Vegan Cooking Camping Essentials + Meal Ideas
I believe that camping is beneficial to everyone. Whether you need a break from the hustle & bustle of work life, need a relaxing vacation, or want to spend more time with your loved ones, camping should always be at the top of your list. Beach vacations are good and all but time spent under the canopy of trees, hiking, and cooking on a campfire are more my style. Aside from packing bedding, clothing, shoes, toiletries, etc, there is a long list of must haves to cook & prepare delicious vegan food while in the forest. Here is my list + some meal ideas you can make on the fire or take with you on a hike! Little vegan camping snacks + what I ate montage video at the end of this post!
Essentials:
Of course I'm all about zero waste and eco friendly utensils, so everything should be reusable or at least recyclable.
Hydration:
A very important part of any trip. Where I go camping there is a spring where you can fill up jugs & water bottles all the time. That is super handy and it's the best water you will ever drink. I bring my HydroFlask and I recommend some reuseable water jugs like these. I always bring along some reusable straws and perhaps a mug for drinking tea.
Eating:
Of course, as you camp in the wilderness you're going to be eating some delicious vegan campfire food. These are my must-haves for every camping trip:
- Reusable bowls + plates (we have specific camping ones made of plastic but you can use ceramic, metal, etc)
- Silverware or wooden utensils (I have these ones)
- Mason jars and stasher/paper(not zero waste but can burn in the fire) bags to keep food safe & fresh
Food Prep:
Of course as healthy vegans, we need to be able to chop our veggies, make our oatmeal, and mash our avocado ;) Here are the tools I bring along to help:
- Cutting Board
- Chef Knife
- Peeler
- Scissors
Campfire Cooking:
If you stay in a cabin like I do, you may not feel the desire to cook on the campfire for every meal. I sure do even though we have a fully functioning kitchen a few steps away. Campfire cooking is way more fun & makes it feel like you are truly living off the land ;)
- Aluminum Foil (not zero waste at all but changes the campfire cooking game!!)
- Cast Iron ANYTHING!!! best invention ever! We like dutch ovens, griddles, and large skillets to do the majority of our cooking on.
- Tonges
- Spatchula
Meal Ideas:
Breakfast:
Most of the time, we always make steel cut oats in the dutch oven or you can make it in a covered cast iron skillet. You can load it up with almond butter, coconut, chocolate, berries, banana, cinnamon, etc. So many options. You can also try making scrambled tofu in the cast iron skillet. Try either this loaded veggie scramble, this protein packed scramble, or the classic! All require little to no effort to make & are oil-free!
Lunch:
For us, lunch has always been taken on the hike. It's more fun to bring it along and enjoy it as you walk through the quiet woods. Trail mixes, bliss balls, energy bars, and fresh fruit & veggies are always the way to go! I love to add plantain chips, vegan mini marshmallows, almonds, chocolate chips, pretzels, raisins, & dried mango to my trail mix! The mix of sweet & salty in the best! Cut up carrots, celery, & seasonal apples are great too! Check out my Bliss Ball Recipe & my new Energy Bar Recipe for great on the snacks even if your not camping!
Dinner:
Dinner is my favorite meal of all around the campfire. It's getting dark & cooling off. You have a nice big sweatshirt on & are hundleing closer to the fire, eating something delicious I'm sure. A classic is 'The Pizza Pocket'. Vegan pita bread, stuffed with tomato sauce, vegan cheese, & veggies of choice. I always go for spinach & bell peppers. Wrap that up tightly in an alumninum foil pocket and chuck it in the fire. Shouldn't take that long to cook at all. Comes out nice and gooey! So amazing. Another option is of course potatoes. How could you leave them out? You can wrap them up in foil or place them in a dutch over and have baked potatoes covered in nooch and spices. Or you can try dicing up some sweet potaotes, carrots, & celery and mixing them together in some veggie stock & spices for a savory thianksgiving tasting meal. You can make this in aluminum foil or in the dutch oven!
Dessert:
Oh yes. Dessert. There is only one dessert that is going in my mouth when I'm around a campfire. And that is S'mores! A perfectly golden brown vegan marshmallow, surrounded by melted chocolate, & vegan graham crackers. If you have trouble finding graham crackers without honey or Dandies marshmallows, then try out my vegan s'mores recipe!
