College Pantry Power Rankings.

10 essential must-haves for 5 bucks or less, that anyone trying to eat well on a budget should buy. Ranked in order of importance.

10. Frozen Chicken Patties

Starting with an unsung hero, meat is the hardest part of this list. It will always be the most substantial cost in these meals, and also goes bad fairly quickly. This is the compromise. Not as good as unfrozen meat obviously but it's cheap and you can cut it up and add chicken to pretty much anything. Low key important to a solid pantry.

9. Canned vegetables/ beans

You're like sort of an adult now, but not really, and canned vegetables are sort of healthier but still in cans. It's one of those matches that just makes sense.

8. Loaf of White Bread

Like come on Fam.

7. Frozen Biscuits.

This might just be the southerner in me, but Biscuits are a must. Throw some Jelly on them for breakfast, Gravy for dinner, and coat them in a butter-cinnamon-sugar mix for a desert. Gotta have dem biscuits.

6. Tortillas

Jay Wardell

Quesadillas are basically grilled cheeses for cool kids. Throw in some siracha, peppers, and chicken patties and you're halfway to a Michelin star. Plus you can use some rice,we'll get to that later, and make a burrito. I don't know about you, but the amount of times I want Chipotle often outweighs how often I can afford it, here's a bootleg fix to help satiate your tex-mex fever.

5. Pancake Mix.

Who doesn't love a good pancake. Not at nearly as versatile as a lot on this list, but it's a cheap easy breakfast, and there's nothing like Sunday afternoon pancakes after a crazy Saturday night.

4. Eggs

Cheap, versatile, and common ingredient in a lot of recipes. You can make scrambled eggs, sunny side up, poach them, put them on a burger, you can eat them on a boat, and on a moat, and if you were dropped on your head as a child you can even hardboil them *shudders*. The fuck is wrong with you people.

3. Siracha

Now we're down to the big hitters.The utility player of the list, Siracha makes it, because of it's versatility. Scrambled eggs for breakfast add Siracha, sandwich for lunch add Siracha and Mayo, Stir Fry for dinner add Siracha. It even takes classics like Kraft mac n Cheese to crazy heights. There's a reason that this is the only condiment with a t-shirt. I mean I've never seen a Worcestershire sauce shirt, have you?

2. Kraft Singles.

A true team player, everything on the list besides Pancake mix is improved with a Kraft single or two. Every. Single. Thing. If you're feeling yourself, you can even go big with the White American slices.

1. 20 pound bag of white rice.

Jay Wardell

The only thing on this list that cost more than 5 dollars, but it's 20 pounds and it's 10 dollars. Let me repeat that.

20 POUNDS..... 10 DOLLARS!!!!!(drops mic).

I don't think you realize how much rice that is, like in the final scene of Scarface, Tony Montana is actually sitting in front of a single 20lb bag of publix white rice. Shit is ridiculous.