Alaska, the 49th state of the USA, is unbeatable for scenery and pretty unpredictable for vegans trying to rely on restaurants or grocery stores. We traveled through Alaska in a 33-feet RV as a family of six, and eating well turned out to be one of the easiest parts only because we came prepared. [This post was written by Dana from Four Sprouts - thank you, Dana!]
This guide breaks down how food fit into the rhythm of our route, what we cooked in an RV kitchen, what we wouldn’t bother with again, and how Alaska’s geography, weather, and distances shaped everything we ate.
Anchorage was our only reliable full grocery stop, so we loaded the RV with tofu, vegetables and fruits, breads, chickpeas, couscous, rice, cheerios, protein yogurts, snacks, and the kids-favorites (Impossible nuggets and Lightlife hotdogs). Prices jump the second you leave Anchorage, so this haul carried us through most of the first week.
We didn’t stay in Anchorage but drove straight to Seward. Meals prep with the type of day we had. Our hiking days at Exit Glacier, Lowell Point and our visit to the Sealife Center were calm and chilly, but on the long Kenai Fjords boat tour cold wind and motion made eating unpredictable, and the kids burned through food constantly. Having wraps, tofu salads, vegetables, and snacks ready made everything smoother. There were limited vegan options onboard, so our packed lunch mattered.
Around Palmer, we hiked through Hatcher Pass, Gold Cord Lake Trail, West Butte, and did the Matanuska Glacier trek, which was especially physical - crampons, helmets, hours on ice - and once we were off the glacier, we were all starving. High-protein meals landed best. We weren’t going too creative in the kitchen on those hectic days, but we did try to keep things nourishing.
The Alaska Route: Where We Went and How It Shaped Meals
Anchorage → Seward (Day 1-4): Stock up & settle in
Anchorage was our only reliable full grocery stop, so we loaded the RV with tofu, vegetables and fruits, breads, chickpeas, couscous, rice, cheerios, protein yogurts, snacks, and the kids-favorites (Impossible nuggets and Lightlife hotdogs). Prices jump the second you leave Anchorage, so this haul carried us through most of the first week.
We didn’t stay in Anchorage but drove straight to Seward. Meals prep with the type of day we had. Our hiking days at Exit Glacier, Lowell Point and our visit to the Sealife Center were calm and chilly, but on the long Kenai Fjords boat tour cold wind and motion made eating unpredictable, and the kids burned through food constantly. Having wraps, tofu salads, vegetables, and snacks ready made everything smoother. There were limited vegan options onboard, so our packed lunch mattered.
Palmer & Glacier View (Day 5-7): Weather Swings + Heavy Activity Days
Around Palmer, we hiked through Hatcher Pass, Gold Cord Lake Trail, West Butte, and did the Matanuska Glacier trek, which was especially physical - crampons, helmets, hours on ice - and once we were off the glacier, we were all starving. High-protein meals landed best. We weren’t going too creative in the kitchen on those hectic days, but we did try to keep things nourishing.
We ‘rented’ a rice cooker with the RV, and it turned out to be such a success! With as little as stove and rice cooker, we put together meals like roasted seitan and potatoes, or tofu bites, rice and garlicky peas, and all of those were easy to pack and reheat when we were back from our daily adventures.
Driving Thompson Pass into Valdez is one of the most dramatic stretches of the trip - waterfalls, cliffs, fog rolling over snow patches, and in Valdez we were able to see (from up close!) bears, twice! Once in our KOA campground in Valdez, and once on the Homestead Trail. But grocery stores in town had very limited produce, and what they did have on the shelves were 3 times as expensive as at home. This is where our Anchorage staples earned their keep, but we did need to be modest with restocking our produce supply.
Valdez (Day 8-10): Stunning, Remote, and Limited for Groceries
Driving Thompson Pass into Valdez is one of the most dramatic stretches of the trip - waterfalls, cliffs, fog rolling over snow patches, and in Valdez we were able to see (from up close!) bears, twice! Once in our KOA campground in Valdez, and once on the Homestead Trail. But grocery stores in town had very limited produce, and what they did have on the shelves were 3 times as expensive as at home. This is where our Anchorage staples earned their keep, but we did need to be modest with restocking our produce supply.
Due to the cold coastal weather, we mostly cooked in the RV. Warm bowls worked after long outdoor days, and the kids went through soy nuggets and pasta with marinara sauce on days we had less time to cook. A pre-cooked batch of marinara sauce made fast dinners easier. On one of our days at Valdez, we picked up food from the Nat Shack, which turned out to be really spicey, so not a good fit for our kids, but the food was not bad at all.
