This llajua hot sauce is the hot sauce that you’ll see on every Bolivian table. It is traditionally served with savoury meals. It’s dead simple, fresh and delicious. It is made with huacatay leaves, a Bolivian herb with quite a unique flavour. Traditionally this sauce is made with a special hand blender, that gives the sauce a chunky blended texture. However, I was shown it can also be made with a grater, which is what we will do for this recipe.
Llajua Hot Sauce
vanlife_recipes_
Vegan, Vegetarian
A delicious hot sauce that is easy to make in the van with limited equipment!
5 from 1 vote
5 ingredients or less – No cook – No fridge – No water
A classic recipe of mushroom stroganoff with some adaptions to make it perfect for vanlife. I used to make this one all the time back home, when I fancied something creamy and comforting.
Here however, fresh mushrooms aren’t so easy to find, plus they aren’t cheap either.​ If you’re in the south at the right time of year, you may be able to get your hands on some cheap wild mushrooms in the markets. The ones you want are the impressive Loyo mushrooms, from the porcini family.​ For the most part, we ended up using tinned mushrooms. I won’t try and claim that these are the real thing, however they do have the advantage of being cheap, easy to find, and of course, lasting forever. By all means, use fresh if you can, but if not don’t be afraid to give these a go, you may be surprised.
All the other ingredients for this recipe are also long life, so you can think about this one in the supermarket, and then forget about it till a rainy day.​
Mushroom Stroganoff
vanlife_recipes_
Vegetarian
A quick recipe of mushroom stroganoff, using long life items, which makes it ideal for vanlife!
5 from 1 vote
30 minute meal - Family friendly - No fridge - Stove top meal - Tinned food
Half-open the mushrooms and drain them well, then fully open them and cut them into slices.
Put your frying pan on high heat.
While it’s heating up, put your water on for the pasta.
Next, add the butter and oil to your pan, the butter will give the mushrooms a great flavour, and the oil will stop the butter from burning. Give the mushrooms a good squeeze to get rid of the remaining water, and drop them in, along with a pinch of salt.
Stir, but only occasionally, so as to get a nice colouring.
After 5 minutes or so the mushrooms should have reduced significantly, and have started to brown. At this stage add your stock and coat the mushrooms. If you’re using a stock cube, you can put it in the corner of the pan with a quarter cup of water from the pasta and mash it into a paste with your spatula or a fork. Then let the mushrooms cook for a further 2 minutes.
Next, add the cream to your mushrooms and let it reduce on low heat. When the cream has reached a nice saucy consistency, add the Provençal mix or thyme and turn of the heat.
Drain your pasta, and mix it into your sauce, along with a squeeze of lemon juice and black pepper.
Couscous is readily available throughout Chile, and is also the only carbohydrate I know of that doesn’t need to be heated. This comes in handy if you’re looking to save on gas, or if you don’t have a cooker.
Fresh herbs (parsley, coriander, basil and mint are all good options)
100gSoft Cheese - (queso fresco)
1/2Cucumber
1cupCherry Tomatoes
1tspBalsamic Vinegar
1/2Vegetable stock Cube
1/2Lemon
3tbspOlive Oil
Saltto taste
Pepperto taste
Instructions
In a Tupperware, mix the lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and the crumbled stock cube. Then, mash the stock cube with a fork to make a paste.
Next, add the couscous, and pour in just enough water to submerge the grains.
When the couscous is almost ready, slice the olives, and cut the cheese and cucumber into cubes (roughly 1cm squared). If using cherry tomatoes cut into four, if using regular tomatoes cut into similar cubes to the cucumber.
Finally, chop the herbs, then add everything to a container, drizzle with the remaining olive oil and mix well.
Notes
This no cook recipe is ideal when travelling through hot countries, as there is no need feel the heat with the hobs on. Use whatever leftovers you have to make make this meal.
This one pot jollof rice is a great African dish. Depending on which rice you use in the pot depends whether you are making it the Nigerian or Ghanaian way. This vegetarian jollof rice uses dried herbs and spices like curry powder as it is easier for vanlife. If you have fresh chilli’s then you can substitute these for the curry powder.
Though this is by no means a Chilean recipe, it was the rice dish we made the most in Chile by far, as it uses ingredients which are easy to find all over the country, and only requires one pan. It’s also delicious cold, so we always make double portions, to avoid having to worry about lunch the next day.
