Vegan Camping Food Ideas: 16 Quick and Easy Recipes

Whether you live a vegan lifestyle or you’re just starting to eat a plant-based diet, these recipes and tips will be a really helpful addition to your camping preparation. Vegan and vegetarian camping meals can be delicious, vibrant and nutritionally balanced. Don’t compromise on taste. Let’s try some of the best vegan camping food ideas below.

Delicious vegan camping breakfast ideas

1. Overnight Oats

With a little preparation the night before, you can wake up to a ready to eat, energy-filled breakfast every day. Besides, they are also easy to prepare, and are one of the most delicious vegan camping food ideas to make.

For overnight oats to serve one you’ll need:

• Half a cup of rolled oats
• Half a cup of plant-based milk

Our favourite toppings:

• Peanut butter
• Berries
• Coconut flakes
• Chia seeds
• Agave nectar
• Vegan chocolate chips

To make:

Firstly, combine your oats and milk in a container or small jar and leave overnight. After that, the oats will have absorbed most of the liquid by the morning. Besides, you can multiply the recipe for more people.

Top tip: If it’s a cold morning, you can gently warm your overnight oats in a pan over your stove for a few minutes until heated through.

2. Tofu breakfast scramble

You can serve this “eggy” concoction on toast, with mushrooms, baked beans and vegan sausage or pair it with any of your favourite breakfast sides. Besides, you can add any seasoning of your choice too, we’ve just kept it simple below but garlic, paprika and turmeric are great in this. What’s more, you could add black salt for an extra “eggy” flavour too. 

You’ll need:

• Firm tofu
• Salt: ¼ tsp
• Ground black pepper: 1/8 tsp

To make:

1. Use a fork to crumble the tofu into bite-sized chunks in a bowl
2. Add a little oil to your frying pan and turn on your stove to a medium heat
3. Cook the tofu and seasoning, stirring occasionally for 5-10 minutes

3. Fluffy vegan pancakes

Firstly, set up a frying pan over medium-high heat. Then, add a little oil of your choice and cook up the best vegan pancakes to please your friends and family. Besides, you can make this recipe easier by mixing the dry ingredients before you leave home.

You’ll need:

• Whole wheat flour: 1 cup
• Baking powder: 1 tbsp
• Sea salt: 1\2 tsp
• Unsweetened plant-based milk: 1 cup
• Maple syrup: 2 tbsp
• Cinnamon: ½ tsp
• Vanilla extract: 1 tsp

To make:

1. Mix your dry ingredients in a bowl (or pre-mix before you leave home)
2. Then mix in your wet ingredients until everything is just combined
3. Like with any pancake batter, this is best when left to sit for 10 – 15 minutes
4. Scoop equal measures of batter into a pre-heated frying pan on medium heat with a little oil
5. When your pancakes are cooked around the edges, and bubbles have formed in the middle, flip them over and cook for a few more minutes.

Besides, you can serve these with your choice of toppings. Some great ideas include jam, maple syrup, vegan chocolate chips, fresh berries, banana or plant-based yoghurt.

Sustaining vegan camping lunch ideas

4. Tasty hummus wraps

These can be packed up and taken along on your adventures or prepared fresh at lunchtime. What’s more, you can make hummus really easily by blending chickpeas with olive oil and seasonings of your choice. Otherwise, you can buy it ready-made for convenience.

You can add any fillings of your choice but here are a few flavour combinations for inspiration:

• Tomato, avocado, lettuce and sweet chilli sauce
• Roasted courgette and red pepper
• Spinach, cucumber and pepper

5. Packable sandwiches

Instil some comfort into your lunch on the go and pack a hearty sandwich of your choice.

Filling inspiration:

• BBQ Tofu: vegan BBQ sauce, vegan mayonnaise, tofu, spinach
• BLT: Vegan rashers, thickly sliced tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise
• “Ham” and “Cheese”: your favourite vegan slices and cheese with mayo and mustard for a sandwich classic
• Mediterranean: your favourite vegan cheese with sundried tomatoes, lettuce and vegan mayonnaise
• Mashed chickpeas: Mashed canned chickpeas with rocket and cucumber

6. Black bean and quinoa salad

Full of protein, this can be made in large quantities and makes a great on-the-go lunch.

You’ll need:

• Black beans: 1 can
• Pre-cooked quinoa: 1 packet
• Large tomatoes: 2
• Small red onion: 1
• Red pepper: 1
• 1 handful of chopped coriander (optional)
• Juice of 1 lime

To make:

• Drain and rinse your black beans and combine with the pre-cooked quinoa in a large bowl
• Chop the tomato, red pepper and red onion into small chunks and add to the bowl
• Then chop and add the coriander and squeeze the lime juice over the salad
• Divide into bowls or containers. This should keep around a week in the fridge

Cosy vegan camping dinner ideas

7. Lentil balls

Try these out for a vegan take on meatballs.

