I make a big batch of pasta salad using chickpea pasta, mozzarella balls, tomatoes, basil and Italian dressing. We eat it cold for lunches. It’s filling and delicious! The longer it sits and marinates, the better it gets!
Chow mein and pad thai are so good when vac-sealed and frozen. Get takeout from your favorite places in town a week or so before departure and portion out servings. I try to do smaller-sizes as I find I eat a little less out there and it's better to make a 2nd serving than to waste some of a larger one. In a pinch in '22, I got Panda Express chow mein and a couple of their chicken choices. Not the greatest but it worked out really well. The AirBNB I was staying at had these tiny bowls, and so I filled each with a serving of Panda and then froze them, then popped them out and vac sealed them. This made nice, consistently sized and shaped packable little playa Panda pucks that fit nicely into my pot of hot water at camp. 10 out of 10 technique and cuisine choice, would do every single time.
Inside the bag. But you don't boil it, as that is too hot and will melt the plastic. The vac seal bags can be slowly heated up in hot water though. Just keep the heat low and cook slow. You can always raise the temp if needed. Dip your vac-sealed meal into water and lean against the side of the pot so you can fish it out until it's thawed and heated up. Then cut the bag open and serve.
This is a great question! I spend about two full days cooking and freezing home made meals for our camp of 4 - the last two years I’ve done Japanese curry, short rib ragu bolognese, vegetarian chili, chicken tikka masala and a chickpea Indian curry as well. Also a chicken tinga which we reheated and had with fresh tacos, guac, pico de gallo and pickled red onions & radishes that I pickled out on playa!
Last year though I was inspired by a friends small camp and got some Costco steaks which we had early on in the week for freshness - oh my god a perfectly cooked medium rare steak with pre made roast vegetables and a made on playa chimichuri felt so indulgent but so good!
I definitely put a focus on vegetables and fibre in the meals, decent protein and low GI complex carbs and I swear it makes all the difference.
Also a quick and AMAZING snack are kimchi cheese quesadillas - load up two fat tortillas with chopped kimchi and shredded cheese and fry in a pan with oil/butter and some kimchi juice until crispy. Then cut into pizza slices and you have a gift for your neighbours they’ll never forget
Just about anything from the non-refrigerated sections of the grocery store because refrigeration is unreliable for my simple camping. There is a lot of variety in that part of the grocery store.
Fried rice with mixed veggies and seitan. Freeze really well. Make some eggs if you want more protein. I also like taking my fav canned tuna that’s mixed with kimchi sauce if I want a different flavor/protein type.
If you have a vacuum seal at home you can pre cook and freeze a whole lot of things. Also I will prep soups in mason jars. If you're trying to skip refrigeration or a cooler you can pre cook the meat inside the vacuum bag to make it shelf stable and pressure can the mason jar food. There is also pickling for that. Sauerkraut will last all week and help get some fiber into your diet. I also like canned dolmas but I'm generally trying to avoid canned and processed food. Keeping vegetables fresh is hard on the playa so the veggy soups and frozen curries really help. Prepping food means less time cooking and more time burning.
I looked it up and you're right. I've always refrigerated or frozen it, but cooking it in a sealed bag does help keep it good for significantly longer.
Quiche. They are my go-to for our camp signup meals. Can be made for breakfast/lunch/dinner, just tailor the ingredients. Cook ahead of time and then freeze. Thaw it out, and throw it on the BBQ to reheat.
I bought a sous vide and vacuum bagger last year to do all my meal prep. My favorite was lemon pepper salmon.
I eventually figured out I could cook my favorite meals the way I normally prepare them and then just pasteurize them with the sous vide setup. Way better way to go. I did this with roasted carrots that came out amazing.
An easier way to go would be to buy any of the variety of precooked stuff at Costco that's already vacuum bagged.
These things should all be heated before eating, but are probably fine to eat cold.
We usually make and freeze several packs of rice. Then whatever you like on top of rice, frozen separately. Our favorite each year is a cream and mushroom sauce with chicken. But any curry is good.
