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What are Some Food Ideas for Camping?

Sheri Cyprus
Sheri Cyprus

Good food ideas for camping are extremely important, especially if you won't be near anywhere convenient to buy food during your trip. Without decent food, your camping trip is not likely to be very enjoyable! The best thing is that great food ideas for camping can be very simple.

All you have to do to get started in planning your camping food is to consider how many meals you'll need for what number of people. Then, use personal tastes to decide what each meal will be. Add snacks and beverages to your list as well. It's also a good idea, if space allows, to plan to bring a couple of extra meals just in case part of a meal gets ruined or your group ends up being hungrier than you thought.

Bananas are convenient to eat while camping.
Bananas are convenient to eat while camping.

The main part of a meal can be any protein food such as beans, meat, poultry, fish, eggs or cheese. Then you can add potatoes, bread or rolls, corn on the cob, or even rice. Salad, fresh vegetables or canned green vegetables round out lunches and dinners in a healthy way. Of course, the types of camping foods you'll be able to bring will depend a great deal upon the type of camping you'll be doing.

Apples are good for camping.
Apples are good for camping.

Food ideas for camping backpacking style may even be limited to mostly dehydrated foods, while recreational vehicle (RV) and cabin camping is much like having all the basic comforts of home. It's still worthwhile to plan your food ideas for camping ahead of time even if you'll be located in a resort campground and have a refrigerator, oven and stove since food prices at resorts can be very expensive.

Many people enjoy bacon for breakfast while camping, and the leftover grease can be used to cook other foods.
Many people enjoy bacon for breakfast while camping, and the leftover grease can be used to cook other foods.

Camping food can be as simple or as fancy as you wish. You can even combine the two styles by cooking simple, but elegant dinners accompanied by wine in a real wine glass. Even just a camp stove to cook on can provide plenty of good food ideas for camping. You can make almost any kind of breakfast, lunch or dinner dish with just a pot, a pan and a camp stove.

Some campers cook thin apple slices that have been sprinkled with brown sugar, cinnamon and oats in foil pouches.
Some campers cook thin apple slices that have been sprinkled with brown sugar, cinnamon and oats in foil pouches.

Don't forget that dinner leftovers can be used to make great brunches! For example, leftover corn scraped from the cob and baked potatoes cut into pieces can be transformed into a tasty hot meal when mixed with scrambled eggs in a large frying pan. You can use a bit of leftover bacon grease for frying and also add any leftover pieces of bacon or any other cooked meat.

Hotdogs and sausages are popular camping foods.
Hotdogs and sausages are popular camping foods.

Foil packets of foods cooked on a grill are popular and don't require any cookware. All you need is heavy duty aluminum foil to form a sealed cooking package for vegetables and other items. Practically any combination of foods cooks well in foil packets, but try to choose items with similar cooking times. You can even experiment with cooking individual desserts this way, such as by slicing and baking a banana in a foil package and then topping it with a little chocolate syrup. You can thinly slice apples and sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon, oats and a few dabs of butter to cook in a foil packet for a camping version of baked apples.

Discussion Comments

LisaLou

We can't go camping with making smores. Many of our favorite summer memories are from sitting around the campfire roasting marshmallows and making smores.

Once you have your marshmallow toasted just right (I always burn mine), put it on a graham cracker with a piece of Hershey's chocolate bar and it just melts in your mouth.

I have also substituted striped fudge cookies if I didn't have graham crackers and chocolate.

SarahSon

We use the grill a lot when we go camping. We have a portable one we always take with us, but many camp sites will have a grate on your site that you can use.

It seems like I have a hard time coming up with different meal ideas for camping so I rely on the grill most of the time. One of our favorites is to take chicken breast, potatoes, cheese and onions - add any other vegetables you would like such as peppers and wrap everything in aluminum foil. I add a little bit of butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper and put them on the grill.

They are quick, easy and taste wonderful!

Fiorite

@ Georgesplane- What a great idea for a camping or hunting trip. I bet you could add things like flax, barley, or oats to pemmican to make a complete meal in a stick.

When I go camping, I like to bring lots of granola and ramen noodles. Granola has lots of fat, carbohydrates, and protein. Ramen noodles are light, compact, and are great additions to campfire stews. They also have lots of salt to supplement on a long trip.

I also like to bring powdered Gatorade, or an electrolyte gel, for days when I am doing a lot of hiking.

Georgesplane

Pemmican is a compact, protein and carbohydrate rich food to bring on a camping trip. It is essentially sausage made of dried meat or fish, dried berries, rendered fat or clarified butter and sausage casing.

To make pemmican, grind dried or brittle smoked meats in a food processor or coffee grinder. Do the same with dried berries or fruit. Mix the powdered meat and ground fruit with enough lard or clarified butter to make a thick paste. Stuff the sausage casing with the pemmican mix, tie off and enjoy.

Pemmican made with fish is great for making soups and stews. Beef or lamb pemmican is great eaten as is, roasted over a fire, or pulled from the casing and mixed into a stew.

Some ideas for flavors are turkey and cranberry, chicken and apple, beef and green bean, or any other flavor that suits your fancy.

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    • Bananas are convenient to eat while camping.
      By: Nikolai Sorokin
      Bananas are convenient to eat while camping.
    • Apples are good for camping.
      By: xiangdong Li
      Apples are good for camping.
    • Many people enjoy bacon for breakfast while camping, and the leftover grease can be used to cook other foods.
      By: sparkia
      Many people enjoy bacon for breakfast while camping, and the leftover grease can be used to cook other foods.
    • Some campers cook thin apple slices that have been sprinkled with brown sugar, cinnamon and oats in foil pouches.
      By: Okea
      Some campers cook thin apple slices that have been sprinkled with brown sugar, cinnamon and oats in foil pouches.
    • Hotdogs and sausages are popular camping foods.
      By: Pietro D'Antonio
      Hotdogs and sausages are popular camping foods.
    • Potato chips are a great snack item for camping.
      By: nataliazakharova
      Potato chips are a great snack item for camping.
    • Bringing deli sandwiches are a popular camping food option.
      By: Bert Folsom
      Bringing deli sandwiches are a popular camping food option.
    • If a grill is available when camping, corn on the cob may be cooked on it.
      By: Viktor
      If a grill is available when camping, corn on the cob may be cooked on it.
    • A pie might be brought on a camping trip.
      By: jamierogers1
      A pie might be brought on a camping trip.
    • Canned goods are often convenient for camping.
      By: kornienko
      Canned goods are often convenient for camping.
    • When camping, some families pack simple, easy-to-prepare meals that feature kid-friendly fare.
      By: sakkmesterke
      When camping, some families pack simple, easy-to-prepare meals that feature kid-friendly fare.
    • Chocolate is always a popular dessert.
      By: Igor Mojzes
      Chocolate is always a popular dessert.