Looking for some delicious food ideas to take out on the boat with you? We’ve put together a list of healthy options that will keep well for your entire day of fun (and will please everyone, including the kids). Read on to find a ton of simple to make and crowd-pleasing meals and snacks. These foods are convenient to eat on the go, require minimal preparation ahead of time, and won’t need much in the way of plates and utensils; perfectly simple.
Fruit and Veggies
Frozen grapes are a good way to stay cool and refreshed while you snack; they’re healthy, easy to pack, and they’ll help you stay hydrated too! You can freeze a variety of other fruits like blueberries and strawberries too. For some extra delicious protein, dip them in yogurt before freezing them on a sheet of wax paper.
Sliced veggies are a great way to fill up on the boat that won’t leave you feeling bloated. Don’t forget to bring along yogurt, hummus, or another dip.
Other Snacks
Trail Mix is a great snack that won’t make a mess and can be bought pre-made or tailored to your preferences. There are infinite delicious recipes online to try; here‘s a compilation of 28 different mixes to try: https://captaindecor.com/2018/11/05/29-snack-mix-recipes-you-need-to-try/
Protein or granola bars are a healthy and delicious snack that’s also mess-free and portable. As an added bonus, these don’t even need to be kept in the cooler where every inch of space counts.
Hard boiled eggs and string cheese are quick to eat and packed with protein, and they can both be tossed in your cooler and don’t have to be prepared the morning before your excursion.
For easy frozen yogurt, just freeze some yogurt cups the night before and put them in the cooler before you leave; it will still be partially frozen when it’s time to eat. Frozen yogurt is a good snack for kids; it tastes great and it’s good for you.
Quick Meals
Pasta salad can be tailored to the preferences of everyone on the boat and is incredibly simple to put together and stick in the fridge the night before your big boating day, leaving you free the next morning to pack up and head out as early as you’d like. A healthy and crowd-pleasing option is pasta salad with pesto, sliced cherry tomatoes, and parmesan cheese. To avoid bringing plates with you, place the pasta salad in plastic deli cups with lids and eat straight out of them.
Sandwiches with egg, tuna, or chicken salad are super easy to make and pack into your cooler. Try making them on King’s Hawaiian rolls and packing them back into the roll package for no-mess- since they can’t shift around, they’ll come out of the cooler exactly how they went in, and no utensils or plates are required to enjoy them.
Paninis are a great option if you’re worried about sandwiches getting smashed up in the cooler. Just press a sandwich flat in a countertop grill or waffle maker to make it extra crispy and avoid any chance of squished bread. Chicken goes with a variety of other ingredients and is always a healthy option.
Burritos and wraps are another easy-to-make boating meal and are especially handy if you have picky eaters in the family- everyone can have exactly what they’d like on theirs. There’s also no mess in the cooler or on the deck with a tortilla holding everything together, and you don’t need utensils or dishes for this dish either.
Drinks
Don’t forget a couple of your favorite adult beverages! Freeze drinks ahead of time to help your cooler stay refrigerator cold without the risk of waterlogged snacks when the ice melts.
Last, but absolutely not least, remember to bring lots of water for your trip, especially if you’ll be drinking alcohol. You can become dehydrated quickly on the boat and it’s not always convenient to stop to pick up more water. Better safe than sorry: you lose more water while playing in the sun, so it’s a great idea to bring more than you think you might need. Don’t forget extra for your four-legged friend if you side to bring them on this adventure with you.