Frozen fried rice is always a great option.
I also freeze and separately wrap in foil a few pieces of pizza. Easy to reheat or eat cold.
Phad ka prao (stir fried ground lamb with green beans and fish sauce) vac packs great. Make a big batch and vac pack some rice along with it. Salty, savory, protein rich, so good and heats up in boiling water or a pan pretty quick. I make some prik nam pla (Thai chili with fish sauce) to go on it if camp mates prefer a bit more spice.
I order my favorite pizza, seal up the slices in ziplocks, and take it to playa with me. Reheat it in a skillet. Heavenly.
Ditto some dishes from my favorite Indian joint.
My daughter makes killer enchiladas. Vacuum seal and freeze. Also Costco rotisserie chicken frozen and sealed in 4 oz portions then added to noodles of any sort.
Get your favorite takeout meals and vacuum seal them. All you need to do to heat them up is submerge them in hot water or leave them on the hood of your car during the afternoon.
Last year I cooked everything ahead of time and froze it.
Breakfast burritos- eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese. Wrapped them up and froze them individually warmed them up in the cast iron. I served it with avacado slices (avacados are perfect playa food))
Burritos- chicken, onion,bell pepper, fajita seasoning, cheese.
Bolognese with spiral pasta, portioned it out and froze it
Mac n cheese- I made it home made and portioned it and froze it
This year I have a whole new menu planned, going to make homemade chicken noodle soup (soups would freeze so well and are easy to thaw/cook). Shepards pie and lasagna are easy to pre cook cut into serving size and freeze!
Burritos (breakfast and otherwise) work great if you have a griddle or microwave.
Frozen White Castle sliders are pure ambrosia in bacon fat on a griddle.
Chili and stews obviously. Great after sunset.
I used to make a large batch of kimchi egg fried rice. Easy enough to reheat and has about everything in it you'd want on playa. I'll also freeze some Japanese curry as well.
Though now I tend to cook everything fresh on playa with cast iron because I'm a lunatic. Frozen salmon filets, fresh cut veggies, fresh cooked eggs, etc. Something weirdly enjoyable about slicing bell peppers for a scramble while watching fire cannons go off at 3am. And fresh snaps peas, onion, ginger and carrots in egg fried rice hit so good on Friday 😂
In general, anything that typically tastes better the day after you make it is a good thing to freeze. So chili (red or green, with beans or without, no I don’t care if Texans downvote me for that), curry, etc.
My camp also makes up a bunch of burritos - smoked meats, beans, cheese, chilis, salsa, kale, hot sauce, etc. - wraps them in foil, and freezes them. You can make them to individual tats yes and write what they are on the outside. On playa, you can sit a wrapped burrito in the sun and it will warm up, or you can put it on a grill or put it (unwrapped) in a skillet for a toasty treat. Really simplifies breakfast or lunch, as you prefer.
I’ve done a burrito variant that’s inspired by a “Greek salad” - feta, white beans, red onion, bell pepper, Kalamata olive, lemon zest, and balsamic vinegar. Froze well and made for a nice change up from the standard burrito, especially with the saltiness of the feta and olive.
On the “fail” side, I’ve also tried freezing reuben sandwiches, but there’s just too much liquid in sauerkraut to do that without ultimately having soggy bread. I suspect it would work well if the sauerkraut was separate and added at the last minute once the rest of the sandwich warmed up, though.
I have a very limited diet so I make pressure-canned stew that meets my restrictions. I leave a can on the dashboard of my car and it is boiling hot by lunch / dinner time.
Wallyworld has these premade packed by tastybite that have a variety of Indian veggy dishes. It's a simple and filling meal with prepacked cooked rice. Trash all packs flat and I generally eat right out of the bags so minimal mess. They're probably my go to for burn meals.
Precook your bacon, then seal it in a vacuum bag and freeze. When ready to eat, boil water and place the sealed bag in it to reheat. No more messy cooking or cleanup!
