For a while, I’ve been thinking that it’d be nice to write a post about good and easy recipes for traveling families. While on the road, we still try to make sure our kids are getting nutritious meals. And, let’s be honest, it’s always nice to simply cook a meal at home and not have to worry about restaurants, especially at the end of a long day of exploring. In the spirit of Thanksgiving weekend, I’m sharing some of my go-to recipes for meals that are easy to make while traveling. We’ve managed to make these recipes in pretty much every one of the 19 countries we’ve visited over the past 6 months. Most of the ingredients are easy to find, and most of the recipes can be adjusted or made vegetarian.
Here are four of my go-to easy-to-make comfort food travel recipes:
Pasta frittata.
You can add peas, chopped carrots or any other veggie of your choice to this recipe to make it healthier. Skip the meat to make it a vegetarian dish. Recipe here.
Korean tacos.
You’d be surprised by how popular tortillas seem to be worldwide. With tortillas as an option, there’s endless possibilities for yummy recipes including tacos, burritos, quesadillas, etc. This recipe is a favorite of our kids. The slaw is a total hit with our kids! We usually skip the pickled cucumbers to keep things simple on the road. Depending on the quality of the meat we can find when traveling, we usually replace the steak with chicken. Recipe here.
Teriyaki
Teriyaki anything with rice. Back at home, we followed the recipe closely but, on our travels, we only use it to make the teriyaki sauce to pour over cooked meat and veggies. We usually make it with chicken and add bell peppers and broccoli (frozen veggies are totally fine and a lot easier to find when traveling). First I sear the meat and then make sure it’s cooked through, then I steam the veggies and, when everything is done, I pour the sauce over it. Our kids devour this one! To make it vegetarian, simply skip the meat and add more veggies of your choice. Recipe here.
Spaghetti Bolognese.
This is an easy one to make and you can find the ingredients anywhere you go (although sometimes we’ve had a hard time finding parmesan cheese). First, cook a package of your favorite pasta. While the pasta is cooking, heat up a jar of pasta sauce (we prefer the one with basil in it). Add some frozen peas on the side and, voila, in less than 30 minutes you have a meal kids will love. For a non-vegetarian version of this, after you start the pasta water, cook some ground beef and, once it’s cooked through, strain the fat and pour the pasta sauce on it and mix until warmed through. To really please kids, get some parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top after dishing up.
Hope you find these recipes useful during your travels! As budget travelers, we area always looking at ways to cut our daily expenses and cooking at home is a great way to do that!
If you have any favorite travel recipes, please share with us! For more travel tips, go here.
