This make-ahead curry rice bowl is one of our favorite meals for multi-day camping and river trips. It’s easy to prep in advance, travels well in a cooler, and scales easily for feeding a group. On long river days when everyone is hungry and tired, having a sturdy, flavorful meal ready to serve makes camp feel effortless.
As I do with most river dinners, I make this curry ahead and freeze it in zip-lock bags or vacuum seal it. Prep time in camp is minimal: Just heat the curry, cook a pot of rice, and serve. I usually serve this with brown rice, a crusty sourdough bread, and a crunchy salad. Cilantro leaves and a healthy dose of cashews give it a topping pop of color and lovely crunch.
Why this curry rice bowl works for camping and river trips
This curry rice bowl is ideal for large camping groups because you do the main prep before your trip, and it’s infinitely customizable in camp to fit diverse tastes and dietary restrictions.
- Make-ahead friendly: You can make the curry ahead of time (even weeks before your camping or river trip), freeze it, and layer it in the bottom of the cooler.
- Holds up in heat: By precooking and freezing the curry, you avoid problems with bringing uncooked meat on multi-day trips, which can risk spoilage.
- Scales easily: Curries are inherently hearty and satisfying, and served with rice, curries can efficiently serve large camping groups. Curries are a mainstay in some of our largest, 20-person-plus river trips.
- Minimal camp prep: Once you’re in camp, you simply heat the curry, cook up some rice, and set out simple garnishes such as cashews and cilantro.
- Vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, and carnivore options: While you’re making the curry at home, you can keep the base curry vegan or vegetarian, then divide out portions to which you add shrimp, steak, or chicken. On the river, simply heat up the different curries in separate pots.
How to prep curry rice bowls before your camping or river trip
Over time, I’ve learned some cooking and packing tips that make this curry a stunning crowd pleaser in river camp.
- Note that the recipe here yields a 12-person batch, so it’s already geared toward large groups. If you click the “2x” scale button on the recipe, you’ll have enough for 24 people, which is about the largest group that you could reasonably accommodate on most permitted river trips. (If you’re cooking for a family reunion, go ahead and 3x the recipe!)
- Roast the veggies and protein on a baking sheet before building the curry in a large stock pot. Although I’ve used a variety of vegetables, my favorite combination is mini sweet peppers, yellow onion, and sweet potatoes. With this vegan base, you can add various proteins in separate batches to accommodate other eating preferences.
- Adding coconut milk takes the edge off the curry spice, plays with the fire-roasted tomatoes, and make the curry vegan-friendly.
- Cook the proteins separately, then add to the base curry divided into different pots. This curry works well with seared steak cubes, roasted shrimp, chicken, and roasted tofu.
- Once the curry is cooked, pour it into heavy-duty zip-lock bags and label the vegan/vegetarian, fish-based, and meat versions. Double-bag the curry and lay the bags flat on the bottom of your freezer at home so they freeze in flat, space-efficient packages that are convenient to pack in the cooler.
- On your river or camping trip, be sure to take the curry out of the cooler early enough in the day that it’s completely thawed before you heat it. I use vegetable stock as the base liquid and carry some extra on the river for dilution if needed as it’s heating. Keep stirring as you heat it in river camp so it doesn’t burn on the bottom, a common threat in camp as most of us aren’t using our best heavy pans.
- To top off the curry, bring whole salted cashews and fresh or dried cilantro.
- Serve with a crusty bread (our favorite is sourdough) and a hearty salad: We often pair this curry with our camping-friendly tabbouleh grain salad.
If you’re looking for more food planning ideas and recipes for large camping or river groups, check out our time-tested guidelines for river and camping trip meal planning, step-by-step Dutch oven camp cooking tips, and food-packing tips for river and camping trips.
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Make-Ahead Curry Rice Bowl for Camping Trips
Hearty and spicy, this curry rice bowl works with steak, chicken, shrimp, or tofu. Perfect for camping and river trips, you can make this curry ahead of your trip, freeze it, then heat and serve on the river. The recipe as written serves 12, and it’s easily scalable for even bigger camping groups. Packed with protein and hearty vegetables and served with cashews and a bright splash of cilantro, this curry will become a camp meal favorite.
- Total Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
Ingredients
5–6 sweet potatoes
1 medium yellow onion
10–12 mini sweet peppers
3 Tbps olive oil
5–6 cloves garlic
2 tsp salt
3 cans fire-roasted tomatoes
2–3 pounds shrimp, tofu, chicken, or steak
1 (32-ounce) carton vegetable stock
1 (7- to 10-ounce) jar curry paste
2 (13.5-ounce) cans full-fat coconut milk
2-3 cups roasted salted cashews, for serving
Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
Optional toppings
Chopped cilantro
Roasted cashews
Lime wedges
Sliced green onions
Sriracha or chili crisp
Plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Toss the sweet potatoes, onion, and mini peppers with olive oil and spread onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Roast until tender and browned around the edges, about 30–40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, roast the shrimp, chicken, steak, or tofu on a separate parchment-lined baking sheet until cooked through. (If using thawed precooked shrimp, roast just until heated through and lightly browned.)
- In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in the roasted vegetables, vegetable stock, diced tomatoes, curry paste, and coconut milk.
- Simmer gently for 30–45 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
- Stir in the cooked protein just long enough to heat through.
- Let the curry cool completely before transferring to freezer bags or containers.
Notes
- If you’re worried about the spiciness, you can start with a half jar of curry paste.
- See the tips above the recipe for prepping and freezing the curry.
- You might need more vegetable stock to achieve the right consistency. Keep in mind that the curry will thicken when you freeze it, so bring some extra stock on the river or to camp in case you need to dilute it as it’s heating.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 30 min
- Category: Dinner
More camping and river trip meals
Check out these additional food planning tips, gear recommendations, and recipe ideas for your next river trip or camping adventure:
