This recipe is vegan, and requires zero cooking! Great option for those looking for a sweet treat with limited cooking facilities. A super tasty recipe that vanlifers @where.is.hummus have shared with us all!
A quick and easy recipe to cook in your campervan and so delicious! You’ll love how the Chorizo sausage leaks all the flavour into the mash
Chorizo and Sweet Potato Mash
Vanlife Eats
Meat Based
Simple low ingredient recipe for your campervan here. By cooking the sweet potato in the rich juices of the chorizo you get the most delicious rich mash.
5 from 2 votes
10 Ingredients or less – Less washing-up – One-pan – Stove top meal
Peel the 2 sweet potatoes and cut into small chunks. (sugar cube sized)
Take the chorizo sausage and stab it with a fork all over
On a medium heat in the skillet pan place the sausage and scatter the potato cubes around it. Drizzle with oil and cook for about 10 minutes making sure the potato browns but not burns.
Flip the sausage over. It should be charred brown and crispy on the heated side.
Turn over all the potato cubes making sure they are browned but not burnt.
Take a cup of water and pour it over the sausage and potato and then place the lid on the skillet.
After 5 minutes lift the lid and place the Asparagus tips on top of the mixture. Add a tablespoon of butter and cook for a further 5 minutes. The potato should be soft when poked with a fork. The liquid should be evaporated but if not leave the lid off and cook for a further few minutes if necessary.
Place all the potato in a small sharing bowl (or decant into 2 bowls), season with salt and pepper and use a fork to mash it all up.
Take the Chorizo sausage and slice it into pieces. Place the sausage on top of the potato.
Open up the 6 chicken thighs (slice them to open further if they are too thick) and place the Brie cube into the center. Close up the thigh around the cheese as tightly as you can.
Wrap a rasher of Bacon tightly around the chicken thigh making sure the wider part of the rasher closes up the underneath of the chicken thigh. Repeat this with all the thighs.
Pre-heat a skillet pan on a medium / high heat and then place all 6 chicken brie bombs into the pan top side down.
Whilst the chicken cooks.. empty the tinned tomatoes into a bowl and add the minced garlic, tomato paste and a little salt and pepper.
Turn the chicken over in the pan. You should have a nice brown and almost burnt top to the chicken.
Add a splash of red wine (just a little) to the pan. This will deglaze the pan and bring in all the flavour that is stuck to the pan. Let the alcohol cook off for around 5 minutes.
Next pour over your bowl of tomato sauce, turn down the heat and place a lid on top. Cook for 20 minutes.
Chop some fresh Basil leaves.
After 20 minutes remove the lid and add in the chopped Basil leaves. Leave the lid off and cook for another 15 minute. (you may need to turn up the heat so that the tomatoes simmer).
Serve 2-3 chicken brie bombs each., drenched in the sauce. We like it with rice.
Who doesn’t love Halloumi? Well we LOVE it! This is a quick and easy campervan recipe for hot dogs, an amazing vanlife lunch. The recipe makes 4 hot dogs but we have 2 each :)
Halloumi Hot Dogs
Vegetarian
The perfect vegetarian option for a hot dog! Easy to make and even a meat lover will love these. Vanlife meals at its finest!
5 from 1 vote
10 Ingredients or less – No water – One-pan – Quick cook
Cut the Halloumi Cheese into 8 thick slices. (I usually cut lengthways).
Cut the Bell Pepper into chunky slices.
Cut the 1/2 Red Onion into slices.
Add the Halloumi and peppers to the hot pan. After 4-5 minutes the Halloumi should be brown on the pan side down. (Keep checking as Halloumi can burn easily). When it looks golden brown turn the cheese and peppers over and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
Remove the Halloumi from the pan.
Add the red onion to the pan and cook the Peppers and Onion for a couple more minutes and then turn off the heat.
Slice the hot dog buns lengthways and generously blob on the Guacamole.
Load up the buns with 2 slices of Halloumi each, some peppers and red onion.
Cut off two triangles of Toblerone and save for later. Roughly chop up the rest of the Toblerone in to bits.
In a pan add the 200g (half a tin) of condensed milk and warm over a gentle low heat for 5 minutes. (strictly no bubbles!)
Add the Toblerone chunks and stir through for another 3-4 minutes.
When melted it will be sticky, at this point add the table spoon of butter to loosen it up slightly. Warm for a further 1 minute until the butter has melted into the mixture.
Pour the mixture into tin lined with greaseproof paper.
Chop up the two Toblerone chunks you saved earlier in to small chunks and crumbs. Sprinkle this over the top of the mixture and gently press it down into the mixture.
Chill for 2 hours and then remove from the tin and cut into your desired bite size pieces.
It was a cold, dreary and rainy evening in the campervan and we wanted something hearty for dinner. Something filling with a little heat (but not too much) and this recipe was the perfect match! A vanlife must try!
