Cooking food over a fire is one of the best parts of camping, but at the same time, you don’t want the meal to be too complicated or time-consuming. Make some delicious meals and still have time for hiking, fishing, kayaking, and everything else with these 20 super-easy camping recipes.
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Banana boats
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No, not the long yellow inflatable boats that get towed by other boats...these are whole bananas that are cut open, stuffed with marshmallows and chocolate, wrapped in foil, and placed around the campfire. Pretty Providence has some tips, as well as plenty of candy suggestions for this kid-favorite treat, but use your imagination!
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Breakfast sandwiches
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Eggs, cheese, and (optional) bacon/sausage/ham on an English muffin will really hit the spot on your next camping trip, with the protein and carbs you’ll need to fuel your outdoor adventures. This breakfast won’t delay your day and it’s easy to make several sandwiches at once, especially with some tips from Camping for Foodies.
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Cheesy asparagus
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Here’s an easy side dish you can make on your next camping adventure. The directions for this cheesy asparagus from Diethood are for the oven, but you can just as easily cook the foil pack over your campfire.
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Chili cheese fries
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Baked potatoes are the usual camping preparation for potatoes, but who can say no to chili cheese fries? (Not us!) These fries from The Kitchen Magpie are baked in tin foil, then the chili and cheese are added, and the foil packet is put back in for a few more minutes. You can even eat right out of the pouch!
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Dutch oven pizza
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Looking for a dutch oven camping recipe? Look no further. Let’s go with a simple, classic crowd-pleaser like pizza! Uno Casa can show you how to pull it off.
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Fish Fry
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Fish don’t fry in the kitchen—they fry over the campfire! Don’t be intimidated by this task, and check out these pointers from Northern Ontario Travel, including why you should use safflower, peanut, or corn oil for frying.
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French toast
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Go from camping to glamping by cooking up some fancy French toast on your next stay in the great outdoors. Fresh Off the Grid has some tips for cooking on a camping stove, as well as a recipe to get you going.
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Grilled cheese
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Grilled cheese is easy in your kitchen, and just as easy while camping. Plus, if it’s chilly, this is the perfect opportunity to put a pot next to your pan and serve some tomato soup alongside your sandwich. Keep it simple with this recipe from Simply Delicious, which uses pulled pork!
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Hot dogs
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Roasting weenies on a stick over a campfire is a classic meal that’s customizable with whatever toppings and condiments you like. You can even bake your bread with your dog with this recipe for campfire pigs in a blanket from Punchfork.
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Loaded baked potatoes
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Wrapping a baked potato in foil and throwing it in the fire is fine, but you could also cut up the potatoes and add your toppings ahead of time. Then just cook them on the campfire grill, unwrap, and enjoy. As The Kitchen Magpie points out, there’s no clean-up!
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Mac and cheese
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If you want to make mac and cheese while camping (and who wouldn’t?), save some time and make the noodles before the trip. This recipe from Girls Can Grill calls for bacon and jalapenos (which are cooked first), followed by cheddar cheese, milk, and then the pre-cooked noodles.
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Nachos
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You’ll need at least seven ingredients to pull these nachos off, but don’t let that stop you. It’s just pouring the various ingredients over the nachos in layers and heating the whole thing in a cast iron pan. Spaceships and Laser Beams (awesome name) has the recipe and some “pro tips.”
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Pancakes
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These pancakes from Chez Usare simple—even though they’re made from scratch! Cornmeal makes up the base, plus flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Of course, fruit and real maple syrup are both recommended, too!
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Quesadillas
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Not only are quesadillas easily customizable, but you can make these at home and wrap them in foil ahead of your camping trip. Eating well has the [not-so] dirty details.
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Salmon
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Grilling salmon over the campfire is a cinch, especially with the help of a baking sheet. This Lil Piglet has some pointers for a lemon pepper salmon that we highly recommend!
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Sausage and peppers
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Skip the separation—you can prepare these sausages and peppers together, on the foil, and then cook the whole thing directly in the fire. Southern Kitchen has the recipe, which suggests serving it on a bun (but you could also eat them right out of the pouch!)
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Shrimp scampi
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Have a classy campfire dinner that’s also easy to prepare and clean up with this shrimp scampi foil packet recipe from Damn Delicious. Just mix your shrimp with butter, wine, garlic, lemon juice, and some herbs and spices, pour it onto some foil, fold it up, and cook for 10-12 minutes.
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Skillet breakfast
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Skillet breakfasts are some of the simplest meals to cook over a campfire, as you can basically throw in everything—eggs, potatoes, meat, veggies— and cook it all at once. This is especially useful later in your camping trip when you have various bits of leftovers available. Use your imagination, or get some inspiration from Real Life with Dad.
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Spinach dip
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Spinach dip on a camping trip might sound difficult (and fancy!), but it’s actually simple. Just mix everything ahead of time and put it in a travel-safe container, and then dump it all into foil to cook over the fire. Get the recipe from Homemade Heather.
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Walking tacos
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In case you can’t tell, we love camping meals with little clean-up. This “walking taco” recipe from Taste of Home is as easy as cooking your beef and spices in a skillet, spooning it into some Frito or tortilla chip bags, and adding in your toppings. When you’re done, just throw away the empty bag!