These Easy Healthy College Dorm Room Snack Recipes require little or no cooking and are great for satisfying midnight munchies.
Pictured (left to right, top to bottom): Layered Mexican Dip (see simplified version below), Oatmeal Raisin Energy Bites (Amy’s Healthy Baking), Protein Puppy Chow (Food Faith Fitness), Corn, Black Bean Salsa (see simplified version below), Healthy Sweet and Salty Trail Mix (Neighbor Food), Cold Marinated Vegetables (Tasting Page)
Recently I received an email from a college student looking for healthy snack recipes and ideas that she could easily prepare in her dorm. Since I have three boys in college, I know how limited college students are when it comes to being able to cook in their dorms. At best, they have a small refrigerator, microwave, and if they’re lucky, a coffee pot.
When I was in college, I actually had a rice cooker and small slow cooker. But these days, most colleges don’t allow any small appliances other than a microwave oven. I was also fortunate to live in a dorm during my senior year that had a kitchen we could use.
On top of the cooking appliance limitations, college students are almost always on a tight budget. So, I reached out to some of my fellow food bloggers and scoured the internet to see what I could come up with for my reader.
Here are some basic spices/ingredients that I think would help spice up dorm food:
- granulated garlic
- onion powder
- salt
- pepper
- chili spice mix
- taco spice mix
Here are some healthy dorm-friendly pantry items:
- nut butter
- canned beans (chickpeas, black beans, red beans)
- whole grain crackers
- non-fat Greek yogurt
- salsa
Easy Healthy Bites
- Store-bought hummus with carrot sticks, other vegetables (e.g., frozen broccoli), whole grain crackers. CVS stores near college campuses often carry some fresh produce.
- Non-fat Greek yogurt mixed with herb or spice mix (e.g., Trader Joe’s onion dip mix; Penzey’s Chip and Dip mix or Buttermilk Ranch Dip mix) served with carrots/celery/bell peppers/cucumbers or other vegetables (e.g., frozen broccoli)
- Fruit and nut butter – banana slices, apple slices, celery, whole grain crackers with nut butter and granola sprinkled on top
- Trail mix (nuts, dried fruit, whole grain cereal, whole grain crackers)
- Salsa and guacamole (Wholly Guacamole sells individual size servings) with carrots/celery/bell peppers baked tortilla chips
- Ants on a Log 2.0, Two Healthy Kitchens
- Fruit Yogurt Granola Parfait, Yummy Healthy Easy
Savory Bites
- Simplified Corn, Black Bean Salsa (mix together frozen or canned corn, canned black beans, jar salsa, taco seasoning) with baked tortilla chips – serve cold or warm in microwave (melt some cheese on top, optional)
- Simplified Mini Layered Mexican Dip (layer in microwave bowl: refried beans, salsa, shredded low-fat cheese; heat in microwave; top with non-fat Greek yogurt, guacamole); serve with celery sticks or baked tortilla chips
- Simplified Chili Bean Dip – black beans or kidney beans, chili spice mix, water; mash with a fork; top with shredded cheese and microwave 2-3 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted; serve with celery sticks or baked tortilla chips
- Turkey and Cheese Bites – top whole grain crackers with deli-sliced turkey and cheese;Â warm in microwave; top with salsa
- Seasoned Edamame  – put frozen edamame in microwaveable bowl, cover with damp paper towel and microwave a few minutes until heated through; season with salt and pepper (garlic and chili powder are good too)
- Vegetarian Burrito – whole grain tortilla  with vegetarian refried beans spread on top and sprinkled with shredded cheese; microwave until warm; top with non-fat Greek yogurt and salsa; rollup
- Vegetarian Pita Pizza – whole grain pita topped with pasta sauce, defrosted chopped spinach or broccoli (use a paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible when using frozen vegetables), low-fat mozzarella cheese, Italian seasoning
- Italian Brown Paper Bag Popcorn, Snappy Gourmet (chili seasoning, Penzey’s Chip and Dip or Buttermilk Ranch Dressing)
- Cold Marinated Vegetables, Tasting Page
- Soy Sesame Marinated Cucumbers, Farm Fresh Feasts
- Microwave Potato Chips, Wonky Wonderful
- 1-Minute Microwave Quiche in a Mug (use a spoonful of salsa if you don’t have fresh tomatoes)
- Microwave Roasted Chickpeas, Priya’s Versatile Recipes
- Microwave Kale Chips, Rachael Ray Show (Nathan Myhrvold)
- Scrambled Eggs and Cheese, Martha Stewart (use salsa if you don’t have fresh tomatoes)
Sweet Bites
- Dark Chocolate Almond Cranberry Whole Grain Trail Mix (use roasted almonds)
- Peanut Butter Silk Pie Dip with Greek Yogurt, Two Healthy Kitchens
- Energy Bites, Cooking On The Front Burners
- No-Bake Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Granola Bites, The Kitchen Is My Playground
- Oatmeal Raisin Energy Bites, Amy’s Healthy Baking
- Peanut Butter Cup No-Bake Snack Bites, Two Healthy Kitchens
- Protein Puppy Chow, Food Faith Fitness
- Healthy Sweet and Salty Trail Mix, Neighbor Food
- Grain Free Peanut Butter and Jelly Mug Cake, Everyday Maven
- Overnight Pumpkin Oats, Tasting Page
- Healthy Candy Apple Wedges, An Edible Mosaic
- Microwaveable Breakfast Cookie, Whole Foods New Body
- Aggression Cookies, What Smells So Good
Do you have any easy healthy college dorm room snack recipes you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments please! Thank you!
Easy College Dinner Recipes with Printable Weekly Meal Plan and Shopping List
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Haha, was this post for me? Luckily I am a very experienced foodie and blogger so I know how to handle cooking for myself in unique ways 😉
Great ideas! College is a tricky time when it comes to food.
These all sound SO good! Thanks for including my Protein Puppy Chow! Pinned!
So many great ideas! Sharing now!
That sucks that they can’t have a slow cooker or rice cooker but these are some great ideas!!!
as a college student living in a dorm, I highly appreciate this post! Thanks for sharing!
This certainly beats ramen noodles, fast food and going hungry. These are great suggestions for college students that are tasty, healthy and easy to put together – the perfect combination for this group!
Thank you so much for this!!! Being a college student who wants to eat healthy snacks can be difficult; this list will definitely help me eat the right kind of snacks!
I totally wish I had this list when I was in college!! I ate more pizza than I care to admit! This is a great roundup! Thanks for choosing THK to be part of this yummy list! 🙂
Thanks everyone! I know we can all relate to the limitations of dorm cooking. I ate lots of pizza and chicken wings in college, but after I moved into a dorm with a kitchen, we made fried rice almost every night. People would flock to our suite to get a plate 🙂