With only the need of one skillet pan and one of our favourite cheat ingredients, Jerk Seasoning this was a really simple recipe to put together.
We’ve got some left over for lunch and I cant wait to eat more!
Caribbean Jerk Chicken with Pineapple and Coconut Rice
Meat Based
A vanlife one pan recipe perfect for a cold evening meal in your campervan. Its delicious and simple to make with minimal mess and washing up!
Place the 4 chicken thighs in a bowl and coat with 1tbsp of olive oil, 1tbsp soy sauce, 2tbsp of jerk seasoning, 1tsp salt, and 1tsp cayenne pepper. Massage the marinade into the chicken.
Place the chicken top side down in the hot skillet and leave it for 5 minutes to brown on top.
Meanwhile cut a bell pepper into chunks, mince 2 garlic cloves and slice the bunch of green onions (scallions).
Make sure you have a nice brown crust on the chicken and then turn it over.
Add the bell pepper chunks, the garlic cloves, the packet of white microwave rice and the whole tin of coconut milk. Make sure the top of the chicken isn't covered. so you keep that nice spicy crust. Cook for 5 minutes and then add the cup of pineapple chunks and the sliced green onions.
Lower the heat so it gently simmers for a further 25 minutes.
On a recent trip to a campsite in Aylesbury we decided to visit the on-site farm shop. With super fresh ingredients, we decided to make a stove-top meal for two. A campsite in the UK in March isn’t the warmest of trips away so we decided a bit of stodge was in order. Hence the gnocchi lasagna we’re sharing with you now. The best bit is you don’t even need an oven! This gnocchi lasagna was made on our 2 burner hob in our van.
Gnocchi Lasagna
Vanlife Eats
Meat Based
A simple yet super tasty dish for any campervan. A delicious recipe cooked on the hob! We visited the farm shop at the campsite we were visting to ensure we got the freshest ingredients for extra tastiness.
1cupCheeseUse the cheese of your choice, we used mozzarella, cheddar and red leicester.
Salt & pepper to season
Parsley to garnish
Instructions
Chop the onion, heat some oil in a pan on a medium / high heat and stick the onion in. Cook for 5 minutes until softened.
Season the beef with salt, then add to the pan with the onions.
While this is cooking, finely chop the 2 garlic cloves.
When all the beef is browned (5-10 minutes), add the gnocchi. Cook for a further 2 minutes
Add the tomatoes to the pan and put the lid on & leave to cook while you make your cheese sauce. Take the lid off after 10 minutes to allow the sauce to reduce.
For the cheese sauce
In a seperate pan add the 1 tbsp of butter over a low heat.
When melted add 1 tbsp flour and stir continuously to make a roux
Add the milk slowly and keep mixing to ensure no lumps form, continue until the sauce coats the back of the spoon. You can whisk if needed to make it extra smooth.
Season with salt & pepper before adding the cheese.
Remember to check your gnocchi mix!
Add your cheese and keep mixing 💪
Pour the cheese sauce over the gnocchi mixture and spread evenly.
Like cooking in your van? Want to know 5 cookbooks that’ll make vanlife a piece of cake? Jakob Staudal from www.headlessnomad.com takes us through his top 5!
Wait… what the heck is vanlife? It’s when you live in a van. Oh, we guess it wasn’t as complicated as we thought it was. Obviously, the sarcasm is off the charts here as vanlife is not even close to as easy as it sounds.
One of the problems can be food, and that’s what we want to focus on today. It’s not as if you’re just going to eat out for the entire time you decide to want to indulge in the van life. Finding appropriate recipes and meals to make on the road can be a difficult endeavor. However, a well-written, vanlife cookbook can make all the difference, and here are five that are just that.
1. The Clever Camper Cookbook
We have to say that even though most have heard the expression, “don’t judge a book by its cover,” we really love the cover ofthis book. It just has a really nice and happy camping tone. Anyway, as for the book, it’s written by Megan and Simon who are both world travelers.
What makes this vanlife cookbook both a good read and very useful is there are over 20 simple-to-make recipes that can be done with a two-burner camping stove. The recipes were created by the authors during their travels, and they decided to share what they created with the rest of the world.
It’s a relatively short book at 64 pages, but the simplicity of it makes it worth it.
2. The New Camp Cookbook
This is a muchlonger read and book overall, and it was made for anyone who enjoys cooking outdoors from campers to day-trippers to adventurers. Outside of just recipes, this vanlife cookbook also gets into different elements of camping such as maintaining heat in a Dutch oven and grilling in foil packs.
As for the recipes, they’re actually presented by meal, which is really a nice touch. The meals include breakfast, lunch, feasts, sweets, and snacks. Now, you’ll probably see a number of recipes that will be too complicated for vanlife, but there are also simple recipes included that are very easy.
Indeed, this is kind of a broad camping cookbook that covers many different styles of camping and adventuring. So, not everything will apply to you and your vanlife situation.