One-pot Jollof Rice
vanlife_recipes_
Vegetarian
Who doesn't love a one pan dish? This Jollof rice dish doesn't disappoint
5 from 1 vote
30 minute meal – Less washing-up – One-pan – Stove top meal
Dice the pepper and onion, and fry in an oiled saucepan at medium heat with coriander seeds, until the onions start to brown.
Add thinly minced garlic, cumin powder, curry powder, tinned tomato, stock, rice and thinly sliced coriander stalks. Mix for a minute or so, then add water to cover and put the lid on.
Leave to cook on low heat stirring every 3 minutes or so.
After 10 minutes the rice should be almost cooked (hard but no longer crunchy). Make sure there is not too much liquid left, the top of the rice should be out of the liquid.
Make sure the lid is on properly, turn off the heat, and leave to sit for minimum 5 minutes, while you deal with the eggs. This will allow the rice time to soak up more of the liquid and finish cooking, without the bottom of the rice burning.
If you’re having eggs, fry them in a separate pan.
When you’re ready with the eggs, mix the chopped coriander into the rice, and plate. Serve with crème fraîche and the egg on top, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice.
I have been using this pizza dough recipe for years! I’ve tried new dough recipes since, but I always come back to this one. It is so simple and always turns out great! Imagine my delight when I realized I could make homemade pizza on our propane stove top in the van! When I photographed this recipe, it was during the COVID-19 quarantine, so the grocery store was out of organic all-purpose flour. I tried making it with organic quinoa flour, instead. I didn’t realize quinoa flour is like a whole wheat flour. That’s why the crust has a darker color. I do NOT recommend using a non-white flour with this recipe! The quinoa flour made the dough difficult to work with, and the crust too crumbly. Plus, the flavor was blah at best. This recipe works best with white flour, and turns out ah-mazing every time with it!
3cupAll-purpose white flour (set aside 1/2 cup for kneading)
Instructions
Add the warm water to a mixing bowl. Next, add the baking soda, olive oil, and honey (in that exact order, if you want the ingredients to roll right off the measuring spoon well). Then, add the salt, and mix until well combined. Finally, add 2 ½ flour, and stir until it begins to form a ball of dough.
I usually knead the dough for a few minutes by hand, adding flour until it stops sticking to my fingers. This is when you will start adding in the ½ cup of flour that you set aside. You may not need the full ½ cup. Just add flour and keep kneading until the dough doesn’t stick to your fingers any more.
At this point, I usually split the dough in two, and save half of it for a second night of personal pizzas, since there are only two of us. ¼ of the dough will make one personal pan pizza.
Now is the time to add your sauce, cheese, and toppings. Let cook until the cheese melts, and the crust firms up on the bottom. If you like a crispier crust, you may want to turn up the flame a bit on the stove to crisp it.The pizza should slide right out of the pan and onto your plate. Slice it up and enjoy!Adapted from Life in the Lofthouse
This is our absolute favorite cookie recipe! I made it all the time in the early years of our marriage, before we left for Vanlife. And I was delighted to learn that I could make cookies on a propane stove top with a covered pan!
If you are like us, and don’t have an oven in your van, you will need a lidded pan to make these cookies. It creates an oven effect on your stove top. If you don’t have a pan lid, perhaps you could try a dinner plate!
If you have an electric mixer, you would be fine just using softened butter. I melt my butter to make mixing easier. I didn’t bring my hand mixer, since we boondock most of the time, and rely completely on our solar panels and battery bank. Fellow boondockers, I know you understand!
Melt the butter in the pan you will be using to bake the cookies on. Yay for less dishes! Once the butter is melted, use a scraping spatula to get all of the butter into a mixing bowl. Stir the peanut butter into the butter until well blended.
Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix until well combined.
Whisk in the egg and vanilla extract until combined
Add flour and mix until well combined.
Finally, stir in your chocolate chips. The dough should be thick, and the chocolate chips might fall off a bit to the bottom of the bowl. That’s okay! Fold in the chip stragglers as you roll your dough into 1 ½ inch balls and place those balls in your pan, spaced at least an inch apart.
Cover the pan, and cook on the lowest flame possible without your propane stove going out (see picture for reference). The lower the flame, the more evenly they will cook. We don’t want burnt-bottom cookies!
