How to Eat Vegan While on a Camping Trip

Last month, my husband and I went on a 9-day camper van road trip around Iceland, and one of the biggest hurdles to deal with was finding food for ourselves that was vegan. We didn’t want to eat out every night, and most places didn’t have vegan options, anyway. Iceland is a pretty cool place, but fermented shark meat is not on my list of food to try.

If you ever thought about going vegan, you may be worried about what you would eat in unusual circumstances, like camping. Not to worry, though, you do not have to go hungry while all your friends are eating hot dogs.

#1 Research
If you are going to be camping for a while, check out what stores are nearby to find out if you will have access to fresh food along your way.

Before we went on our camping trip, I was a little worried and did some research about the shopping there. I found out that they would have plenty of grocery stores on our route.

#2 Be Inventive
Eating veggie burgers every day can get repetitive, so mix it up and combine ingredients you already have.

For example, for lunch on our camping trip, we sometimes sliced avocado with a sprinkle of salt along with some Paprika flavored chips on top of a bagel. Combined with fresh fruit and a can of foreign Coke, it does not make for a bad lunch.

Bring along the appropriate equipment, like a camping stove, pots, pans, and kitchen utensils. Also bring whatever food along that you know you won’t have access to once you get there.

I recommend bringing along your favorite energy bars for those emergency moments when you need to eat something right away.

#4 Beans!!
Beans are your best friend. Beans are full of protein and fiber and go with a lot of foods. I admit to eating chickpeas directly out of a can in a particularly hungry moment on our trip.

#5 Plan some recipes ahead of time
Here are some ideas:
Breakfast foods – Oatmeal, fresh fruits, and bagels + peanut butter + sliced bananas
Tacos – Tacos are super easy and you can add whatever filling you want. Usually, rice, beans, salsa and taco seasoning are easy to find.
Wraps – Chickpeas, rice, salsa, and avocado, or other ingredients you may like are easy to put in a wrap.
Pasta – Noodles & pasta sauce (to keep yourself healthy, sprinkle some nutritional yeast on top, vegans!)
Burgers – If you have a cooler, veggie burgers/sausages are awesome so you don’t have to feel like you are missing out on traditional campfire food.

#6 Have fun, eat cookies
Did you know Oreos are vegan? You can still enjoy lots of things that happen to be vegan, like everything on PETA’s accidentally vegan food list.

I’m crossing my fingers they bring back S’mores Oreos.

Do you have any favorite camping foods?
What’s the longest camping trip you’ve been on?