When scrolling through TikTok, Shorts, and Reels, do you come across many delicious looking recipes but don’t know which ones are easy and tasty? Not to worry, the Healthy Cooking Team has your back! See below for links to fast, healthy, student-friendly, and affordable recipes by our team’s favourite Food Content Creators!
Owen’s Pick #1: Adam Ragusea
Adam Ragusea posts creative and delicious recipes that are twists on all of your classic favorite dishes. He likes to show different tips and tricks to make cooking easier and less daunting. If you are into the science of cooking, you are sure to love his videos as he tends to not only explain how to cook a recipe but also why a recipe works based on food science! His recipes are all about saving you time and effort to make your daily meals more healthy, balanced, and varied, all while staying delicious.
Some of my favorite recipes of his are:
Crispy Chicken Parm!
Smashed Brioche Grilled Cheese
Broiled Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Owen’s Pick #2: Ethan Chlebowski
Ethan Chlebowski posts informative videos teaching you the technical aspects of cooking, the science of flavors, and how to make cooking easier. His philosophy is that “once you learn the how AND why behind cooking, you become a much better cook”. Throughout his videos, you can learn a lot about adaptable cooking styles, know how to problem-solve, and come up with your own dishes, flavors, and techniques.
Some of my favorite videos of his are:
Why Deli Subs are better than Homemade Ones
These Healthy Weeknight Meals are changing my life
Beginner's guide to Kitchen Organization
Michael’s Pick: Brian Lagerstrom
One of my favourite food content creators is Brian Lagerstrom. His recipes are quick, healthy, and affordable. He also takes inspiration from all sorts of cultural cuisines such as Mexican, Chinese, Indian, and Italian. His WEEKNIGHTING series is a gamechanger, as they can be done in around 20-30 minutes with minimal effort but delicious results.
Check out one of his WEEKNIGHTING videos below:
How I Make 20 Healthy Meals for $30:
André’s Pick: Babish Culinary Universe
The food content creator that I highly recommend looking into is Babish Culinary Universe. This guy creates some amazing quick, easy, and student-friendly recipes. He does it all and it is straightforward to follow his recipes, as you watch his videos he explains the process in a concise amount of detail, not too much, not too little—he is the goldilocks of healthy cooking creators. Everything you need to learn about cooking and how to make a simple dish into a gourmet dish can be learned through Mr. Babish. Something else that is neat about Babish is that he often recreates recipes from famous movies and TV shows. He puts a lot of effort into his videos and understands what it is like to be a student as many recipes can be made on a budget.
Here is a link to one of his recipes:
Babish Pasta Salad
Lucas’ Pick: Tiffy Cooks
For me, cooking healthily is easiest when it's quick, cheap, and nostalgic. Tiffy Cooks, from Taiwan, simplifies this with her easy, delicious, and nutritious recipes available via YouTube, her blog, and a cookbook. A few pantry staples like black vinegar, oyster sauce, white pepper, and sesame oil let you whip up nearly any of her dishes. Her clear instructions empower anyone to confidently prepare tasty East-Asian meals at home, including some of my personal favorites like cold sesame noodles, pork lard mixed rice, and black pepper chicken, all incorporating a healthy balance of proteins, carbohydrates, and vegetables.
One of her easiest meals is her (vegan!) 10-minute spicy garlic noodles, an easy and delicious noodle base that can be paired with eggs, tofu, and any vegetable of your choosing for a nutritious meal. Tiffy Cooks also offers videos on daily cooking and weekly meal-prep under an hour, providing a practical resource for busy students and simplifying the cooking process while ensuring great taste.
Aviva’s Pick: Faith Fresh
Faith shares easy, healthy recipes with a great sense of humor in all her videos. She playfully acts like a private chef, even though she's usually just cooking for herself and sometimes her husband. Most of her recipes are well-balanced, featuring an appetizer, main course, and dessert, and all are dairy-free, simple, and easy to make.
My favorite series on Faith’s channel is “Recreating Restaurant Salads,” where she shows how to make popular restaurant salads at home—saving you from spending over $20 on a single salad! It is super fun to watch Faith cook, as she brings a lot of energy and excitement to the kitchen.
My go-to recipe from her channel is her salmon fish tacos—they're incredibly easy to make and taste amazing!
Hillary’s Pick: Violet Witchel
What I love about Violet’s meals is how she makes healthy eating both fun and satisfying. Her dense bean salad (DBS) series is perfect if you, like me, aren’t always feeling the classic lettuce-based salad. These salads are loaded with different sources of protein, so they keep you full and energized, which is perfect for when you’re on campus all day. Violet's DBS recipes effortlessly enhance your meals by combining meat-based proteins like chicken or steak, nutrient-dense legumes such as chickpeas, black beans, and lentils, fresh veggies for crunch and micronutrients, and fun, customizable dressings to suit your flavor cravings.
One of my go-tos is her Spicy Chipotle Chicken and Bean Salad—super easy to make, high in protein, and full of flavor. Plus, it’s great for meal prep as you can make a big batch and keep it in the fridge for the week! I also really appreciate Violet's practical and easy-to-follow meal plans that require minimal ingredients, making them ideal for busy students or anyone feeling uninspired without straining the budget. Eating well doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming, and Violet’s content proves that.
Whether you’re looking to switch things up or need ideas to meal prep for the week, you should definitely check her page out here!
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