UKH

I've recently been doing a bit more camping, involving cooking to avoid going to cafe's and pubs for meals (gets expensive (£6 for breakfast, £10 for dinner, plus lunch, and drinks on top) when you're climbing 6 weekends in a row).

So what are your favorite meals to cook on a gas stove, which require little prep and cleaning afterwards?

In reply to Merlin: Porridge for breakfast (with a handfull of sultanas and squirty golden syrup), cheap, quick filling and washes up surprisingly easily.

Evenings, usually something based around pasta.

In reply to Merlin:

http://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/2013/08/food-for-long-distance-hiking....

In reply to Merlin: Peanut butter butties, with a bt of marmite from time to time.

In reply to Merlin:

Lazy breakfast - tin of beans and sausages and bread
Otherwise take a small non stick frying pan and go for the one pan full English

Evening options (if two pans, cook one pan and when done, use it as a lid for the second pan to keep it warm:
Thai Curry
Cassoulet
Rissotto (cheese and chorizo)
Spag bol
Carbonara

In reply to Merlin:

Last camping meal I had was some tomato risotto thing (Uncle Ben's express risotto maybe) with green pepper and smoked sausage added. Quick to cook (the rice is part cooked already), one pot to wash.

In reply to Merlin:

first meal tends to be something i prepared at home. often this is either Indian thali type meal or Thai

In reply to Merlin: Cous Cous is good as it allows you to carry on cooking something else (as long as you have 2 pans?) to have with it (curry, chilli, vegi's etc)

In reply to Merlin: Campfire stew - sausages potatoes, stock, onions and whatever else you can be bothered to put in. Can be done on a gas stove or campfire

Anything pasta sauce based is easy and quick - add chorizo or something to it.

Last weekend we brought a metal tray and cooked steak on the campfire coals which was a very enjoyable supper. You could do that in a pan on a gas stove.

Beans, spam,and corned beef are classics if use by dates are an issue.

I just go with the lazy option and eat cold food i.e. sandwiches, sausage rolls etc.. can eat hot food during the week. much less faff

In reply to Merlin: I always seem to run on the cold side. A favourite of mine are Asda's own tinned curries, with their own 9 mins boil in the bag rice.

Can do it with 1 pot: do the rice first for the 9 mins, then tip the curry on top of the rice then boil up again till the whole thing is hot.

I ate them many nights this summer, all summer, and it never got stale.

It's so filling and fulfilling, I didn't feel like I was scraping by, always had time for an enormous curry. On a normal appetite 1 tin seems to do two but my appetite went enormous and 1 full tin seemed to do the trick.

In reply to Merlin: Cooked breakfast no beans is easier to wash up. Eggy bread. Instant porridge. Fresh pasta cooks really quick then add in ready made sauce. Boil in the bag fish in sauce can go in the same pan as boiled potatoes. Home made curry or chilli with quick cook rice. Pitta breads and cheese spread in a tube.

In reply to Merlin: Car camping? Then its easy - whatever you want for breakfast (UHT milk if its longer than a weekend)

Lunch - buy a few tesco chicken slices or sausage rolls, and a pack of biscuits and an apple or banana or somthing

Dinner - pasta + sauce + chorizo/ham or pre cooked rice + pre cut veg + sauce or smash + chorizo or super noodle stir fry + sauce

In reply to Merlin: Pies !! I was told recently by environmental health guys that pork/beef pies or derivatives of, will stay edible in almost all weathers for 2/3 days without the need for refrigeration....

Some may know this already but I was quite frankly shocked

In reply to Merlin: Badgers.

In reply to Merlin: Most of this is campsite stuff, some of this i'll take wild camping, take your pick on how much you want to carry or stuff in the car.
I also always stock up on condiments and plastic knives & forks when i stop in service stations. Sauces, sugar, salt, uht milk - its all free - he who dares wins

1 pan wonders -
Cajun Cous Cous - (definitely campsite food) fry down onion, pepper, mushroom, some chorizo or smoked sausage, garlic, throw in some cayene pepper, thyme & salt, stick in some cous cous, throw in some water/beer & wait for it to soak it up
For prepping any of the above, slice it up on the back of a crap old pan, throw it back into the tub you brought it in, then back into the frying pan when needed

Chocolate porridge - oats, raisins, nuts, whatever. I'll pre mix cocoa powder, milk powder & sugar with my oats so its a case of just add water, head up & off you go. Those little sachets of hot chocolate work well too.

Omelettes are always decent, especially if youve got leftover smoked sausage, onions & mushrooms kicking about.

Chilli & Rice - Packet of freeze dried vegetarian chilli (most supermarkets have their own brand, always under a quid, i'll always half the pack though as its too much) & some instant rice, both take the same amount of time to cook so pre mix them into the same bag. Great end of day meal, weighs nothing, really filling & generally really high in protein.

Cheesy instant mash - Cheapo mash, hot water & some parmesan cheese. Throw in some smoked sausage/onions whatever youve brought/pinched from the service station.

Instant custard & cornflakes - Dont ask, i think im the only person who enjoys this.

In reply to Merlin: my standard breakfast is a pack of the little bits of cubed pancetta (or bacon!) that most supermarkets sell, fried up and then a tin of beans stirred in until it's all hot. Lunch on the crag is usually just cereal bars, sometimes with a bag of nuts to munch for the walk-off. Evening meal is along the lines of the above - rice/pasta/couscous/noodles with some kind of spicy, saucy, meaty stuff for protein and flavour. the 'Look what we found' range of packet meals are pretty good, although the portions aren't huge. I do like to have a bottle of chilli sauce to hand too, but that's just me.

