Cooking together gives you a reason to get to know each other. Someone chops the onions, someone chooses the music, and the best conversations happen while you’re waiting for something to come out of the oven.
These six recipes work for a shared evening, from a one-tray dinner to pizza everyone can make their own. Most serve four, and you can split the shopping list before you start.
Autumnal Pasta
Roasted squash, crispy sage and pasta has the wow factor with all the flavour, but no professional chef needed.
Serves four. Allow about 40 minutes.
You’ll need 800g butternut squash, 400g pasta, 2 garlic cloves, 10 to 12 sage leaves, 150ml cream or crème fraîche, 2 tablespoons olive oil and parmesan to serve. Have salt and pepper ready too.
Heat the oven to 200°C fan. Peel and dice the squash, toss it with 1 tablespoon of oil, salt and pepper, then roast for 25 to 30 minutes until soft. Add the garlic cloves, still in their skins, for the last 15 minutes.
Cook the pasta and save a mug of its cooking water before draining it. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skins and mash it with the squash. Stir in the cream and enough pasta water to make a sauce that coats the pasta.
Heat the remaining oil in a small pan and fry the sage leaves briefly until crisp. Toss the pasta with the sauce and finish with sage and parmesan.
For a vegan version, use oat cream and swap the parmesan for nutritional yeast or a vegan hard cheese.
Loaded Jacket Potatoes
This is the easiest option when everyone wants something slightly different. Make more if you fancy leftovers.
Serves four. Allow 60 to 75 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes.
You’ll need 4 baking potatoes, a little oil and salt. For toppings, choose a few rather than buying everything: baked beans, grated cheese, chilli, tuna mayo, sour cream, spring onions or coleslaw are all crowd pleasures.
Heat the oven to 200°C fan. Prick the potatoes with a fork, rub them with oil and salt, then bake them directly on the oven rack for about an hour. They’re ready when the skins are crisp and a knife slides easily into the middle. Split them open and let everyone add their toppings.
For a plant-based topping, mash a tin of drained chickpeas with a little mayo, spring onions, lime juice and smoked paprika.
Sausage and vegetable traybake
One tray keeps the cooking and the washing up easy.
Serves four. Allow about 45 minutes.
You’ll need 8 sausages, 2 red onions, 2 peppers, 1 tin of chickpeas, 3 garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar.
Heat the oven to 200°C fan. Cut the onions and peppers into large pieces, drain the chickpeas and put everything on a large baking tray with the garlic. Add the oil, paprika, vinegar, salt and pepper, then toss well. Nestle the sausages among the vegetables.
Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, turning the sausages halfway through. Check they’re cooked through before serving. If the tray looks crowded, use two trays so the vegetables roast rather than steam.
Plant-based sausages work here too. Check their packet for the cooking time and add them to the tray at the right point.
One-pot Chana Masala
Genuinely our favourite on this list – naturally vegan, costs very little, and comes together in one pot with almost no washing up. It’s also a good one to cook together if you already have a few spices in the cupboard: one person can chop while another gets the rice on, and there’s no single “right” version, so whoever’s leading it can make their own way with the spice and heat.
Serves four. Allow about 35 minutes.
You’ll need 2 tins of chickpeas, 1 tin of chopped tomatoes, 1 onion, 3 garlic cloves, a 2cm piece of ginger, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon each of ground cumin, ground coriander and garam masala, ½ teaspoon turmeric, and 150ml water. Add a green chilli if you like heat. Serve with 300g rice or warmed flatbreads.
Finely chop the onion, garlic and ginger. Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the onion for 8 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli if using, and spices. Stir for a minute, then add the tomatoes, drained chickpeas and water.
Simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens. Season to taste and serve with rice or flatbreads. Fresh coriander on top is a great touch.
Homemade Pizza Night
Pizza making is fun! Toppings in bowls, everyone gets their own dough, and inevitably a bit of disagreement about what belongs on a pizza. Fair warning: pineapple will end friendships faster than burnt garlic bread.
Makes four small pizzas. Allow about 30 minutes if you’re using ready-made dough.