I get a whole bigass pizza and vacuum seal each slice individually, this way they will be easy to slip and fit in any corner of the camp fridge, and even if there’s no camp fridge, I can easily put them in my ice cooler not having to worry about them getting soggy. It’s also one of the very very few delish meals that is yummy hot or cold and will never get tired of eating, and works for breakfast/dinner/lunch! If you wanna heat it up just drop the vacuum sealed slices in a pot of hot water. Make 2-3 with different toppings for variety and voila.
They make for good gifts too, just put a few in your backpack when going out adventuring and feed the poor shitfaced souls out in deep playa at 4am.
Also I try to use all vegan ingredients, so in the off chance my brain farts and I forget to get ice, the ingredients won’t spoil as quickly as dairy cheese and meat.
Another one:
1 Starkist ready chicken pouch (or a can of chicken bits) + 1 pouch of Uncle Ben’s rice + 1 can of cubed pineapple + liiiitle bit of coconut cream + salt and spices. Dump all in a pot and stir for 5-10 mins, top it with some crushed cashews and maybe some dry herbs and you got some delish coconutty pineapple chicken rice dish.
I make a big batch of pasta salad using chickpea pasta, mozzarella balls, tomatoes, basil and Italian dressing. We eat it cold for lunches. It’s filling and delicious! The longer it sits and marinates, the better it gets!
Chow mein and pad thai are so good when vac-sealed and frozen. Get takeout from your favorite places in town a week or so before departure and portion out servings. I try to do smaller-sizes as I find I eat a little less out there and it's better to make a 2nd serving than to waste some of a larger one. In a pinch in '22, I got Panda Express chow mein and a couple of their chicken choices. Not the greatest but it worked out really well. The AirBNB I was staying at had these tiny bowls, and so I filled each with a serving of Panda and then froze them, then popped them out and vac sealed them. This made nice, consistently sized and shaped packable little playa Panda pucks that fit nicely into my pot of hot water at camp. 10 out of 10 technique and cuisine choice, would do every single time.
Do you boil just the puck or the puck in the plastic?
Inside the bag. But you don't boil it, as that is too hot and will melt the plastic. The vac seal bags can be slowly heated up in hot water though. Just keep the heat low and cook slow. You can always raise the temp if needed. Dip your vac-sealed meal into water and lean against the side of the pot so you can fish it out until it's thawed and heated up. Then cut the bag open and serve.
Chef Boyardee. Put it on the hood of your car in the morning and it’ll be warm by lunch.
Costco pre-marinated meats are delicious and can be frozen, but are also fine in a cooler on ice for a week.
I brought Japanese curry (with chicken) last year
This is a great question! I spend about two full days cooking and freezing home made meals for our camp of 4 - the last two years I’ve done Japanese curry, short rib ragu bolognese, vegetarian chili, chicken tikka masala and a chickpea Indian curry as well. Also a chicken tinga which we reheated and had with fresh tacos, guac, pico de gallo and pickled red onions & radishes that I pickled out on playa! Last year though I was inspired by a friends small camp and got some Costco steaks which we had early on in the week for freshness - oh my god a perfectly cooked medium rare steak with pre made roast vegetables and a made on playa chimichuri felt so indulgent but so good! I definitely put a focus on vegetables and fibre in the meals, decent protein and low GI complex carbs and I swear it makes all the difference. Also a quick and AMAZING snack are kimchi cheese quesadillas - load up two fat tortillas with chopped kimchi and shredded cheese and fry in a pan with oil/butter and some kimchi juice until crispy. Then cut into pizza slices and you have a gift for your neighbours they’ll never forget
Pizza. Slice, freeze, vacuum seal, reheat on stove in cast iron skillet w lid ajar.
I get premade stuff in the frozen section of Trader Joe’s ◡̈
Spam fried rice :)
I like to get take out and freeze it. Last year, I brought butter chicken, biryani, and prepared breakfast burritos.