In reply to Merlin:


Uncle Ben boil in the bag, with curry sauce. Put the dry noodles in the water and add back rice and curry powder. Tastes "ok", add random shite to taste.

In reply to ActionSte:

Hot or cold?

In reply to Merlin: I forgot the all time best after pub snack, fish finger sandwiches.

In reply to SGD:

Get the Ainsley Harriott cous cous

In reply to Trevers: Agree. You can get bulk quantities from costco if you use it a lot.

In reply to Clauso:

Urgh, you eat chris townsend? bit harsh...do you make him carry your rucksack & slice bits off him?

felafel mix can be used as a protein source instead of (veg) mince & you *might* get away with grilling it over a campfire..
microwave rice cooks quickly as 'boil in the bag.
fresh pasta is really nice (though expensive,) pesto (jar or homemade).

have a look at packets of filled tortellini: some are room temperature storage, but take 8 minutes simmering, others are chilled and only take a minute.


couscous or bulgar wheat 'salad' with bits of olive, sundried tomato, cashews (aldi have them in their 'essentials' range!), lemon zest & chilli. best made at home & taken in your pack to 'marinate', easy enough to make while you're out.

instant noodles - good flavours from 'chinese supermarkets' etc. some brands can be put in boiling water & left, despite the instructions say to simmer).

corned beef hash. (tinned sardine /mackerel hash is nice, if it suits your palate . take some preboiled spuds from home)

In reply to Merlin: Pitta bread, cream crackers or oatcakes & bagels last better than bread (aldi again: bagels in protective atmosphere packs. the pack is 'cushioned' as it's full of gas. massively improved by toasting, but acceptable if not & last a relatively long time.

Instant soup (ainsley harriot ones are pretty good) is worth it, 'cappuchino' sachets maybe not.

Instant porridge with dried fruit for breakfast. 'ordinary' porridge oats are nicer, but more faff. you can always soak them.

In reply to Merlin: I recently discovered home made fish cakes, boil a few potatoes in one pan, fry an onion in another, mix the two and add a tin of tuna and / or a tin of salmon, shape into fish cakes shapes then fry until the outside goes brown.
I have a griddle thing on my camping stove so they are easy to make.

In reply to Merlin: Veg. curry or ratatouille. Basically chop and fry various veg, add pasata, season and your done. Filling and healthy.

In reply to Merlin: instant one pot porridge lots of flavours ,always have a tube of condensed milk does you for sugar and milk in tea and coffee.and buy Look what we found foods all stupid markets have them and they are half the price of Wayfarer etc foods and taste better ..

In reply to Merlin:

Breakfast and dinner - Wayfarer, nothing like burger and beans to put some fuel in your tank at the start of the day! I love that you get your hot meal and a pint of water for a brew all in one go. Lunch and snacks, fruit, chocolate, peanut butter/cheese on crackers (just discovered cheese with a dab of the Army "yeast extract" paste on top, yum).

If cooking for more than just me I'd start diversifying into easy-cook rice or fresh pasta with some onion/mushroom and cooked sausage product.

In reply to Merlin:

A few years ago we decided that there was little need for camping specific food unless wild camping. So, for car camping (or the van) we have homemade curry and rice, pasta and sauce, sausages veg and mash with gravy in winter, sausages or burgers with baby new potatoes and salad, and if we are in the van, a big sliceable frittata.

Depending on the season and having the van, and how quickly we want to be out on the hill, breakfast is cereal bars, crumpets/malt loaf toasted, fried eggs on toast, etc etc.

The best thing for wild camping has to be cup a soup, for instant warmth and comfort as a starter while cooking the main meal!

In reply to Merlin:

Breakfast is a cliplock box filled with oats, raisins, cinnamon and powder milk = either museli or porridge depending on whether I can be bothered to boil water in the morning.

Tea is quick cook pasta, a jar of stir in sauce and a can of tuna.

In reply to bluebealach:

a mate of mine told me that they'd take sandwiches made with raw, sliced beef & be good for a couple of days, unlike the cooked stuff.

In reply to Merlin: One of my favourite breakfasts when Im trekking is beef flavoured packet rice, made with extra water so it is more like a soup. It sounds strange, but it is very nice and starts my day of perfectly. I usually carry some chorizo or similar, so I may chop some and add to the rice soup

For lunch I'll just rustle up some fresh lobster in a seafood reduction tossed over lightly steamed samphire and then maybe follow with some handy local grouse, roasted with a few sea-salted spuds, baby carrots and a scattering of wild rosemary. Pudding is a simple crème brulee. I prefer not to over-indulge at lunchtime. I like to leave room for a proper meal at supper.

In reply to BnB:

I feel hungry now.

In reply to Bobling:


That's been my experience too

In reply to Merlin: Wayfarer Boil in the bag for me, no need for plates, just something to open the pouch once it cooked, then a spoon to eat it with.
The water you boil it with is your brew water. and no washing up to do just wash the spoon in your brew once you have eaten your meal. Also quite a good selection of different menus to choice from. you can also buy the pouches which have a heating source with it so no need for a stove unless you want a brew.