scrambled eggs in one
cookpot and turkey bacon in another

Woman at a campsite in a
field with panniers as chair and table

two motorcycles in the desert
at sunrise with panniers as table and chairs next to a tent

a
woman sits at a pannier table and chairs and she is wearing a
sweatshirt and she looks cold

a woman
sits at a pannier table and chairs at a motorcycle campsite

Coyotebroad's Advice for Women Motorcycle Travelers
(especially those who camp):

Meals on the Road While Traveling By Motorcycle

disclaimer

If you want to eat just at restaurants while on a motorcycle road trip, that is absolutely fine! If you have the money and will be somewhere that has ready-to-eat food available, why not? Eating at restaurants has three big benefits: you get to save SO much room when you pack, you get to enjoy wherever you are staying instead of having to cook and clean, and you get to experience either local cuisine or something convenient.

However, many of us don't have the resources to eat out for every meal, or even most meals, even when we aren't on a motorcycle trip. Also, many motorcyclists like to tent camp, and we like to camp in places where a restaurant may be many miles away. We also might want a beer or two with our meal, and we're mindful that drinking and riding is a horrible idea. We may just like the idea of setting up camp early and not going anywhere until after breakfast the next morning. If any of those scenarios describe you - meaning you need to prepare food at your campsite - then this page is for you.

One caution right up front: you should NEVER ride when you are famished. Hungry riders make poor decisions. Always have snack bars or fruit you can eat if you are going to have to skip proper meals.

Some general tips for eating while traveling by motorcycle:

Don't pack and try to eat something on the road that you don't like at home. If you don't normally snack on rice cakes, don't think you are going to magically develop a taste for them while traveling. If you are going to bring your food for meals, focus on things you like to eat when you aren't on a motorcycle trip.
There's no shame in getting food from a USA-based fast food restaurant. None. Sometimes, what you are in the mood for is a burger from Wendy's, and that's OK. Sometimes, it's just what is most convenient and is going to allow you to spend more time enjoying the road or a great place you are staying. Food shaming is stupid.
Your trip isn't some how more authentic if you cook your meals.

You do not want to spend inordinate amounts of time cooking and then cleaning pots and dishes. Don't get so elaborate in the name of cooking some big "proper" meal that your evenings and mornings are spent working to prepare a meal and then cleaning up instead of enjoying a lovely campfire and an adult beverage and the scenic views all around you and maybe the good company you are in as well.
Almost every gas station has some kind of food. So many gas stations even have hot meals now. I won't say they are healthy, but it's rare you are going to be in a literal food desert in the USA. In other countries, tiendas, gas stations and other places may not have any ready made food - only potato chips - or there might be the most amazing food ever at a completely out-of-the-way roadside place, made by a local woman (cash only though!).

What we pack for meals on a motorcycle trip:

This is going to sound like a lot. But it's not - this packs down very small. And as I say a few times here, we never have ALL of this on the bike at the same time.

Items in support of cooking, meal time, cleanup:

cooking oil (this can be used not only with rice, but also as a substitute in recipes that call for butter or margarine; make sure the small bottle you bring it in can be TIGHTLY closed; putting it in a plastic bag as well is a good idea, to prevent any oil spills while packed)
instant hot chocolate
instant coffee
powdered creamer
sugar
salt
pepper
chili powder
curry
paprika
garlic powder
onion powder
(I love those all-in-one containers with salt, pepper, chili powder, etc. in them)
bouillon cubes or powder
a container for extra drinking water - you can use a tough, clear plastic bottle that had soda in it, or you can use what we use: a super-durable water container from coyotetrips (my husband). But you absolutely need to always have some drinking water. We make sure it's filled before we leave every morning. We've tried the plastic, foldable pouches, but they've always developed holes at their folding points.
backpack camping stove (the kind that uses any kind of fuel is best, IMO, because then you don't have to carry special fuel for the stone - you can use the same gas you put in your motorcycle) and the metal container that attaches to the stove (for fuel).
fuel bottle to carry extra fuel for camp stove, if the stove uses something different than the same gas you put in your bike (which we don't).
at least two cooking pots, which fit into each other - nesting pots - and one of which is non-stick (we take four pots - they all fit into each other, two are non-stick, and four don't take up any more room than two because of the nesting)
camping utensils (knife, fork and spoon all fit together, one set for each person; we also use our Swiss army knives as needed)
collapsible plastic camping spatula (for stirring and sometimes for serving - our metal camping utensils would scar the non-stick pans if I used them to cook)
collapsible sink (not every site has a sink for washing dishes; can also be used for washing underwear in really primitive conditions, or even for hot water to wash your face if no bathroom is available, or hot water to rinse your hair)
dish washing liquid (use a small bottle and put the bottle into a zip lock bag - trust me on this)
a camping towel for dish use only; my husband bought a big camping towel and then cut it so that there was a small towel for washing dishes and the remainder was for drying, and because we bought it at a camping store, it came in a little, very handy mesh carrying bag
scouring pad for dish washing (folds in with the dish towels)
some paper towels (it's impossible to get all of the food out of cooking pots and not ruin your cleaning sponge or rags otherwise)
2-3 plastic grocery bags for trash