3. Hungry Campers Cookbook
Yet another vanlife cookbook that is more or less a cookbook for campers, this one gears more toward simple and easy recipes. This will be right up the alley for vanlife, and the author uses her love of camping and many years of writing to create a cookbook ideal for the entire family.
Virtually all of the included recipes will require very little cooking equipment, and some of the chapters in the book include Prepare Ahead Meals, One-Pot Dinners, and Fire Up the Barbecue. The author also does a good job of providing advice on how to eat well while camping, and this can be suitable for vanlifers, if you will, as well.
As the title of the book suggests, this book places an emphasis on recipes that are both healthy and fresh. Oh, and also those that are easy to achieve, and that is also very critical.
4. The Camper Van Cookbook
The tagline of this vanlife cookbook is “Life on 4 wheels, Cooking on 2 rings,” and it kind of says it all. We’re not picking a winner here, but this might be the best book on this list for the purposes of vanlife. Included are over 80 different and tasty recipes that can be cooked with the use of just two rings.
Of course, as great as the content is in this book, it needs to be mentioned that it takes place in Great Britain. The way the author writes, you can clearly tell that’s where he’s from, and many of you in America may not be too fond of a read such as this.
Again, the content is really great and there’s a lot of zest in the writing. However, it may be a bit overbearing for some. Hey, if nothing else, you at least can just read the recipes and call it a day with this book.
5. The Original VW Camper Cookbook
One thing we’ll say is you might just want to buy this book used as it’s kind of expensive brand-new. Anyway, off that topic, this features a collection of over 80 dishes and for the purposes of a vanlife cookbook, the dishes are designed to be prepared in many different rustic settings.
Meaning, basically, that many of the recipes aren’t going to require you to have a lot of utensils. Here’s what’s also kind of cool about this cookbook, the recipes are organized by different categories. The categories include main courses, light bites, soups and salads, sweets, and BBQ.
Additionally, some of the actual dishes include baked bananas, hot cinnamon apples, pancakes, flaming beef stroganoff, spicy lime grilled prawns, and avocado salad. There’s a really good variety here is basically what we’re getting at, and that can be very important for life in a van.
Final thoughts on Vanlife cookbooks
It’s not as if you can’t find recipes and resources online to figure out what you’re going to make on the road in a van. However, these dedicated van life cookbooks can be so much easier and more convenient for you to have at all times.
We know all we presented was a quick overview of each book, and you can always dig a little deeper to find the right van life cookbook for you and your needs. After all, not everyone will have the same utensils, resources, and even personal likes (when it comes to the types of food and things like that).Past cooking, van life might also present some nights where you want to have a campfire somewhere. And on that topic, have you ever wondered how hot an average campfire gets? Well, wonder no more as we’ve uncovered that mystery for you!
BONUS COOKBOOK – Camping Soul Food
Here at Vanlife Eats, we couldn’t let this pass without passing comment! What a great variety of books – we would love to add our own personal favourite. This vanlife cookbook was written by The Buggans, a family in Ireland who have combined their love for cooking and good music. Camping Soul Food has a really quirky feature, which allows the reader to scan a QR code. This provides a playlist for the length of time required to cook the meal in question. Simple, tasty recipes the whole family will enjoy!
This was a guest post by Jakob Staudal
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This campervan recipe of Summer cous cous is fabulous to make and enjoy for a tasty lunch or side dish. It is amazing eaten in the sunshine outside your campervan with friends but can be enjoyed all year round. This is a recipe enjoyed by @campervancodgers who kindly shared it with you! Be sure to rate it when you try it.
Summer Cous Cous
@campervancodgers
Vegetarian
As soon as the sun starts shining, Summer cous cous is a must! Packed full of tasty, fresh ingredients – sunshine in a mouthful. You can mix up the vegetables, and even include leftovers to use them up.
We decided a treat was in order on our recent camping trip!! We ended up having Naughty nutella crumpets for an indulgent Sunday morning breakfast in our campervan – and it was sooooooo good!! We shared it on a plate to minimise washing up 😉
Without further ado, let us introduce you to Naughty Nutella crumpets!
Naughty crumpets
Vegetarian
This delicious breakfast is the perfect naughty treat in the van. A twist on the classic french toast – but a lot more cheeky!
Crack 2 eggs in a bowl and whisk in the 1/3 cup of milk. Add in the vanilla extract
Add the crumpets to the mixture and ensure all pieces are coated.
Add a knob of butter to a hot pan and add your coated crumpets
Keep turning the pieces until all sides are browned
Dish up onto a plate, drizzle with nutella & icing sugar.
Enjoy the naughtiness!
Notes
We made this in our van in the winter so our Nutella was quite firm. We placed it in a small bowl inside a larger bowl of hot water to soften it up. Alternatively you could use chocolate sauce
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