Bongo Fury

Hi all,

Just getting my Bongo ready for a few trips and was wondering if anyone’s tried keeping longer-lasting meals on board. I’m after something easy to pack for a few days, quick to heat up, and doesn’t take up too much space in the van. Do most of you go for regular tinned stuff, or do you use freeze-dried meals? If you’ve tried the latter, is it any good for camping or short road trips in a Bongo?

Cheers in advance for any tips, really appreciated!

I have a mixture of items, plus usual size of small fridge. I keep tins of meat, vegetables and VeeTee rice and sauces under the R&R bench seat none of which need cooling on a long term basis so always available, also a couple of long life milk cartoons. Then put fresher and/or frozen items into the fridge on a per trip basis. That gives me best of both worlds, if I decide to stop out over night rather than drive home I always have something to eat and drink in the van, no matter what. I used to have freeze dried items but they tend to be more expensive and the range seemed restricted hence the move to cans, rice and sauces, maybe I need to re-visit what is available freeze dried again!

Gotta say, I’ve mostly used takeaways
However.. I was looking at similar options myself, ideally ‘one-pan’ meals, so would be interested in what others have found worthwhile.
My Bongo is unconverted, so I use camping stove set up next to the Bongo or in my pop-up Quechua ‘awning’.
I currently don’t have a fridge either so only buy fresh stuff as required.
Any Top-Tips on fridge options much appreciated, for simplicity I will likely just buy a plug in cool box.

We’re heading away on Friday, this time with all seats removed and my motorcycle rolled in the back (for runs to the chippy ).

I'm totally converted to one pan meals using a Ridgemonkey https://www.anglingdirect.co.uk/ridgemo ... te-edition the only other need is a kettle, been using it for 2-3 years now and have taken all the old stacking pots and pans out of the van. If you need to cook for more than one person then there are larger/deeper options as well but Connect Combi is ideal for a single person! It also acts as a brilliant plate once you disconnect the handle(s) so minimises waste and cleaning!

Pot Noodles, tins of Spam, packets of easy-cook rice etc are ideal. Simple things which we can get the kids to cook too, when Jr went off to university he was in a house (3 girls, 3 boys) and he was the only one who knew how to cook ANYTHING.

There is of course the Bongo cordon bleu recipes list by Muz himself viewtopic.php?p=705785#p705785

I'd definitely agree on the Ridge Monkey Pans.

A game changer in respect to reducing the number of pans and the small footprint is a real benefit in a small van like the Bongo.

Meal wise a hob and fridge gives us a lot of flexibility, but we still keep self heating bags and camping meals for back up in case of a problem with the stove or fridge.

We had to eat them recently, as the use by date was approaching and found them actually pretty good.

Plenty of choice out there, they are easy to store and heat up using a self heating bag or just hot water.

g8dhe wrote: Thu Aug 21, 2025 10:05 am I have a mixture of items, plus usual size of small fridge. I keep tins of meat, vegetables and VeeTee rice and sauces under the R&R bench seat none of which need cooling on a long term basis so always available, also a couple of long life milk cartoons. Then put fresher and/or frozen items into the fridge on a per trip basis. That gives me best of both worlds, if I decide to stop out over night rather than drive home I always have something to eat and drink in the van, no matter what. I used to have freeze dried food but they tend to be more expensive and the range seemed restricted hence the move to cans, rice and sauces, maybe I need to re-visit what is available freeze dried again!

Thanks for advice