The Ultimate Guide For Preparing Easy Camping Meals

Estimated reading time: 17 minutes

Learn how to prepare easy camping meals with our comprehensive guide filled with recipes and meal planning tips.

Camping meals are delicious and affordable, but they are tricky, especially if you are new to camping.

If you don’t know the latest hacks that can help simplify your meal planning and packing regime for the week, this recipe guide will help you.

Find loads of camping recipes below to prepare before you go camping.

Camping Food Made Simple And Affordable

The meaning of ‘going to camp‘ differs for everyone, but as soon as camping season is open for business, it’s full speed ahead, and we know FOOD is on the MENU.

Enjoying the great outdoors is a passion for many people with or without a tent, camper van, or cabin and tiny to no cooking appliances.

The Ultimate Camping Food

What constitutes the ultimate camping food?

I spoke to seasoned campers, including my sister, in-laws, and many CBB readers who jumped to share their camping food stories with me.

Although some campers might have a microwave stashed away for many, there is no room in the camping space for such kitchen tools.

I was amazed at what recipes people were willing to make on a campfire and how vital BBQ is when cooking away from home.

Roughing it in the woods and enjoying nature is what Camping is all about.

The most crucial camping tools for rugged campers are cast iron everything, tin foil, and knowing how to start a campfire to cook your food.

If you have a Dutch oven to use when Camping, it’s essential to ensure you use the correct temperature before starting your meal.

Check out this informative Dutch Oven Temperature Chart for more info because it doesn’t hurt to know how to use cooking tools efficiently.

Planning Camping Meals Ahead Of Schedule

Good camping food means planning before heading off for the weekend or even the entire season.

This might mean you prep meals in advance, such as mini quiches or casseroles that only need heating up over the fire or grill.

I’ve been told that some of the best camping food comes from trial and error, just like any kitchen meal.

Sharing ideas has been a tradition in my wife’s family over the past 20 years.

You’d be amazed at what you can cook over a campfire. Have you considered campfire nachos?

I’d eat them!

How about traditional S’mores as a dip made in a cast-iron pan?

So many camping food ideas come to mind, and today I hope to inspire and bring to life some of your traditions for campers who want to add to their camping meal plan.

Camping Experiences

What I do for a week of back country camping is, I put the cooler in the freezer & then add one meal at a time in reverse order.

The first day we usually have chili (frozen in jars) – at the top. And then we work our way down. We stop at a store to buy fresh fruit & veg & ice eventually but most of it is frozen or in the second Non cooler food storage box.

I have found triple layer tinfoil let’s you bake almost anything between the coals – hobo packs (with mushrooms & corn on the cob in addition to regular potatoes, onions, carrots), home made calzones, burritos, even small frozen casseroles. – Faith L.

I’ll be upfront and say that I’ve never gone Camping as a wandering traveler in my 20s which took me worldwide.

The closest I’ve been to Camping was when we hosted a German student, and the organization held a campfire dinner that consisted of hot dogs on giant stainless skewers and S’mores for dessert.

That was the first time I had heard of or eaten them. I’m not going to lie; S’mores are delicious.

Who doesn’t like chocolate, graham, and marshmallow?

Moving forward, my parents and sister have campers and set out once a year to a local campsite where they’ve built friendships and laid down some roots.

They know the area, and the kids are comfortable there, and it’s still a frugal way for the family to get away without breaking the budget.

The most significant investment was the upfront costs of buying the camper, which transitioned into purchasing an SUV to tow it around.

They have no complaints and look forward to packing up as often as possible during the UK summer months.

Since we’ve been married, we haven’t been camping; however, Mrs. CBB’s siblings continue to camp to escape the hectic city life.

“It was nice to leave everything behind for a couple of days just to be with friends and family and enjoy bonfires and laughter,” Mrs. CBB started doing in her teens.

Camping was not typical of my wife’s background, as Camping meant living in the backyard with a BBQ and sleeping in your bed.

Road Trips and Food

Going on road trips and renting an inexpensive hotel or motel for the family became a family vacation tradition.

Related: Food to Bring on a road trip to a theme park and hotel stay

“Most often, we would go to Niagara Falls and stay at a motel just off the strip, which is still operational today.”

There were no fancy hotels with swimming pools in their budget because the money they saved for holidays went sightseeing and eating out.

They weren’t the family who would pack food to go because, on holiday; they wanted to enjoy the not-so-common lifestyle they didn’t have back home.

