The unexpected ingredient Hayden Quinn 'always' packs for a road trip

Hayden Quinn has revealed the unexpected ingredient he always packs for a road trip.

The celebrity chef recently went on an Apollo Motorhomes road trip with his wife Jax Raynor and their dog peanut to Bendalong, on the South Coast of New South Wales.

When it comes to a road trip, packing comes down to the essentials.

For seasoned chef Quinn, his must-have ingredient is one many of us wouldn't think of.

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"I always have fennel seeds in my little kit that we packed before we head on the road," the chef tells 9Honey Kitchen.

One quick and easy recipe Quinn uses the unlikely ingredient in is a sausage kale pasta.

The easy-to-make meal uses a mix of pork mince, garlic, olive oil, chili flakes, kale and parmesan, cooked crispy and all tossed in with some pasta.

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"It's perfect for whether you're in the camper van or at the campground or you're staying at an Airbnb or whatever," he says.

Along with fennel seeds, the chef swears by some other travel ingredient staples.

Quinn says condiments like olive oil and vinegar as well as some lemons or limes can take your on-the-go meal "to a new level".

Salt and chili flakes also makes the list of his must packs.

"I always take salt with me because obviously, you know, adding salt to your ingredients really just gives them that extra little bit of kick," he explains.

One option to save on cooking time (and to make your packing list lighter) is pre-preparing meals.

According to Quinn, there's one Aussie family household favourite you can recreate on the road with perhaps less ingredients.

The chef says his wife Jax "loves cooking up like a big batch of spaghetti bolognese."

Quinn says they pre-prepare the bolognese sauce and freeze it to take away.

Then it's just a matter of taking dry pasta and cheese with you and voila, dinner is ready!

"I love making a a simple dish like that, especially if you've sort of got it pre-frozen and and pre-cooked, ready to go. And you don't need to bring all the extra bits."

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How to store seafood on the road

On his recent travels, Quinn's go-to recipe he liked to make was a prawn curry, specially developed for Apollo Motorhomes.

For this recipe, the only fresh ingredient needed to be taken care of was the prawns, the rest like curry powder and tin rice could be stored dry.

But as well all know, it's important to keep seafood stored right so it doesn't go off.

While seafood and travel don't seem like the obvious pairing, or even "might sound weird" as Quinn admits, there's a way you can store it safely on-the-go.

For your prawns, Quinn tells 9Honey to get them vac-packed and freeze them.

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If you stop in and buy seafood while you're away, Quinn's tip is to get the staff in the store to vac-pack the products, "that way it obviously stays fresher".

"There's no oxygen in it. It sort of takes up a little less space, and it just stores a lot better when you're either in a small fridge in a camper van or you've got your yeti and it's got ice in it," he explains.

"It just keeps things waterproof, as well."

Quinn adds it "definitely helps" to see if your fishmonger or butcher can do that for you to keep your ingredients as fresh as possible.

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