We discuss the renormalization procedure for quantum scalar fields with modified dispersion relations in curved spacetimes. We consider two different ways of introducing modified dispersion relations: through the interaction with a dynamical temporal vector field, as in the context of the Einstein–Aether theory, and breaking explicitly the covariance of the theory, as in Hǒrava–Lifshitz gravity. Working in the weak field approximation, we show that the general structure of the counterterms depends on the UV behavior of the dispersion relations and on the mechanism chosen to introduce them.