Plant-Based Road Trip

Plant-Based Road Triip - see how Molly Patrick of Clean Food Dirty Girl does it

By Molly Patrick

Aug 1, 2025,

By Molly Patrick
Aug 1, 2025,

Today, I’m going to share how I manage an epic summer plant-based road trip! I went all around Oregon, some of Nevada, southern Utah, northern Arizona, and the Bay Area. I took pictures and kept notes along the way, and I’m going to share all my tips so you can see just how easy it is to stick to a plant-based diet, whether you’re on a fun journey across the country or just traveling for work.

I have written loads of posts over the years about how I eat a plant-based diet when I travel. I love traveling, and I never let my diet stop me from exploring the world. I’ve gone to Australia, Arizona and New Mexico, and I’ve visited the Netherlands. I’ve spent significant time in Malaysia. I’ve traveled throughout Namibia. I also went to Zimbabwe and Botswana. I’ve eaten plant-based in France and Tokyo. And everywhere I’ve traveled, I’ve stuck to eating plants.

When I’m at home, I eat a whole-food plant-based diet. This is like a vegan diet but without overly processed ingredients. When I travel, I am less strict. I will stick to eating vegan, but if a vegan pizza happens to present itself to me, I am IN!

Next time you go on a road trip, no matter how big or small, come back to this post and find out how you, too, can road trip like a plant-based badass! There is a helpful grocery and equipment list at the end of this post for you. Enjoy!

Notes from my plant-based road trip

We arrived in Portland in the evening. The plan was to spend a few days there before starting on our road trip. The morning after we arrived, we walked to the People’s Food Co-op to pick up a few things. There were some vegan restaurants we wanted to try, but we didn’t want to eat every meal out. So, to the co-op we went! Food co-ops are my happy place. They are getting rarer, so it’s always a treat to shop in one.

The People’s Food Co-op on 21st Ave. in Portland

One of the nice things about food co-ops is they usually offer plenty of organic produce from small local farms. This one was no exception.

Look at all of that fresh, beautiful produce!

Expert Tip: Pack a bag of rolled oats or grab some at the store when you arrive, along with some fresh fruit, so you can make overnight oats for breakfast. Overnight oats are more nutrient-dense than cold cereal and are just as easy. You can use milk or water to soak them overnight, then top with fruit the next morning, and boom, breakfast is a done deal. You’re ready to explore.

Organic rolled oats soaked in soy milk overnight and topped with blueberries, plums, and banana.

Expert Tip: Corn tortillas, canned beans, and a handful of veggies make a ridiculously easy meal you can assemble almost anywhere. If you can, stay in places with a small fridge, a microwave, and a kettle for hot water. This makes it super easy to whip up easy, plant-based meals.

For this meal, I bought some Three Sisters Nixtamal corn tortillas at one of the Portland Farmers markets. They are organic and oil-free. Then at a health food store, I bought a can of refried black beans, a jar of roasted red peppers, an onion, arugula, spinach, and lime. I heated the tortillas and the beans, sauteed the onion and spinach, and added some red pepper. I put the beans on the tortillas, added some veggies, put arugula on the side, then squeezed lime juice over everything. It was such a yummy meal!

Fresh lime juice adds a pop of flavor when you don’t have your spice cabinet.

Expert Tip: When you go on a trip, your number one goal is to ENJOY. Don’t stress about the food. Do the best you can, and soak up the experience of being somewhere new. You aren’t going to eat as well as you do at home. And that’s okay. If that was the goal, you may as well stay home!

Expert Tip: Get a good cooler for your road trip. This will allow you to make food and prepare plenty of snacks for the road so you don’t have to stop at restaurants along the highway or in small towns. Small towns and highways are not known for their abundance of fresh food. A good cooler will make it possible for you to eat healthy on the road.

Because I flew into Portland, we were able to borrow a good cooler from a friend’s friend for this portion of the trip. I used two coolers during this trip. A Yeti and a Canyon. Both were great, but I thought the Canyon cooler kept the ice and ice packs frozen for longer.

Expert Tip: Bring a cooler cover and cover your cooler with it in the car. It helps insulate the cooler and keep your stuff colder for longer.

I cut up a cantaloupe and stored it in a couple of plastic bags in the cooler. The perfect cold snack for the road.

Expert Tip: Pack some travel packs of nut or seed butter for easy sandwiches without having to lug around a whole jar of nut butter.