The drive out of Valdez toward Denali was long enough that “lunch” became “whatever we can assemble when we safely pull over.” The Denali Highway looks fine on a map but really isn’t - it is mostly gravel and slow-moving, so snacks, fruit and simple meals carried us. We overnighted at a packed little BLM campground near Paxson, rolled in late, and made a quick comfort meal.
Denali runs on its shuttle system, which allows you to hop on and off, hike and explore. Kids burned energy nonstop. When we got off the shuttle, we sealed food away for bear safety, but on the shuttle, we needed enough fruit, cereal, granola bars, pretzels, and sandwiches to last hours. Expect long stretches between stops (approximately 6 hours), and book shuttle tickets in advance - same-day rarely works.
We reached mile 35, explored on foot and ended the day with a lucky wildlife sighting - a mama bear with two older cubs right by the bus. By dinner, we all craved the vegan options at 49th State Brewing (at Healy, near Denali) - reliable, kid-friendly, and has many branches across Alaska. Right outside the park entrance, there’s a small stretch of shops and cafés that ended up being useful. We grabbed vegan coffee at Cache Café (oat and almond milk available). At the far end, there’s a restaurant offering pizza with vegan cheese - simple but reliable. The shops in between are where you find the tour providers: flightseeing over the Denali range (K2 are the most recommended one), helicopter trips, rafting, ziplining, ATV tours, and all the “once you’re here, you might as well do it” activities. It’s an easy place to regroup, grab something warm, and pick up information for the next day without needing to drive anywhere else.
Talkeetna is worth stopping for the atmosphere alone - but not vegan-friendly, so be sure to bring your own food. We checked several menus and found almost nothing that worked.
Our last night was in a questionable RV park (first dud of the trip), but the next day made up for it:
Alaska isn’t a place where you build your days around restaurants, so most meals were prepped in the RV. We did pack from home a few items that were trickier to find, but meals that worked best mostly checked three boxes: easy to assemble, high in fiber and protein, and made from ingredients we could find almost anywhere.
Paxson → Denali (Day 10-14): Long Drives + No Schedule
The drive out of Valdez toward Denali was long enough that “lunch” became “whatever we can assemble when we safely pull over.” The Denali Highway looks fine on a map but really isn’t - it is mostly gravel and slow-moving, so snacks, fruit and simple meals carried us. We overnighted at a packed little BLM campground near Paxson, rolled in late, and made a quick comfort meal.
Denali (Day 11-14)
Denali runs on its shuttle system, which allows you to hop on and off, hike and explore. Kids burned energy nonstop. When we got off the shuttle, we sealed food away for bear safety, but on the shuttle, we needed enough fruit, cereal, granola bars, pretzels, and sandwiches to last hours. Expect long stretches between stops (approximately 6 hours), and book shuttle tickets in advance - same-day rarely works.
We reached mile 35, explored on foot and ended the day with a lucky wildlife sighting - a mama bear with two older cubs right by the bus. By dinner, we all craved the vegan options at 49th State Brewing (at Healy, near Denali) - reliable, kid-friendly, and has many branches across Alaska. Right outside the park entrance, there’s a small stretch of shops and cafés that ended up being useful. We grabbed vegan coffee at Cache Café (oat and almond milk available). At the far end, there’s a restaurant offering pizza with vegan cheese - simple but reliable. The shops in between are where you find the tour providers: flightseeing over the Denali range (K2 are the most recommended one), helicopter trips, rafting, ziplining, ATV tours, and all the “once you’re here, you might as well do it” activities. It’s an easy place to regroup, grab something warm, and pick up information for the next day without needing to drive anywhere else.
Talkeetna (Day 14): Fun, Quirky, Not Vegan-Friendly
Talkeetna is worth stopping for the atmosphere alone - but not vegan-friendly, so be sure to bring your own food. We checked several menus and found almost nothing that worked.
Anchorage (Day 14-15): One Last Reset
Our last night was in a questionable RV park (first dud of the trip), but the next day made up for it:
- playground breakfast in town
- pizza for the kids
- Wild Scoops Creamery (a must)
- and a movie before the airport
PART 2: What We Actually Ate (and Why It Worked in Alaska)
Alaska isn’t a place where you build your days around restaurants, so most meals were prepped in the RV. We did pack from home a few items that were trickier to find, but meals that worked best mostly checked three boxes: easy to assemble, high in fiber and protein, and made from ingredients we could find almost anywhere.
