The 2025 Budget Speech brought mixed reactions, but a silver lining for students is the expanded list of zero-rated food items. With the cost of living rising and student budgets stretched thin, making the most of tax-free essentials like maize meal, rice, beans, and canned vegetables is more important than ever. Eating nutritiously doesn’t mean breaking the bank; focusing on these VAT-exempt staples allows students to prepare affordable, filling, and balanced meals without sacrificing health or taste.
As of May 1, 2025, the list of basic foodstuffs exempt from VAT includes: brown bread, maize meal, samp, mealie rice, dried mealies, dried beans, lentils, tinned pilchards, milk powder, dairy powder blend, rice, vegetables, fruit, vegetable oil, milk, cultured milk, brown wheaten meal, eggs, edible legumes and pulses of leguminous plants, edible offal of sheep, poultry, goats, swine, and bovine animals (including specific cuts such as heads, feet, bones, and tongues), dairy liquid blend, and tinned or canned vegetables.
This article explores creative, easy-to-make dinners that maximise South Africa’s zero-rated foods, ensuring students get the nutrients they need while keeping costs low. Whether you’re living in a residence, sharing a flat, or cooking for yourself for the first time, these meal ideas will help you stretch your grocery budget without compromising on flavour.
1. Vegetable and Egg Fried Rice
A quick meal using leftover rice and eggs.
Ingredients
1 cup cooked rice
2 eggs
1 cup mixed vegetables
3 tsp oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Heat oil in a pan and scramble eggs.
Add vegetables and stir-fry for 3 minutes.
Mix in cooked rice, season, and serve.
2. Pilchard and Rice Stir-Fry
Tinned pilchards are a student’s best friend, packed with protein and flavour.
Ingredients
1 tin pilchards in sweet chilli sauce
1 cup cooked rice
½ onion, chopped
½ green pepper, chopped
1 tsp oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Heat oil in a pan and sauté onion and green pepper.
Add pilchards (break them up slightly) and cook for 5 minutes.
Stir in cooked rice, season, and serve hot.
3. Canned Vegetable and Rice Pilaf
A quick, one-pot meal packed with nutrients.
Ingredients
1 cup rice
1 tin mixed vegetables
½ onion, chopped
1 tsp oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Cook rice according to instructions.
In a pan, heat oil and sauté onion. Add canned vegetables.
Stir in cooked rice, season, and serve.
4. Umngqusho (Samp and Beans) with Tripe
A South African staple, umngqusho is both hearty and affordable.
Ingredients
1 cup samp
1 cup dried beans (sugar beans or lentils)
2 onions, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
Sheep tripe
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Soak samp and beans overnight, then drain.
Boil samp in fresh water until soft (about 2 hours).
Sauté onion, garlic, and tomato; then add to the cooked samp and beans.
Season and simmer the mixture for another 10 minutes.
Wash the tripe; chop it into smaller pieces; add to the pot, and bring to a boil.
After 2 hours, add onion and salt to taste.
Simmer for 2 more hours on low heat.
Reduce until gravy thickens.
Serve hot alongside umngqusho.
5. Pap with Tomato Gravy
A budget-friendly South African classic.
Ingredients
1 cup maize meal
2½ cups water
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
3 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Instructions
Boil water, then slowly add maize meal while stirring to prevent lumps.
Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Sauté onion and tomato in oil.
Simmer for 20 minutes on medium heat
Season accordingly and serve over the pap.
Honourable mention: breakfast.
6. Brown Bread French Toast with Scrambled Eggs and Beans
A simple, protein-rich meal using zero-rated basics.
Ingredients
2 slices of brown bread
2 eggs
½ cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp oil or butter
Tinned beans
Instructions
Whisk eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Dip bread slices in the mixture.
Fry in a pan until golden brown on both sides.
Make scrambled eggs on the side with the remaining egg mixture.
Warm beans for 20 minutes in a pan at medium heat.
Serve French toast alongside eggs and beans.
With a little creativity, eating well as a student doesn’t have to be expensive. Focusing on South Africa’s zero-rated food items allows one to prepare nutritious and delicious meals without straining their wallet. Whether you’re cooking for one or sharing with friends, these recipes make it easy to stay full and healthy while keeping costs low. After all, good food fuels not just the body but also the mind, so why not make every meal count?