You’ll need 4 fresh pizza dough balls (most big supermarkets sell these near the deli or bakery counter, and they give a noticeably better base than a pre-rolled one for barely any extra effort), about 250ml passata, 2 balls of mozzarella and a few toppings everyone will eat. Mushrooms, peppers, sweetcorn, jalapeños and pepperoni are easy choices – pineapple if you’re brave enough to declare it in front of the group. You’ll also need a little flour for shaping the dough.
Heat the oven to its highest recommended temperature, usually around 220 to 240°C. Put a baking tray in the oven to heat up. Stretch each dough ball into a thin round on a lightly floured surface – by hand rather than with a rolling pin, which keeps more air in the crust. Spread on a thin layer of passata, leaving a border around the edge. Tear the mozzarella into small pieces and pat it dry before adding it with the other toppings.
Carefully transfer the pizzas to the hot tray and bake in batches for around 10 to 12 minutes. Check the underside as well as the cheese. The base should be cooked and beginning to brown.
Use vegan cheese for anyone avoiding dairy. Vegetables, olives and chilli oil make good toppings without needing a meat substitute.
Apple Crumble
Put this in the oven once dinner is out. By the time everyone’s ready for something sweet, it should be bubbling – and it will smell amazing too.
Serves four to six. Allow about 45 minutes.
You’ll need 5 apples, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and a squeeze of lemon juice for the filling. For the topping, you’ll need 150g plain flour, 100g cold butter, 75g sugar and 40g oats.
Heat the oven to 180°C fan. Peel and chop the apples, then mix them with the sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice in a baking dish.
Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture looks like rough breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and oats, then scatter the topping over the apples. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden and bubbling. Serve with custard, cream or ice cream if you like.
Dairy-free butter works in the topping too.
Sharing hot chocolate, to end the night
A pan of hot chocolate in the middle of the table with your favourite music is the ideal autumn relax.
Serves four. Allow about 10 minutes.
You’ll need 600ml milk or a plant-based alternative, 80g dark chocolate, chopped, and a spoonful of sugar if you like it sweeter. Marshmallows and squirty cream to finish.
Warm the milk gently in a pan – don’t let it boil – and whisk in the chocolate until fully melted. Pour into mugs, then let everyone add their own marshmallows and squirty cream.
Make a flat playlist, and let it grow
Get a shared Spotify or Apple Music playlist going before the first cooking night and let everyone add a few songs. It takes the pressure off any one person to pick the soundtrack, and it turns into a small, ongoing record of who’s been round the kitchen and what they’re into – someone’s guilty pleasure, someone’s throwback, a song from home. Play it every time you cook. It’ll end up a proper mix by January – a bit of everyone.
What to talk about while things are in the oven
The best conversations happen while you’re waiting for something, not while you’re actively trying to make plans. A few easy ones:
- Ask whoever’s cooking a dish from home to talk you through it – what it usually looks like, what’s different about the version you’re making tonight
- Ask what everyone’s eaten since moving here that they’d genuinely order again, which the best takeouts and restaurants are, and what’s been a write-off
Games for while you wait
Nothing that needs a huge setup – a deck of cards, a couple of easy group games, or a round of Twenty Questions goes a long way. If your flat’s into it, a game like Uno or a simple card game everyone already half-knows is an easy way to fill 20 minutes without it feeling forced.
Where to shop near YourTRIBE
Southwark and South Bermondsey
Borough Market is worth a visit when you want to browse for bread, cheese or something special for dinner. For a bigger everyday shop, there are Asda, Lidl and Aldi stores within a few minutes walk.
Elephant & Castle
The Sainsbury’s Local at One The Elephant is useful for a quick top-up. For fruit and vegetables, try East Street Market, just off Walworth Road. Have a look at what’s in season and compare prices before deciding what to cook. Remember how close you are to Borough Market too.
Deptford
Deptford Market runs along the High Street on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with stalls selling fruit, vegetables, fish and foods from around the world. There’s also an Asda on Deptford High Street for the rest of your list.You don’t need to host a perfect dinner. Pick the recipe your flatmates want to eat, split the ingredients, put the playlist on, and see who turns up to help.
You don’t need to host a perfect dinner. Pick the recipe your flatmates want to eat, split the ingredients, put the playlist on, and see who turns up to help.
Looking for London student accommodation where you can make more of the time you spend at home? Explore YourTRIBE’s locations.