Believe it or not, except the cooking pats, the stove, the fuel, the bouillon cubes and the hot chocolate, all of the aforementioned fit into a small bag - we use a bag that's supposed to be to carry a lunch, that's supposed to keep that lunch somewhat cool. It's maybe 12 inches tall, 5 inches wide and 3 inches deep. Yes, really.

Food that doesn't have to be refrigerated

We do not have ALL of these all the time - we start with items that would make one or two supper meals and then pick things up as we travel and run out of things:

two cans of ready-made food (soup or a stew) for one supper meal
two different Tasty Bite Indian meals in pouches (terrific over the Tasty Bite rice or over other rice or just on its own, but note, it's liquid, and while the packaging is tough, a rupture in your luggage would be disgusting) - altogether, this is one supper meal
can of tomatoes, to mix in with rice or pasta or scrambled eggs
dried pasta
an onion (if we're going to have scrambled eggs or pasta - I sauté them in oil or the juice from the canned tomatoes first)
instant potatoes (great to have with sausage or a chicken breast bought that day at a gas station)
rice (regular or something in a pouch that's just ready to heat with a bit of water)
instant oatmeal
snack bars and/or breakfast bars
trail mix or nuts
turkey jerky (the only kind of jerky I like)
single-serving peanut butter containers
Betty Crocker Bisquick Complete Buttermilk Biscuit Mix (just add water)

Packets of salt, pepper, sugar, coffee and creamer from hotels and airports are awesome to save up for motorcycle trips, but be sure you pack them in a zip-lock baggie.

Sometimes we carry tortillas and buy a can of black beans, an avocado and a small can of salsa to make bean burritos for a supper and then breakfast burritos the next morning or the one after that.

You can buy fresh produce (like apples, oranges, bananas, avocados, etc.), eggs and bread on the road, but note that you may need to transport such from a few feet to a several miles, and fresh produce don't stay fresh for long in motorcycle gear.

I also carry squeezable condensed milk for my coffee. I LOVE COFFEE and I love creamer but I find powdered creamer barely drinkable and end up dumping a stupid huge amount of sugar into my coffee when camping unless I have a LOT of milk or creamer. The small package of condensed milk is like frosting and in my coffee, it's magic.

The first night out, I might bring a bit more elaborate meal I have already cooked at home and I heat it up on the camping stove that first evening.

Food that DOES have to be refrigerated:

My husband straps a small hard-sided cooler bag to the top of his panniers (it's about 10 X 10 X 5) , and it has been a heavenly thing to have - we buy ice each evening before we stop to camp for the night and any other groceries (beer!) we need.

What we carry in the cooler (we usually don't have ALL of these things all the time):

six eggs (to have within 48 hours for breakfast)
turkey bacon (I don't eat pork) - I love to cook the bacon, then cook the eggs in the grease (not much with turkey bacon), then throw it all in a tortilla, if we have such, or just eat it as is, with seasoning.
pint of milk
lunch meat (my husband likes this for breakfast with bread - or as a light supper)

Remember that raw eggs stay fresher longer than boiled eggs, but the latter is less fragile, and either should never get hot between meals.

The first night out, since we're leaving from our house, I might take a stick of butter and use it as needed for meals until it's gone. But for anything out on the road where I might need butter, once I'm out, I substitute oil.

I take an empty margarine tub or two for transporting fragile food items, and if at some point I need extra room, near the end of the trip, I might throw those tubs away - no big loss (I've usually reused them so much I don't at all feel guilty). You want very tough containers for items that go into the cooler or that you absolutely do not want to leak - things that will close, absolutely, and remain somewhat water-tight.