I don’t usually eat a lot of bread, but sandwiches are great for putting in a day pack when going for a hike. I found a loaf of gluten-free sourdough and made some PB&Js.

Expert Tip: Fillo’s Walking Tamales are fantastic for traveling because they do not require refrigeration or heating up. You just open the package and eat. They do have some oil, but this is an instance where I make an exception. I usually save these for emergencies, like on the plane or when I get hungry and don’t have a way to heat anything up or anything else to eat.

I was stoked to have this in my bag during a visit to Timberline Lodge at Mount Hood. I found a seat outside, opened the package, and ate. I also had a banana. The restaurant at the lodge had some vegan options, but I didn’t want a full-on meal, so this was perfect. Plus, my view was epic!

Expert Tip: Try local products when you travel. This sauerkraut was one of the best I’ve ever had. Since I wasn’t able to prepare a lot of fresh cabbage, this was a great way to get some cabbage in my bod. I added it to tacos, bowls, greens, and ate straight out of the jar with a fork.

We stayed at an out-of-the-way lodge, and the food options were minimal. There was no fridge in our room, so we decided to keep our cooler in the car overnight. The lodge offered some snacks that they set up in the evening, including crackers, hummus, carrot sticks, and fresh fruit. As soon as I saw the snacks, I knew what I was going to do! I went out to the car and got the sauerkraut from the cooler. Then I added some crackers, hummus, carrots, and fruit on my plate and found a seat. I proceeded to make some cracker stacks with hummus and kraut, and ate them along with carrot sticks and fruit. It wasn’t the best meal I’ve ever had, but it totally worked. Sometimes you just need to get a little creative, and dinner can be served.

Expert Tip: Whether you’re visiting a big city or a small town, find out when and where there’s a farmers market! You will find the best, freshest in-season produce. We bought so many cherries and berries at different markets around the state because we were there in July. I always prefer to buy directly from small farms when I have the chance.

Expert Tip: Bring a small container of all-purpose soap with you on your road trip. This comes in handy for everything from dishes to clothes to your body. Dr. Bronner’s is my favorite.

Some might say I went overboard with the chocolate. I say no way! Dark chocolate is one of my favorite things. Finding all the locally made dark chocolate when I travel is pretty much my idea of heaven.

After Oregon, I flew to Las Vegas to meet up with my childhood bestie. The first thing we did after we checked into our hotel was go grocery shopping. She eats similar to me, so it was easy peasy to make meals together.

When we were planning our trip, we decided that we definitely needed chips to eat in the car.

Expert Tip: At almost any health food store, you can buy pre-cooked rice that you can heat up in the microwave. This is a great base for bowls while traveling.

This bowl had rice, black beans, arugula, chopped walnuts, and miso dressing. Plus a few potato chips for good measure. 😄 Would I add those chips to my lunch at home? No. I wouldn’t even bring those chips into my house! But on vacation, I’m not worried about a few potato chips here and there.

At our Airbnb, getting ready for a day of hiking in Zion National Park in Utah, I loaded up with overnight oats, piled high with fresh fruit. I was fueled and ready to go!

If you’re at all familiar with Clean Food Dirty Girl, you know we love us some sauces! When my friend and I were at the grocery store, we found a vegan cheesy sauce by Daiya. It was packaged and ready to put on anything. It didn’t even need to be heated up. I tried it on some bean and veggie tacos one evening. Let me save you the disappointment, it was so salty and it didn’t have any other taste. If it’s not a Clean Food Dirty Girl cheesy sauce, it’s not worth it. Plus, my tacos didn’t even need it because the beans, veggies, and lime juice was tasty enough.

Expert Tip: Raw carrots are super easy to snack on and add to the side of any meal. It’s a quick nutrient nutrient-dense, fiber-filled addition to your plate.

Expert Tip: Bananas are the original fast food. Don’t leave on a trip without some!

Stopping for a rest and a snack during a hike in the Narrows in Zion National Park.

Expert Tip: If you don’t eat a lot of bread, thin rice cakes make excellent little sandwiches. Here I have one with peanut butter and one with hummus and cucumbers.

Expert Tip: Pack a plate for your road trip, and you will use it all the time.

Time to make dinner! We checked into the lodge at the incredible north rim of the Grand Canyon. The lodge and the cabins have since burned down due to a forest fire in June 2025. I’m so happy I got to see it and so sad it’s no longer there.