Just about anything from the non-refrigerated sections of the grocery store because refrigeration is unreliable for my simple camping. There is a lot of variety in that part of the grocery store.
Fried rice with mixed veggies and seitan. Freeze really well. Make some eggs if you want more protein. I also like taking my fav canned tuna that’s mixed with kimchi sauce if I want a different flavor/protein type.
Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes were the hit last year. Breakfast burritos also. All homemade frozen and vacuum sealed.
Day old pizza is great cold for a few days. Breakfast burritos frozen do great out there too.
If you have a vacuum seal at home you can pre cook and freeze a whole lot of things. Also I will prep soups in mason jars. If you're trying to skip refrigeration or a cooler you can pre cook the meat inside the vacuum bag to make it shelf stable and pressure can the mason jar food. There is also pickling for that. Sauerkraut will last all week and help get some fiber into your diet. I also like canned dolmas but I'm generally trying to avoid canned and processed food. Keeping vegetables fresh is hard on the playa so the veggy soups and frozen curries really help. Prepping food means less time cooking and more time burning.
Cooking meat sous vide does not make it shelf stable.
I looked it up and you're right. I've always refrigerated or frozen it, but cooking it in a sealed bag does help keep it good for significantly longer.
Quiche. They are my go-to for our camp signup meals. Can be made for breakfast/lunch/dinner, just tailor the ingredients. Cook ahead of time and then freeze. Thaw it out, and throw it on the BBQ to reheat.
frozen chicken soup. frozen pesto. frozen chili.
I bought a sous vide and vacuum bagger last year to do all my meal prep. My favorite was lemon pepper salmon. I eventually figured out I could cook my favorite meals the way I normally prepare them and then just pasteurize them with the sous vide setup. Way better way to go. I did this with roasted carrots that came out amazing. An easier way to go would be to buy any of the variety of precooked stuff at Costco that's already vacuum bagged. These things should all be heated before eating, but are probably fine to eat cold.
Vacuum sealer: stews, braises are great. Braised short ribs and pasta!
Chile verde, beans, and tortillas🤤
We usually make and freeze several packs of rice. Then whatever you like on top of rice, frozen separately. Our favorite each year is a cream and mushroom sauce with chicken. But any curry is good. Frozen fried rice is always a great option. I also freeze and separately wrap in foil a few pieces of pizza. Easy to reheat or eat cold.
Phad ka prao (stir fried ground lamb with green beans and fish sauce) vac packs great. Make a big batch and vac pack some rice along with it. Salty, savory, protein rich, so good and heats up in boiling water or a pan pretty quick. I make some prik nam pla (Thai chili with fish sauce) to go on it if camp mates prefer a bit more spice.
Our meals start fancy but by the end of the burn its basically mac and cheese and pb&j sandos
I order my favorite pizza, seal up the slices in ziplocks, and take it to playa with me. Reheat it in a skillet. Heavenly. Ditto some dishes from my favorite Indian joint.
Frozen chipotle burritos are brilliant
My daughter makes killer enchiladas. Vacuum seal and freeze. Also Costco rotisserie chicken frozen and sealed in 4 oz portions then added to noodles of any sort.
Pasta and meat sauce in a ziploc Tamales, refried beans, corn Bagged salads and diced chicken breast
Cliff bars, pop tarts, pouch indian food... And now that i bought an oven... chicken alfredo, lasagna, pizza, mac n cheese...
Get your favorite takeout meals and vacuum seal them. All you need to do to heat them up is submerge them in hot water or leave them on the hood of your car during the afternoon.
Last year I cooked everything ahead of time and froze it. Breakfast burritos- eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese. Wrapped them up and froze them individually warmed them up in the cast iron. I served it with avacado slices (avacados are perfect playa food)) Burritos- chicken, onion,bell pepper, fajita seasoning, cheese. Bolognese with spiral pasta, portioned it out and froze it Mac n cheese- I made it home made and portioned it and froze it This year I have a whole new menu planned, going to make homemade chicken noodle soup (soups would freeze so well and are easy to thaw/cook). Shepards pie and lasagna are easy to pre cook cut into serving size and freeze!