If a town is near enough, we'll get our camp site, unpack, and while I set up the tent, my husband goes on a beer and wine run (I love the small cartons of wine you can get at most grocery stores or convenience stores in the USA - also known as adult juice boxes!).

What we eat while camping:

My husband wants smoked meat slices and bread for breakfast (he's German). I have oatmeal, a peanut butter sandwich or a little lunch box size tub of peanut butter for breakfast if he has that. And we always have instant coffee, every morning. That means, every morning, the stove has to be fired up.

Sometimes for breakfast, we splurge, and I cook scrambled eggs, mixed with tomatoes or other veggies we bought the night before and some of our herbs and spices, if we found find eggs and fresh or canned produce easily the night before and don't have to buy a full dozen eggs at once. I've bought turkey bacon the night before, cooked the entire package up the next morning and then cooked the eggs in the bacon grease on the cook stove, if we're able to keep everything cool the night before. It's heavenly.

We haven't tried the biscuit thing yet - remember, we've just got a camping stone - but we will at some point (I'll try cooking biscuits three at a time)

For lunch, we usually stop at a restaurant, shop or food cart, unless we've had a crazy big breakfast. Most gas stations in the USA have hot food. We may even just snack on snack bars and jerky and an apple for lunch. In other words, we prefer not to have to pack food for lunch. The break in the day for lunch is often a much-needed rest from riding more than it is for food.

For supper, if we haven't had a real lunch:

I cook something out of a can (ravioli, Chunky soup, Progresso soup, beef stew, etc.). You might be amazed at just how many different kinds of Chucky soup and Progresso soup are out there, BTW.
I put together an Indian meal from those Tasty Bite pouches
I cook pasta with tomatoes and herbs/spices, rice with whatever fresh or canned produce I can find, like an onion (and even a cooked chicken breast from the deli department of a nearby grocery or even a gas station).
I cook beef or turkey wieners or brats with instant potatoes that don't require milk or butter.

Sometimes I pick up a can of pineapple and we eat that for desert - or even for breakfast the next day.

To drink? For supper, see previous note about beer and wine. For breakfast, coffee. All day: water.

We're not fond of just-add-water camping food, mostly because it's TOO FREAKIN' EXPENSIVE.

But what about recipes out of a camp cook book?!

I've attended workshops in campsite cooking, I've looked through a few camping cookbooks, and I just do NOT see the point of so much work while camping by motorcycle. Why would you want to take up all that room to pack even more stuff, spend time out on the road seeking out particular ingredients, and spend so much time cooking and cleaning after a long day of riding a motorcycle? I save my elaborate camp cooking for when we are in our camping trailer and can have a lot more ingredients, cold storage that lasts more than one night, a lot more cooking pots (including a cast iron dutch oven) and both a camp fire and a larger camp stove.

Always

We ALWAYS pack up our trash and take it to a trash can, even when we camp rough. And we take our beer bottles too - either to a trash can or a recycle station. Twice though, we camped in a really remote area and the way in and out was a really rough road. We were worried about making it out with the trash and beer bottled. We asked some car campers that were also leaving if they were willing to take them and they were MORE than happy to do so.

I always use waste water pits if they are available. I try to get absolutely all of the food waste in a finished meal into the bag we use for garbage, so that most of what goes down the waste water drain is just soapy water. I do the same for the water I use to brush my teeth. If there are no waste water pits, I schlep several yards from whatever water source is nearby (lake, river, stream, etc.). I NEVER put such in a pit toilet. Please be kind to the environment and do the same - it's a few extra steps away from your immediate camp site, but it's worth it.

Also see my pack list for other items we take.

And now a word from my husband:

Adventure Motorcycle Luggage & Accessories
www.coyotetrips.com

Aluminum Panniers and Top Cases,
Top Case Adapter Plates,
Tough Motorcycle Fuel Containers, & More

Designed or Curated by an experienced adventure motorcycle world traveler
Based in Oregon
You won't find these exact products anywhere else;
these are available only from Coyotetrips
(my husband)

Disclaimer
Any activity incurs risk. The author assumes no responsibility for the use of information contained within this document.

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Coyotebroad's Advice for Women Motorcycle Travelers (especially those who camp):