How To Build A Campfire

It wasn’t until Mrs. CBB’s sister’s boyfriend introduced the family to a local campground where his family had camped for years.

Although hesitant, her father purchased a camper to tow with his truck.

There was an adjustment period, but Camping became a yearly ritual for the family until he started to get very ill.

He then sold the camper and resolved to Camping in the back garden or go to local beaches in the surrounding area.

Camping Food Recipes

I did manage to chat with my family members about this blog post about camping food recipes.

Before setting off, I wanted to know what people needed to stock up on.

Not all camping areas have grocery stores available.

You will pay higher prices when they do, especially in a remote location.

“It’s advisable to stock up on your kitchen essentials before you go camping,” my sister-in-law stresses.

You want to stretch your money for the entire camping season.

The last thing you want to become is a lazy camper, which can be far more expensive unless you start hunting for food.

We all know that won’t happen for the average camper who would rather be part of the woods than own them.

Building A Campfire

You should know how to build a fire in case you find yourself in an emergency.

Think Tom Hanks, Wilson, and the movie Cast Away.

You never know, so having basic skill knowledge in the woods could benefit you.

How to build a campfire the right way

I remember crossing over to Manitoulin Island with my family a few years ago, and it looked like an abandoned village, at least the part we drove through.

The area is where everyone went Camping, but we didn’t see much of that.

We did manage to stumble upon a petrol station out of the cowboy era and a local grocery store.

I realized that these small grocery stores profit from boosting everyday items’ prices.

Often, you’ll find higher-end grocery stores in smaller towns for that reason.

If I remember correctly, Foodland had a high price tag for groceries.

Related: Canada’s Most Expensive Grocery Stores

Sure, like every other grocery store, there will be sales, but with fewer options to shop elsewhere.

It’s the take-it-or-leave-it type of grocery shopping trip.

Camping Food Ideas

Freeze-Dried Camping food; dehydrated camping food is also a popular idea for campers who want to bring along foods they can keep in advance.

If you are in a tent, you likely won’t have a freezer to keep stuff cold, but coolers filled with ice packs and cubes work perfectly fine but don’t last long.

You’d have to keep filling them up as the ice melted.

Freeze-dried and dehydrated foods are outstanding as they last longer and are portable.

I would freeze hubby’s stuff too and all the frozen stuff went into one cooler that he was to open once a day to take out that day’s food to thaw. Things stayed frozen fairly well.

Christine W.

Beef Jerky is the perfect snack for camping when you’re sitting around enjoying a beer or beverage of choice and want something to nibble on.

There are so many camping snacks, but today, I’m picking my favorites and those reasonably priced for Canadians looking to save money while enjoying their camping trip.

Campfire Food recipes also include cultural dishes.

S’mores, hotdogs, butter tarts, marshmallows, pancakes and beavertails are all Canadian food.

Now for the Filipino side, pork and chicken barbecue skewers, grilled corn and a host of other goodies.

When we go camping, it’s like a Fiesta every meal.

Strange, but loads of fun!

Mona M. Facebook

Sample Camping Meals Menu

Breakfast

• Juice, Coffee, Tea, Milk, etc.
• Campfire Pancakes with Pure Canadian Maple Syrup (Sugar-Free Syrup) and Butter Mini Dollar Pancakes. Keto Pancakes for those who are gluten-free.
• Fresh Fruits or Dried Fruits or Homemade Granola or Granola Bars

Lunch

• Grilled Ham and Cheese Campfire Sandwiches
• Pickles and olives or a Charcuterie Board
• A hot bowl of tomato soup
• Beverage of choice

I love camping and I guess I would bring a casserole of homemade lasagna!!

With a side of beer sounds fantastic. – Laura N

Stuffed Peppers On The Grill – Keto or Low Carb

Grilled Stuffed Peppers

Camping Dinner

• Beans and Weenies
• Easy Donuts
• Beverages of choice

Beans and Weenies

Campfire Beans and Weenies

Campfire Donuts

Campfire Donuts

Add any snacks that appeal to you!

Camping Snacks

• Campfire Nachos
• Chips, including Nacho chips
• Trail Mix and Mixed Nuts or Nuts and Bolts
• Breakfast bars
• Protein bars
• Beef Jerky
• Dried fruits
• Marshmallows

We would always roast marshmallows on sticks and try not to catch them on fire.

I would usually burn my marshmallows black, lol

Colleen

• Cookies
• Fresh fruits (watermelon, apples, oranges, etc.)
• Popcorn
• Rice Cakes
• Crackers
• Hard cheeses

Junk! Lots and lots of JUNK!– Jo Anne B

You can’t go camping without hot dogs and all the S’mores ingredients.

