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Can we all just agree that the most difficult part of getting out the door and into a weekend of camping is food prep? Between shopping, packing our camp “kitchen” and ensuring that the teenagers have plenty of snacks, it’s a wonder we even embark on these adventures.
We love to wave goodbye to our responsibilities and head into the woods, though, so we do our best and try to keep things simple. Even though we’ve gotten pretty good at planning and preparing meals for our trips, it remains the most time-consuming part of the camping process. One of our favorite camping meals is noodles with spicy peanut sauce, which we serve up with a sturdy vegetable or a salad, depending on the limits of our cooler. It’s a game changer!
We’ve been making the same spicy peanut sauce for years, and when we camp with friends, someone always asks for our recipe. I’ve tried a lot of different recipes and combinations, and I always come back to this one. I prepare it at home and store it in a zip-top plastic bag or jar before heading out on our camping trip. This sauce doesn’t need refrigeration and is great with tofu, cooked veggies, pasta, or rice.
If you’re preparing for a weekend camping trip, spicy peanut noodles are one of the easiest meals to throw together for a quick camping dinner. Okay, it’s probably not easier than hot dogs on a stick, but it’s pretty close. Spend 15 minutes at home putting it together and another 15 minutes to cook your pasta, and you’ve got an easy delicious meal.
Check Out More Easy Recipes for Camping
Spicy Peanut Sauce for Camping
Peanut noodles served with sturdy snap peas.
*makes 4-5 generous servings when served with one pound of pasta
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ - 1 ½ cups natural peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
- Juice of one lime
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon dried garlic
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Instructions
- At home:
- Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. If your peanut butter is very thick, you can heat everything up a bit in a saucepan on low heat so that it is easier to mix.
- At camp:
- If you are serving spicy peanut sauce with pasta, cook your noodles in a pot of boiling water, then add a little bit of hot pasta water to the bag or jar with your peanut sauce to thin it out a bit. Mix into the pot with your noodles and serve with cooked veggies or a salad.
- Serve noodles on these MSR Deep Dish Camping Plates for easy clean-up.
One of the great things about this peanut sauce is how versatile it is. You can serve it with any number of meat/veggie combinations. Get fancy and serve it with chopped cilantro and scallions, or keep it simple and pour it over sauteed broccoli. If you decide to experiment, please let me know how it came out in the comments below.
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