10 Student Recipes Under CHF 2 a Portion

Yes, you can eat well in Switzerland for under two francs a plate. These ten recipes use everyday ingredients from Migros, Coop, Lidl, and Aldi — no exotic items, no half-used tins going to waste. Each portion costs CHF 1.20 to CHF 1.90 at current shelf prices, and every dish is filling enough to carry you through a lecture or an evening study session.

Why does cooking cost matter so much for Swiss students?

Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in the world for food. Caritas Switzerland has documented that a significant share of students live close to or below the poverty line, with many spending more than a third of their income on food alone. Eating out even once a day — a CHF 14 Migros-restaurant lunch, say — adds up to roughly CHF 420 a month. Cooking at home changes the maths entirely.

The trick is not buying cheap junk. It is buying cheap staples: dried legumes, rice, pasta, oats, eggs, seasonal vegetables, and canned tomatoes. These are the backbone of every recipe below.

What are the cheapest ingredients to keep in a student kitchen?

Buying own-brand lines — M-Budget at Migros, Prix Garantie at Coop, or Aldi and Lidl house brands — typically cuts costs by 30–50% versus branded equivalents, according to Comparis food price tracking.

The 10 student recipes under CHF 2 a portion

1. Red lentil soup

Simmer 200 g red lentils with one diced onion, a tin of tomatoes, cumin, and a litre of water for 25 minutes. Season well. Four generous bowls at roughly CHF 0.70 each. See more pantry-only ideas for variations.

2. Pasta e fagioli

Fry garlic in a little oil, add a tin of white beans, a tin of tomatoes, 200 g short pasta, and 600 ml water. Cook until the pasta absorbs most of the liquid. Thick, warming, under CHF 1.60 a bowl.

3. Egg fried rice

Day-old rice works best. Stir-fry with two eggs, frozen peas (M-Budget bag), soy sauce, and a splash of sesame oil if you have it. About CHF 1.30 per portion and ready in ten minutes.

4. Oat porridge with banana

Not just breakfast — a 90 g bowl of oats with half a banana and a spoon of honey is a legitimate meal under CHF 0.80. Oats have a surprisingly high satiety index, meaning you stay full longer per franc spent.

5. Cabbage and potato stir-fry

Shred a quarter of a white cabbage, cube two medium potatoes, and cook together in a pan with oil, paprika, and salt. Cheap, crispy, and satisfying. Under CHF 1.00 a plate when cabbage is in season (autumn–winter).

6. Chickpea curry

One tin of Denner chickpeas, half a tin of tomatoes, an onion, garlic, curry powder, and a splash of the cheapest coconut milk you can find. Serve over rice. About CHF 1.80 per portion — and it freezes perfectly. Batch-cook and freeze to save even more time.

7. Tomato pasta with egg

The Italian student classic. Fry garlic, add tinned tomatoes and dried oregano, toss with 100 g of Prix Garantie spaghetti, and finish with a fried egg on top. CHF 1.40 a plate.

8. Vegetable minestrone

Whatever vegetables are marked down at the end of the day — carrot, leek, courgette, potato — chopped and simmered with a tin of tomatoes, a handful of pasta or rice, and stock. This is the most flexible recipe on the list and costs almost nothing when you catch end-of-day reductions. foodwaste.ch estimates that Swiss households throw away food worth around CHF 600 per person each year; minestrone is the antidote.

9. Lentil dal with flatbread

Identical base to the soup but cooked thicker, spiced with turmeric and garam masala, finished with a squeeze of lemon. Serve with flatbreads made from 200 g flour, a pinch of salt, and water — no yeast needed. Total cost under CHF 1.50 for a full, fragrant meal.

10. Scrambled eggs on toast

Two eggs scrambled slowly in butter, served on two slices of Denner bread. Add a sliced tomato on the side. It sounds basic, but done properly — low heat, creamy texture — this is one of the best cheap meals you can make. Under CHF 1.20 and ready in five minutes.

How do Swiss students shop smart to keep costs down?

The recipes above stay cheap only if you shop with some discipline. A few habits that work:

• Check Lidl Plus and Supercard apps before your weekly shop — rotating discounts often cut staple prices by 20–30%.
• Buy vegetables at Landi or Volg in smaller towns; prices on basics like potatoes and carrots are often lower than city Migros branches.
• Shop late afternoon on weekdays for yellow-sticker reductions on bread, dairy, and produce.
• Buy dried legumes rather than canned when you have time to soak — the cost difference is roughly 60% per portion.
• Aligro and Prodega offer bulk prices if you share a membership with flatmates.

Eini's meal-planning feature can match recipes to whatever is on sale that week, so you are not planning meals and then hoping the prices cooperate.

Can you batch-cook these recipes to save even more time?

Yes — and the savings compound. Cooking a triple batch of lentil soup or chickpea curry on Sunday and portioning it into containers cuts your active cooking time to under 30 minutes for the whole week. The cook-once-eat-thrice approach is especially well-suited to the recipes on this list because legume dishes actually improve in flavour after a day in the fridge.

The BFS (Bundesamt für Statistik) reports that Swiss working-age adults spend an average of around 40 minutes per day on food preparation. Batch cooking can halve that, which matters as much as the money during exam season.