Vegan Camping Food: Recipes & Ideas
Thinking about going on a camping trip but not sure if there are enough vegan food options to sustain you? Don’t even worry about it, we got you!
Make these recipes for yourself or share with your meat-eating friends, because they’ll want a bite too once they see how good your food looks.
Keep reading for a guide to vegan camping, including cooking methods and recipes to bring you tasty vegan camping meals and snacks.
Why Camping Is Awesome
We all need to unplug and get into nature wayyy more often than we do. Hikes are great, but having a night or two sleeping under the stars is just plain unforgettable.
While hunkering down in a flimsy tent amongst the elements may seem meaningless when we already live under a roof, it’s challenging and rewarding to live without our creature comforts for a short period of time.
No phones, no technology, just connecting with nature and your friends, family, and/or yourself. Grab some fun foods to cook, your best hiking pants, and venture away from the city into nature.
What It’s Like to Cook While Camping
Cooking is much harder without 100 kitchen gadgets at your disposal. But cooking over an open flame makes the food taste sooo much better.
Simple items you can wrap in tinfoil or skewer and cook in a fire are awesome choices. Griddles make it easy to cook things like patties or grill bread. Another great option is a cast iron pan you can use over a fire. A kettle or pot is essential for boiling water to make coffee or tea. You can even rely solely on instant meals to really simplify things – all you need is boiling water.
And don’t forget things like a knife, a cutting board, utensils, and plastic bags to reseal food with. Plus, paper towels and trash bags are essential for keeping your campsite clean.
Why It Can Be Hard To Be Vegan While Camping
Even these days, it can be hard to find good vegan food at restaurants, let alone out in the wilderness. Lots of camping food uses animal products, from freeze-dried beef stew packets to easy breakfasts like eggs and bacon.
Many camping foods are things like meat that you can simply skewer or griddle. But vegan camping food doesn’t have to be complicated, either.
These recipes all have simple ingredients you can pack with you or prepare in advance. All you need is hot water and a griddle or cast iron pan over a fire.
Vegan Camping Recipes
Meals
Vegan Black Bean Tacos
Tacos are one of the best camping foods because of how easy they are to put together and customize. All the ingredients in this recipe are fairly shelf-stable, meaning no cooler required to transport this meal to the campsite.
Prepare a black bean and lime soup cup for the taco filling by simply adding hot water. Heat up some tortillas on a griddle or pan, add bean mixture, and top with cabbage, tomatoes, salsa, and avocado.
The great thing about these tacos is anyone with any dietary preferences can switch up the filling to meet their needs. Taco camping partay!
Vegan Pad Thai
Bring your favorite takeout dish to the campsite. Something about eating food in the great outdoors surrounded by loved ones makes it taste 10x better.
Another simple recipe with ingredients that don’t require refrigeration, this pad thai is so easy to make. All you need is hot water to cook a cup of Right Foods Vegan Pad Thai Noodles, then add bell peppers, green onions, cilantro, peanuts and lime. Leave out the bean sprouts on this one if you don’t have a way to keep them cool.
In just 10 minutes, you’ve made a delicious bowl of noodles. For a more filling dish, add a protein or use another cup of noodles.
Spicy Split Pea Soup
We think split pea soup is a severely underrated meal. With only a few additions, we're able to transform the classic soup you grew up on to a Spicy Split Pea Soup that will become your new go-to dish.
Once you’ve made a cup of Right Foods Split Pea Soup, all it takes is a dash of chili flakes, a bit of sliced red bell pepper, and a sprinkle of fresh parsley (optional) to create this recipe!
This satisfying soup will warm you up from the inside out. We recommend adding a carb for a more filling meal, like rice or quinoa.
Vegan Tahini Miso Ramen by @mariannaspantry
This bowl is perfect for a quick comfort meal because the noodles are the only ingredient that need hot water – all the other veggies are just sliced and thrown in!
Fresh avocado, crunchy cucumbers and radish, and flavorful dill and red pepper flakes dress up our Miso Ramen Soup cup. This is perfect for a refreshing and filling lunch on a warm day.
Feel free to add or substitute whatever toppings you’d like. This dish would be great with tofu for some added protein.
Snacks
Spicy Kung Pao Noodle Cup
With organic noodles and delicious, spicy kung pao sauce, this noodle soup cup brings takeout to you, just add water.
The heat in this noodle cup will bring much-needed warmth to a cold night in nature.
Vegan Chicken Ramen Cup
This delicious vegan chicken ramen soup is one of our very favorites. Nothing is more wonderful than sitting down to a bowl of hot ramen soup, especially on a cold night when you need some extra warmth.
Just add hot water and you have yourself a tasty, comforting snack!
Split Pea Hummus
Make this hummus at home and package it up with some veggie sticks and crackers for a delicious shareable snack.
This dip is packed full of protein and warming spices. It’s creamy, rich, nutty, and has just the right amount of spice.
Easy Vegan Onion Dip
This is another dip you prep ahead of time and pack with you on your camping trip.
We transformed our spring onion soup cup into this mouth-watering dip that you'll crave - and it only takes 10 minutes. You can even have a dip party with onion dip and split pea hummus served with veggie sticks and crackers to share with all your friends.
Vegan Smore’s
We can’t forget the best part of camping: Smore’s! You can find vegan graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate at major grocery stores like Whole Foods. Don’t forget sticks to toast your mallows over the fire.
Final Thoughts
Don’t let worries about sticking to your dietary preferences deter you from going on an awesome camping trip. There are plenty of tasty vegan food options, especially if you plan ahead.
Make a couple dips to pack with you, grab your favorite Right Foods instant soup cups, and bring ingredients for a couple of your favorite easy recipes like tacos or noodles.
Every Dr. McDougall’s Right Foods product is vegan, made with whole foods ingredients, certified Non-GMO, and made with paper packaging from certified sustainably-managed forests. You know when you eat Right Foods products that you’re doing something good for your body and for the environment.
If you made any of these recipes, leave a few stars down below and tell us how we did. And please snap a picture and tag us on Instagram so we can see your masterpiece for ourselves!
