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People think that cooking outdoors is the same thing as grilling in the backyard; it’s not.
There’s no fridge nearby, no running water, and you have to get crafty with everything.
That’s why we’ve thrown together this guide on some of the best recipes for easy outdoor cooking, as well as the tips and tricks you’ll need to master it like an art.
From prep to cleanup and everything in between, this will prepare you for the thick of it. Let’s start with some camping cooking ideas for your next outdoor adventure.
11 Easy Camping Meals You’ll Love
1. Veggie and Steak Kebabs
Never had a kebab?
The best way to keep kids from messing up their food is with this, your go-to campsite food. The best part about this recipe is that a lot of it is up to interpretation.
We use this to make great steak and veggie kebabs, but you can use other meats, vegetables, and marinades. This recipe is simple to pick up and inexpensive.
- 2 lbs of stewed meat
- 1 green pepper
- 1 tomato
- 1 zucchini
- 1 can of chunked pineapples (optional)
- 8 oz. of teriyaki marinade
- 1 pack of wooden kebab skewers
While everyone has a different preference for meat, marinating it in teriyaki preserves a juiciness often lost over an open flame.
Chunk all of your vegetables, strain your canned chunked pineapples if you like a bit of an added bite, and get ready to follow a pattern.
Skewer one piece of meat, followed by one chunked pepper, tomato, zucchini, and pineapple, then repeat two more times per skewer. You can average about two dozen kebabs.
2. Tin Foil Baked Potatoes
This is a personal favorite, partially because it’s so simple.
You’re going to go a little bit beyond a regular baked potato, and you can make it all at home, as long as you keep these refrigerated. You don’t need much.
- We used 10 square feet of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
- 3 lbs. of russet potatoes
- 2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. preferred herb
- ½ cup butter
- ¼ cup sour cream
At home, cut a triangle-shaped hole on one side of each potato, right down to the core. Take a spoon and carve out a little bit of the center.
That’s where you’re going to inject this fantastic blend of flavor. In a bowl, mix your spices and butter, then microwave it for thirty seconds until everything melts together.
Whisk it, add your sour cream, and mix until it’s finished. Add a hefty amount to the center of each potato, then replace that triangle chunk of potato, wrap it tightly in tin foil, and cook it over the fire.
3. Sausage and Bean Hash
This straightforward camping recipe may evoke a sense of nostalgia in you.
This is super simple to whip together before you hit the road and doesn’t require much.
We add a bit of egg to our recipe to bind everything together and make a complete breakfast.
- 1 egg
- 3 pieces of cut-up Italian sausage
- 1 lb. diced russet potatoes
- ¼ cup cut-up onion
- One 14-ounce can of kidney beans
- 1 tsp. paprika
Do all of this prep at home. Dice your potatoes, drizzle some olive oil over them, and then roast them on a pan in the oven at 400 F for about 25 minutes.
Next, cup up your Italian sausage into chunks and begin pan-frying it. Toss in the onion to caramelize in the sausage’s natural juices, then add your spices.
At the end, when everything is fully cooked, whisk up an egg and toss it in. Scramble everything together, take your potatoes out of the oven, and simply reheat over a campfire with a frying pan
4. Potato Pancakes
There’s nothing like potato pancakes on Sunday morning.
This is a simple to assemble and fill item that will keep you awake and alert while camping.
- 1 ½ pounds of russet potatoes
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup of flour
- 2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. pepper
- 3 tsp. garlic powder
There’s a simple way to do this with a blender or food processor. Chunk the potatoes and toss them into your blender with everything else we’ve listed here.
Simply process until you get a puree. This is going to be your batter, so you want a medium consistency.
Store this for up to 72 hours before needing to toss it, and just drop it in a little bit of olive oil on a hot pan over the campfire. Easy as can be.
5. Pre-Frozen Beef Stew
We talked about freezing items before leaving the house, and beef stew is one of the best meals to pull out of the freezer literally minutes before you hit the road.
It keeps other perishables cold and keeps your stew at a perfect consistency.
- ½ lb. of russet potatoes
- 1 lb. stewed meat
- ¼ lb. of carrots
- ¼ lb. of peas
- ¼ lb. of onions
- ½ cup of flour
- 4 tbsp. of beef boullion
- ⅓ cup of olive oil
- 1 ½ cups of water
There’s a lot to this one, but it’s super simple to make. You can get frozen carrots and canned peas, and chop up an onion alongside the potatoes.
Toss everything into a crockpot and prepare it at home. First, add your oil, water, spices, and flour, followed by the stewing meat. Stir, leave on a low heat for four to six hours, and you’re ready to go.