Pioneer woman puts her snores ingredients into a split banana then wraps with foil.

It looked delicious and I want to try it this summer.

We used to take those Jiffy Pop popcorn pans camping

Donna P.

Trail Mix Camping Treat

• Toddler Trail Mix

Camping Breakfast Ideas

Quesadillas are the ultimate breakfast, lunch, or dinner for me and are super easy to fill, wrap, and cook over a campfire—instant oatmeal or anything that you can add hot water.

Breakfast Scrambler Perfect For Camping

BBQ Breakfast Scrambler

French Toast On The Grill

Camping French Toast is the perfect start to the morning, especially when it looks like this beauty from This Little Piglet.

Breakfast Burger

Campfire Breakfast Burger, which is perfect for making in your muffin tin

Campfire Bacon

You have to check out this Campfire Bacon and how easy it is to make!

Easy Camping Lunch Ideas

If you have a Dutch oven to use when Camping, it’s essential to ensure you use the correct temperature before starting your meal.

Check out this informative Dutch Oven Temperature Chart for more info because it doesn’t hurt to know how to use cooking tools efficiently.

Hotdogs wrapped in crescent roll dough on a stick are an excellent idea for lunch because the dough is portable in the tube it comes in and inexpensive.

Wrap your hotdog with crescent dough, put it on your skewer, and hang it by the fire pit.

Just try not to burn it like you would a marshmallow.

Mac and Cheese Or Instant Soups

• Instant soup, Asian Instant Soup, Mac n cheese

I like to bring things pre-made or pre-assembled. Some of our favourites are bacon/egg/cheese wraps, farmer sausage perogie casserole, bacon wrapped cheese stuffed hot dogs, meatballs, marinated steak and then of course all the salads.

For special campfire stuff we have a pie maker that offerss endless possibilities such as grilled pizza sandwiches, grilled peanut butter and jam, pie filling pockets etc.

Banana boats and campfire popcorn are good too! Nachos with beef and cheese and all the toppings. Mmm, I’m hungry now! – Samantha J.

This Mini Corn Dog muffin is ideal for adding to your camping food ideas, especially since it is simple enough to make and the cornbread mix is simple to prep ahead.

Hot Ham and Cheese Campfire Sandwiches

Hot Ham and Cheese campfire sandwiches will always be a hit, even for the kids.

Camping Dinner Ideas For The Whole Family

Camping meals can be as busy as you want them to be or as simple as the recipes I’ve chosen below.

Easy Hawaiian Chicken Kebab

Hawaiian Chicken kebab

My contribution would be beans from the can. When we camped with the children they loved to have hot dogs with a can of beans warmed over the fire.– Bonnie B

Creamy Camping Mac n Cheese

Camping Mac n Cheese

My husband would take the ingredients for spaghetti, chili, hot dogs and hamburgers when he went camping.

Spaghetti was the first night and those leftovers rolled into chili and so on with him. – Christine W.

Adobo is a must have as there’s no need for refrigeration. Best eaten a day after cooking.

Pork and chicken barbecue on skewers are also great marinated at least overnight.

Rice is always on hand. Usually made into garlic fired rice for breakfast.

There’s an assortment of pork sausages, pork and chicken sweet meats (Tocino) and fried beef tapa (similar to jerky).

This is just a few of the kinds of food we bring for camping. Mona

Crispy Campfire Potatoes

Campfire Potatoes

Brussels with Whole Grain Mustard

Grilled Campfire Brussels with Whole Grain Mustard

One-Pot Beef Stroganoff

One-Pot Beef Stroganoff

Yummy Grilled Halloumi Tacos, Low-Carb Keto

Grilled Halloumi Tacos Low-Carb

Camping Dessert Ideas

Bush Pie

Bush pies have been a family favorite ever since I was a kid.

Simple in design, “pie irons” allow you to make a toasted sandwich over a campfire by encapsulating the ingredients between two pieces of bread*.

The variety of bush pie ingredients is only limited by the imagination.

Bush Pie is a must with a campfire heck, and we even make it when we have a fire in our fire pit.- Colleen K.

Black Forest Bush Pie

S’mores Dip In Cones

Camping food- can’t forget the S’more cones– Patricia L.

Hip to Save has some delicious-looking Campfire S’mores too.