Here are the meals we relied on repeatedly:
If you’re vegan and traveling Alaska by RV, bring these from home:
For kids especially: fruit, wholegrain cheerios, pretzels, protein yogurts, tofu pan-tossed bites, roasted chickpeas, PB sandwiches, and trail mix.
- Lentil and chickpea dishes bagged dry lentils and canned chickpeas are easily stored in the pantry. Lentils cook quickly and the chickpeas are ready-to-eat. Both are packed with plant protein, vitamins and fiber, and were the backbone of quick lunches and dinners.
- Tofu bowls or tofu salads We rotated between pan-fried tofu ‘fingers’, oven-roasted tofu bites, and tofu “egg” salad. Tofu was widely available in Anchorage and held up fine in the RV fridge.
- Basic vegetables, grains and carbs Most vegetables held up for days in room temperature and were that fresh part of nearly every meal we had. Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, bell pepper and avocado were the basics for everyday salads or vegetable platters, and broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, cabbage and lettuce were our warm meals go-to basics. We had roasted cauliflower & chickpeas with tahini-yogurt dressing for many campground dinners, especially where we had steady power and water. Rice, couscous, and quinoa all travel extremely well, hold their texture, and pair with everything, so we made them in advance and combined them with freshly made salads more times than I can count outside the campsites. For days with nonstop movement, sandwiches and wraps with cream cheese or guac spread and veggies, or with a nut butter and fruits did the job without slowing us down.
- Breads We kept a rotation of everything bagel, sourdough bread and pita pockets. While the pita needed to stay frozen for freshness, the other breads could stay at room temperature for days, and between the 6 of us, we restocked often enough that none of the breads sat long to lose quality.
- Breakfast Staples
- Pancakes (kid-pleaser and easy on hookups)
- Cereal and Cheerios
- Silk protein yogurts
- Toast with hummus or peanut butter
-
Kid Comfort Foods
- Impossible nuggets
- Lightlife hotdogs
Used sparingly but saved us on low-energy days.
PART 3: Pantry Staples Worth Packing From Home
If you’re vegan and traveling Alaska by RV, bring these from home:
- Tahini (sesame butter - high in iron, protein, healthy fats and vitamins; great as a salad dressing or for warm bowls)
- Flaxseed meal (for pancakes)
- Key spices you rely on
- Enjoy Life chocolate chips (for pancakes or a put-together trail mix).
- dry legumes - harder to find on local grocery stores.
- Dandies marshmallows! They are so hard to find outside of Whole Foods.
What Not to Bother With
- Skip greens that wilt and anything requiring long simmering.
- Restaurants outside Anchorage won’t meet vegan needs.
Snacks That Actually Worked (Heavy Drive Days + Cold Days)
For kids especially: fruit, wholegrain cheerios, pretzels, protein yogurts, tofu pan-tossed bites, roasted chickpeas, PB sandwiches, and trail mix.
For us: guac, pretzel rods & sliced veggies (carrots, cucumbers) for long drives, popcorn, rice cakes, fruits.
There aren’t many vegan-friendly places in Alaska, but these two deserve space in this guide:
49th State Brewing: Great food, solid vegan options, kid-friendly, roomy, and a good place to decompress after long days or before a flight.
Two Food Stops Worth Your Time
There aren’t many vegan-friendly places in Alaska, but these two deserve space in this guide:
49th State Brewing: Great food, solid vegan options, kid-friendly, roomy, and a good place to decompress after long days or before a flight.
Wild Scoops Creamery: Their plant-based flavors were excellent. Easily one of the best desserts of the whole trip.
Final Takeaway
Alaska is breathtaking, cold, huge, and unpredictable - but eating vegan on an RV trip here is not difficult if you plan ahead. The RV kitchen ended up being the most reliable part of the trip, and the meals we made were simple, filling, and exactly what a long Alaska day demands.
Dana Shik is the founder of Four Sprouts one journey, where she shares vegan recipes and family RV travel adventures shaped by her family life on the road. She’s also a PhD-trained immunologist and medical writer who brings a practical, evidence-based lens to plant-based eating.
Dana Shik is the founder of Four Sprouts one journey, where she shares vegan recipes and family RV travel adventures shaped by her family life on the road. She’s also a PhD-trained immunologist and medical writer who brings a practical, evidence-based lens to plant-based eating.
