Best Vegan Camping Food – Boil in a Bag Omelettes!
These vegan boil-in-a-bag omelets are the best vegan camping food hack that I’ve found in a very long time! I’ve done a lot of camping over the years (even met my husband backpacking the Appalachian Trail) but I was never excited about any of the vegan breakfast options until now! I wish that I would have thought of it years ago!
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What are these vegan omelets made of?
You can easily replace the egg in an omelet with a chickpea flour and water mixture. It cooks up and tastes much like an egg. I’ve been making these vegan chickpea omelets for years in my frying pan. They make a great high-protein breakfast, but always thought of them as too messy for camping… until now!
Why they’re great for camping
- Chickpea flour is lightweight and doesn’t need refrigeration.
- They are high in protein and give a nutritious alternative to bars or other quick camping meals.
- They are easy to make.
- You can mix up the dry ingredients ahead of time.
- Everyone can choose their own flavors to add so even picky eaters will love them.
- Boil in a bag omelets makes clean up almost nothing.
- They don’t burn and stick to your skillet.
- They’re simply delicious!
Where did this idea come from?
My grandmother is one of the most creative people I have ever met! She always looking for unique, interesting ideas and an inspiration for getting imaginative in the kitchen.
She attended an event where they made boil-in-a-bag omelets and asked me if there was a vegan equivalent that I could make. It was such an interesting idea and such a great solution for vegan camping and backpacking, I knew that chickpea omelets work great!
How to prep the omelets for camping?
- Measure out the chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, and salt and store it in a large jar or plastic water bottle with a wide lid like a Nalgene.
- Bring along any veggies or vegan cheese that you would like in the omelets. Cut them up ahead of time and store them in baggies or dice them at the campsite.
- If camping with children or a lot of people set out the ingredients in buffet style and let people make their own.
- Give everyone a sandwich bag with their name on it and allow them to fill the bag about 1 inch deep with veggies of their choice.
When you’re ready to make your omelets
- Pour the water into the jar of the dry mixture and give it a stir. (Shaking alone, unfortunately, doesn’t get out the clumps).
- Pour about 2/3 cup of batter into each bag, squeeze out excess air from the bag and seal completely.
- Drop the bag into a large pot of boiling water and boil for 12-15 minutes until it becomes firm. (Use a wooden spoon to keep the bags from touching the hot edge of the pot).
- Take out of the water and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before opening the bag.
What are some good things to put in the boil in a bag omelet?
- Onions
- Peppers
- Mushrooms
- Spinach
- Bacon bits (Most brands of bacon bits are vegan or you can easily make your own bacon bits).
- Vegan cheese
- corn
- beans
Worried about boiling in plastic?
There is some debate out there about if it is safe to make boil-in-a-bag omelets. I’m not thrilled about the idea of plastic leaching into my food, but this is what you can do to solve the problem…
- Make sure to use BPA-free bags.
- Boil them at a slow boil so the water temperature doesn’t get much higher than 212° F or 100° C.
If you don’t want to use plastic bags
- Boil your omelets in these reusable silicone bags instead. (Better for the environment too)!
- Boil your omelets in mason jars. (just boil for a few extra minutes to make sure that they cook through).
- Fry them instead and follow this recipe to make vegan chickpea omelets in a skillet.
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Vegan Camping Food – Boil in a Bag Omelette
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup chickpea flour
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp water , (for a total of 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp water for each omelette).
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast, (optional)
- 1/4 tsp salt, (black salt for a more egg-like flavor)
- 1/2 cup vegetables of choice
Instructions
- Measure out the chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, and salt and store it in a large jar or plastic water bottle with a wide lid like a Nalgene.
- Bring along any veggies or vegan cheese that you would like in the omelets. Cut them up ahead of time and store in baggies or dice them at the campsite.
- If camping with children or a lot of people set out the ingredients in buffet style and let people make their own.
- Give everyone a sandwich bag with their name on it and allow them to fill the bag about 1 inch deep with veggies of their choice.
When you’re ready to make your omelettes…
- Pour the water into the jar of the dry mixture and give it a stir. (Shaking alone unfortunately doesn’t get out the clumps).
- Pour about 2/3 cup of batter into each bag, squeeze out excess air from the bag and seal completely.
- Drop the bag into a large pot of boiling water and boil for 12-15 minutes until it becomes firm. (Use a wooden spoon to keep the bags from touching the hot edge of the pot).
- Take out of the water and allow it to cool for about 5 minutes before opening the bag.
Notes
- Make sure to keep the tops of the bags from touching the edge of the pot. The plastic will melt if it rests against the edge of the pot.
- This recipe is for 1 omelette, adjust the number of servings to the number of omelettes that you want to make.
Wow super easy what a great recipe. I used dehydrated veggies I had on hand with a touch of extra water. I’m thinking of all kinds of things I can do with this simple recipe: rolled in a tortilla with oven roasted potatoes and ??? for a breakfast burrito, if I make it in a mason jar can be an egg on an english muffin… oh the possibilities… I had super cheap zip lock bags and was careful to keep them from the sides of the pan and turned out beautiful! I did order the silicone bags for future due to wanting to do other things than keeping the bags off the sides while it’s cooking. Can’t wait to share with my extended family.
I’m so happy that the recipe worked well for you, Terri! 🙂
I melted my bags! Silicone and ziploc. What am I doing wrong?
You have to make sure that you have enough water in your pot and that the bags don’t rest against the sides. If the bags touch the metal for too long they will melt. Use tongs to frequently adjust them away from the edges of the pot.
Tried these camping last weekend with a big group. Awesome! Everyone just customized their own so it worked well for all.
So happy to hear that it worked out for you!
Made these when we went camping last weekend. They were awesome! It was nice to have something new and different to try.
We just tried it in a open pot (instead of bags) but it stayed liquid and did not got firm at all. Not even after cooking for over 30 minutes. Any ideas? Comments what could potentially went wrong?
Hi Joerg, It has to be sealed in something to lock in the steam and get hotter. If you don’t want to boil it, you can make my skillet version… https://thehiddenveggies.com/chickpea-omelette-the-best-vegan-omelette/