Boat food: recipes for the galley
A galley is not a proper kitchen. The stove moves with the boat, the worktop is the size of a chopping board, and both fridge space and cookware are limited. These thirty recipes are written for exactly those conditions: few ingredients, simple preparation, and the right quantities for the whole crew.
30 free recipes for the galley
Every recipe scales to your crew size at the touch of a button. After that, one more tap puts the ingredients on the shared shopping list.
- All thirty recipes with photo, ingredients and preparation. Four categories, visible to the whole crew.
- Quantities for 1 to 30 people. Move the slider and every ingredient recalculates live.
- One tap onto the shopping list. The ingredients land in the right supermarket category, with a note showing which recipe they came from.
Thirty galley recipes in four categories
Meat, fish, vegetarian and vegan. You get one example recipe from each category, with ingredients for eight people and the matching preparation. The remaining recipes are waiting in the app, where the quantities can be scaled to your own crew size.
Meat
10 recipes
Full recipe
Chili con Carne
Ingredients
- beef mince1.2 kg
- large onions4
- garlic cloves6
- kidney beans (400 g)4 can
- sweetcorn (300 g)2 can
- chopped tomatoes4 can
- tomato paste2 tube
To taste: chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper
Preparation
Sear the onions and garlic in olive oil. Add the mince and cook until crumbly. Briefly roast the tomato paste, then deglaze with the canned tomatoes. Stir in the drained beans and sweetcorn. Simmer for at least 30 minutes so the flavours combine. Serve with rice or plain bread.
In the app you set the number of people and every quantity recalculates live. One tap on "Add to shopping list" and the ingredients appear on the shared list, sorted by supermarket aisle.
Nine more meat dishes
From the recipe straight to the shopping list
Set the number of people, tap once, done. The ingredients land in the right supermarket category on the digital shopping list, visible to the whole crew on every phone.
Fish
10 recipes
Full recipe
Aglio, Olio e Gamberetti
Ingredients
- spaghetti1 kg
- prawns1 kg
- garlic cloves10
- olive oil200 ml
- chillies2
To taste: parsley, lemon
Preparation
Cook the pasta. Meanwhile gently warm the garlic and chilli in the olive oil. Add the prawns and cook for about 4 minutes. Lift the noodles straight into the pan and finish with parsley and lemon juice.
In the app you set the number of people and every quantity recalculates live. One tap on "Add to shopping list" and the ingredients appear on the shared list, sorted by supermarket aisle.
Nine more fish dishes
Vegetarian
5 recipes
Full recipe
One-Pot Feta Pasta
Ingredients
- short pasta1 kg
- cherry tomatoes1 kg
- feta4 pack
- garlic cloves2
To taste: olive oil, fresh basil
Preparation
Put the pasta, tomatoes and garlic in the pot with just enough water to barely cover. Cook until the water has nearly gone. Stir in the feta until it melts into a creamy sauce.
In the app you set the number of people and every quantity recalculates live. One tap on "Add to shopping list" and the ingredients appear on the shared list, sorted by supermarket aisle.
Four more vegetarian dishes
Vegan
5 recipes
Full recipe
Red Lentil Dal
Ingredients
- red lentils800 g
- coconut milk2 can
- onions4
To taste: fresh ginger, turmeric, cumin
Preparation
Rinse the lentils. Fry the onions and spices, then add the lentils. Pour in water and coconut milk. Simmer for 15 minutes until the lentils break down.
In the app you set the number of people and every quantity recalculates live. One tap on "Add to shopping list" and the ingredients appear on the shared list, sorted by supermarket aisle.
Four more vegan dishes
The most common mistakes when cooking on board
On land you plan around taste. On board you plan around space, time and sea state. These three things go wrong most often.
Land recipes taken on board unchanged
Four pans, three cooking times, everything ready at once — that works in a kitchen. On a small gas stove, where one pot of pasta water and a single pan already take up everything, it does not. Simple dishes are the key to cooking well on board.
Fresh food left until later
Salad, mince and fresh fish do not keep forever. Fresh ingredients belong in the first few days; after that, tins, dry goods and hard vegetables take over. Fresh supplies can always be topped up along the way. The galley recipes are built around exactly that order.
Cooking under way, in a seaway
A pot of boiling water on a moving stove takes some getting used to, and in a real swell you will be seasick below decks before long. Plan to cook in harbour or at anchor — it makes everything easier. Under way the rule is: one-pot dishes where the water boils down instead of being drained off.
Thirty recipes that work on board
Chosen for the number of ingredients, simplicity, keeping qualities and taste.
What makes the galley different
A few things worth knowing before you plan the week and go shopping.
A fridge on board has its limits
On most charter yachts the fridge runs off the ship's battery. If the engine stays off for a couple of days, or power has to be saved overnight, the fridge goes off with it. That decides the order of the week. Meat and fish on the first two days, then tins, dry goods and hard vegetables take over. Onions, garlic, potatoes, cabbage, lentils, rice, pasta and tinned tomatoes will last the whole week without any power at all.
Small stove, limited worktop
Space on a boat stove is limited. One pot of pasta water and one larger pan, and it is full. That is why almost every one of these recipes is built around minimal cookware: chop it, put it all in, let it simmer, done. That is what makes cooking on board work. Anything that needs several pans, all ready at the same moment, does not work in a galley, however easy it is at home.
Eight people, one chopping board
The biggest difference from recipes you find online is the quantities. Every recipe can be scaled to your own crew size in the app. That saves the awkward mental arithmetic in the supermarket, and with so few ingredients the chopping board is free again quickly.
One or two evenings fewer than you think
At least once a week the crew eats ashore, usually more often. Plan for seven evenings and you will carry food back home with you. Six dishes plus a tinned reserve is the more realistic sum.
Common questions
Are the recipes available as a PDF or a cookbook to download?
No, and that is deliberate. A file cannot do the maths and is awkward to share. In Skipper Connect you set the number of people, the quantities adjust, and the ingredients go onto the shared shopping list. Everyone on board can open the recipe. That is what makes cooking on a sailing boat simple.
Do I need an Omnia oven?
For almost all of them, no. Only the lemon chicken is written for one. Everything else works on two burners, and most of it in a single pot.
What keeps for a week on board without refrigeration?
Onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, apples and lemons. Plus hard cheese, whole salami, eggs, anything tinned and anything dry: pasta, rice, lentils, couscous. Coconut milk and UHT milk as well.
How many people are the recipes written for?
The base quantities are set for eight people, the typical crew of a charter yacht. In the app you can set any number between 1 and 30 and the quantities recalculate live.
What does it cost?
The recipes can be viewed free of charge. To put them on the shopping list, someone on the trip needs to unlock "Pro". See pricing
On board with you
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The trip is planned. So is the food
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