What's some good meatless road food?

The first thing that popped into my head were granola bars and chocolate.

All natural granola and nuts mixed together in tuperwares.

Hit the co-op and grab some Tofurky Jerky. Freeze-dried fruits and veggies are good road foods as well.

Apples, cheese and bagels. That’s what I take hiking and fishing. Hard-boiled eggs are great protein if you eat eggs, and they don’t need refrigeration.

And of course there’s trail mix. Make your own, the brand name stuff is stupid expensive. Peanuts, raisins, granola, cranberries, whatever, etc.

Dried fruit, like apple rings and dried cranberries, are good. Oranges or other citrus fruit keeps well.

And I’d say skip the vegan jerky. That stuff is not very healthy.

Hummus and pita! the hummus stays good unrefrigerated for about 10 hours (I know from experience). However, have some good un-messy fruit on hand, plus plenty of dried fruit, nuts, seeds, and good-quality dark chocolate. Come on, it has flavonoids, yo!

Also: avocados, cereal, and goji berries (they are amazing and have a super-complete nutritional profile. they taste sorta weird at first, but after a while you luuuurve them!).

Mixed nuts my good woman, mixed nuts!

I once traveled cross country by car, and packed the car with no-cook food. I brought many of the above, but also lots of yogurt in individual containers. Yogurt on a bagel is yummy. The lovely thing is the yogurt did not go bad. Of course, I took care that my food did not get a chance to get too hot, or I might have had a different result.

You also might consider checking out freeze dried meals at a hiking supply store. Just add water, hot or cold, depending, and you’re in the zone.

Super markets sell vegetarian soups, and many of these come in a pop-top so you don’t need a can opener. In a pinch I have eaten these cold. They aren’t too bad.

First thing that popped in my head: Nut butters

We have to pack our food when we travel for a few hours or a day or two. The first thing I pack is almond butter & nutella. That way I know I have some quick access to protein when my family needs it.

@SpatzieLover Sunflower seed butter is addicting. At first I was planting sunflowers thinking of pressing them for oil, but now I think it will all become seed butter.

:) Thanks for the heads up @incendiary_dan. My son can actually eat that, too! <adds sunflower butter to the grocery list>

Also, make sure you take some Omega 3,6,9 supplements with you!

You might want to consider getting one of those collapsible, portable coolers, into which you can put a blue ice pack and any kind of cold (not frozen) foods you want. I never go anywhere without my portable cooler.

But if you can’t do that, I would suggest peanut butter sandwiches, nuts of all kinds (macadamia, walnluts, pistachios, peanuts, cashews etc.)

Then there is the dried fruits (including freeze dried fruits, which are crispy as opposed to chewy)

And breakfast/energy bars (make sure you check the labels because many of them contain fish oil) I like Kashi and Luna and Cedar Lane and Health Valley.

Of course there always fruit: bananas, apples, pears, nectarines, oranges, and tangerines.

They also make hummus that comes in a jar or a pop top can (but you would need to eat all of it in one sitting, if you don’t have a cooler). You can put it on crackers, pita bread or rice cakes. I’ve also seen baba ganoush in a pop top can.

Then there are all sorts of chips (some better than others, like Sunchips and sweet potato chips, veggie chips) pretzels, bagged popcorn, corn nuts, dried wasabi peas, seaweed snacks, crackers and rice cakes (plain or flavored).

They also make applesauce and pudding in single serving cups, but you would have to eat them at room temperature (which doesn’t bother me).

And if you are interested in more entree-like foods, Trader Joe’s and most Indian markets carry a whole bunch of “vacuum packed” foods like Channa Masala and Palak Paneer and Basmati rice pilaf, but you would have to eat them at room temperature (which is totally fine with me) and you would need some type of bowl receptacle to “squirt’ them into.

If you aren’t that interested in “eating per se” but want to make sure to get your nutrition, get some six packs of Ensure, or Target’s own brand of equivalent nutition drinks.

You can also make some oatmeal cookies before you head out, and I love almost all of the fake meat jerkies I have seen at Whole Foods and other health food type of markets.

McDonalds and Taco Bell come to mind.

@Cruiser What kinds of good meatless stuff does McDonald’s have? I haven’t been to one in years, because they never had any kind of vegetarian items in the past. Taco Bell and Del Taco are 2 of the fast food places that I know of that actually do have some vegetarian items. There’s also another fast food place out here in some parts of California called Bakers that has some good veg options.

Beer.

unless you are driving. stay in school kids.

@Blondesjon: Ya kidding me? I’m bringing tequila and moonshine. Beer. Psh.

well, if you’re gonna drink like a man, eat like one too and have a few greaseburgers and fries. sheesh.

Roasted peas covered in wasabi.

@Kardamom My answer was a back handed commentary on the questionable quality on the “meat” advertised by both fast-food franchises. I cook burgers on my grill at home that I know are 100% pure beef and are nothing in comparison to the stuff I have sampled at the drive through window!

Bake up your own cookies, brownies, and/or granola bars before you go, maybe? That way they’re fresh, delicious, and you know what went into ‘em.

Pretty good suggestions so far. In regards to veggie jerky ..not all of it is bad. It’s true that many are very high in saturated fat and sodium. One of the healthier brands is Tasty Eats Soy Jerky…one of the best tasting as well. You can always learn to make your own too ..that way you control what’s in it.

Could you take an eski with some ice blocks in it? That’s what I do for camping trips.

Otherwise yeah agree with all that’s been said above. Lots of fruit! Sandwiches, cookies and trail mix, rice crackers and hommus, chips…. or what about like pesto pasta salad?

@Cruiser , Oh Ok. Since I don’t eat meat, I never think about what fast food places serve as “meat.” Yuck! But you were at least correct in that Taco Bell actually has some pretty good bean burritos and these yummy potato filled soft tacos for us veg-heads. Carls Junior used to make these really yummy egg and cheese burritos for breakfast, but they’re not on the menu anymore. You can attempt to convince them to make one for you, but the people at the counter often look bewildered (even though all you are asking is for them to leave off the sausage or bacon, duh!)

The ultimate breakfast burrito contains (lard free) beans, scrambled eggs, salsa, potatoes, sour cream and guacamole. I would think that all of the fast food places would want to jump on that bandwagon. I just had one at a Mexican place, yesterday, but I had to remind them to leave the bacon out of it.