Easy Camping Meal Ideas

Easy Camping Meal Ideas, Camping MenuLooking for some easy camping meal ideas?

When my husband and I were dating, we were river guides together. We cooked all of our meals outside Monday through Saturday every week, all summer long. Through the fall, we were outdoor trip leaders and took  the local University students on outdoor excursions. This involved: Planning the camp menu, creating the shopping list, organizing the food system and coolers, assigning food cooking groups and preparing the food.

If you are going camping soon, and need some ideas for what and how to cook your meals, you have come to the right place, and today is your lucky day because I am going to give you a free gift:

“3 Days of Easy Camping Meal Ideas +plus shopping lists download at the end of this post just for visiting.

Easy Camping Meal Ideas

Before scrolling our menu ideas for camping, read the following two tips:

1. Consider your cooking method. Not all menu ideas will work while camping.

The common ways to cook while camping include:

The following list was created for “car camping” where you are able to drive your supplies right to camp. One or more of the above mentioned equipment above will be necessary to accomplish these meals while camping.

If you want to use these menu ideas for backpacking, you can make them beforehand and dehydrate them in a Food Dehydrator. Have you ever made your own Mountain House Meal?! Most of these meals will rehydrate well using a 1:1 water to food ratio.

2. Study the General “Rule Of Thumb” for planning meals for groups as described below. 

  1. When planning your camp menu, for each meal, plan for 1.5 amount of servings as the amount of people coming to ensure that everyone gets their fill. Some will go for seconds and some will not.
  2. Try not to over-shop as it is hard to store a lot of leftovers while camping. It is better to have just enough than too much. Remember to bring gallon freezer bags to store what may be leftover. 
  3. If you ever have too little, it is wise to bring an additional large bag of “just add water” pancake mix to have as a back up. It is easy to whip up a few pancakes if someone is still  hungry. It is also nice to have a backup meal in case something goes wrong, such as wildlife getting into your bread, or something spoiling in the cooler. That bag of pancake mix could totally save the day and is worth the space if you have it. Speaking of food spoiling, never skimp on the ice in your cooler. If there isn’t enough room for all of your food and a lot of ice, borrow/buy a cooler and take two.

Breakfast: Easy Camping Meal Ideas

      1. “Campers Egg McMuffins”
      2. Continental
      3. Pancakes & Link Sausage
      4. French Toast &  Bacon
      5. Omelets
      6. Eggs, Toast and Grits
      7. Dutch Oven Quiche & Fruit
      8. Breakfast Burritos
      9. Pre-made Biscuits and Gravy
      10. Rhodes Frozen Cinnamon Rolls in the Dutch Oven

Lunch: Easy Camping Meal Ideas

      1. River Wraps (Recipe include in free gift below.)
      2. Bagel Sandwiches
      3. Deli Sandwiches
      4. Peanut Butter and Jelly or Honey
      5. Chicken Salad Sandwiches
      6. Pre-Made Tortellini Pasta Salad
      7. Tuna Salad Sandwiches
      8. Gyros
      9. Salad Bar
      10. Hot Dogs

Dinner: Easy Camping Meal Ideas

      1. Green Curry (Recipe include in free gift below.)
      2. Spaghetti, Garlic Bread and Green Salad
      3. BBQ Chicken, Spinach Salad
      4. Cous Cous, Herbed Chicken & Veggies
      5. Burgers, Chips, Potato Salad
      6. Quinoa  & Veggie Stir Fry
      7. Flounder over Rice on a Charcoal Grill
      8. Steak on a Charcoal Grill, Potatoes, Carrots
      9. Italian Chicken
      10. Hawaiian BBQ with Haystacks
      11. Chili & Cornbread
      12. Cheddar Brats

Dessert: Easy Camping Meal Ideas

      1. Dutch Oven Monkey Bread
      2. Strawberry Shortcake
      3. Apple Crisp
      4.  Banana Boats
      5. Guava Cake
      6. Bakery dessert (cookies, peanut butter bars…)
      7. Peach Cobbler
      8. S’mores
      9. Death by Chocolate Bread Pudding in the Dutch Oven
      10. Cookies

        Frozen Goods Tip:

        If you are taking an ice cream cooler for a fun treat at the end of a hot day in the dessert or at the beach, you can put dry ice on top of the ice cream [not on bottom].

        With that, remember that dry ice [on top] it keeps goods frozen for about a day with a good cooler. Dry ice on bottom just keeps things cold. So if you are bringing frozen chicken for dinner on the first night, don’t use the [on top] method or you you will still have frozen chicken at dinner time.

easy camp menu

Get Your Free 3 Day Camping Menu + Shopping List here!

Please read before downloading:

You will notice on the easy camping meal ideas menu and shopping list download that some items may not have quantities included on the shopping list. This is because of package sizing variances. Please check the servings on the back and plan accordingly using the “general rule of thumb” above on this blog post.

Also note that when planning this menu, a double burner gas stove, and a skillet were the planned methods for Breakfast and Dinner. Lunch requires no cooking. Make sure that this menu will work for what equipment that you have before purchasing your food.

Thanks for visiting our blog. I hope that your creativity was sparked and that you got some simple camping meal ideas. 

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