5 no-cook recipes you can make in a hotel room

October 29, 2020

Need hotel room food ideas? These five no-cook meals for travelling are perfect for making in your hotel room when you don’t have a kitchenette or are looking to save money on your travels. These easy no cook recipes are a mix of vegan, vegetarian, meat, dairy free and gluten free meals that are all healthy and delicious – there’s something here for everyone. These travel food recipes are perfect for when you have a tight travel budget and want to save money by not eating out but don’t want to eat junk food and don’t have a kitchen to cook in. These no-cook recipes are also ideal for camping if you don’t have a stove to cook on but want to make something healthy to eat.

Eating out in new restaurants is one of the most exciting things about travelling but do you ever feel like you can’t be bothered to go out, want to save money or need to resist temptation of another bowl of pasta? Well you’re not alone! Often I will opt to save money by making no-cook meals in my hotel room and these are my top recipes that don’t require any cooking.

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I’ve been experimenting the past few summers whilst road tripping to be able to eat well with very little kitchenware and have made these five no-cook meals for travelling as simple as possible because I know first hand that we aren’t equipped with the regular basics such as seasonings or a microwave in hotel rooms. I’ve also picked five no-cook recipes that have ingredients that cross over to help you use up what you’re buying and to make them cost-efficient.

What you need to make food in a hotel room

To make these five no-cook travel food recipes for road trips, hotel stays or camping you will only need the following three items:

  1. Swiss Army knife – this will be your knife, can opener and scissors

  2. Camping cutlery – to stir, serve and eat with (I have metal ones but bamboo cutlery are a good low-waste choice)

  3. Collapsible bowl – your chopping board and bowl

I previously wrote 6 items for making food in your hotel room which features a few more bits that are super helpful for making food to pack-up for the day.

You may also be interested in my guide to picking the best reusable coffee cup.

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Tips for making food in a hotel room

  • Pay attention to tins having ring pulls to make life easier for you, but don’t worry if you can’t get one as your Swiss Army knife should have one

  • Try to buy loose fruit and vegetables so you can avoid extra plastic packaging but it also means you don’t need to buy in bulk when you won’t be able to eat it all

  • Buy a large onion and spread it out across all the recipes that use it

  • Use your collapsed bowl as a chopping board as the base is solid

  • Use cherry tomatoes because they only require a small surface space for cutting

  • I have cleaned my counter before taking these photos but I do recommend you avoiding placing your food on the surface space of your hotel room. Use your bowl or the food packaging 

1. Vegetarian wraps

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Swap the vegan ham to ham to include meat and use gluten wraps if you don’t need a gluten free meal.

Ingredients

  • Ham

  • Cucumber

  • Sweetcorn

  • Cress (easy to use up vs. a bag of salad)

  • Hummus

  • Wraps (these gluten free fajita wraps are so much better than any other gluten-free wrap I have ever tried so I always get these)

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No-cook vegetarian wrap recipe

  1. Spread a layer of hummus over your wrap

  2. Lay a few slices of ham on top

  3. Sprinkle on some sweetcorn

  4. Use your Swiss Army knife and bowl to chop up the cucumber into small chunks and sprinkle over your wrap

  5. Top with cress, roll up and enjoy

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2. Tuna and avocado dip recipe with crackers

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Swap out the tuna for feta to be vegetarian or to tomatoes to be vegan. You could also use a vegan tuna substitute such as Tuno.

Ingredients

  • X1 tin of tuna

  • Onion

  • Avocado

  • Cucumber

  • Lime (stops the avocado from tuning brown and adds flavour)

  • Crackers (oat cakes for a gluten free version)

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No-cook tuna and avocado dip recipe

  1. Use your Swiss Army knife and bowl to chop up the cucumber into small pieces and leave it in the bowl

  2. Do the same with some onion

  3. Cut your lime in half and put it to the side for a moment

  4. Cut open your avocado and scoop it into the bowl

  5. Squeeze your lime over the avocado and add the remains to your water bottle to infuse your water and give it a second life

  6. Open and drain your tuna and add it to the bowl

  7. Stir and serve on crackers

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3. Mixed bean salad recipe

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Swap out cheese to hummus to be vegan, add ham to include meat or use vegan ham to be vegetarian and vegan.

Ingredients

  • X1 can of mixed beans

  • Cherry tomatoes

  • Onion

  • Sweetcorn

  • Cucumber

  • Feta cheese

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No-cook Mixed bean salad recipe

  1. Use your Swiss Army knife and bowl to chop up the cucumber into small pieces and leave it in the bowl

  2. Do the same with some onion and cherry tomatoes

  3. Sprinkle in some sweetcorn

  4. Drain your can of beans and add them to your bowl

  5. Crumble over some feta cheese and enjoy

4. Roast Chicken salad

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Ingredients

  • Pre-cooked chicken from the hot deli counter at the supermarket

  • Sweetcorn

  • Cherry tomatoes

  • Cucumber

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No-cook roast chicken salad recipe

  1. Use your Swiss Army knife and bowl to chop up the cucumber into small pieces and leave it in the bowl

  2. Do the same with some cherry tomatoes

  3. Add sweetcorn to your bowl along with your pieces of chicken

5. Antipasto

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Swap out meat to be vegetarian, cheese to vegan cheese and crackers to oat cakes to be gluten free.

Ingredients

  • Crackers

  • Hummus

  • Sliced meat

  • Cheese

  • Olives

  • Grapes

  • Cherry tomatoes

  • Nuts/crisps

No-cook antipasto recipe

  1. The great thing about a makeshift antipasto is it requires little effort as you can leave all the elements in the packaging.

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There you have it, five no-cook recipes that are cost-effective, nutritious, easy to make and delicious. These travel food recipes are easy meals to make in your hotel room and will save you so much money.

Let me know in the comments below if you liked or have tried these hotel room dinner ideas and if you want me to share more!

Bon appétit, Gabriella

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