AIBU to wonder what you eat when camping or glamping?!

[kravestix]

Arranging a family holiday. Accommodation for 7 nights is a safari tent. Comes with a one ring portable gas hob, a BBQ and an Electric Cool Box. What are we supposed to eat for the week? There's 7 of us.

I don't fancy a BBQ every single night. Chances of rain are probably likely at some point too. We can't eat out every day. That's too expensive for 7 of us. We'll be lucky if we can eat out once during the week. So, what are sort of things can we eat? Really looking forward to the Holiday but very much panicking about the food situation and lack of fridge or oven!

If you camp or glamp what do you eat? Any suggestions?

Will also have to try and sort out packed lunches for when we are out for the day!

One ring? Beans.

Premake something like chilli or spag Bol for the first night then just heat up when you get there (I would buy another gas stove - about £20 from camping stores/millets etc)

Couple of BBQs.
Eat out once
Would you be able to stretch to takeaway pizza one night as well?
Fajitas are easy - cook the chicken/veg in pan and then serve with salad and sauces and some tortilla chips
Do a tinned pasta meal something like tuna pasta (pasta/tuna/tin sweetcorn/tin tomatoes and then Chuck in some grated cheese.

There will be a ship nearby to get fresh milk/bread/cheese etc

Fresh or quick cook pasta and pesto, we freeze a curry/stew/bolognaise and that defrosts in the cool bag for first evening meal, with quick cook rice. That sort of thing.

I would eat bbq every day realistically … but I would only call for 2-3 nights max!

*camp

One reason I don’t camp is memories of proper shit 70s tents with no fridge, no electricity and a two-ring gas cooker. One ring is ridiculous. I would be bringing my own bigger cooker or BBQing the fuck out of this holiday.

Also things like sausage rolls and picnic stuff is your friend for the packed lunches, you don’t have to do lots of sandwiches.

Could also get takeaway chips and the. Cook some sausages on the bbq and heat some beans on the hob.

Camping food isn’t generally gourmet fresh stuff! Although we went the other day and took some HelloFresh meals with us as it’s all portioned up so you know you have everything you need!

@BrieAndChilli

Premake something like chilli or spag Bol for the first night then just heat up when you get there (I would buy another gas stove - about £20 from camping stores/millets etc)

Couple of BBQs.
Eat out once
Would you be able to stretch to takeaway pizza one night as well?
Fajitas are easy - cook the chicken/veg in pan and then serve with salad and sauces and some tortilla chips
Do a tinned pasta meal something like tuna pasta (pasta/tuna/tin sweetcorn/tin tomatoes and then Chuck in some grated cheese.

There will be a ship nearby to get fresh milk/bread/cheese etc

Jesus - one ring and you have to shop at a ship!

I'd invest in another camping stove to take with you and increase number of hobs and therefore options. Then you can do rice and chilli, pasta, sausages and mash, stir fry, salads etc.

A bbq can be different each night eg sausages/burgers, then chicken kebabs the next night, etc

If you have a bbq you can wrap potatoes in foil and cook them in the coal for jacket spud s

First two nights are easiest. I make two meals. One to reheat on the first night, the second frozen in a huge freezer bag (chilli for example) which defrosts slowly for the next day and is often still a bit frozen by the next evening.

You could do chilli and BBQ baked potatoes in foil
BBQ a large fish and serve with bread, salad etc
One pot spaghetti (look up recipes) again with salad, olives etc from the shop
Fajitas - veggies in a huge pan and plonk on table with guacamole, cheese, salsa, salad etc...could do corn on cob on BBQ too

Is there a plug? Could you bring a slow cooker to do curry etc and then do rice on the hob?

Otherwise I'm sure you could get away with BBQing at least three nights with different things. Doesn't always need to be burgers and sausages.

First night - something frozen from home that just needs reheating and a carb adding: stew, pasta bolognese, etc.

Last night - eat out so you can get packed up the afternoon before you leave.

Other 5 nights - BBQ 2 or 3 nights, with easy, pre-made salad sides and bread. Takeaway pizza one night. Pre-cooked roast chickens (2) eaten cold plus salad. Packet sauces - chicken chausseur, sausage casserole etc - are doable on one ring, mopped up with bread etc.

have fun!

Search the camping forum for several previous threads packed with ideas.

Fish n chips on beach, 3 bbqs, eat out, things on toast, egg, beans, avacado, lots of marshmallows. Do you have a socket to take a toaster?
Spanish omelette in big pan.

Pasta and pesto with salad
Stew
Beans on toast
Sausage/bacon sandwiches
Chilli and tortilla chips
BBQ

You can cook a lot on a BBQ and a hob. It would be better if you have two rings, but you can make it work. Think of it as a grill, rather than a BBQ - you don't have to just have sausages an burgers. Take a large frying pan/wok and a large pan for the gas ring. With one cool box and a bit of a budget, I would think tins are your friends.
Some ideas:
Grilled meat and vegetables, or a heated up tin of something, couscous
Potatoes baked in foil on the BBQ with tinned chilli/beans on the hob
Stir fry made with those pre-cooked noodles or rice sachets
Buy chips from a local chippy if there is one and heat up a tin of something/BBQ some meat to go with them
Hopefully there is a shop nearby so you will be able to re-stock the cool box

I would probably buy a electric camping hob so that you have more than one ring. That way you can make most things that you would make at home. You're quite restricted with just the one ring, but there are things you could do like stir in sauce, hot dog sausages, kidney beans etc into pasta and rice , but you would struggle to feed family of 7 on one ring I thing. Annoying but I would deffo buy a job. Also will you have a kettle? That's something you don't want to be without.

We do all sorts with 2 hobs, mainly stir fry based so fajitas, curry, Thai, pasta, etc could do the same with one hob but means can do accompaniments to go with them if have second hob. we take spice mixes that we pre measure in labelled tubs and get fresh veg which lasts fine in cool box for couple of days so can change what veg you have every couple of days to keep it interesting! We love camping cooking! All part of the experience!!

Mixture between eating out, BBQs (don’t mind having a few bbqs), picnic food, rotisserie chicken type stuff if they’re selling it again, takeaways.

Some campsites have pizza or burger type vans that come around in the summer.

Is it a gas bbq? If it is, between that and a gas ring you should be fine. If it isnt, id also buy a second gas hob to take.

On hiking holidays where we had a two gas tins with screw on hobs, a billy and a tiny frying pan we have done steak with that microwave pilaf vegetable rice, chicken with beans and udon noodles, mince with some pasta and a tin of ratatouille. Simple but nice.

Crackers, salami and cheese are an easy lunch with some fruit and nuts or a muesli bar.

If it's a gas bbq, I would just cook on that every night. Glorious. salmon cooked in tinfoil on the bbq with salads, sausages with garlic butter mushroom and veggie kebabs etc.

If you’ve got a ring hob you can take a pre made pasta sauce or similar and warm it up - although you’d need a second ring to cool the pasta!

Take a toaster for beans on toast maybe?

Pasta and sauce. Jacket potatoes done in the BBQ. We use a pan on our bbq (it’s a cadac so has different tops) for stir fry or paella.