It’s back-to-school season, and a lot of young adults are moving away from home and figuring out how to feed themselves for the first time.
Consider this a starter kit: a manageable grocery list, two basic things you can cook in one session, and a bunch of easy meals made from the same ingredients.
This is especially for anyone with little or no cooking experience—or anyone who just wants the basics spelled out.
This isn’t a meal plan, and you certainly don’t have to buy everything on the list. Pick what you like, skip what you don’t, and choose what works for your budget, appetite and storage space.
The idea is simple: buy foods that work together, so the same groceries can turn into lots of different meals—with less shopping, less cooking and less effort.
Grocery List
The amounts below are shopping starting points.
Protein
- Boneless, skinless chicken thighs: about 6–8 thighs, roughly 2½–3 lb
- Shredded cheese: 1 bag, about 8 oz
- Canned beans: 2–3 cans, about 15 oz each
Pasta and Tortillas
- Pasta: 1 box, around 1 lb
- Tortillas: 1 package, around 10–12 roughly 8-inch tortillas
Fruit
Pick 2–3 kinds you like:
- Bananas
- Apples
- Oranges or mandarins
- Grapes
- Berries
- Peaches or nectarines
- Whatever other fruit you like
Vegetables
Pick 3–4 you like:
- Any frozen vegetable or vegetable blend
- Prewashed leafy greens, such as spinach or a salad mix
- Baby carrots
- Cucumber
- Celery
- Tomatoes
- Canned corn
Things That Make Everything Taste Better
- Pesto: 1 small jar or container
- Salsa: 1 jar, roughly 15–16 oz
- Marinara sauce: 1 jar, roughly 24 oz
- Plain Greek yogurt: 1 tub, roughly 24–32 oz
Snacks and Extras
- Peanut butter: 1 jar
- Nuts: 1 bag, around 1 lb
A Few Notes About the Ingredients
Not sure which vegetables to pick? One frozen vegetable + one prewashed green + one or two vegetables you like to snack on is an easy place to start.
Don’t like tortillas? Use bread. Make sandwiches instead of wraps or tacos.
You don’t need every option. The best grocery list is the one that contains food you’ll actually eat.
Get Most of the Cooking Done in About 35 Minutes
1. Preheat the Oven
We’re going to bake the chicken first, then cook the pasta while the chicken is in the oven.
Set the oven to 375°F and let it preheat.
2. Put the Chicken on a Baking Sheet
Drain the liquid from the package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
Put the chicken directly onto a baking sheet in a single layer. A little touching is fine.
Sprinkle about ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper evenly over the chicken, or season to taste.
Most of this chicken will eventually be combined with salty or flavorful ingredients like pesto, salsa, marinara or cheese, so there’s no need to overdo the seasoning now. You can always add more later, but you can’t take it out.
Once the oven reaches 375°F, put the baking sheet in the oven and set a timer for 35 minutes.
3. Start the Pasta
Once the chicken is in the oven, put a large pot on the stove.
For a 1-pound box of pasta, add about 4–6 quarts of water.
Optional: add 1 tablespoon salt to the water. Salting the water is a conventional way to add flavor to the pasta, but the pasta will cook just fine without it.
Turn the burner to high.
Wait until the water reaches a full boil. You’ll see lots of large bubbles rapidly breaking the surface.
4. Cook the Pasta
Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and give it a stir.
There should be enough water for the pasta to move around easily.
Not enough water? Just add more. The water may stop boiling for a little while. That’s okay. Let it come back to a boil and keep cooking.
Follow the cooking time on the package, but start tasting a piece 1–2 minutes early.
Still too firm? Cook it another minute and taste again.
When the pasta is done, turn off the burner and drain it.
If you’re saving the pasta for later, toss it with a little oil soon after draining so it doesn’t stick together.
A 1-pound box makes roughly 8 cups of cooked pasta, enough for several meals.
No big pot? No problem. Cook less pasta or cook it when you need it.
5. Check the Chicken When the Timer Goes Off
After 35 minutes, take the baking sheet out of the oven.
Don’t expect browned chicken. It will probably look fairly pale, and there will be juice in the baking sheet. That’s normal.
We’re skipping steps like patting the chicken dry or searing it first. The point is to cook a batch of chicken with as little work as possible so it’s ready to use in other meals.
Cut open one of the thickest pieces at its thickest part. The inside should look opaque and cooked through, not shiny or translucent like raw chicken.
