Tips for Making Delicious Dinners on Your Boat

By Austin Ellingsen

What are the most common meals eaten onboard a boat? Prepacked sandwiches? Microwave dinners? Burgers? Pizza? While many of us like to enjoy home-cooked meals onboard, others prefer to eat their meals on shore, at the closest restaurants. For some boaters, the most advanced dish served on board is often eggs and bacon in the morning.

There is nothing wrong with that, but eating dinners at restaurants every day doesn’t make dinner conversations with close friends or family as enjoyable, in my opinion. Most of us live a busy lifestyle. We have jobs we need to attend daily, families to entertain, kids that need transportation everywhere, and trips to the grocery store and other shopping takes a lot of time.

So when the time comes to get on a boat for the weekend or for a vacation, the last thing we want to do is hours of shopping and prepping, just to overfill the sometimes undersized fridge on board and create more tasks for ourselves – especially if there are restaurants close to the harbors we stay in.

And cooking takes a lot of time, doesn’t it? We don’t want to slave in the kitchen during our time at anchor, but enjoy the trip to the fullest with no chores. (At least many of us do.) If you ever have lived on a boat AND you are a “foodie” like me, you might know what I am talking about.

But what if you could make a 5-star dinner on board, almost as fast, and just easy as making burgers? Would you do it? For example, let’s say you wanted a leg of lamb or a nice, juicy brisket, with baked potatoes, carrots and asparagus. Sounds like too much work? Actually, this is one of the easiest meals to make, with simple preparations at home before departure.

What I like to do is to precook the meat 75% at home, and complete the cooking on board. At home, bake the lamb or brisket in a Dutch oven or oven bag until almost done, and let it cool down before cutting it to avoid losing the juices. After it has cooled down, cut it into serving size pieces, and spread the pieces out flat, before wrapping them in aluminum foil.

That way, all that’s left is to finish them off in the oven on board. And the cooking time at 350 °F on the boat will just be around 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of your cuts.

Here is how I prefer to start preparing this meal on a boat: Begin by opening a bottle of red or white wine and pour yourself a glass. Always. Then wrap large Russet potatoes with aluminum foil and put them in the oven at 350 °F while sipping your wine and listening to your favorite music.

Relax about 60 minutes and enjoy the view, before putting the meat and veggies (wrapped separately) in the oven too. Let it sit for 10-15 min. Keep a stick of butter, sour cream and more red wine close by for maximum enjoyment. Done!

A dish even easier than meat and potatoes is a fish stew I have perfected over the years that has 14 ingredients – 2-3 types of fish (depending on what’s available), shrimp, cream, and several types of vegetables. It all goes in a big pot in sequence, and it takes about 30 minutes to make.

It’s a stew worthy of being on the menu at any fish restaurant, and it requires only cutting veggies and fish, stirring the pot, music, and a glass of wine. Almost as easy as a microwave dinner, but 100% more enjoyable. Serve to friends and family with French bread and butter.

I really like to cook, both at home and on a boat. And I think making good food while on the water is something that makes a trip even more enjoyable and memorable. More often than not, cooking and eating onboard after a day of scuba diving, fishing or just sailing creates a unique atmosphere, unlike any restaurant.

If you want to know more about galley cooking ideas or if you would like a personal galley cooking class, just let me know. And come see me at the Strictly Sail Miami Privilege Marine display during the Miami International Boat Show, February 16-20.