College students are notorious for getting by with what they have, but with a little help from home, students can equip the perfect college kitchen without breaking the bank.
Before moving into an apartment, roommates should get together to determine what they already have and what they need to get. Many apartment kitchens come equipped with microwaves, so the last thing your student needs is to end up in an apartment with three microwaves when everyone brings their own.
A few essential appliances and the basic cooking utensils can usually be gathered up from “extras” found at home or from relatives like grandmothers, aunts and uncles. If your student insists on buying new, send them to a local discount retailer. There’s no reason to buy gourmet appliances when you’re living in a college apartment.
The Basics:
- 1 large skillet and 1 small skillet
- 1 set of sauce pans
- 2 cookie sheets (or one cookie sheet and one pizza pan)
- 1 colander
- 1 can opener
- 1 pizza cutter
- Spatulas and serving spoons/fork
- Sharp knives (a set in a knife block is nice to have)
- Toaster
- Coffee maker
- Cutting Board
- Paper plates. This will reduce the amount of money spent on running the dishwasher or the time spent on washing dishes by hand.
- A set of 8 dinner plates, salad plates, and cereal/soup bowls (they don’t have to match)
- Flatware for 12
- 8 drinking glasses (these will be supplemented with plastic cups from every party)
- Coffee cups, including a couple of travel mugs
- One covered Pyrex-type casserole dish
- A set of plastic containers with lids (in various sizes)
- A pitcher
- Ice cube trays
- Aluminum foil for oven baking
- Spices for cooking including salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper and dried parsley.
With all of these essentials, your college student will have everything he or she needs for a functional kitchen.
Did we miss anything? Let us know what items you would include in a college kitchen in the comment section below.
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7 Comments. Leave new
Between my roommates and me, I think we have nearly all the stuff we need to furnish our off-campus apartment’s kitchen! I can hit the thrift store for the few things we are missing.
My roommates and I all went shopping at Ross the week we moved in together- we got everything we needed for our college apartment and didn’t spend much money at all! It was nice to buy it together too, so that everything matched.
It’s a great idea to coordinate with your roommates ahead of time- when I lived off campus, our apartment had a huge kitchen and I was responsible for bringing the dishes/cutlery and my roommate brought the pots and pans and tupperware. I got a great set of bowls and plates from Goodwill (make sure you have sandwich plates and dinner plates) and most mega stores like Walmart/Target have a complete set of basic kitchen utensils and cutlery for around $10.
I love to cook but College living does make it tough to a lot of time. This list is good because I brought way to much stuff for my kitchen when I first moved in.
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