Are you on the road and don’t have time to cook? Read here how you can prepare camping food quickly and easily – also as instant food. Van life and vacations in a camper are in! One reason for this is the general slow travel trend. Instead of jet lag and keeping a lounger with a towel free, relaxation and privacy are required on vacation 2.0. And nowhere is one more private and relaxed than on the road.
Slight Disadvantage: Not all vans, caravans, or mobile homes have an integrated hotplate. And even if: it cooks so badly while driving. When you take a break, you have a moderate desire to swing the wooden spoon for a long time—especially not when you have long wanted to set off on your next hike.
Today, we’ll show you how to make your camping food. Hot water is often enough to prepare quick instant meals, while others must be boiled briefly. Either way: With the snacks-to-go, you always have a warm meal with you as a refreshment on the go.
Tip: The ideas and recipes for camping food are not only reasonable provisions when traveling but also when camping or at festivals.
It Would Be Best If You Had This Accessory For Camping Meals
Foreign supermarkets always have a unique appeal. Nevertheless, you want to lose as little vacation time as possible with everyday things like shopping. So that you have some advance notice, it is worth going shopping at home and stocking up on food in the camper or van.
It would be best to rely on durable products that can be used for as many dishes as possible on the go. Some words, such as chili con Carne (or sin Carne), can be cooked almost entirely from canned food (corn, peas, tomato passata).
Also Important: spices! In addition to salt, pepper, and sugar, you can put together your spice mixtures to use less cooking space in the motorhome. Instead of fresh herbs, it is better to use dried variants for camping food. There’s even garlic and onion powder.
The same applies to vegetables and fruit when traveling. Dried fruits last longer and also refine your porridge or muesli. Delicious pasta sauces can be conjured up with dried tomatoes or pickled peppers. If you have a fridge on board, tomato paste, ajvar, or harissa from the tube are worth their weight in gold for camping food.
Functional Food For The Camping Supply:
- vegetable oil
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- honey or maple syrup
- Long-life (vegetable) milk
- Packaged Bread
- oatmeal
- jam
- applesauce
- pasta
- potatoes
- rice
- Chickpeas
- lenses
- flour
- Powdered vegetable broth
- ketchup and mustard
- Pesto
- tuna (can)
- bockwurst
- nuts
To cook camping food, you need the right cookware. And because the space in the van or mobile home kitchen is scarce, you should concentrate on the essentials.
Essential Equipment For The Camping Kitchen:
- pot with lid
- Pan
- crockery and cutlery
- Key
- spatula
- cutting board and sharp knife
- colander
- can opener and corkscrew
- scissors
- Lunch box or mason jars with lids
- Greaseproof paper or beeswax towels
- zip pouch
- thermos
- Camping stove and camping grill
- Kettle
- Kitchen scale and measuring cup
- Clothespins (for closing open packages)
- garbage bags
That’s it! Nothing works without these utensils when camping – but with them, everything!
Tip: The essential thing for instant food on trips is hot water. You can heat it in a kettle or a pot on the stove or camping stove. On long tours, you keep the water hot in a thermos flask.
Tasty Recipes For Camping Food
With her cookbook “Van Life Kitchen – The Adventure Outdoor Kitchen,” Jessica Lerchenmüller has captured the spirit of the times. In over 60 ingeniously simple and healthy recipes, the foodie and travel fan brings us closer to the love of vegetarian camping food.
And shows us that we have no excuse for unhealthy food when we are out and about. In addition to snacks to go, which can be prepared in advance as travel provisions, the book also contains many ideas for cooking in the outdoor and mobile home kitchen.
Here we focus on healthy and delicious turbo recipes that are also suitable for hikes or lazy days without the desire to cook. Well, if that doesn’t whet your appetite and wanderlust!
Camping Meal: Salad In A Jar To Take Away
What always works on the go and tastes fresh is a delicious layered salad. If you no longer come to the supermarket to buy a fresh salad, you can also layer instant couscous with vegetables in a glass. Perfect for leftovers!
You Need These Ingredients:
- red and yellow peppers
- walnuts
- Corn
- Apple
- tomato
- Onion
- cucumber
For the dressing
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1-2 tsp honey
- One teaspoon of Dijon grain mustard
Camping Food: Recipe For Quick Rice Pudding
Rice pudding is a rewarding camping meal because the dish is easy to stir up for breakfast or dinner. Coconut milk makes the rice pudding taste more exotic. The coconut milk in the tin lasts forever, even in the caravan kitchen.
You Need These Ingredients:
For two people
- 150 grams of rice
- 400 ml coconut milk (from a can)
- Salt
For the topping
- 3 tbsp hazelnut kernels
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Tip: For instant food, replace the rice with 120 g rice flakes – they cook faster. Reduce the coconut milk to 200 ml. As a fruity note, some orange marmalade is good in the rice pudding.
