Whether you’re an avid camper or a camp counselor, creativity is key for cooking. These camping meals are sure to please every camper’s pallet.
Camping is an awesome way to get off the couch, spend some time in nature, and figure out who was actually paying attention in Boy or Girl Scouts growing up.
Of course, it’s no secret that pulling off the perfect camping trip requires tons of planning — and a willingness to embrace the unexpected. But with so many different things to remember, camping food often gets left as an afterthought.
This year, don’t settle for canned food, nuts, and jerky. And don’t feel like you need to bring along every piece of equipment in your kitchen to create a gourmet camping experience.
Believe it or not, it’s completely possible to create camping meals that will keep everyone happy using nothing more than an open flame and the right ingredients.
Ready to see how it’s done?
If so, then read on.
The Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich
This camping food might be meant for breakfast, but we say that it’s a crowdpleaser at any time of the day.
All you need is an open fire, some tin foil, and a skillet — along with the following ingredients.
Pack a few pieces of cooked turkey bacon, ham, or even leftover barbecue in a container in your backpack. (To prevent spillage, we suggest wrapping everything up in a plastic baggie for good measure.)
Also grab a pack of English muffins and some eggs. If desired, you can also toss in a few packs of American cheese slices.
Start by heating up the English muffins in the skillet over the fire. This should take about 2-3 minutes each side. Then, take out the meat of your choice, and warm it up. Finish my frying the eggs and, if you’d like, adding the cheese to melt on top of them.
Then, just assemble your sandwiches (we suggest enlisting other campers to help with this process.) Now, for the magic: wrap them each in tin foil, and let them sit on the grate for about 4 minutes.
This final step combines everything perfectly, and the foil also helps to minimize the mess!
Campfire Lasagna
Yes, you read that correctly.
It’s totally possible to assemble a dreamy camping meal of lasagna — and we promise it won’t take anything near the amount of work you’re imagining.
To make it, you’ll need:
- 1 dutch oven
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of oregano
- 1 tablespoon basil
- 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 2.5 cups your favorite pasta sauce
- 12 oz. lasagna noodles
Then put about 25 coals onto your campfire, and give everything a moment to come to a flame.
Put the olive oil in your dutch, and give it a minute to heat up. Once that’s done, add 1/2 cup of the pasta sauce. Put one of the lasagna noodles down to create layer one. Then, add another 1/2 cup of the pasta sauce, along with a cup of the spinach and 1/3 cup of your cheese.
Repeat this process two more times. Add your spices on top.
Now, put the dutch oven on a bed of 8 coals. Then put the lid on the pot, and place the last 17 coals on top. Wait for about half an hour, and you’re done!
Spinach Dip for a Snack
Sometimes, the best camping food isn’t a complete meal at all. Instead, it’s a little pick-me-up that you can enjoy in between the bigger meals.
To pull of campfire spinach dip, you’ll need:
- 3/4 cup of frozen chopped spinach
- 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 package plain cream cheese
- Tin foil
- Crackers of your choice
If you’d like to spice up the dip further, you can add extras like green onions or artichoke hearts. But the above ingredients are the basics.
Just mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, and then fold it into a tin foil packet.
Set up your campfire and place the foil packet close to the hot coals for about half an hour. Then, gently open your packet, and enjoy with crackers.
One Final Tip for Camping Meals
While this is a list of incredibly easy campfire meals, keep in mind that you’ll need to find solutions that work for longer camping excursions.
After all, the last thing that you want to deal with is having to tote around fifteen different ingredients. Look for recipes that have a major overlap in overall ingredients. You could even consider finding some ingredients, like mushrooms or herbs, along the trial.
Also, break up the ingredients between your campers’ packs. There’s no reason why one person should be carrying around everything.
Above all, we suggest embracing meal planning before you go. For a great list of inspirational meals that fit within a camping theme, visit the Camp Food website to help design your menu. Check it out here.
Need More Campfire Cooking Hacks?
We hope this post has helped you to understand that it’s possible to create beautiful camping meals out of nothing more than an open fire and a willingness to branch out of canned beans and hot dogs.
Just remember to plan ahead as much as possible, to prevent people from getting too hangry along the trail.
Of course, in addition to the right campfire cooking prep, you’ll also need to think about a packing list. You should also figure out the routes you plan to take, who should come along, and how strenuous you want your camping trip to be.
No matter what kind of vacation you’re going on, we want to help you to get the most out of it. Keep checking back with our blog for more advice on how to make that happen.
