Three Cheap and Simple Recipes for Students in France
Living a comfortable student lifestyle in France is achievable thanks to France’s low-cost of education and generous social programs, but budgeting is an important part of making your time abroad work! Whether you’re a language assistant with the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF), a study abroad participant, or a degree-seeking student, you’ll enjoy these cheap and simple recipes.
These recipes are some of our favorites as master’s degree students in France. We’ll be outlining recipes that make two servings and including a vegetarian version for each. You’ll be able to find all of these low-cost ingredients in most French grocery stores and none of these meals require anything more than a hot plate to prepare! They aren’t necessarily glamorous, but they are certainly delicious.
Tortilla Pizzas
The first recipe is tortilla pizzas. When getting pizza delivered is just too expensive, tortilla pizzas come to the rescue! The finished product tastes surprisingly like a thin-crust artisan pizza.
- Prep time: 5 minutes
- Cook time: 10 minutes
- Total time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 small pizzas
Ingredients:
- 4 flour tortillas
- 4 dollops of tomato sauce – Try arrabbiata sauce for some spice!
- 4 handfuls of shredded cheese – We love three-cheese blends.
- vegetarian topping: 1 bell pepper, 1 small tomato
- meat topping: 8 rosette slices
Instructions:
- Slice the bell pepper into thin strips and halve the cherry tomatoes.
- Spread the tomato sauce and shredded cheese evenly on tortillas.
- To the vegetarian pizzas, add the bell peppers and cherry tomatoes.
- To the meat pizzas, add rosette slices.
- Heat the pizzas in a skillet on medium-high heat until the edges of the tortillas are brown and the cheese is melted.
- Serve immediately.
Price:
- Two vegetarian tortilla pizzas cost 2,25 €.
- Two rosette tortilla pizzas cost 2,06 €.
- The total cost of our tortilla pizza dinner comes to 4,31 €.
Burrito Bowls
Our second recipe that you have to try is burrito bowls. The options for good, pre-made Mexican food in France are slim, but you can absolutely make it at home for cheap!
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 20 minutes
- Total time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 burrito bowls
Ingredients:
- 2 servings of white or brown rice
- fresh or frozen cilantro to taste
- juice of half a lime
- 2 bell peppers
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 handfuls of lettuce
- salt, pepper, and Mexican seasoning to taste
- 2 spoonfuls of sunflower oil
- vegetarian topping: a handful of cherry tomatoes
- meat topping: 1 serving of ground beef
Instructions:
Cilantro lime rice:
- Remove stems and chop cilantro.
- Cook the rice according to package instructions.
- Stir in lime juice, cilantro, salt, pepper, and Mexican seasoning to rice.
Fajita vegetables:
- Slice the bell peppers and onion into thin strips.
- Season the bell peppers and onion with salt, pepper, and Mexican seasoning.
- Heat one spoonful of sunflower oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.
- Add seasoned bell peppers and onion to the skillet and cook for five minutes or until tender.
Ground beef:
- Heat the second spoonful of sunflower oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.
- Add ground beef to the skillet, break the meat up into medium pieces, and stir occasionally until beef is browned.
- Season the ground beef with salt, pepper, and Mexican seasoning before removing from heat.
Assembly:
- Split the rice and fajita vegetables into two bowls.
- Add one handful of lettuce to each bowl.
- To the vegetarian bowl, add cherry tomatoes.
- To the meat bowl, add ground beef.
- Serve immediately.
Price:
- One vegetarian burrito bowl costs 2,77 €.
- One burrito bowl with meat costs 4,07 €.
- The total cost of our burrito bowl dinner comes to 6,84 €.
Crêpes
The third recipe is a French classic – crêpes! You don’t have to spend tons of time and money to eat authentic French food.
- Prep time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Cook time: 20 minutes
- Total time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 crêpes
Ingredients:
Crêpe batter:
- 3/4 cup OR 125 grams of flour
- 1 cup OR 250 milliliters of milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons OR 40 grams of butter
- 2 tablespoons OR 25 grams of water
Crêpe filling:
- 2 handfuls of spinach
- 1 handful of button mushrooms
- 2 handfuls of shredded cheese – We recommend emmental!
- salt and pepper to taste
- vegetarian topping: 1 large spoonful of chickpeas per crêpe
- meat topping: 1 large spoonful of lardons per crêpe
Instructions:
Crêpe batter:
- Melt half of the butter completely and allow to cool slightly.
- Combine milk, eggs, and water.
- Add to this mixture the flour and cooled butter, whisking vigorously until smooth.
- Chill the batter for at least one hour before use.
- Heat skillet on high until very hot.
- With the reserved half of the butter, coat pan before cooking each crêpe.
- Pour a small amount of batter into the skillet, rolling the skillet around until the bottom of the pan is coated in a thin layer.
- Allow crêpe to cook until it is no longer liquid.
- Flip crêpe and brown the other side.
- Repeat the process, stacking the finished crêpes as you go, until all of the batter has been used.
Crêpe filling:
- Thinly slice mushrooms.
- In the same skillet that you used to make the crêpes, add mushrooms to the residual butter. Reduce to medium-high heat.
- Allow mushrooms cook for about 8 minutes, or until brown.
- Reduce to medium heat and stir in spinach. Cook just until the spinach is wilted.
- Remove vegetables from heat and season with salt and pepper.
- Drain chickpeas and add them to the same skillet on medium heat. Cook just until warm, and remove from skillet.
- Increase heat to high and add lardons to the skillet. Cook until browned, stirring occasionally.
Assembly:
- Divide the shredded cheese and vegetable mixture into equal portions and add them to the crêpes.
- To the vegetarian crêpes, add chickpeas.
- To the meat crêpes, add lardons.
- Fold or roll your crêpes as you please and serve immediately.
Price:
- One vegetarian serving costs 2,64 €.
- One serving with meat costs 2,92 €.
- The total cost of our crêpe dinner comes to 5,56 €.
Drinks
Don’t forget to grab a few drinks to accompany your meals!
Sparkling water: Sparkling water is an inexpensive, refreshing, typically French drink that goes well with every meal. You can get sparkling water for 0,27 € per 1,5 liters.
French orange soda: Orangina is a popular carbonated citrus drink that packs a sweet yet tart punch. You can buy store brand “Orangina” for 0,99 € per 1,5 liters.
La Goudale: We couldn’t outline our favorite student meals without including an inexpensive beer recommendation! La Goudale is a highly fermented beer that will add a unique taste to your dinner. A liter of La Goudale costs 2,46 €.
If you make one of these recipes, let us know in a comment below or by tagging us on Instagram or Twitter! Bon appétit !
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