The Starving Student | Low waste, low cost recipes

Get to Know Lauren

Lauren is an award-winning home cook with a love for low cost, low waste food that considers the planet. With viral budget recipes and Spanish tapas dishes, her vibrant and colourful food encourages anyone to pick up a spatula start cooking!

She has worked with global brands, charities and organisations to share her recipes and also raise awareness of topics such as global food waste & food poverty whilst empowering young people to become more independent through cooking, budgeting & meal-planning.

Recently...

University of Nottingham Alumni Award 2025

Lauren has won a prestigious University of Nottingham 'Your Nottingham Alumni Award' for her community work, charity work & campaigning to raise awareness of global food-related issues. Lauren will deliver a speech & collect her award this July 2025.

Find out about the award

The King's Trust

x Lauren Leyva 2025

Supporting The King's Trust's young people throughout 2025, Lauren has created meal-planning & budgeting resources for the young people, whilst also leading lively cookery workshops & budgeting masterclasses.

Find Out More

Thought Leader Award Winner - Tastemakers 2024

Recognised as a leading creator for highlighting issues surrounding sustainability, food poverty and food waste, Lauren received this Thought Leader Award in 2024 alongside other professionals and entrepreneurs within the creator space.

Lauren's Award

Follow along on socials

With viral recipes & "infectious enthusiasm", Lauren became popular for her budget recipes & Spanish tapas series.

Her content aims to inspire whilst also educating people about food-related issues & her Spanish background.

Follow her here

Charity Homeware Collection for The Trussel Trust

Lauren collaborated with incredible illustrator Louise Whittaker (Illustrated By Weezy) to design & create a collection of vibrant tea-towels & wall prints to raise awareness of the charity, 'The Trussel Trust' with 15% of profits going directly to the charity.

Find Out More

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NEW: Spanish tapas recipe series...

Lauren has recently launched her Spanish tapas recipe series to celebrate her heritage of being half Spanish.

From Pan con Tomate to Croquetas, each recipe shows you how you bring some of the Spanish sun to our British plates!

Tapas Recipes Here

100s

...of recipes to try out, available across social media channels and a hand-picked selection here online.

145,000

...followers form her online audience, ready for her next viral recipe, whether it's a budget recipe or another episode of her tapas dishes!

...Meal Planners to help you plan your week of meals, available for "all food", vegetarian and plant-based lifestyles. Visit the online Shop to find yours.

...big career change from training as an Architect to become a full time home-cook and recipe developer led her to crate her online foodie community

Worked & volunteered with brands, charities & organisations including...

Recipes

Lauren has spent the past 7 years showing you how to create a wide range of recipes that are vibrant, easy on the budget, don't require a fancy kitchen and avoid food waste where possible!

Tips & Tricks

Through Lauren's Instagram & TikTok, she shares helpful hacks and tips on how to avoid food waste, budget better and ways to make more sustainable decisions in the home and on your food shop.

Avoiding Food Waste

Lauren continues to support campaigns and create content that shows how you can avoid food waste. With 70% of the UK's food waste coming from our homes, this fact alone shows how important it is to value the food we have available, and to make sure every scrap is used.

Work with Lauren

If you would like to work with Lauren, please send an email or an Instagram message over as she would love to hear your ideas.

Message on Instagram