Food-safety note: Poultry should reach a minimum internal temperature of 165°F (74°C). USDA and FDA guidance specifies measuring this with a food thermometer; color and appearance alone aren’t reliable measures of safety.
Eat what you want now. Refrigerate what you think you’ll use in the next 3 days. Freeze the rest.
Now What?
With cooked chicken and pasta ready, most of these meals are just assembly.
Here are some ways to mix things up so you don’t have to eat the same kind of meal over and over.
Start here. Taste. Add more if you want.
| Meal | Start with |
|---|---|
| Pesto chicken pasta | 2 cups cooked pasta + chicken + vegetables + 2 Tbsp pesto. Mix, taste, add more if you want. |
| Bean, corn & salsa bowl | 1 can drained beans + ½ cup corn + ¼ cup shredded cheese + ¼–½ cup salsa. |
| Chicken tacos | 3 tortillas + chicken + ¼ cup shredded cheese + ¼ cup salsa. Add greens or tomato if you want. |
| Greek yogurt, fruit & nuts | 1 cup Greek yogurt + fruit + a small handful of nuts. Add more of whatever you want. |
| Marinara chicken pasta | 2 cups cooked pasta + chicken + vegetables + ½ cup marinara. Add more if you like it saucier. |
| PB banana tortilla | Toast 1 tortilla first. Spread with 2 Tbsp peanut butter, add ½–1 sliced banana, then fold or roll. |
| Bean & corn pasta | 1 cup cooked pasta + 1 cup drained beans + ½ cup corn + ¼ cup shredded cheese + ¼ cup salsa to start. |
| Chicken & cheese quesadilla | 1 tortilla + chicken + ¼ cup shredded cheese. Fold and heat until the cheese melts and the tortilla is crisp. Start with 2 Tbsp salsa for dipping. Make more than one for a bigger meal. |
Don’t Waste the Sad Greens
Fresh leafy greens—especially prewashed greens—don’t stay pretty for long.
If they’re getting a little limp or too sad for salad but aren’t spoiled, cook them instead.
Stir them into hot pasta, cook them briefly in a skillet, or add them to soup.
There’s a difference between sad and spoiled, though. If the greens are slimy or smell bad, throw them away.
Breakfast Doesn’t Have to Be Breakfast Food
Greek yogurt, fruit and nuts is breakfast.
A toasted tortilla with peanut butter and banana is breakfast.
A chicken and cheese quesadilla with salsa can be breakfast too.
Breakfast can be whatever sounds good in the morning. It doesn’t need its own grocery list.
Food Safety: Just What You Need Here
We’re not turning this into a food-safety course. But there are a few things worth knowing for the foods we’re using.
Keep raw chicken separate. Keep raw chicken and its juices away from foods you’re going to eat without cooking.
After handling raw chicken, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. Wash utensils, cutting boards, counters and other surfaces that touched raw chicken with hot, soapy water.
Don’t wash raw chicken. USDA food-safety guidance recommends against washing raw poultry. Washing isn’t necessary for safety; bacteria are destroyed by proper cooking.
Put cooked chicken, cooked pasta and other perishable leftovers in the refrigerator within 2 hours.
Remember 3–4 days. USDA recommends using refrigerated cooked chicken and most cooked leftovers within 3–4 days. That’s why our simple batch-cooking rule is to refrigerate what you think you’ll use in the next 3 days and freeze the rest.
Keep cold food cold. Keep your refrigerator at 40°F (4°C) or below. Greek yogurt, shredded cheese, fresh leafy greens and cooked leftovers belong there.
Didn’t use the whole can? Transfer leftover beans or corn to a covered container and refrigerate them.
That’s enough food safety for now.
You Don’t Need to Make Everything
These are ideas, not assignments. Pick what sounds good, repeat what you like, and use what you have.
The ingredients overlap on purpose, so the same groceries can become different meals without starting over every time.
The goal is to look at what you have and think:
I can make something out of this.
References / Further Reading
USDA FSIS — What are cooking times for chicken? — poultry should reach 165°F (74°C), measured with a food thermometer.
USDA FSIS — Is it necessary to rinse, soak, or brine chicken to make it safe? — raw chicken does not need to be washed; proper cooking destroys bacteria.
USDA FSIS — How do I handle leftovers safely? — refrigerate promptly and use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days.
FDA — Safe Food Handling — separation, refrigeration at 40°F or below, the 2-hour rule and safe cooking temperatures.