Good food while on holiday is possibly one of the top 5 things to enjoy for many holidaymakers and we are no different. I really enjoy cooking when away and I’m pretty sure the family love eating whatever it is I have made.
To make cooking easier, in fact, to make buying food easier when we are on holiday, we have some essential “Store cupboard” items that we always carry with us. And for the keen eyed of you – you will also see that these items can be mixed up together and can create a simple dish. We organised the store cupboard items in such a way that if we were unable to visit a store for any reason, we do at least have all the ingredients to make a simple yet filling pasta dish.
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Olive Oil We carry Extra Virgin Olive Oil with us, it’s great for both cooking and for salad dressings. We try not to fry too much with it, but it is great to brush onto a piece of meat when on the BBQ |
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Garlic Too much garlic is never enough except for when it’s stored in a caravan. This is why we have started using Garlic Puree. It keeps in the fridge and doesn’t stink the cupboard or fridge out. Ideally fresh is better but this pure works really well. |
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Dried herbs Our dried herb selection consists of Rosemary, Parsley, Basil, Oregano. This combination is a great way of generating flavour in any dish. Used with the garlic, salt and pepper – this is all we really use in the caravan. |
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Salt & Pepper Not just a condiment, but an essential cooking ingredient too. We keep our Salt & Pepper in small pots and we certainly remove them when the caravan is not in use. The salt will attract moisture and will become solid in the shaker or grinder. |
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Butter / Spread Okay, not really a store item, but we always ensure we have some in the fridge. When we pack the ‘van for a break we ensure the “Fridge food” always contains butter. |
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Milk Both Angela & I are pretty much dairy free, but we do ensure that we pack some milk for cups of tea for the children. |
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Smoked Paprika We usually opt for the smoked variety, this mixed with some olive oil & salt makes an excellent rub for any meat or fish on the BBQ. It is also an essential ingredient in our Chilli-con-Carne |
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Chilli flakes Sprinkled on some fish, added to some oil – the chilli flakes add some heat to any dish that you can think of. Simply mixed in with some garlic, oil, salt & pepper this makes a fab spaghetti dish. |
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Stock cubes We use the stock cubes whenever creating a soup or stew. And we have used this as a rub on some chicken drumsticks. It really does add great flavour & colour to any dish. We usually have some vegetable stock cubes & beef stock cubes. |
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Flour For any coating or sauce thickening – Flour is a must. To be fair we use very little of this, hence why we only keep a very small bag of it in the caravan. |
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Marmite On toast, in chilli, in Spaghetti Bolognese – we use this all the time. We really do love it. |
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Tinned Tomato’s We keep the tomato’s in the van as that “back up” for when we have nothing in the caravan. However, we also use tins of tomato’s in a variety of dishes including baked Salmon, plenty of pasta dishes and roasted vegetables. |
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Dried pasta Just in case ! We either have dried spaghetti or Fusilli in the caravan. We have even cooked this up, let it go cold and mixed in some pesto for a great salad accompaniment. |
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Baked Beans Again, just in case. You can create some simple meals like Beans on toast, beans a ‘la can or add it into an existing meal. Again we use beans in our chilli. The kids love it ! |
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Tin of soup Choosing a Campbell’s condensed soup means your not limited to just making soup. You can create a sauce or even a jacket potato filling. We usually opt for the cream of mushroom condensed soup. |
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Coffee either Fresh or instant we love a good cup of coffee. This strictly speaking isn’t a store item, but it is always in the ‘van and hell breaks loose if we run out ! |
And there we have it. We do often add to this list and there are a few items that we use very rarely. However it is a list that hasnt changed much since we started caravanning back in 2014.
I hope this is of use to you, is there anything we have left off that you think should be included ?
You could keep your salt and pepper in your caravan if you put a little bit of dried rice in with it. The rice absorbs the dampness. When it’s time to refill, change the rice. Hey just thought of another idea for a video “Tips and wrinkles” I could find you loads
Hi Lin, that’s a great idea. Thank you for sharing. I have the book “Tips & wrinkles” here somewhere.
Thanks for your comments,
take care
Dan
Hi Dan, Maldon sea salt stays dry in its plastic container and you can also keep your stock cubes in sealed tubs. I like to keep a small selection of vinegars in my van too, to add zing to sauces and dressings.
We agree on the marmite as well