Camping Banana Boats

Campfire Banana Boats

Campfire Cinnamon Roll-Ups

Cinnamon Roll-ups

Camping Beverage Ideas

• Alcohol, if permitted, Camping Sangria
• Juice boxes, Pop, Water
• Tea and Instant coffee (perhaps a kettle if you aren’t interested in waiting for a campfire or your brew)
• Milk and other dairy if you have a refrigerator
• Shelf Stable dairy and non-dairy products

Camping Food List

When creating your camping food list, only take the items you will use; otherwise, you will take up valuable space for other things you need.

Always consider that there may be an emergency where you will need extra food or decide to stay longer.

In these instances, packing more of what you will use doesn’t hurt if it costs more at a local grocery shop where you are camping.

Another thing to consider is where you will be storing your items.

If you have a cooler, consider other food preparation methods in advance.

Note: Read my Ultimate Costco Canada Keto Products Guide to see what products you can find at Costco for your camping trip.

An available refrigerator and freezer open more variety for your camping food list.

1. Eggs, powdered eggs, or dehydrated eggs
2. Bacon
3. Sliced bread or bread-making ingredients
4. Cereal, instant oatmeal, cream of wheat
5. Pancake mix
6. Muffins
7. Cookies
8. Chocolate spread
9. Nut butter
10. Honey
11. Salsa
12. Snack bars and cakes
13. Pickles or other pickled items
14. Olives
15. Cheese, cream cheese, Cheese Whiz, etc.
16. Bagels, Wraps, Tortillas, Pita bread, croissants
17. Hot Dogs
18. Beans, Beans, and more beans, both canned and dry
19. Broths
20. Flour, almond flour, coconut flour, almond meal, etc.
21. Dehydrated meats
22. Sausages
23. Steak
24. Chicken
25. Canned Chicken or Ham
26. Fish, Canned tuna, and salmon
27. Marshmallows
28. Chocolate
29. Graham Crackers
30. Ice-cream cones
31. Apples, Watermelon, Oranges, Pears, etc.
32. Canned fruits
33. Yogurts and Cheese
34. Variety of vegetables: carrots, celery, avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, potatoes
35. Pie filling
36. Peanut Butter
37. Jams and Jelly
38. Condiments- Mayo, Ketchup, Relish, Mustard, BBQ sauce, Hot sauce, etc.
39. Health Foods
40. Coffee Whitener
41. Pasta
42. Pasta sauce
43. Chilli
44. Milk/Cream/powdered milk/evaporated milk
45. Instant noodles, pasta, soup, etc.
46. Canned tomatoes and tomato paste
47. Water
48. Cocoa, Instant hot chocolate
49. Fats- Butter, Oil, Lard, Coconut oil, etc.
50. Syrups
51. Snack items

Camping Bits and Bobs

Stocking your camp kitchen essentials before heading off to camp would be best.

• Baking and eating utensils, including a muffin pan, loaf pan, baking sheet, etc.
• Cast Iron Toast Bread Baker Sandwich Maker double Maker
• Firestarter, logs, sticks *just in case.
• Cups, bowls, mugs, dishes, pots, and cast-iron pans galore
• Lodge 10-1/4-Inch Logic Pre-Seasoned SkilletCamp Chef True Seasoned 14-Inch Cast Iron Pizza Pan
• Camp Chef True Seasoned 14-Inch Cast Iron Pizza Pan
• Camp Chef CIBP9 Home Seasoned Cast Iron Bread Pan (Black)Geen-Coller
• Outdoor Camping Cuisland small Hobnail Cast Iron Teapot Set With 2 cups
• Jr. Portable Kamado Charcoal Grill and Smoker with Cast Iron (I have this at home and love it).

Campfire foods I love are smokies on a stick, pizza sandwiches made with the sandwich makers you can buy for campfires.

I put pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese in mine, also good with cherry or apple pie filling.

Tammy B

Camping Pancake Mix Hack

Plenty of campers have hacked the system and know of ways you can create delicious food without all the fuss.

Using tinfoil is not only one popular method to cook potatoes; it is cracking eggs before you leave home and securing them in a container.

Pinterest Pin- Pancake Mix Hack in a ketchup bottle

• Magical Pillow Fluffy Pancake Mix
• Keto Cream Cheese Pancake Mix Recipe
• Scottish Pancakes

My daughter’s favourites are pizza sandwiches, dough boys, and tacos in a bag.

She also likes banana boats. Girl Guide camp food is quite good.– Susan D.

I’m sure that all of you have other camping food ideas and hacks that you would love to share with the CBB community, so please take a moment to leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading,

Mr.CBB

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