Mix occasionally, but this will be a complete dish in no time. Freeze it in small batches, and keep in mind that this makes a little over two pounds after the veggies cook down, averaging 2-4 servings per batch.
6. One-Pot Beef Stroganoff
Who doesn’t love beef stroganoff?
This quick recipe can be made fresh at the campsite if you bring the ingredients.
- ¼ lb. of onions
- ¼ lb. of mushrooms
- ½ lb. of ground beef
- 1 bag of egg noodles
- ½ cup of sour cream
- ½ cup of beef stock
Brown the ground beef while you boil the egg noodles. Once the beef has finished cooking, add the onions and mushrooms and continue to fry them for approximately three to five minutes.
Simply add the cooked egg noodles to the pan with the beef, add your stock and sour cream, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
You’ll get a creamy beef stroganoff that you’ll end up making the minute you get home, too.
7. Sloppy Apple Pancake Bites
This mini dessert is fun for kids, but it will get them talking about the next camping trip (if you make it an exclusive campground treat).
- Any complete apple muffin boxed mix
- ⅓ cup of powdered sugar
- ⅛ cup of maple syrup
That’s not bad, right?
This one has minimal packaging. Make the batter and save it for the road. Get your pan piping hot, then drop three ¼ cup-sized bits of batter and fry it up for one minute on each side.
These flatten out a bit, but the batter should fluff up just enough to make them look like mini pancakes. Mix that powdered sugar and maple syrup together, and put all the finished products in a bowl.
Add the custom glaze and pancake bites, mix them up, and eat them with a fork.
8. Tortilla Pan Pizzas
This might be the camp favorite among the little ones, and it’s certainly simple enough to manage even over the campfire.
- 1 pack of preferred-brand tortillas
- 1 can of tomato sauce
- Grated mozzarella cheese (other cheeses won’t work)
- Dried basil spice
Put a touch of olive oil in the pan, and start frying up the tortilla. Add a spoonful of sauce, stir it around, then add your cheese, and finally, sprinkle some dried basil on top.
Personally, I like to spice this with a touch of salt and pepper. Keep this on until the cheese melts, but move it around to avoid sticking.
9. Peach Cobbler
Everyone will be swooning over this classic dessert.
This can get a bit dodgy if you’re going over the fire instead of actually using a grill. Get a cast-iron pan ready.
- 3 cups of sliced peaches
- 1 cup of milk
- ½ cup of butter
- Two cups of sugar
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 tbsp. baking powder
- A dash of lemon juice
Slice up those peaches and put them to the side. Mix together your flour, milk, butter, sugar, baking powder, and lemon juice, and start dropping it into a piping hot pan that’s been glazed with butter.
Drop in about half the batter, then layer the peaches in the center, keeping them about 1” away from the edges.
When all the peaches are present, pour the rest of the batter on top. After 15 minutes with the grill top down, insert a knife to check for doneness.
10. Stuffed Bell Peppers
Stuffed peppers are one of those dishes that you totally forgot about, but your next camping trip is bringing them back.
You can fully prep this simple recipe at home and cook it at the campground.
- 6 green bell peppers
- ¼ cup of onion
- ½ cup of tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 lb. of ground beef
- 1 lb. of white rice
- 2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. pepper
- 3 tsp. parsley
- ½ cup of mozzarella cheese
Get the rice cooking, and in a separate pan, start browning your ground beef. Once that’s cooked, throw all of your vegetables in the pan at once so you can absorb the flavor.
After adding your spices and cooking the rice, combine everything in one pot.
Stuff the peppers, but leave about a half-inch of room to top it off with mozzarella cheese. Wrap them individually in tin foil, and pack them for the campground.
11. One-Pot Mac and Cheese
The ultimate comfort food is now out on the campsite. You’ll need a bit more gear to cook this, but it’s the perfect dish to end a long day of hiking with.
- 1 lb. elbow macaroni
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup butter
While the pasta is boiling, you’re going to make a super simple cheddar cheese sauce.
Using as little heat as possible, put the cheddar, spices, milk, and butter into a separate pan, stirring every 1-2 minutes until they meld together.
You don’t want any cooked coloration on the cheese. After cooking the pasta, strain it, combine it, and savor the simplicity.
Wrap-Up
Make some lasting meals that everyone will talk about after the weekend.
Whether it’s a trip with friends, your wife and kids, or those in-laws that you’re just looking to impress, you’ll have more working knowledge of outdoor cooking and cleanup than anybody else at your party.