How to Create Memorable Meals on Your Outback Yacht
Somehow everything tastes better when you’re out on your boat.
Whether it’s fish just moments out of the water or a steak served still sizzling from the grill, nothing beats the combination of sea air, balmy temperatures, and an active outdoor lifestyle to enhance a meal aboard.
And all the best onboard chefs know that cooking on a boat involves planning and attention that few land-based cooks really understand.
Even though your Outback Yacht is designed for on-deck living and seamless flow from galley to deck, your galley is still a very small part of a very small space – with limitations you don’t even think about when you’re cooking or entertaining at home.
So, we’ve combed the internet and browsed cookbooks prepared by boaters with lifetimes of experience to share these tips, strategies, and recommendations to create stunning, memorable meals on your Outback that you and your guests will rave about long after your cruise has ended.
General Tips for Equipping Your Galley
- Stock your galley with a bare minimum of essential equipment: a skillet, a saucepan, perhaps a Dutch oven or stock pot. Don’t forget spatulas, wooden spoons, can opener, corkscrew, bottle opener, cutting boards, and a good set of knives and magnetic knife rack.
- Browse boating stores for specialty storage solutions, like hanging nets, organizing pockets, airtight storage containers, thermal cups and mugs, silicone bakeware, and collapsible containers.
- Given you’ll be cooking and serving on a moving platform, keep glass out of your galley. Use melamine, acrylic, enameled metal, or plastic dishware. (Paper and plastic work fine but fill up your trash can and ultimately end up in landfills.)
- Supplement your tiny boat fridge with a cooler, and use it not only for beverages but for overflow fresh fruit and vegetables.
- You’re probably going to use a propane stove and oven to prepare your meals, and if you haven’t already equipped your Outback with a barbecue, do it! There are excellent propane grills that can be attached conveniently to the railings on deck.
- Reduce trash by using cloth napkins and tablecloths, and reusable, washable flatware.
General Tips for Preparing Meals Onboard
- In general, boat food needs to not only be tasty, but easy to eat without requiring lots of utensils or tableware. Hand-held breakfasts (muffins, granola bars, or fresh fruit), lunch sandwiches or tortilla rollups, and simple one-pot meals for dinner can provide plenty of nutrition and exceptional flavor.
- If you’re planning on cruising for a week or longer, plan and shop for one hot meal a day, based on staples like rice, noodles, and grains.
- Opt for simple recipes that you can mix by hand, that don’t require reheating, extra garnishes or sauces, or expansive counter space to prepare.
- If you’re only going out for a weekend, plan and prepare your meals in advance, using zip-lock bags or airtight plastic storage boxes to keep things fresh until you’re ready to serve them. Rely on fresh or dried fruit, fresh vegetables, trail mix, nuts, dips, sandwiches, and other foods that don’t rely on refrigeration.
- Using your Outback’s outdoor grill keeps heat out of the interior of your boat. Hot dogs or burgers, veggie brochettes, or chicken wings are perfect dinner food on your Outback.
Great Online Resources for Cooking Aboard your Outback
The Boat Galley offers hundreds of recipes that are great for camping and RVing as well as boating, including a wealth of options for dietary and equipment restrictions. From the website: “Cooking on a boat is different, but boat-friendly recipes make great meals on your cruising adventures not just possible but easy.” Some specialty recipes include:
- Recipes designed to mix by hand
- Recipes for grilling virtually anything from vegetables to fresh-caught fish
- Recipes for cooking without refrigeration
- Recipes for make-ahead meals for longer passages or weekends out on your Outback
- Recipes for dairy-free, gluten-free, or keto meals
- Recipes to make your own seasonings or ingredients to use in other recipes
All Recipes is a great online source of tested recipes for every occasion, and their “Galley Kitchen” section offers a wealth of insight into using space wisely, equipping your galley, meal planning and tips for quick, efficient, and safe cooking in a small, moving space.
Highly Recommended Boating Cookbooks
The following nautical cookbooks are highly recommended (available on Amazon) and grace the galleys of many full-time liveaboards and weekend cruisers alike.
The Boat Galley Cookbook: 800 Everyday Recipes and Essential Tips for Cooking Aboard, by Carolyn Shearlock and Jan Irons
In this easy-to-navigate and extensively cross-referenced masterpiece, long-term liveaboard cruisers Carolyn Shearlock and Jan Irons offer more than 800 recipes made from easily found ingredients and hand utensils in small boat galleys. In addition to their personally galley-tested recipes, they offer unique energy-saving tips like cooking in a Thermos, baking on top of the stove, and preparing enjoyable meals in a tiny, moving kitchen.
Cruising Chef Cookbook, by Michael Greenwald
After 22 years in print, and now in its 10th printing, the Cruising Chef Cookbook is essential to any boat galley. Not only are there more than 300 delicious recipes, there are hundreds of tips for buying, storing, provisioning, and resupplying in out-of-the-way markets. Greenwald also offers extensive instruction on special cooking techniques like pressure-cooking, stir-frying, and grilling. But perhaps the highlight of this cookbook is the salty humor that seasons the chapters. Articles like “Planning for the Big Eater” and “Fishing” will leave you exhausted from laughing out loud.
The Boater’s Cookbook: 450 Quick & Easy Galley-Tested Recipes, by Sylvia Williams Dabney
Dabney, a long-time live-aboard cruiser has over sixty thousand miles under her belt, and understands not only the necessity of a well-stocked pantry but the joy of collecting recipes from all over the world. A highlight of this wonderful cookbook is the comprehensive list of the kinds of gadgets gear, and supplies that every boater needs – and how to store it all in a limited space, whether it’s a 27-foot sailboat, a 60-foot motor cruiser, or an Outback 50.
The One-Pan Galley Gourmet : Simple Cooking on Boats, by Don Jacobson and John Roberts
This galley gem has it all: delicious recipes using fresh ingredients prepared with one-pan simplicity. The authors also offer sage advice for provisioning anywhere in the world and season this book with plenty of spice and personality. Highlights of this book include its collection of menu plans for three-day, seven-day, and longer cruises, as well as solid provisioning advice that emphasizes fresh ingredients and selective canned substitutions.
Storing Food Without Refrigeration Paperback, by Carolyn Shearlock
While not directly a boater’s cookbook, this book by Carolyn Shearlock (author of The Boat Galley Cookbook mentioned above) reveals how, with a bit of foresight and planning, you can store food and make delicious meals without using refrigeration. Shearlock lays out how any boater can make wonderful, home-cooked meals featuring milk, cheese, eggs, or meat without having to artificially freeze or cool their food or suck the battery power from your boat. She also includes techniques about how to properly wash, store, treat, and cook your food for the best viability and flavor.
When you’re ready to go “out back,” remember that dining on deck is one of the rare joys of owning an Outback Yacht.
We’d love to hear about your recommendations for shopping, storing, or cooking aboard your own Outback. We’d also be delighted to share resources as you set up and provision for your first cruise.
Just drop us a line or give us a call at either our Fort Lauderdale or Newport Beach office. We’ll look forward to hearing from you.
