15 Easy Family Meal Ideas to Make on Vacation
I don’t know about you, but I am always looking for easy meal ideas to make for my family on vacation.
Do you want to save money by cooking for your family on vacation, but don’t want a recipe with a lot of ingredients? Now that there are 4 of us, it is usually easier to stay out of restaurants, and it is always cheaper.
It seems silly to spend the savings on ingredients that the holiday home doesn’t have. The following list only uses a few ingredients, and depending on the size of your family and how much everyone eats, there won’t be leftovers.
Of course, grocery stores are different around the world, but hopefully, these items are easy to find, and the dinners are easy to make.
They aren’t as cheap as cooking everything from scratch, but hey, you are on vacation!
Some of these ideas require no cooking at all, which is my vacation style. Read on for 15 super-easy family meal ideas to make on vacation.
Easy Breakfast Meal Ideas for Families on Vacation (besides cereal)
I don’t make a fancy breakfast at home, and I don’t make a fancy breakfast on vacation. Here are a few really easy family meal ideas for a cheap breakfast for the family on vacation.
Eggs and Toast
Any kind of eggs, any kind of toast. Don’t forget the butter or jam. This meal can be made a bit fancier, or more filling, with avocado or bacon.
Muffins
At least once each vacation, we pick up muffins from a grocery store for a quick and easy breakfast. You don’t even need a kitchen at your hotel or vacation rental to have muffins for breakfast.
Oatmeal
I know, I know, oatmeal counts as cereal. However, it is the only cereal I eat. Add fruit, nuts, or nut butter on top for a more filling, but still easy, breakfast.
Yogurt
Add granola, fruit, or nut butter on top, or eat the yogurt plain. Either way, if you have a refrigerator at your vacation rental, yogurt is an easy, family-friendly breakfast.
While we purchase the large containers of yogurt at home, and you can easily purchase them on holiday, we often let the kids get single-serve instead.
Sometimes, we let them get pouches. Other times, we get things like Flip yogurts. You know, the expensive ones you wouldn’t buy at home.
Anything from the Frozen Breakfast Aisle
No, these items aren’t as cheap or healthy as making your own, but it is vacation, and usually buying food at a grocery store is cheaper than at a restaurant. Plus, it is faster and easier than bringing kids to a restaurant.
Whether you choose frozen waffles, breakfast sandwiches, or French toast sticks, your breakfast can be ready in minutes.
Easy Cold Dinner Meal Ideas for Families on Vacation
Whether you don’t have an oven or you don’t want to turn it on during your vacation, here are delicious cold lunch and dinner easy family meal ideas that aren’t just your typical peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
I will be honest, I love a good PB and J, and for us, it is a great, easy meal option on vacation.
Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps
We have made this easy recipe countless times with a variety of salads, but our go-to is chicken Caesar salad wraps.
All you need is 3 ingredients: wraps, rotisserie chicken, and a bag of Caesar salad mix.
I tend to buy salad ingredients separately, but if you choose that route, you also need croutons (which I often make from scratch) and salad dressing.
One of the grocery stores nearby sells delicious fresh wraps in the bakery. If that isn’t an option, any packaged wrap will do.
The chicken can be made fresh as well, though rotisserie chicken is so much easier. My family also likes smoked chicken breast or smoked chicken legs instead of rotisserie chicken, and it is just as easy (if not easier), as all you have to do is cut it up.
Make the Caesar salad, add the dressing and chicken, and put it in a wrap.
My kids like to eat their salad on the side of their wrap. We usually serve our wraps with fruit or chips.
Caprese Sandwiches
Just about any sandwich works as an easy meal while traveling, but I love Caprese sandwiches, and they feel special and don’t require a lot of ingredients.
Bread (I opt for bakery rolls), tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella are all you need. If you want, add pesto and drizzle balsamic vinegar and olive oil on top.
Like the wraps, we usually serve our sandwiches with fruit or chips for a super simple, family-friendly meal while traveling.
Tortellini Pasta Salad
Tortellini Pasta Salad can be served hot or cold. Make a big batch and keep it in the fridge for easy lunches.
All you need is tortellini, pesto, and tomatoes. Add mozzarella or basil if you want. Either way, tortellini pasta salad is a simple, family-friendly meal that is easy to make in almost any hotel kitchen or holiday house.
Just boil the tortellini, let it cool down, and add the rest of your ingredients. Let the tortellini pasta salad chill off in the refrigerator or serve warm.
