Hot dogs cooking over a fire. Photo credit: Nicolette Attree
Whether it’s your first time going camping or you’re already a pro, you need some good campsite meals. If you’re going camping with your family, or if you’re somewhat new to campsite cooking, you’re going to need some easy camping recipes to start with.
New campers tend to jump in with both feet, but it’s a mistake! Start with some easy recipes like the ones below and work your way up from there.
If you’ve never gone camping before and you’re worried about how it might go, consider taking your first trip with a guiding company that can teach you the ropes. Check out the LOOP NOLA website for more info on going camping with a guide near New Orleans.
If you’re new to campsite cooking or if you’ve got young children with you, here are some basic guidelines to keep in mind.
Camp Cooking Guidelines
Keep it simple
Once you get a little more advanced, there are all kinds of cool meals that you can cook at your campsite! From making your own pizza dough from scratch to cooking enchiladas in a Dutch Oven, the options are endless. However, those options require time, patience, and a lot of camping knowledge.
If you’re still new to camping, or if you’re attention is going to be pulled in a million directions from camping with kids, keep it simple. Pre-packaged ingredients and a straightforward plan are your best bet. You can still make delicious food while you’re camping, just don’t do anything too complicated.
Prevent kitchen injuries
Some of the craziest backcountry injuries come from issues in the kitchen. More often than not, the injuries stem from a heat-related injury. Folks accidentally knock over a camp stove and burn themselves with the fire. Or they make the mistake of sitting at a picnic table right next to a pot of boiling water, then someone else in the camp runs into the table and knocks the water into their lap.
Prevent kitchen injuries! 9 times out of 10, kitchen injuries are avoidable. Set some clear guidelines around who will be near the stoves and scalding food, and hold everyone to those guidelines.
Plan ahead
Make sure you pack everything you’ll need for your meals. Double-check the ingredients list and all of the pots/pans/etc. that you will need for cooking. This includes a way to clean the dishes and dispose of trash. Some campsites have trash cans in them, and some don’t. Contact your campground beforehand to make sure you know what to pack for trash.
Camping with kids
If you’re about to go camping with kids for the first time, this article can give you some good pointers for the whole trip.
5 easy camping recipes
These recipes assume that you have cooked these items -or something similar- in a regular kitchen at some point in your life. If you are brand new to any of these items, give them a shot at home before you make them while camping.
Hot dogs over a fire
Such a classic! Super duper easy, loved by kids and adults, hardly any cleanup… what’s not to love??
Ingredients:
Hot dogs
Buns
Condiments
Cooking equipment:
Skewers
PRO-TIP: Watch out for your kids trying to wave the skewers around. When you make your kitchen safety rules, include a skewer rule.
The classic breakfast
Pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Great for a nice slow start to a chilly morning! It takes a while to make all of it, but sometimes it’s nice to have all of your campers enjoy a lazy morning.
If you’ve ever cooked this meal at home, it’s almost exactly the same when you’re camping. Just make sure you bring enough pans to get it all going and bring enough plates to put all of the cooked food when you’re done.
Ingredients:
Instant pancake mix
Water
Butter
Syrup
Eggs
Cheese
Bacon
Salt and pepper
Cooking equipment:
Pans
Spatulas
A measuring cup
NOTES: The bacon will make grease, so bring a disposal method. It’s not good for the campsite to dump bacon grease onsite --- it’ll bring animals to the site.
PRO-TIP: Use some of the bacon grease to fry the eggs. So good!!!
Breakfast burritos
Breakfast burritos are great because you can put pretty much anything in them. You want a classic egg and breakfast sausage combo? Do it! You want beans and cheese and hash browns? Do it! The world is your oyster!
Ingredients:
Tortillas (flour is easier to work with than corn, but corn is good too)
Anything that you want in your burrito
Cooking equipment:
Pans
Spatulas
PRO-TIP: If you’re going to be camping with kids, this is a great option to help give them some ownership over the trip. Before you go on the trip, have them decide what kind of burritos you’ll make this day. That way, even if they pick weird ingredients, you can pretty easily cook something that will be OK for everyone.
Chili Mac
This one can get a little messy, but it’s super easy to make and kids tend to love it. Whether it’s summer or winter, this one tends to be a hit!
Ingredients:
Instant mac n’ cheese
Water
Canned chili
Cooking equipment:
A pot
A measuring cup
A serving spoon
A can opener
PRO-TIP: Make this meal a 1-pot-wonder. Cook the mac n’ cheese them dump the chili right on top of it. Stir it all in and heat it up a little more. Yes, it’s messy to clean up, but it’s just one pot.
Bean and cheese quesadillas
Straightforward, easy to make, and easy to clean up. These are great for a night when you want a hot meal but you really don’t want to do much work for it. Plus, you can add whatever you want to it to jazz it up a little bit if you’ve got the time and energy.
Ingredients:
Tortillas (flour or corn)
Canned black beans
Shredded cheese
Cooking equipment:
Pans
Spatulas
A can opener
PRO-TIP: If you’re too tired to put much effort into cleaning up the pan, use a tortilla to wipe the pan for the leftover cheese and bean bits. It’s the most delicious way you’ll ever clean a pan in your life!
If you’re in the New Orleans area and you have a teen who enjoys learning skills like these, let them know about LOOP NOLA’s Outdoor Adventure Club. We work with local high school students to teach them new skills and let them have fun in the great outdoors. If camping and enjoying good food outdoors sounds like something your teen might like, check us out!