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until they firm up, and are no longer doughy. The time could be shorter or longer for you, depending on your stove. Keep an eye on them.
Add chicken broth, potatoes, and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Then, reduce heat to medium low and cook until potatoes are tender.
While the soup is cooking, fry up the bacon, and set aside.
Once the potatoes are tender, add in the chicken, corn and heavy whipping cream. Simmer for 15 minutes or so, letting the flavors meld.
Serve soup topped with crumbled bacon, freshly squeezed lime, and cheddar cheese. Yum!
Adapted with some changes from Cooking Classy
This super simple recipe of guacamole loaded sweet potatoes is a great recipe for campervans everywhere. There is no requirement of an oven, and can all be cooked on a single stove. We all know this is ideal for vanlife. This meal is a great vegan main that can be served with a side salad, or reduce the portions and use it as a side.
Avocado’s are one of those things that seems to take forever to ripen and then suddenly it’s ready and then goes overripe! If you are looking for a recipe to use up ripe avocado then this is great as it uses a lot of ingredients you may already have in your van.
This recipe is a favourite of featured @happy_vagabonds you can read their feature right here. They took inspiration for this recipe from Food with feeling and made it vanlife friendly. We love this! You can still eat what you want when cooking in a campervan or any tiny home for that matter. Sometimes you may just need a little creativity and a few tweaks. That is one of the many exciting aspects of vanlife!
If you try this recipe be sure to rate it below and leave a comment.
I never would have thought of combining sweet potatoes and guacamole until I saw the idea on Pinterest! The flavors pair together really well, and we love this meal! It’s quick and easy to make on a week night after work. And it’s quite filling, especially with a salad. But, I will sometimes serve it with a side of quinoa, as well.
5 from 1 vote
10 Ingredients or less – 30 minute meal – One-pan – Stove top meal
Wash and chop up the sweet potatoes into 1 inch chunks, or so.
Place the sweet potatoes in a medium pan, cover them with water, and bring to a boil. Simmer for around 15 minutes
While the potatoes cook, make your guacamole. Chop up the onion and tomato, and mince the garlic.
In a medium bowl, mash up the avocados. Mix in the onion, tomato, garlic, and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
When the sweet potatoes are fully cooked, spoon them onto plates, adding salt and pepper if you’d like. Then, top the sweet potatoes with the guacamole and black beans.
Garnish with cilantro, and voila! You’re ready to dig in!
This southwest salad with sweet and spicy chicken is a great vanlife recipe. It takes hardly any cooking, and if you use pre-cooked chicken it’s even quicker. A great way to use up leftovers.
I was playing with seasonings one night as I cooked chicken to put in a salad for dinner, and I loved the sweet and savoury heat it added to our salad! The tortilla chips and Ranch really compliment the flavors of this dish. You can modify this chicken salad to your own tastes! Perhaps you’re not a broccoli fan, or you hate black beans. That’s fine! The beauty of a salad is you can toss it together your own way! Play with it, and have fun! If you don’t have all of the ingredients, use what you do have! I often make a simplified version with no black beans, corn, tomato, or avocado-just a simple salad with chicken and tortilla chips on top.
Southwest Salad with Sweet and Spicy Chicken
happy_vagabonds
Meat Based
This has been a go-to meal for years for us, and it has translated really well into Vanlife.
Cook the chicken over medium heat with the avocado oil, seasoning to taste with the paprika, garlic powder, honey, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. The above measurements are estimates. I usually play with the amounts of spices and flavors, tasting as I go.
While the chicken is cooking, you can prep your salads. Chop up the romaine lettuce, kale, roma tomato, broccoli, cucumber, and avocado. We are big eaters, so I serve the salads in mixing bowls. I put half of the romaine lettuce, spinach, kale, cucumber, and broccoli in each bowl.
Top each salad with tomato, black beans, corn, avocado, the cooked chicken, and Ranch dressing. Here is a tip I often forget: To keep them crunchy, save the tortilla chips for last (after you add the dressing), and crush them over the tops of the salads.
Enjoy!
Notes
You can use pre-cooked chicken in this recipe to make it even quicker! If the chicken is already cooked (like a Rotisserie chicken), I still fry it up in the pan with the oil and the seasonings so it really takes on that sweet, spicy, savory flavor.
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