How to cook in a vacation rental

The collective desire: despair? — to escape has increased, as have the prices of food and travel, so you need to spend every moment of your vacation exactly how you’d like. While eating out is its own form of sightseeing, cooking some or all of the meals in a vacation rental can be as enjoyable as it is convenient, flexible, and affordable.

You may want to spend time in a new kitchen with seasonal ingredients. Or you may want to do anything but cook: walk, ride a bike, go to the beach, do nothing at all. For both camps and everyone in between, a flexible plan for shopping, meal prepping, and using end-of-trip ingredients allows for the kind of cooking that maximizes time, budget, and effort.

Plan ahead and stay flexible

Studies have shown that the anticipation of the trip brings more happiness than the trip itself, so you’ll be doubly rewarded if you outline a meal plan beforehand.

Start by writing down what everyone is looking forward to eating on vacation, as well as any food allergies. Then consider how you and your fellow travelers like to eat. Are you big on breakfast? Snacks until dinner time? Having a general sense of appetite can give you an idea of ​​how much you need to buy.

Keep lunch and dinner ideas simple and adaptable, and choose dishes that use basic utensils and pantry ingredients. You’ll have to work with the rental kitchen equipment, though if you can bring a large cast-iron skillet and a sharp knife, you’ll be glad you did. Dull (and dangerous!) knives are the hallmark of vacation rental kitchens. A familiar knife will make cutting much smoother. (Just don’t try to fly with it in your carry-on).

Lean on the ingredients you like and know how to cook in various ways, and buy more or less ingredients. By focusing on saying one type of herb instead of four, you have fewer items to figure out how to use. (This approach also streamlines shopping and reduces food waste.)

buy what looks good and it’s in season, but you can’t live on just tomatoes and corn. Staples like bread, cereal, and eggs are essential and can make leftovers better. Shop, too, for a couple of meals at the kitchen sink to use up any lingering ingredients at the end of the trip (see below).

Depending on where you’re staying, you may want to explore the local shops during your trip. Wherever you go shopping—grocery stores, seafood restaurants, butchers, farm stands, or bakeries—be sure to stock up on snacks, treats, and beverages. You’re on vacation!

Plan a meal or two at the end of the trip dedicated to using up what’s left. Good “everything but the kitchen sink” recipe formats include chopped or compound salads, omelettes, frittatas, fried rice or other grains, hot or cold pastas, salads or grain bowls, stir-fries, tofu scrambles, hand, summer rolls, quesadillas, tacos, melts, flatbreads or pizza.

Before you head home, shoulders burned and relaxed, make notes on your meal plan. It will make next year’s holiday cooking even more joyful.