For many college students, it can be difficult to find time to eat a fulfilling lunch. Between studying, going to lectures, working and commuting, sometimes spending as little as 30 minutes to eat lunch at a dining hall is not possible.

Alternatively, you may find yourself grabbing lunch from The Depot in the Holmes Student Center or getting fast food nearby.

These options involve either spending a decent amount of money or time, but hidden in the midst of the aisles in your local supermarket lies an alternative: microwaveable single-serve meals.

At a fraction of the price of fast food and on-campus dining options, they involve less preparation and offer convenience for students.

For eight days, I ate only microwavable meals for lunch to see if these meals compete with their alternatives.

For this experiment, the goal was to spend less than $25. The dining halls charge $11 for lunch each day without a meal plan, so spending $25 for the week would save around $63.

Day 1 – Panera Bread Mexican street corn chowder

On the first day of the experiment, I woke up with a migraine, which made me feel extremely nauseous. I decided to pick up a microwavable bowl of soup from Schnucks, located at 975 S. Annie Glidden Road, to calm my stomach.

The soup cost me $6.50, which was more than I wanted to spend. It wasn’t worth the price.

Although filling, the soup took a while to heat and almost all of the food pieces were in the bottom half of the container.

I would rate this soup a five out of 10.

Day 2 – Marie Callender’s Kansas City style pulled pork mac & cheese 

After my lecture, I went ahead and heated up this macaroni and cheese that I bought from Walmart. It took around five minutes total and came out piping hot.

From the flavor alone, this mac and cheese was extremely off putting. Normally, I would argue I’m not a picky eater, but between the overcooked noodles, thin cheese sauce and barbecue- flavored pork, I felt disgusted even though I was full.

I only spent $2.76 on this meal, but I think I would’ve rather had something higher quality in return for the price.

Overall, I would rate the macaroni and cheese a three out of 10.

Day 3 – Healthy Choice simply steamers southwest-style chicken burrito bowl

Amongst the freezers filled with fried chicken and mac and cheese lived a burrito bowl from Healthy Choice at Walmart. I was extremely surprised at the quality of the bowl for its price.

This bowl cost me $2.76 and was well worth the money. You couldn’t tell that the bowl was a microwavable meal as each ingredient tasted fresh, and the sauce wasn’t overdone like with some brands that smother their food in sauce.

I wasn’t full after eating, but I felt content. I would rate this meal a nine out of 10.

Day 4 – Hungry Man boneless fried chicken 

I remember having this specific microwavable meal as a child, but I haven’t had it in a few years.

I decided to revisit those times and pick this meal up from Walmart.

Honestly, this meal wasn’t fantastic, nor was it exactly horrible. The chicken was decent but tasted processed, and it was nearly the same consistency as McDonald’s chicken nuggets.

The mashed potatoes were nothing special and the brownie at the end was a nice dessert to finish this meal.

For the price, I don’t have many complaints aside from the smell of processed mashed potatoes that this meal left in the break room at work.

This meal gets a five out of 10. It was average and the chicken would have been better if it was air-fried instead of microwaved.

Day 5 – Stouffer’s mac and cheese

The serving size for this meal was quite good for the price. I ended up paying $4.25 for 20 ounces of mac and cheese at Dollar General, located at 1401 S. 4th Street.

Through doing this week of eating only microwave meals during lunch, I’ve come to realize that there is something about the consistency and flavors of microwaved mac and cheese that I do not enjoy.

This macaroni and cheese wasn’t for me, but it wasn’t the worst meal I’ve had so far.

I was full after eating, and it was a shame that I had to throw the rest away because I didn’t have a container to store the leftovers.

Overall, this meal gets a six out of 10.

Day 6 – Michelena’s fettuccine alfredo with chicken and broccoli

This meal got me through some rough financial times back when I went to school in Florida.

The pasta dish comes in at $1.30 at Walmart, which is one of the cheapest options you can find in the frozen meal section.

I tried it again and had very few complaints. Aside from the noodles being extremely soft, the flavor was good, and the chicken didn’t taste processed. The broccoli was a nice touch, and the meal didn’t go overboard with the alfredo sauce.

I would rate this meal a 6.5 out of 10. If there was a larger serving size, this rating would have been higher.

Day 7 – Devour big bowl spicy fried chicken

I remember seeing ads on YouTube for Devour meals, so I went ahead and picked up the spicy fried chicken bowl from Schnucks.

It was on par with the Healthy Choice bowl, considering flavor and freshness, and I was content after eating.

The meal also had a nice kick as I continued to eat, and the rice was a good addition to make it more filling.

This meal gets an eight out of 10.

Day 8 – Banquet Nashville hot fried chicken 

To end the week, I picked up a hot fried chicken bowl from Schnucks. It consisted of fried chicken tenders, mashed potatoes, chives and corn.

The Nashville seasoning used provided a nice kick, but was arguably the only redeeming ingredient in this bowl.

Otherwise, the mashed potatoes were soupy, the bowl was covered in sauce and the smell was putrid.

I paid around three dollars for this meal, and overall, this bowl gets a three out of 10.

Final thoughts

This week, I spent a total of $28.53, not including any taxes. I did go over the $25 budget, but if I hadn’t spent $6 on a bowl of soup, that price could have gone down.

Considering that an average lunch for me costs $12, I still think this is a good deal.

The average time it takes to microwave each meal is around five minutes, and minutes add up in college. However, what you save in time, you lack in taste and quality.

Many of the meals lack or have an overwhelming amount of flavors. If you find a brand that you enjoy, microwavable meals could be a good option for lunch.

If you’re looking to save the most money, I recommend the Michelena’s microwaveable meals.

If you’re someone that is health conscious, the Healthy Choice brand has a wide variety of different meals.

If you want the most out of your money, but you don’t mind paying more than two dollars, the Banquet and Hungry Man branded meals have a variety of entrés that come with multiple sides to keep you full.

Otherwise, in my opinion, these meals should be used as a last resort  for lunch options.