Make-ahead meals to bring to a music festival

We at Easy Food have been known to attend a few music festivals in our time, and so are well accustomed to the struggles of trying to eat a balanced, well rounded diet without spending an arm and a leg on food-truck cuisine. Therefore, we saw it highly necessary to provide you with a list of our festival food essentials, delicious make-ahead meals and basic but tasty camp food recipes!

Festival essentials:

1. Fruit – We know, walking into a lively, bustling campsite on day 1 of Electric Picnic with a bag of fruit sounds a tad lame, but trust us — you’ll thank us for it later! When you’re surrounded by fast food stands and sporting a 3-day alcohol buzz, a perfectly ripe piece of fruit will sound like absolute heaven.
2. Water – Sounds obvious right? It can be so easy to forget to drink your daily water requirement when you’re busy bopping around, enjoying yourself with all your pals. That’s why we recommend bringing a large bottle of water with you, between 1.5-2 litres and either refill it there or bring one for each day.

Make ahead meals and snacks:

1. 1. Energy balls – These are an ideal snack to make in advance and bring with you and whip out whenever you need an energy boost. Our nut and date energy balls are low-maintenance and only require 5 ingredients. Or you could try our protein balls, flavoured with peanut butter, rolled oats and coconut. For convenience why not keep a couple in a tiny lunch box or wrap in cling film and bring them around in your trendy bum-bag which you’ll wear ironically.

1. 1. Muffins – Another great one to make ahead of time and bring with you. Muffins are a delicious snack to have between meals, and are easy to make healthy! Our oatmeal and blueberry breakfast muffins are the perfect sweet option, and our savoury lunch muffins are flavoured with ham and cheese, making it the ideal quick fix to fill you up.

1. 1. Super juices – If you don’t feel like lugging a bag of fruit into the campsite, why not prepare a selection healthy juices instead? These 5 super juice recipes are packed full of all the healthy vitamins your body would otherwise be lacking in while you’re out there living your best festival life.  Simply bottle them up and bring them with you in a cool bag.

1. 1. Soups – Being that we’re in Ireland, cold, rainy, windy weather is nearly guaranteed. Therefore, bringing a jug of homemade soup with you, ready to heat up over your BBQ or camping stove will end up being the best idea ever! When your feet are damp and your bones are freezing, you’ll be so thankful for that wholesome cup of hot soup to warm you up. Our tomato and basil soup with Caprese croutons is an office fave.

Easy camping recipes:

1. 1. Baked Dijon ham and cheese sliders – This is a super fun and tasty dish to make while camping. Instead of putting the sliders in the oven, simply wrap them in tin foil and place them on the embers of your campfire/BBQ until the cheese has melted and the outside of the buns are slightly browned and crisp.

1. 1. Avocado tuna salad on wholegrain toast – You  won’t believe how easy this meal is to  make while camping. For added convenience we recommend preparing the avocado tuna salad beforehand and storing in a small lunch box in a cool bag. To help your avocado stay fresh throughout the weekend, make sure to press the salad mix firmly into the bottom of the lunch box, ensuring there is no space underneath. Then pour about half an inch of water on top of the salad mix. This will prevent the avocado from going off, as the water acts as a barrier that oxygen can’t get through. When ready to eat, carefully pour out the water and mix the salad again. To make the toasted wholegrain, simply BBQ your bread, add the salad mix and enjoy!

1. 1. Smokey Summer sausages – We love a classic hot dog with a twist, which is why this recipe is so great! A little bit of sauce and a touch of relish can make a world of difference. Not to mention they’re super easy to make on a barbecue.

For more ideas why not check out the rest of our BBQ themed recipes here.