Camping season is here! Even though we won’t be doing much camping this summer since our baby is due in July, we have camped a TON in the last few years. Last year especially we had our camping routine down and were camping almost every weekend from the end of June through the beginning of August. From all of our camping experience, here are 10 of our favorite, simple camping food ideas.
Photo by Jessica Ruscello on Unsplash
1. Hot Dogs
Roasting hot dogs over a fire is quintessential camping food right? As long as you have dry wood, good kindling and a way to light a fire, cooking hot dogs is a quick, easy dinner after a day of hiking and exploring. If you can’t have a fire where you are, cooking hot dogs over a camp stove or camp grill is an even faster way to get your dinner.
2. Sandwiches
For lunches when we camp we almost always bring stuff to make sandwiches. They’re easy to assemble, the ingredients don’t take up much room in your food box or cooler and everyone can make what they want!
3. Pancakes
Our favorite camping breakfast is pancakes! I always bring proportioned pancake mix in ziplock bags and just add water, mix in the bag, cut off the corner and then cook them on our camp griddle over our camp stove. They’re super easy and quick to make and are always nice on a chilly camping morning. Don’t forget the syrup!
4. Muffins
Before we had our camp griddle, large muffins were often our camping breakfasts. Just pick up a box or two at Sam’s Club or Costco and you’re good to go! Make sure to keep them in the plastic boxes they come in because those boxes really help them travel well and not get squished.
5. Oatmeal
If you have a Jetboil like us, oatmeal is also a great camping breakfast. It doesn’t take up much room, fills you up and sticks with you throughout your morning hikes.
6. S’Mores
Who can go camping without s’mores?! Definitely the highlight of each camping trip are finishing our night out with s’mores. Don’t limit yourself to just the plain graham crackers, Hershey bars and marshmallows though! Some of our favorite combinations are fudge striped cookies with a roasted marshmallow inside, a Reese’s peanut butter cup between graham crackers instead of regular chocolate, and fudge covered graham crackers with a roasted marshmallow between. Bonus tip! If you’re camping where it is hot, make sure to store your chocolate or chocolate cookies inside your cooler so they don’t melt during the day. Pull them out when you start making dinner so they have time to warm up a bit before your s’mores making.
7. Roasted Starbursts
One of our favorite camping treats are roasted Starbursts. Just grab a bag of your favorite flavored Starbursts when you’re getting your food together for your next trip and you won’t regret it! When you have your fire going, simply put one unwrapped Starburst on the end of your roasting stick and roast until ti gets soft, melty and slightly crispy on the outside. Make sure you blow on it before eating it because they can be super super hot!
8. Tin Foil Dinners
Tin foil dinners are easy to prep ahead and have them all ready to go when you get to your campsite. Simply layer up some foil and add basically whatever you want! Traditionally they are filled with shredded potatoes, carrots, onions and some kind of meat. If you’re looking for a way to make these extra quick, cook all of your ingredients at home so everything is cooked through then assemble your tin foil dinners and just reheat them in the fire while you’re camping.
9. Muddie Buddies
Muddie Buddies, or maybe you know it as Puppy Chow, was something I feel like I had when I went camping as a child. They’re super easy to make ahead of time and are such a yummy treat. Again, if you’re camping where it is hot make sure to keep them in the cooler so they don’t get too melty.
10. Eat Out!
Seriously. Depending on where we are camping there are often times that we plan to eat out for lunch or dinner just so we can spend more time hiking or exploring the area around us instead of being at our campsite glued to the fire to make our food. In fact some of our favorite meals that we have had while traveling have been from some of our camping trips!
