A guide to cooking in a caravan
Food is one of the most enjoyable elements of any holiday, but no one wants to feel that they’ve spent hours cooking in a hot, small kitchen. That’s why simple and uncomplicated recipes that satisfy the whole family are the best solution.
Part of the caravanning experience is to go shopping and create recipes that make the most of fresh produce and that can be put together for picnics, snacks and main dishes.
While the lockdown is in place over the UK, it doesn’t mean you can’t think about going on future caravan holidays in Cornwall and consider the different meals you can cook whilst on holiday.
In this article, we take you through some of the best meals you can cook to show you how easy it can be and what variety you can enjoy.
Great meals to cook in a caravan
A Barbecue
If you’re looking to cook a quick meal rather than spending hours preparing something, a barbecue is a great option for you to consider. Hotdogs, burgers and skewers are all easy to make, quick to cook and very affordable too.
Claire runs the travel blog Tin Box Traveller and she recommends you have lots of barbecues on your next caravan holiday.
“Caravan and camping holidays are all about al fresco dining for us. We love cooking a barbecue outside while watching our kids play and making the most of the fresh air.
“If you have young children like us, we find that hot dogs, burgers and chicken skewers are always a hit. We live in the South West of England and find the very best ingredients at local butchers and farm shops. We add colourful accompaniments to our BBQ plate, like corn on the cob, salads, roasted vegetables and flavoured rice. We usually cheat and buy microwave rice to save on washing up. Don’t forget brioche buns and gouda cheese to go with your burgers. Delicious!”
Pasta bake
This is something the whole family are sure to enjoy and the great thing about a pasta bake is the fact that you can easily change the recipe to suit your needs.
You can add in seasonal ingredients or a particular sauce that you know everyone loves as well as serving it with salad or garlic bread.
Pasta bakes are a really great food that everyone can share and here are some great pasta bake recipes you can see for some inspiration.
Fried breakfast
No matter whether you’re caravanning during the summer or the winter, a great way to start the day is to cook a fried breakfast.
You can include all the staples that make this breakfast a real feast and that includes sausages, bacon, eggs, toast, hash browns, tomatoes, mushrooms and baked beans.
You can obviously swap out ingredients and if you are a vegetarian, then this can be adapted with veggie sausages or veggie bacon. The Easy Cheesy Vegetarian says how you can create a vegetarian full English in one of her blog posts: “I wanted to avoid using ‘fake meat’ (which I do enjoy, but sometimes it’s fun to be a bit more creative), so I added grilled halloumi instead. Halloumi is becoming a pretty popular breakfast option in the UK, and the first time I was served it as part of a full English, it was a revelation! The salty cheese goes so well with all the other elements.
“The only other part of my vegetarian full English breakfast that’s not entirely traditional is the asparagus – but I felt the plate needed a bit of green. Actually, with only one dash of oil used in this whole recipe, it’s a relatively healthy dish, as far as fry ups go.”
All-day breakfasts are also acceptable for any time of the day so you can enjoy a cooked breakfast at whatever time you see fit and don’t have to feel guilty about it.
Usually, it will take you around an hour to prepare and then cook the ingredients for your full English.
Stir Fry
Stir Fry’s are really quick to make and what’s great about them is the fact you can swap out ingredients and customise them so it suits the tastes of your family and friends.
To quicken the cooking process, you can often buy fresh stir fry mixes from supermarkets and local shops. This means you don’t have to chop and dice the vegetables yourself and can just add noodles, sauces and meat (if you want).
Below are some potential stir fry recipes you could try on your next caravan holiday after the lockdown:
- Prawn & rice noodle stir-fry
- Veggie stir-fry
- Stir-fried ginger miso steak with broccoli
- Vegetable and Chicken Stir-Fry
Baked Potatoes
This classic British food is the ideal choice if you want a quick lunch or a simple tea after a busy day of exploring. They are both filling and delicious and can be made healthy, spicy or carb-heavy depending on what you are after.
If you want a really fluffy baked potato, which is the desired choice for many, it is best to buy varieties such as King Edward, Maris Piper, Wilja, Ailsa and Golden Wonder.
The size of the potato will affect the cooking time of it and ones that are between 350 and 400g take about an hour to cook, but if you plan to stuff your potatoes you will need to buy deep round ones as these will be easiest to work with.
There are lots of different fillings you can try with your baked potato and here are some of the most popular:
- Cheese
- Baked beans
- Tuna
- Chilli con Carne
- Coleslaw
- Stew
These are just some of the simple recipes you can cook on your next stay after lockdown at our Looe holiday park. Just because you’re cooking in a caravan and not at home doesn’t mean you can’t get creative and try something a little more complicated.