Vanlife Cuisine: Our Five Favorite Recipes for Cooking in a Tiny Kitchen

Welcome to the cozy confines of your 5m2 sanctuary, parked under a drizzling sky outside a foreign supermarket. As you stand in front of your van, contemplating tonight’s dinner, the challenge looms: How can you whip up a delicious meal without taking up precious space, standing in the way of man and child, or requiring a bunch of water for cleanup? It may seem like a mission impossible, but fear not – we’ve all faced this scenario. Let me share our five favorite vanlife recipes, tried-and-true Furgamor and Nonmad Approved for quick and fuss-free van-life dishes. Wishing you the best of luck in your culinary adventures! 😉

First things first

Before diving into the recipes, let’s talk about the essential ingredients to find a home in your tiny pantry. Compact spaces demand smart choices, so think of versatile and long-lasting items such as canned goods, grains, and dried herbs. With a well-stocked pantry, you’ll be ready to whip up delicious meals at a moment’s notice. Also, invest in collapsible kitchenware to save space, embrace pre-chopped and pre-marinated ingredients, and make the most of multifunctional gadgets. With these tricks up your sleeve, your van kitchen will feel like a gourmet haven.

Pan pizza

We discovered this one since we were enormously craving pizza while traveling in France, but unwilling to spend a fortune on eating out (ok, and also too lazy to make the van drive-proof to leave our beach break spot in search of pizza), so we took our bikes, bought a supermarket pizza (haters will say this is not pizza, but in a van, everything changes) and cooked it in our pan. To avoid the cheesy side getting stuck and burning, we first cook the bottom, and then we double the pizza (Calzone style) so that the cheese gets melty without burning it. We now make this minimum once a week.

Shakshuka

Introduced to me by my dear friend Miranda, this one-pot meal is so easy to make, yet full of veggies and protein. I tend to use whatever veggies I have lying around or could find, plus whatever dried herbs I have (at least some oregano or Mexican-style herbs always taste well) and some eggs. When placing the lid on, just ensure it doesn´t stick to the food and end up with burned food. It´s a disaster to have to clean this with little water.

For the full and more or less official (if that is possible) recipe, see here

Ramen

My full-time favorite comfort food! I use whatever veggies I have, though at least mushrooms and broccoli are a must, some tofu, tempeh or whatever I can find, miso (I never go anywhere without some miso paste), ketjap or soy sauce and of course, a package of Ramen. Everything in one pot and enjoy!

One pot pasta

Chop your choice of veggies and cook them in a pan. Then add your pasta and add water. Usually, I use around 40cl of water for 80gr of pasta. If you use more, there is a chance it might end up too watery! Cook until the pasta is ready, add some pesto and parmesan cheese and ready!

Nasi Goreng

Heverton´s all-time favorite comfort food! Cook rice and your choice of veggies and protein. Mix everything in a pan. Use a Nasi Goreng sauce (for the Dutchies, any boemboe will do, for non-Dutchies, you can also use red curry paste and mix with soy sauce, or get a bunch of Nasi Goreng mix on Amazon). Mix it all, and be ready!