Snack Plate
My kids’ favorite meal is a snack plate, and they are so easy to make. Ours usually have some kind of cheese and crackers, fruit, and raw veggies such as carrots, cucumbers, and bell peppers.
Sometimes we add olives, jam, nuts, and anything else we can find that looks good.
A snack plate is the ultimate easy, kid-friendly meal. It may require chopping, but a snack plate does not require cooking.
Easy Hot Dinner Meal Ideas for Families on Vacation
This is for the show-offs who want to make their family a nice hot meal even on vacation. I am just kidding. As these ideas are so easy, they are worth staying in, saving money, and not worrying about kids behaving in a restaurant.
For families that aren’t interested in cooking on vacation, but still want hot and easy meals, read on for easy hot family meal ideas to make on vacation.
Fish or Chicken Bao Buns
This family meal is so easy to make on vacation, and it only has 3 ingredients.
Bao buns are often found in the freezer section at the grocery store. Add whatever protein you like. We have used frozen chicken tenders and frozen battered fish. The third ingredient is premade coleslaw, which can be found in the deli section of the grocery store.
Yes, I know that coleslaw is more than just 1 ingredient, but for the sake of simplicity, purchase the premade coleslaw.
You don’t need a steam basket to make the bao buns. A regular pot works, as long as you have the top of the pan, aluminum foil, and a glass plate that fits inside.
Boil a small amount of water at the bottom of the pan, add 3 balls of aluminum foil to keep the plate up, and then put the plate inside. To keep from burning myself, I add the aluminum foil balls and plate before the pot gets hot.
Cook the bao buns according to the package. Mine usually takes 9 minutes with the pot covered.
They may stick together a little bit, but that’s okay.
Cook the chicken tenders or frozen battered fish according to the package. Put one inside a bao bun, and top with coleslaw.
Bao buns are another meal that our kids eat if the components are separated.
Pizza
Yes, it is easy to order a pizza, but it is almost as easy to make your own.
Again, all you need is 3 ingredients for this easy-to-make, while traveling, family-friendly dinner.
Many grocery stores sell pre-made dough. Sometimes you can get premade dough from a restaurant as well. All you need is a jar of tomato sauce and some shredded cheese to go on the premade dough, and you will have pizza in no time.
Of course, it is easy to add toppings if you don’t mind purchasing more than 3 ingredients for this super easy, family-friendly meal.
Nachos
Another fun and easy family-friendly meal is nachos. No, nachos aren’t the healthiest meal, but it is vacation, and nachos are fun and delicious.
The base of nachos is corn chips, and we bake ours with shredded cheese on top until the cheese melts. The rest of the toppings are up to you, though we always include salsa.
We alternate between chicken with taco seasoning, black beans, and refried beans heated up on the stove. Use a small pot to heat canned or frozen corn (or just put it on the corn chips in the oven).
Sour cream and guacamole are good choices too, as are pickled jalapenos for those who like their food spicy.
Quesadillas
Quesadillas are another easy meal that can be made with just 2 ingredients or more, depending on what you have. For a basic cheese quesadilla, just melt shredded cheese onto a tortilla.
Add more protein with black beans or shredded rotisserie chicken. Want to add veggies? Roasted diced sweet potatoes pair well with black beans. Almost any roasted veggie will taste great on a quesadilla. Top with salsa, sour cream, or guacamole.
Sheet Pan Fajitas (Chicken, Veggie, Shrimp)
I know it sounds like these recipes are getting harder, but I promise it does not get much easier than sheet pan fajitas. Sheet Pan Fajitas only require a few ingredients, but you can add more if you’d like.
The only ingredients needed to make sheet pan fajitas are tortillas, taco seasoning, peppers, onion, olive oil, and protein. Stick all of the ingredients on a sheet tray, top with olive oil and taco seasoning, and bake. Then serve it inside a tortilla.
The chicken, shrimp, or extra veggies (such as mushrooms) go right on the sheet pan with the peppers and onions.
If you are the kind of cook who desperately requires a recipe, this one works well (just remember you don’t have to make your marinade).
TikTok Feta Pasta
The official TikTok recipe for feta pasta requires pasta, feta, tomatoes, garlic, basil, and olive oil. The hardest part about TikTok feta pasta is waiting for it to cook!
You can add more ingredients, but we never do.
Family Travel Tips
Now that you have some easy family meal ideas for your vacation, here are more family travel tips that might help.
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