You’ll need:

• ¾ cup dried lentils
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree

To make:

1. Place lentils into a saucepan and cover with water (step 1-4 can be skipped by using tinned lentils)
2. Then place the pan on high heat and bring to a boil
3. Boil for 20 minutes or until tender
4. Drain the water from the pot and rinse
5. Add onion to a pre-heated pan coated with oil and cook until translucent
6. And add the garlic and cook for a further minute
7. Stir onion and garlic mix into the cooked lentils along with tomato puree
8. Shape the lentil mix into equally sized balls
9. Fry the balls in the pan you used for the onions until lightly brown on all sides
10. Serve with pasta, sauce of your choice and enjoy!

8. Easy chickpea curry

Protein-packed and full of flavour, this chickpea curry is sure to be a winner.

You’ll need:

• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp tandoori masala spice mix
• Chopped tomatoes: 1 can
• Chickpeas: 1 can

To make:

1. Add the olive oil to a pan and bring to medium heat
2. Add onion and curry spice
3. Cook for 2-3 minutes until onions soften.
4. Reduce the heat, adding the garlic powder and tomatoes
5. Add chickpeas with the liquid and cook over medium heat until the liquid starts to thicken.
6. Serve with rice and enjoy

9. Grilled tempeh

Firstly, grill some tempeh and serve with rice or even in wraps to make fajitas. In fact, it’s a versatile staple and soaks up marinade well. Also, we’ve shared a recipe below but you can experiment with flavour combinations and come up with some really yummy recipes.

You’ll need:

• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Block of tempeh

To make:

1. Combine the maple syrup, soy sauce and apple cider vinegar in a bowl or container
2. Add in the tempeh and marinate for at least 30 minutes, turning them occasionally to ensure even coverage
3. Fry in a pan for 2-3 minutes on each side with a little oil to stop it from sticking

Scrumptious vegan camping desserts

10. Fruit skewers

Fruit skewers are one of the great vegan camping food ideas for a sweet but sin-free dessert. Besides, you can even put them on the grill for a short time, drizzled in maple syrup for a decadent treat.

11. Vegan smores

First, use your favourite vegan biscuits, chocolate and marshmallows to recreate an American camping classic. Then, toast your marshmallows on skewers over your camping stove and sandwich between two biscuits with a piece of chocolate.

12. Chocolate bananas

Firstly, place a banana on a square of foil, slice it down the middle and add your favourite vegan chocolate. After that, wrap the banana in the foil and grill over your stove until the chocolates melted.

13. Fruit crumble in a pan

A British classic, this crumble uses only a few ingredients and is easy to make on a stove.

You’ll need:

• 220g flour
• 100g vegan margarine, cubed
• 225g caster sugar
• 100g oats
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 4 apples, sliced

How to make:

1. Mix the flour, half of the cinnamon and 175g of sugar together.
2. Add the cubed margarine to the dry mix and rub together using your fingertips. Keep going until the crumble looks like breadcrumbs.
3. Cover the sliced apples in the remaining sugar and cinnamon, making sure they’re evenly coated.
4. Lay the apples out onto a piece of tin foil or into a grill pan.
5. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the apples.
6. Either fold the foil into a packet or add a lid to your grill pan and cook for 15 – 20 minutes until the apples are soft.
7. Serve and enjoy

Energy-boosting vegan camping snacks

14. Make your own trail mix

You can buy nut and seed mixes in handy packets to grab and go but making your own ensures you know exactly what you’re eating. Besides, you can store portions in reusable food containers to save on plastic waste. Buying ingredients in bulk will also save you money in the long run and you can include just the ingredients you know you’ll eat to prevent food wastage.

Trail mix ideas:

• Pumpkin seeds
• Cashews
• Almonds
• Raisins
• Dried cranberries
• Vegan dark chocolate chunks
• Dried apricots
• Pretzels
• Peanuts

15. Roasted legumes

Firstly, you should roast chickpeas, broad beans and cannellini beans all in the oven. Plus, season them with spices of your choosing and packed in individual servings, ready to be taken away as a snack throughout the day. This is a crunchy alternative to a bag of crisps and packs a much needed protein punch when you’re out exploring.

Season with:

• Garlic powder
• Smoked paprika
• Rosemary
• Sea salt

16. Popcorn

Another great vegan camping food ideas for snack is popcorn. In fact, this fibre packed snack can be made on your camping stove and is perfect for sharing around.

Top with:

• Sea salt
• Nutritional yeast
• Vegan chocolate
• Cinnamon

So, those are some of the best vegan camping food ideas you can try on your next camping trip. In addition, I even give you recipes to each food so that you can easily prepare ingredients and know what campfire coking equipment you’ll need to cook that meal. Don’t forget to share your vegan camping food ideas with us in the comment box.

This post was originally published by Camping in the forest (edited).