Road trip food recipes NZ: 6 tasty meal ideas

Need some fuel for your road trip? And no, we're not talking about gas. When you're on an adventure, you want to load everyone up with healthy, delicious snacks that will keep them full for longer (which means fewer pit stops along the way!). Get cooking with these six simple, convenient and tasty road trip food recipes.

From quiche to trail mix, these easy recipes will help you to beat stomach rumbles, satisfy foodies and explore the great outdoors to your heart's content.

6 simple & delicious road trip food recipes

1. Quiche

Eggs are the perfect go-to food for any road trip, as they will keep you nice and full for even longer. Not to mention they taste great in a quiche! Eat it hot or cold, depending on whether you have a microwave in your motorhome or cooker in your campervan.

Plus, you can chop and change the ingredients to suit everyone’s individual tastes. Even the kids will love munching away on this one! No utensils are needed either, simply pack some napkins and enjoy with your hands. The perfect road trip recipe.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 sheets Shortcrust pastry

• 1 clove garlic

• 1 tbsp oil

• 100g roasted pumpkin

• 2 cups baby spinach

• 3 eggs

• ⅓ cup cream

• 3 tbsp parmesan cheese

• Salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C fan-forced.

2. Oil pie pan.

3. Lay out pastry into a pan, then bake in the oven for 10 minutes to brown.

4. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and spinach until it has just wilted.

5. Place into the pastry base.

6. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

7. Pour into the pastry base and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

8. Bake for 30 minutes.

2. Chocolate Date Balls

Another road trip food recipe that can be adjusted to your taste preferences, these delicious chocolate date balls are a sweet treat to keep you going between meals on the road. With plenty of slow energy-releasing ingredients, they make a great pick-me-up to get you through that last leg of the journey. Simply prepare beforehand and enjoy as you drive, with very little mess involved!

Prep time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup natural almonds

• 1 cup Medjool dates

• ⅓ cup cocoa powder

• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Method:

1. Pop the almonds into a food processor and blitz them until they are fine (or leave a little lumpy if you prefer the crunch).

2. Add the remaining ingredients and blitz everything together until just combined. It will form into a wet mixture.

3. Prepare a baking tray lined with baking paper.

4. Now for the messy part! Pull back those sleeves and get rolling into balls.

5. Place on a baking tray and pop in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.

6. You can store it in an art tight container in the fridge for up to two weeks.

3. Avocado Bagels

Have to hit the road nice and early? Enjoy breakfast on the move with these delicious bagels. They don’t take much prep time at all, and are a yummy way to kick off your road trip.

Kids will love the sweet hit from the honey, while the avocado sets you up with a nutritious start to the day. Simply store it in a reusable bag that you can access whenever the munchies hit on the road. Have half to start and you can even save the rest for later.

Ingredients (makes one):

• Bagel

• Tbs feta cheese

• Tbs honey

Method:

1. Slice the bagel in half and spread avocado evenly across both sides.

2. Top with a drizzle of honey.

3. Crumb feta between your fingers and sprinkle to finish. Place both halves together for storage on the road and pop them in an airtight bag.

4. Fruit Skewers

This is a super tasty and convenient snack for on the road, as you can simply stock up on whatever fruits are in season as you adventure across New Zealand. These fruit skewers are so easy to make and can be kept in a cooler on the road to nibble on throughout the day for a natural sugar hit.

Plus, let’s face it, hand the kids a strawberry and they will probably turn their nose up at it. Hand them a variety of pre-cut fruits ready to eat and things just got interesting!

Prep time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• Fresh fruit (in season)

• 1x lemon

Method:

1. Now’s your chance to shop local and perhaps even visit some of the produce markets in New Zealand. See what’s in season and let the kids pick out some of their favourites.

2. Get chopping! Keep the chunks nice and big so they don’t fall off the skewers.

3. Thread onto the skewers, alternating fruits as you go.

4. Once finished, drizzle with a little lemon to help keep the fruit as fresh as possible on the road.

5. Puff Pastry Pinwheels

Looking for road trip food recipes that will excite even the tiniest traveller? Fill these lip-smacking pinwheels with anything you like. We’re going the traditional route with a little Marmite (a Kiwi favourite) and some cheese. These can be kept warm in a thermos or served cold along the way. They taste good no matter what!

Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients (makes 5):

• 1 sheet puff pastry

• Marmite

• 1 cup shredded tasty cheese

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Spread with Marmite (however much you like!).

3. Spread cheese evenly over the top.

4. Start from one end of the pastry and roll all the way to the other. Cut evenly into five pinwheels.

5. Place on a baking tray on their side (flat).

6. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until brown on top.

6. Homemade Trail Mix

If you’re after something nutritious that is packed full of protein for the road, then you can’t go past a homemade trail mix. Make a big batch before you leave on your trip and you can slowly whittle away at it as the stomach rumbles rear their head.

Simply grab a handful and enjoy, no cutlery is needed. They also keep well on long journeys, so you don’t have to worry about it going off on your travels.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup natural cashews

• 1 cup dried apricots

• 1 cup dried bananas

• 1 cup unsweetened coconut chips

• 1 cup raisins

• 1 cup natural almonds

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients into a bowl and mix together.

2. Divide the mixture into containers to make it nice and easy to access on the road.

Hire a van for your New Zealand road trip

With these six handy road trip food recipes up your sleeve, it’s time to set off and make the most of your travels on a full stomach! Organise campervan hire on the South Island or campervan hire on the North Island and hit the road with delicious snacks for the whole family!

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