Camping Meal Ideas

[StrawberryDreams2605]

We are going camping soon, will have electric hook up but no electric cook box. Trying to think of the best ideas for meals that won't be affected by the heat - previously I have done hot dogs using shelf stable sausages, frozen burgers so it's defrosted and ready to cook by the time we need it, also precooked chicken so it just needed reheating when we want it for wraps.
Looking for a few other suggestions.
Thank you.

Do you have a normal cool box? The good solid ones are v effective at keeping things cool for a day or so.
Also, can you get to shops? We always camp without any electric hookup, but with a chunky cool box and we can refreeze our freezer ice packs as needed. We tend to buy meat / fish on the day or the day before where needed when we’re out and about. For more shelf type meals we’d have pasta, hotdogs, tinned fish etc, but we don’t really ever need to rely on that cos we’ll always be driving past somewhere on our way back from a day out so pick stuff up then.

We take a frozen bolognaise then cook pasta

We've done vegetable stir-fry with noodles (can use the dry ones).

Sausage supper - sausages (take frozen maybe) can of beans, can of potatoes, can or two tomatoes - onions if you can be bothered chopping them and some Worcestershire sauce or other seasoning - eat with a crusty loaf

Fresh tortellini in the cool box, plus pesto, grated cheese, green veg or salad.

We have that meal @Treviarpelli we take cooked frozen sausages away and when they're drfrosted just throw it all in the pan. It's called Pot Meal in our family and is so lovely we even have it at home sometimes.

Other meals we do -

• cooked breakfast in one pan.
• Morrisons salad box from their salad bar with kebabs (picked up on the way back from a day out)
• Banana split down the middle, squares of chocolate in the split, wrap the whole thing in foil and put in the embers of the campfire or on the BBQ - serve with creme fraiche.

We were on a really remote campsite on Dartmoor once and someone had a chinese takeaway delivered to the farm gate!

Definitely take something made that you can heat up on the first night. Here are some of our go to meals for camping….

Tuna Pasta, made with a softened onion, clove of garlic, tin of chopped tomatoes, simmer, add a tin of flaked tuna, sprinkle of mixed herbs, serve with pasta. We tend to use fresh pasta when camping as it cooks way quicker. It keeps well in a regular cool box.

Tuna and Butter Bean Salad…nice tin of tuna, nice jar of those big spanish butter beans, some finely sliced red onions, all mixed together with a lemon/olive oil dressing, served on leaves/with salad veggies of your choice. Fennel is lush.

The pouches of ready cooked rice are great for fried rice…you can use any protein and veggies you like, eggs don’t need to be chilled and work well.

Pouches of ready cooked lentils and grains are also brilliant. The plain cooked ones tend to be nicer than ready flavoured and you can add a little pot of curry paste or spices to taste, carton of coconut milk and either tinned fish, meat or tofu.

Frittata….fry chopped peppers, onions, courgette, mushrooms….any other veggies you fancy in a bit of oil in a non stick pan, add a couple of beaten eggs per person, more for bigger appetites, pour over the veggies and turn the heat down. Cover with a lid or tin foil to help the top cook. Top with a bit of grated cheese if you have it. Cook till set.

Not the healthiest thing I know but those curly smoked sausages are shelf stable and our son loved things like that in pasta, fried rice etc as a treat when camping.

Have a great trip!

I love the Leon pouches of golden dhal https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/leon-golden-lentil-dhal-with-coconut-green-beans-tomato-250g with naan bread, roti wraps or rice
Before I discovered it, our go-to was a tin of lentils mixed in with a jar of bolognese sauce with quick-cook pasta or gnocchi. Alternatively you could just use a pouch https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/merchant-gourmet-puy-lentil-mixed-mushroom-bolognese-with-basil-sundried-tomato-280g
We also do tacos or burritos with tins of mixed chilli beans, avocado and sliced pepper.

Day 1: pre-made bolognaise (frozen)
Day 2: chicken korma - before you go cut up raw chicken and freeze in a block (eg food tub) - it will stay frozen
Day 3: pasta and tuna so no need to keep cold
Day 4: probably need to shop on this day
keep milk cool by putting in washing up bowl of water with a damp tea towel over it with ends in the water in the shade.

Pouches. Loads of good pouches now.

Pouch of Refried beans, pouch of microwave Mexican rice, (just heat in a pan) , tin of chilli, make burritos with tortilla wraps

Pouches of dhal, and rice, jar of mango chutney