When you get into your dorm, sometimes a microwaveable cup of Easy Mac just doesn’t cut it for lunch or dinner. Of course, it’s always great to have an air fryer, electric hot pot, or rice cooker in your dorm. However, if these appliances aren’t allowed or simply not something you care to maintain, the trusty toaster is definitely worth having around and can help make a filling snack or meal. In minutes, you can have much more than toast — a toaster strudel, a bagel, or a whole meal. Here are a few toaster hacks for dorm rooms to save you time and money, all while making something super delicious.
1. Quesadilla Hack
Food writer and recipe developer Grace Elkus Bianconi is going viral with a toaster tortilla hack. Simply add shreds or slices of your favorite cheese, fold your tortilla to the inside and up so the open part faces up, too. Toast for around the same amount of time as a bagel or toast. She also recommends trying a banana and peanut butter combo in your tortilla.
She also notes this works great in her toaster, but if you’re worried about cheese leaking out, a toaster bag is definitely the move.
2. Chocolate Toasties
If you don’t have sweet toaster pastries in your snack box, you can make your own. All you need is two pieces of your preferred bread and some chocolate hazelnut spread. Cut off your crust just like your mom used to, add a little pocket of spread (but not too much), and keep your bread together by using forktines to lock in your chocolate. Toast and you’re good to go. Again, you can use a toaster bag if you want to make sure chocolate doesn’t leak into the bottom of your toaster.
3. Pizza Pocket
Similar to the quesadilla hack, this pizza pocket is all about folding up your fave ingredients into a tortilla. A little dab of pizza sauce, some mozzarella cheese, a dash of Italian seasoning, and your. preferred pizza toppings will meld together perfectly in your folded tortilla.
4. Corn Dogs (And Other Frozen Fried Foods)
Did you know that you can make your frozen corn dogs in the toaster? After nuking them in the microwave according to package directions, put them (stick sup up) into the toaster, for a fast way to crisp up your breading. Plus, you can add any fried food leftovers into a toaster bag to warm them up and crisp them up at the same time.
5. Hashbrowns
If you’re an avid Trader Joe’s shopper, you definitely know about the beloved frozen hashbrowns. They’re big, golden, and delicious. TikTok user @britstubbs suggests popping one in the toaster on the longest setting, and it’ll come out absolutely perfect, no pots and pans required.
6. Grilled Cheese
I wish I had known about toaster bags when I was in college, because I would have used them often just to make grilled cheese. Jennifer Valentyne demonstrated how you can butter both sides of your bread with your preferred cheese, slide them into a toaster bag, toast for three minutes, and have delectable sandwiches all night long.