Top 5 College Foods - Ramen Noodles Anyone?

College students know what is cheap, delicious, and available. You have to when you are living on such a tight budget. I am providing you with my list of the top 5 College foods. My choices are based on popularity, cost, and nutrition. While I tried to make nutrition important in this list, it is by no means a health food list. Let the rating begin!

When it comes to college food, I would be naïve to omit Ramen Noodles. Why did it get 5th place when it is usually number one on these types of lists? Ramen Noodles are notoriously cheap, but they offer little in the way of nutrition. Ramen noodles are great in moderation, but should not be lived on. Ramen Noodles are not a glamorous food, but I think all college students can relate to the Ramen Noodle budget.

Another reason that I put Ramen Noodles on the list is that they are versatile as it can be eaten as a soup, or by simply draining the water before adding the seasoning you can eat it as a more flavorful pasta dish.

Brought to America by a German, the Hot Dog quickly became one of the iconic foods of America. The hot dog is cheap, delicious, and portable. These are some of the reasons why it is such a popular college food. It's nice to be able to buy a pack of hot dogs and hot dog buns and be able to eat for a few days for less than $1.00 a meal!

The hot dog also offers one thing that no other food on this list will allow: The ability to cook out. College students love football games and tailgating, and that's what college's are known for; the hot dog makes this possible at an affordable price.

Another American icon, and the often used insult to a chef, Chef Boyardee is on our list at number three. Each can averages less than a dollar and they have a surprising amount of nutrition for that price! Don't tell college students this though, they like the cheap price and the relatively good taste. Chef Boyardee offers a variety of foods on a shoestring budget, although most of the varieties are the same ingredients just repackaged.

Chef Boyardee is on this list because it is cheap, tastes good, and offers a more than fair amount of nutrition for the price.

Nearly every American has had some form of Macaroni and Cheese. The most famous is obviously Kraft's Macaroni and Cheese in the blue box. Macaroni and cheese is a great college food in that it's very affordable, it offers a modest amount of nutrition, mainly because milk is a required ingredient and it has enriched properties. Macaroni and Cheese is undoubtedly a hugely popular college food.

For the college student with a couple of dollars in the piggy bank there is the legendary Hot Pocket. Many people poke fun at Hot Pockets, but they offer an almost unrivaled taste for the price. Very few foods offer the convenience, portability, and flavor selection of the Hot Pocket.

Now being manufactured by Nestle, Hot Pockets are now available to college students in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Spain.