, but is less ideal for specialized products or products in bulk. To make sure I have all my bases covered, my mother and I go to Costco or Walmart at the beginning of the year to stock up on shelf-stable foods, larger food to share among housemates, and meat products to keep in the freezer. We also head to KP Asian Market to buy pantry products for all of the Japanese cooking I do.
My weekly groceries never cost me more than $60, and I’ve included a sample grocery list at the end of this article. If you want more grocery shopping and meal prepping ideas, you can check out Izzy’s video on cozy fall foods.
Fellow students! It’s time to stop eating out everyday and start meal prepping! 🫡🍽️ Watch this video for meal prepping tips and check the link in our bio to make these recipes yourself!
#ucberkeley #berkeley #ucberkeleylife #collegelife #mealprep #fallrecipes
Now, onto a week of meals!
Breakfast
I have, unfortunately, become a caffeine fiend over the last two years. I start my day with a cup of coffee, either drinking it in a thermos during my walk to class, or on the couch while reading a book on my days off.
Half a cup of coffee and my current read, “Advice for Future Corpses And Those Who Love Them” by Sallie Tisdale.
Actual breakfast food I’m less consistent with. On weekends, I wake up late, so my first meal of the day is usually lunch. On weekdays, eating breakfast depends on my workout schedule. If I’m going to the gym that morning, I’ll put off eating until after I’m done exercising to avoid an upset stomach. If I’m not going to the gym, I’ll have a grab-and-go breakfast, like a pumpkin muffin my roommate baked or a toasted English muffin with some kind of spread.
A toasted English muffin with blackberry jam.
Lunch
On Mondays and Wednesdays, I’m on campus from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., so I eat a protein bar and fresh or packaged fruit between classes. All other days of the week, I’m at my apartment during lunchtime, so I’ll reheat leftovers from dinner the night before, or make something quick and easy like yakisoba, a bagel, or fried rice.
Plain bagel with cream cheese, salmon, and lemon juice, and two oranges on the side.
Dinner
For dinner, I make a conscious effort to hit all food groups. I cook chicken most often because it’s the most affordable, but I do splurge on salmon and beef once a month or so. I’ll usually have my meals with rice because it goes with everything, and my roommates and I purchase a large bag of it at the beginning of each semester to share, so it’s always on hand. For vegetables, I alternate cooking asparagus, broccoli, bok choy, and brussels sprouts, though sometimes I’ll have a more traditional salad. My fruit is whatever is cheapest that week at the store.
Honey garlic salmon, oven-roasted asparagus, and white rice with katsuo (bonito) furikake.
Snacks
If I wait too long between meals, I feel nauseous, so I snack a lot. I keep granola, protein bars, and crackers in my pantry, and buy fresh fruit by the week.
Green and red grapes and vanilla almond granola.
Bonus: sample grocery list for another week of meals
If you’re not sure where to start with grocery shopping, here’s a sample list for another week of meals. My groceries cost between $30 and $60 depending on what produce is available that day, what items I already have at home, and whether or not I have to restock on kitchen staples that week. This is a pricier week because of the coffee.
Groceries
- Frozen meals: scallion pancakes, gyoza
- Vegetables: onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bell peppers
- Fruit: apples, Mandarin oranges (easy to carry to campus!)
- Protein: boneless chicken thighs
- Shredded cheese
- Tortillas
- Pasta
- Granola or cereal
- Oat milk
- Cold brew concentrate
The gyoza and scallion pancakes would be the main components of my lunches; I always make sure to buy frozen or ready-to-eat meals that have multiple servings. I’d use the vegetables, chicken, and cheese to make Japanese curry and quesadillas as my two dinners for the week. My snacks would be fruit and sweet potato fries. The cold brew concentrate is one of the priciest things on this list, so I’d try to stretch it out over two weeks — though I do always have coffee grounds and my roommate’s French press as a backup. Food items that I wouldn’t have to purchase because I’d likely already have them in the house would be white rice, Japanese curry roux cubes, honey, olive oil, and spices.
Happy eating!
Cooking for yourself can be challenging at first, but it isn’t as hard as it seems. I’ve become much more confident in the kitchen over the last three years and am proud to say that I tested out a new recipe every week of fall semester. I find some recipes through friends and family, but most are from social media. One recipe I can offer to you readers is for niku yasai itame, or meat and vegetable stir fry. It’s a great way to use up miscellaneous vegetables in your fridge and can be made with items likely already in your house.
Home cooking also means saving money. Since I keep my groceries under $60 a week and work a part-time job, I can comfortably treat myself to a dinner out once in a while. I plan to do just that when I graduate in May.
Beignets from Angeline’s Louisiana Kitchen on Shattuck Avenue.
Nina Takahashi, Class of 2026, is majoring in film and media and minoring in Japanese and creative writing.
Want more?
- Did you know that Berkeley Dining has its very own dietitian? Read about dining resources at Cal.
- Learn how to tame your student budget.
- Explore Albany, just 30 minutes from Berkeley by bus.