Karen Wright is a self-taught baker and cook, and a former Great British Bake Off contestant, who brings her love of good food to life both on the road and on air. Karen has shared a number of her favourite recipes with listeners on Caravan Radio, and you’ll also find a selection of them right here on our website.
Karen is the author of Meals on the Move: A Campsite Cooking Journey, a beautifully illustrated hardback book that follows her 30-day motorhome adventure through France, Italy and Switzerland. Across more than 200 pages, Karen combines candid diary entries with stunning scenery, honest reflections on life on the road, and practical inspiration for touring cooks of all experience levels.
Each day of the journey features a carefully crafted recipe inspired by the local region, all designed to be cooked easily on a campsite using basic pots and pans. The book proves that self-catering while touring doesn’t have to mean compromise — it can be a truly mouth-watering culinary experience.
Meals on the Move is perfect for seasoned caravanners, motorhomers, and anyone dreaming of their first adventure on the open road.
👉 You can buy Karen’s book here:
https://www.karenwrightbakes.co.uk/product/mealsonthemove/
Fasten your seatbelts, prime your taste buds, and get ready to discover Meals on the Move.
Check out the great reciepes below
Pie and Peas
Do you enjoy a pie and pea supper? It’s a bit of a northern thing I guess, but it’s a great thing to make in your caravan. Traditionally a pork pie made with hot water crust pastry, often called a Growler! I like to buy mine from a butcher or a farm shop where they are made each day on the premises and are so much tastier than a supermarket pie. Warm the pie in the oven until piping hot and serve with a tin of mushy peas, a pickled onion and a little mint sauce. Dress code for the supper, flat cap and clogs!
Corned Beef Hash
Ay Up! Here is another Yorkshire meal idea for these cold winter nights on a caravan site.
Corned beef hash is a quick and easy supper to enjoy in your caravan. There are so many ways to make it, but all recipes include a tin of corned beef and potatoes. In my caravan I often use tinned potatoes, onion granules, beef stock, and always a dollop of brown sauce. Great to serve with a Yorkshire pudding which you can buy fresh and heat in the oven for just a couple of minutes. Best accompanied by a big pot of Yorkshire tea!
Chilli non-Carne
Arriba Arriba
Who doesn’t love a big bowl of chili? Why not skip the meat and use some extra beans instead? Whack a tin of butter beans, baked beans and mixed taco beans in a pan with tinned tomatoes or passata, chili flakes, cinnamon, onion and garlic granules and make this Chilli Non-Carne a complete store cupboard dinner! The secret ingredient to add just before serving is a couple of squares of dark chocolate, not so secret now! Use a sachet of rice or some wraps, add cheese, guacamole on the side and enjoy your very own fiesta in your caravan! Arriba!
Stew and Dumplings
There is nothing nicer than getting your caravan pitched up on a cold winter day knowing that you have a ready meal to look forward to later. I don’t mean a meal you have bought from the shop, I mean one you prepared earlier, at home.
Stew and dumplings are top of my list in the comfort food stakes. I use shin beef, potatoes, carrots, and onions and cook everything in my slow cooker the day before we set off. Cool quickly and store in the fridge at home before transporting in a cool box to travel to site.
Reheat the stew in a pan on the hob and add some dumplings for the last twenty minutes of reheating. Easy cheat is to use a packet of dumpling mix from the supermarket. Don’t forget to serve with a generous dollop of brown sauce!
Picky Tea
Do you sometimes get stuck on what to eat in the evening when you are away in the caravan? Sometimes you just don’t fancy a cooked meal, perhaps you ate out at lunch or just can’t be bothered getting organised to cook something. That’s when the picky tea hits the spot. A bit like a buffet at a party, buy some favourite bits to lay out and enjoy over the course of the evening. Think rustic sourdough bread or a crusty baguette, hummus, olives, tomatoes, cucumber, maybe some coleslaw, pickles and slices of ham! Steer clear of the beige buffet, fill the table with colour and relax with a glass of something special, chill out and enjoy your own private dining club.
Pasta Puttanesca
Need to rustle up a very quick dinner? Pasta is always a winner for speed. In the time it takes to cook the pasta, you can cook a sauce to serve with it. No meat involved with this recipe, which is a Neapolitan dish and has a slightly risqué back story! Make a sauce by softening an onion in oil then adding a tin of tomatoes, garlic, capers and olives and oregano, season to taste with salt and pepper and mix through the cooked pasta, Buon appetito!
Cheats Pizza
When is a wrap not a wrap? When it’s a pizza! Tortilla wraps are very versatile and a great ingredient to keep in the caravan. Use a wrap like a pizza base and add a spoon of chopped tomato leaving your pizza margin, add some oregano and mozzarella, warm it gently in a frying pan with a lid and there it is, a cheat pizza, Prego, Prego!
Cheese and Wine
There is something about settling down in the caravan for the evening and cracking open a bottle of wine, I love a red in the winter, and I like to drink it responsibly with a meal! A cheese and wine style meal, how retro is that! Buy two or three cheeses, a bunch of grapes, a chutney and a few crackers, drop those lights down low and create that lovely mellow glow, relax, unwind and enjoy your space!
Sausage Roll!
Did someone say sausage roll! I guarantee, when I put on a spread the sausage rolls vanish almost straight away. Hot rolls or cold rolls however you fancy but either make them yourself at home or buy from a butcher or farm shop, swerve the supermarkets. They make a lovely lunch in the caravan, and you can walk off those calories in the afternoon. Remember that pastry and microwave ovens don’t see eye to eye, always warm them up in a regular oven or air fryer unless you are partial to a soggy bottom of course!
Curry in a Hurry
Are you in a hurry but fancy curry? If so, your caravan store cupboard can solve your problem. Tins of potatoes, chickpeas and chopped tomatoes cooked off with a chopped-up onion and some curry paste and you will have a healthy and vegan curry made in about ten minutes, if you have coconut milk use that too, served with a pouch of rice its twice as nice as a ready meal and less than half the price!
Souper Day
Do you sometimes fancy a bowl of steaming hot soup? When I am in my caravan on cold wintry days, I find the idea of a bowl of soup and some crusty bread with butter very comforting. Soup is easy to make at the best of times, but I recently bought a soup maker and I must admit, it is a game changer. The consistency is always perfect, and you can literally use whatever you like, so it’s often different every time. Throw in chopped up veg, I don’t peel mine, add stock and any seasoning you like and twenty minutes later it is ready, it is so souper and a perfect gadget for the caravan (space and weight permitting of course)
Fridge Raid Frittata
When I am loading up to go off in the caravan, I always take whatever is lurking in my fridge with me. Usually, a couple of peppers can be found in the salad drawer, a few florets of broccoli, you know the type of thing. A bit of cheese and always there seems to be a few eggs in the box. I pack everything up and make a frittata once we are pitched up. Or if you are super organised you can make the frittata at home, wrap it in foil and eat it cold or heat it up when you get on site. Waste not want not is my middle name!
Jacket Potato Hack
If you have a slow cooker in your caravan, did you know that you can slow cook jacket potatoes in them! It’s a fact. Take your spuds, prick with a fork, rub with oil, and sprinkle with salt. Wrap in tin foil and cook on low for about eight hours or high for about five, dependent on the size of spuds. The skins are not crispy, so you finish in the oven or air fryer, but I don’t bother they are as sweet as can be, filled with topping of your choice, they are absolutely scrumptious!
