Caravan Dinner Ideas

Here are some simple 1 or 2 pot quick & easy meal suggestions for cooking inside on the gas stove:

• Spaghetti Bolognese

• Pre-packaged ravioli or tortellini with your choice of sauce

• Shepards Pie – deconstruct it if you don’t have an oven

• Rissoles – serve with mashed potatoes, rice, couscous, salad, and/or vegetables

• Nachos or tacos – vegetarian, beef, chicken, pork

• Fettucine

• Burritos

• Tomato & Basil pasta

• Pesto Pasta

• Curried Chicken & Rice

• Butter Chicken & Rice

• Satay Chicken & Rice

• Beef Stroganoff & Rice

• Chilli - serve with bread rolls or crackers

• Fried local fish  – serve with mashed potatoes, rice, couscous, salad, and/or vegetables

• Macaroni cheese

• Hamburgers

• Risotto

• Hot dogs – always a winner if you have kids

• Stir fry noodles

• Soups & stews (great for clearing the fridge of vegetables before crossing state borders)

• Fried rice (also great for using up vegetables)

• Omelets and frittatas

NOTE: If you are going off-grid, see TIPS section below for how to substitute fresh food.

If you have a BBQ (or access to one):

• Steak & potatoes in foil

• Chargrilled chicken or chicken kebabs – fabulous with a zesty salsa

• Fish in foil

• Potatoes in foil

• Hamburgers

• Sausage sandwiches (great with coleslaw)

• Marinated chicken wings or drumsticks

• Bacon & Egg rolls

Even if you don’t have an oven, you can make the following in a frypan

• Toasted sandwiches

• Quesadillas (we use wraps with leftover nachos meat or corn/beans/cheese inside) – can serve with salsa, sour cream and guacamole

Our family LOVE what I call “caravan pizzas”. I use wraps as the base. Spread wrap with pizza sauce (or just tomato paste/sauce), sprinkle with grated cheese and add your favourite toppings. I have two non-stick frypans the same size, I put one on the gas stove, put the pizza in, then invert the second frypan on top of the first to make a mini-oven. Keep a check on your pizza, because they only take about 5 mins to cook. My kids love constructing their own pizzas!! Another "pizza" alternative is to toast english muffins, spread with tomato paste, top with pizza toppings and cheese, then pop under the grill until the cheese melts.

If you're not a big cooked breakfast fan - why not have breakfast for dinner:

• Bacon & Eggs

• Pancakes with fruit (fresh or tinned) and maple syrup

If it's a really hot day and you don't feel like cooking, here are some options

• Charcuterie board or platter - include cold meats, raw diced veggies, cheeses, fruits with some crackers, turkish bread, pita bread, or english muffins - whatever your family enjoys best!

• Chicken salad (using BBQ chicken purchased earlier and cooled in fridge) or chicken lettuce wraps

• Wraps - with salad and eggs, cold meat, or tuna

If you really want something hot, but can't be bothered - 2-minute noodles only require the kettle to be boiled.

DESSERTS

End your meal with a sweet treat!

Banana boats

Slit a banana lengthwise (don’t cut all the way through). Stuff the slit with choc chips and marshmallows. Wrap in foil and either grill, put in a frypan or on BBQ, or on fire coals for 5-10 mins until the chocolate and marshmallows are melted.

Sweet jaffles

If you have a jaffle iron, here are some awesome fillings to put inside store bought pastry:

• Banana, chocolate chips, marshmallows

• Peanut butter, banana, marshmallows

• Banana & brown sugar

• Banana & dates

• Banana and caramel sauce/topping

• Banana and nutella

• Tin or stewed apples with cinnamon

• Tin or stewed apples with custard

• Tin/stewed apples and sultanas

• Strawberries and marshmallows

• Strawberries and chocolate chips

• Strawberries and maple syrup

• Marshmallows and coconut

• Lemon butter

• Biscoff spread

TIPS

Its good to keep a collection of condiments and spices in your caravan. Some suggestions include tomato paste (satchets work best), tomato sauce, curry powder, garlic flakes, chilli flakes, salt & pepper.

I also always have a can of spray olive oil. I find it travels better than a bottle (if you've ever had a bottle of olive oil break in your pantry - you'll get what I'm saying here).

TIPS FOR OFF-GRID

If you are going off-grid and won't have access to fresh food here are some ideas. You should be able to purchase all of these in a supermarket. Weight is usually also a consideration when packing a caravan, so take this into consideration with your food also.

• Tin fruit - everyone should have at least 2 servings of fruit per day, and when you can't get fresh, tinned is a good option for caravanners as it keeps well and stores easily. Although a small amount of nutritional value is lost in the canning process, the majority (including vitamin C) is retained. When buying tin fruit, look at the sugar content as some are canned in a heavy syrup, look for the ones in juice.

• Canned vegetables - while fresh veggies undoubtably taste better, vegetable nutritional value isn't reduced during the canning process - making canned veggies just as healthy as fresh ones. Canned vegetables have been washed and sterilized, saving you water also. Canned vegetables include: beetroot, peas, carrots, beans (red, butter, green, kidney, baked), spinach, tomatoes, olives, artichoke, zucchini and other vegetables in the form of pickles or fermented products. You can also get chickpeas, lentils, & mushrooms in cans.

• Dehydrated vegetables - dehydration preserves the nutrients in vegetables but removes the water content, resulting in a easy to store and keep option for caravanners. Dehydrated vegetables work best when rehydrated and cooked. They can be used in place of any equivalent fresh vegetable. There is even dehydrated potato mash. Instructions on the packet will tell you how to use each product.

• Dehydrated fruit - a number of fruits also dehydrate well including strawberries, mangoes, pineapple. These can be difficult to obtain, but great for snacks.

• Meat substitutes -

  • you can get salmon & tuna in tins, but did you also know you can get them in foil pouches? They work great tossed through a salad.

  • peanut butter is a great source of protein

  • commercially prepared freeze dried meals - these are a light option for campers that are off-grid for long periods of time. Often available at hiking or outdoor stores, examples include pastas, stir frys, currys, classics. They are quite expensive and no where near as good as preparing you own meals, but they can serve a purpose and usually just require you to add boiling water, making them a quick & easy option. There are lots of choices and everyone has unique tastes, so choose something that you like.

• Bread substitutes - You will find bread out of the freezer goes mouldy in a few days, quicker if the weather is hot and humid. Try the following instead:

  • wraps - light and easy to store, can make meat & salad wraps for lunch, pizza or quesadillas for dinner!

  • crackers - rice, salada, sao, vitaweat, there are many brands to try and choose from. Try them with vegemite, peanut butter, cheese.

  • pita bread

If you have any other favourite caravan dinner ideas, why not share in the comments section below. We're always on the lookout to try new recipes.

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