There was no fridge, microwave, or kettle for water in our little cabin. We decided to try to have dinner at the lodge because there was a vegan option. No luck. They were all booked. The little cafeteria only had cheese and pepperoni pizza, and the bar had bar food—nothing vegan.

No problem, we knew what to do! It was going to be a car meal, and it would be delicious.

Getting ready to get creative and see what we could come up with.

We had stocked up at a health food store a couple days before, so we had options!

And we had more options in the cooler.

We put cold refried beans in a bowl and topped them with cold black beans, added chopped red onion, chopped cucumber, salsa, avocado, and mixed greens. We had some blue corn chips on the side.

You might not think that cold beans are tasty, but you would be wrong. My friend, who I was on this portion of the trip with, and I figured this out one night when we were teenagers. We came home late one night from a party, and we were so hungry. And drunk. We had no patience for heating anything up so we ate cold beans from the can along with some avocado. It really hit the spot. It’s been one of our jokes ever since. Sometimes we just text each other “cold beans,” and we both laugh.

Expert Tip: Bring a cutting board and a knife with you so you can slice and dice veggies.

Expert Tip: Bring some disposable bowls with you on your trip. You never know when you need a meal with no way to wash your dishes.

Dinner was served! We had some cool camping chairs, and we dined like queens in the parking lot.

During this meal, my friend said to me, “You’re really good at not overcomplicating the food thing when you travel.” It was a wonderful compliment. I was so glad she was game to eat “Dirty” with me!

Since there was no refrigerator, I had granola for breakfast, topped with kiwi, banana, blueberries, and plums.

Expert Tip: Pack granola for breakfast emergencies.

I woke up early the next morning and walked down to the lodge with a cup, a tea bag, and some soy milk. After I found the hot water, I added a little sugar and a splash of soy milk and made my way to the huge windows in the lodge that overlooked the canyon. There were big, comfy couches in front of them, and it was so peaceful. I drank my tea in the sun, just gazing at the canyon, trying to wrap my head around 6 million years of earthly history in the making. I sat there for about an hour, just soaking it all in.

My friend had asked me if I wanted to go on a hike in the morning, and I told her I would prefer to go to the lodge and enjoy my tea. In hindsight, I’m so glad I made that choice, because although the Grand Canyon is still there, this lodge is not. It was a special place, and I will always have this memory of it.

Expert Tip: Always stock up on non-dairy milk before your trip. Buy the shelf-stable kind so that you don’t have to store it in the cooler until you open it.

Drinking my morning tea in the lodge at the North Rim.

Expert Tip: Dolmas are fantastic for a road trip. If you buy the kind in a can, they don’t require refrigeration until you open them. They are not oil-free, but if you bring some paper towels on your road trip (highly recommend), you can blot the oil so they are less oily. They are a great addition to your plate of plants.

Here we stayed at a motel that had a fridge and a microwave, so we did a proper bowl!

Our bowl had microwaved rice, black and pinto beans, cucumber, tomato, chopped red onion, the rest of the Daiya cheese sauce, and some greens. Totally gourmet for a little dinky motel meal!

We were staying at a hotel casino in Vegas, and finding vegan food was going to be a pain in the ass, so we decided to have one last meal from the car.

Expert Tip: The hotels on the Vegas strip don’t typically have a microwave or a fridge because they want you to spend money at their restaurants. You can find hotels a few blocks from the strip that are much more accommodating.

We decided to put together a plate of all our odds and ends and last bits of things. Operation parking lot dinner was underway.

We started with baked tofu.

Dolmas, rice cakes with hummus and cold beans, baked tofu, and carrot sticks. Was it the best meal of my life? No. But it was easy, healthy, and quicker than searching the strip for vegan food when all we wanted was bed. This is a perfect reminder that food is fuel. Should we enjoy it? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, food’s job is to fuel us, so if every meal isn’t a 10/10, that’s okay!

After Vegas, it was time to head home. So happy to have a pocket tamale for the plane!

This was my first meal when I got back home.
I cooked a bunch of Japanese sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot and topped them with cooked chickpeas, arugula, and Drop It Cheesy Sauce. Oh, it was so satisfying! After a month of eating out of cars and motels, it was good to be home, back in my Dirty kitchen.

Here is a list of helpful equipment to pack with you on your next road trip, and a grocery list so you can whip up easy plant-powered meals on the road.