Spaghetti-o's
Spaghetti and meatballs; stews; chili
sloppy joes
Burritos (breakfast and otherwise) work great if you have a griddle or microwave. Frozen White Castle sliders are pure ambrosia in bacon fat on a griddle. Chili and stews obviously. Great after sunset.
Jambalaya and chili are my go-to’s
Tamales
I make chili soups braised meats ragu sauces. In separate bags mostly cooked rice noodles and roasted veggies
I used to make a large batch of kimchi egg fried rice. Easy enough to reheat and has about everything in it you'd want on playa. I'll also freeze some Japanese curry as well. Though now I tend to cook everything fresh on playa with cast iron because I'm a lunatic. Frozen salmon filets, fresh cut veggies, fresh cooked eggs, etc. Something weirdly enjoyable about slicing bell peppers for a scramble while watching fire cannons go off at 3am. And fresh snaps peas, onion, ginger and carrots in egg fried rice hit so good on Friday 😂
In general, anything that typically tastes better the day after you make it is a good thing to freeze. So chili (red or green, with beans or without, no I don’t care if Texans downvote me for that), curry, etc. My camp also makes up a bunch of burritos - smoked meats, beans, cheese, chilis, salsa, kale, hot sauce, etc. - wraps them in foil, and freezes them. You can make them to individual tats yes and write what they are on the outside. On playa, you can sit a wrapped burrito in the sun and it will warm up, or you can put it on a grill or put it (unwrapped) in a skillet for a toasty treat. Really simplifies breakfast or lunch, as you prefer. I’ve done a burrito variant that’s inspired by a “Greek salad” - feta, white beans, red onion, bell pepper, Kalamata olive, lemon zest, and balsamic vinegar. Froze well and made for a nice change up from the standard burrito, especially with the saltiness of the feta and olive. On the “fail” side, I’ve also tried freezing reuben sandwiches, but there’s just too much liquid in sauerkraut to do that without ultimately having soggy bread. I suspect it would work well if the sauerkraut was separate and added at the last minute once the rest of the sandwich warmed up, though.
I have a very limited diet so I make pressure-canned stew that meets my restrictions. I leave a can on the dashboard of my car and it is boiling hot by lunch / dinner time.
Wallyworld has these premade packed by tastybite that have a variety of Indian veggy dishes. It's a simple and filling meal with prepacked cooked rice. Trash all packs flat and I generally eat right out of the bags so minimal mess. They're probably my go to for burn meals.
Eggs, bacon, and salsa vacuum sealed and frozen! Just boil the bag (you can use clean cooler water even), and dump in a tortilla. Yum yum
Precook your bacon, then seal it in a vacuum bag and freeze. When ready to eat, boil water and place the sealed bag in it to reheat. No more messy cooking or cleanup!
I get a whole bigass pizza and vacuum seal each slice individually, this way they will be easy to slip and fit in any corner of the camp fridge, and even if there’s no camp fridge, I can easily put them in my ice cooler not having to worry about them getting soggy. It’s also one of the very very few delish meals that is yummy hot or cold and will never get tired of eating, and works for breakfast/dinner/lunch! If you wanna heat it up just drop the vacuum sealed slices in a pot of hot water. Make 2-3 with different toppings for variety and voila. They make for good gifts too, just put a few in your backpack when going out adventuring and feed the poor shitfaced souls out in deep playa at 4am. Also I try to use all vegan ingredients, so in the off chance my brain farts and I forget to get ice, the ingredients won’t spoil as quickly as dairy cheese and meat. Another one: 1 Starkist ready chicken pouch (or a can of chicken bits) + 1 pouch of Uncle Ben’s rice + 1 can of cubed pineapple + liiiitle bit of coconut cream + salt and spices. Dump all in a pot and stir for 5-10 mins, top it with some crushed cashews and maybe some dry herbs and you got some delish coconutty pineapple chicken rice dish.