It’s That Easy:
put the rice in a fine-mesh sieve (or a colander lined with kitchen paper) and rinse with water until it runs clear.
Put the coconut milk, approx. 200 ml water and a pinch of salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat. If necessary, add another 200 ml of water. Simmer the rice for 20-30 minutes, constantly stirring, until the rice has completely absorbed the liquid.
Meanwhile, roughly chop the hazelnuts. Divide the rice pudding between two bowls or glasses and garnish with nuts, maple syrup, and cinnamon.
Camping Food: Instant Noodle Soup Recipe
Bye, ready-made soup! With this homemade instant noodle soup, you can quickly get something warm in your stomach when camping or hiking. All you need to add is some hot water.
You Need These Ingredients:
For two servings
- One small zucchini
- Two carrots
- Two spring onions
- 1 tsp gluten-free vegetable stock (powder)
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- One pinch of chili powder
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp honey
- 100 g glass noodles
- fresh coriander (optional)
How To Prepare It:
wash zucchini, peel carrots, clean both and cut into thin slices with a spiral cutter or julienne cutter. Clean and wash the spring onions and cut them into fine rings.
Add the vegetable stock powder, coriander, chili flakes, soy sauce, and honey to a mason jar. Layer the uncooked glass noodles in the glass together with the vegetables. Done and ready to go!
Depending on the size of the jar, pour around 300 ml of hot water over the soup and let the noodles soak for 4-5 minutes. Then shake well (be careful, the glass is hot!) to mix the spices.
If you like, wash the coriander leaves, shake them dry and garnish the soup with the leaves.
Camping Meal: One-Pot Risotto Recipe
Risotto is also quick to cook and, in an emergency, also tastes cold, so you can take the finished camping meal with you in the lunch box when you go hiking. Here comes the recipe for the one-pot variant, for which you only need one pot. The instant food version for quick risotto-to-go will follow.
You Need These Ingredients:
For two servings
- One onion
- 200 g risotto rice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 125 ml white wine
- Two teaspoons of gluten-free vegetable stock (powder)
- 20 g dried porcini mushrooms
- 10 grams of dried tomatoes
- 100 grams of mozzarella
- 50 g (vegetarian) Parmesan
How To Prepare:
Peel and finely chop the onion. Rinse the rice in a fine-mesh strainer (or a colander lined with kitchen paper) with water until it runs clear.
Heat olive oil in a saucepan, add diced onion, and sauté. Add the risotto rice and sauté until translucent. Then deglaze with white wine and stir. After about 2 minutes, add 100 ml of water and the stock powder.
Gradually add about 300 ml of liquid and simmer over low heat until the risotto has the desired consistency. After 10 minutes, stir in the dried mushrooms and tomatoes.
In the meantime, cut the mozzarella into thin slices and finely grate the parmesan. Shortly before the end of the cooking time, stir the mozzarella and about three-quarters of the grated parmesan into the risotto. Scatter over the remaining parmesan before serving.
Instructions For Instant Risotto:
- 3 tbsp dried onions
- 200 g risotto rice
- Two teaspoons of vegetable broth (powder)
- 20 g dried porcini mushrooms
- Ten dried tomatoes
- 30 grams of pine nuts
Mix all ingredients in a sealable bag. To prepare, bring everything to a boil with about 300 ml of water in a saucepan on the camping stove. Gradually add approx. 100 ml more liquid.
Camping Meal: Recipe For Quick Corn Soup
People need something warm – especially when they are out and about. And with this recipe for exotic curry corn soup, hungry hikers will be helped quickly. In addition to the stove variant, we show you how you can prepare the soup as a portion of quick instant food.
You Need These Ingredients:
For two servings
- One small red onion
- Two cloves of garlic
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp curry powder
- One pinch of chili powder
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- Salt
- One lemon
- 400 ml coconut milk (from a can)
- 230 g corn (canned)
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
How To Prepare:
Peel and finely chop the onions and garlic. Heat coconut oil in a saucepan. Add onions, garlic, spices, and maple syrup with 1/2 tsp salt and sauté.
Squeeze lemon. After 2-3 minutes, deglaze the onion-garlic mix with the lemon juice. Stir in 100ml water and let the soup simmer for another 5 minutes over low heat. Add coconut milk and corn, bring to a boil and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Pour the soup into two bowls and serve warm, sprinkled with chili flakes. Two slices of bread with butter go well with this.
For the instant corn soup, replace the garlic with 2 tsp garlic powder, the onion with 2 tbsp dried onions (or 2 tsp onion powder), and the maple syrup with 1 tbsp coconut blossom sugar. Instead of lemon juice, you can use 1/2 teaspoon of citric acid from the packet.
Mix and pack all the ingredients in a bag. Then cook with coconut milk and corn on a camping stove as described.
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