8 Off Grid Meals That Are Healthy And Delicious

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

A lot of people nowadays either eat out or they “cook” at home. But even cooking at home looks quite a bit different than it did not that long ago due to convenient food options, aka prepared meals, and mostly refrigerated ingredients.

But what if you wanted or had to change the way you cook? What if you had to cook every meal yourself and you had to do it without the help of electricity? That means no hot plate, refrigerator, microwave, stove or any other kind of oven or air fryer.

Some of you might be thinking all hope is lost but rest assured it is not! In this article we will be talking about meals that not only can be cooked off grid, but they’re delicious as well!

We’ve gone ahead and put together a list of tools and supplies that are very helpful when cooking off grid. You may not need the whole list but make sure you have the basics covered.

8 Off Grid meals

A few of these meals will be incredibly simple and may not require much in terms of preparation or cooking, while other recipes may require a bit more. Either way, here are some tasty meal ideas that anyone can make without electricity.

We’re not going to be listing specific ingredient amounts as everyone’s tastes and preferences are different but don’t worry because these are the kind of meals where the amount of  ingredients can be fudged a bit without really messing up the meal.

1. Nachos

Who doesn’t like a good mashup of their favorite ingredients spread over some crispy chips? Get yourself a big ole bag of chips, canned cheese, beef, chicken, pork or whatever meat you like, olives, onions, peppers, and mix it all together the way you like it. The great thing about this option is that you don’t have to cook any of it, it can be eaten as is.

If you are looking for another off grid nacho recipe, check out the following video.

2. Chili

Chili with beans or chili without beans, it doesn’t matter what side you’re on, nothing fills up your belly better on a cold day than a big bowl of chili. Simply dump as many cans of your favorite chili into a skillet or pot, warm it up, and enjoy.

Of course, if the chili is coming out of the can it doesn’t have to be cooked, it can be eaten cold just as it is.

You can make this meal even more filling by making some campfire bread to go long with it.

For campfire chili recipes, check out this video.

For a simple campfire bread recipe, check out this video.

3. Simple Casserole

A bare bones tuna noodle casserole is super easy to make, only takes a few ingredients, and it sticks to your ribs! Boil up whatever type of noodles you prefer, drain the water, add a can of cream of mushroom soup, a can of tuna, and you have yourself a dinner in less than fifteen minutes.

Don’t like tuna? Then use canned chicken, salmon, SPAM, or whatever meat you like best instead.

4. Wild Edible Salad

If you’re cooking off grid during the right time of the year, you could make yourself a healthy and delicious salad by foraging for wild edibles.

To learn how to make a wild edible salad check out this video. Keep in mind that the type of wild edibles available are different from region to region so it’s a good idea to find out what grows in the area you live in.

5. Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken noodle soup isn’t just for when you’re sick. If you are a fan of this soup then you know it’s one of those feel good meals that’s both nutritious and super easy to make.

The most basic recipe only calls for three ingredients. You will need canned chicken, chicken broth, and noodles. Once the noodles have been cooked, drain them and add everything into a pot or large skillet to simmer for twenty to thirty minutes. 

Of course you can spice it up a bit with some canned carrots, celery salt, salt and pepper, or anything else you like in your soup.

For more chicken noodle soup recipe details check out this video.

6. Roast

This recipe works best in a dutch oven and it can take at least an hour to a few hours to cook, depending on if you are using canned or fresh ingredients, but thankfully there isn’t a lot of prep work involved.

Again, you can use any type of meat you want, chicken, beef, pork, etc., and then add whatever canned veggies you would like such as carrots, potatoes, green beans, peas, etc. Top it off by adding some chicken broth or beef broth and let it all simmer for twenty to thirty minutes.

Of course, if you have access to fresh meat and veggies this will taste much better and the cook time will be significantly longer.

To learn more about a Dutch oven stew recipe, check out this video.

7. Spaghetti

Here is another very simple recipe that you can cook in under ten minutes with minimal effort. It’s also super cheap, filling and feeds a lot of people. For his recipe, grab yourself a non-cast iron pot because it isn’t recommended to boil in cast iron, at least not for long periods.

After you have your pot, add in the required amount of water, bring it to a boil, and finally add in your desired amount of uncooked noodles. Boil the noodles until they are done to your liking, drain the water and they are done. Add some pasta sauce, Italian herbs, and beef to top it all off and your meal is ready to be served!

For a more detailed look on how to cook spaghetti, check out this video.

8. Ramen Surprise

If you like noodles then it’s a great idea to have a stockpile of ramen noodles on hand because they are great for several reasons. They are super affordable, compact, quick and easy to cook, and they come with a variety of flavor packets such as chicken, which is their most popular flavor.

But did you know they have a lot of other flavors available such as:

But if you don’t want to use their flavor packets then you can create your own recipe by mixing together your own seasoning packet. Or you can use the ramen noodles as the base of the recipe and add any other ingredients to create meals similar to those presented earlier in this article, such as spaghetti or a casserole.

For three more ramen noodle recipe ideas, check out this video.

9. Oatmeal

Throughout time, oatmeal has been a popular meal to have in the morning due to its affordability and how well it sticks with you until your next meal, however the primary reason is due to how easy it is to cook. With a little bit of boiled water or boiled fresh milk, you can have yourself a bowl of modern rolled oats in less than five minutes.

If plain oatmeal is too boring for you you can always spice things up by adding a bit of cinnamon, honey, blueberries, peaches, or apples. And believe it or not a simple pinch of salt can really make a difference if you don’t have anything else to add.

For a more detailed look at off grid oatmeal recipes, check out this video.

Conclusion

We’ve become so reliant on convenient food that the prospect of cooking off grid may seem impossible, but hopefully this article has shown you otherwise. Our list is but a small sample of the recipes available and we wish you good luck in discovering even more delicious off grid meals because there are a ton of them out there!