Don’t Ever Stress About Camping Meals Again [60 Easy Camping Foods]
We’ve compiled 60 easy camping food ideas to take away the stress of creating a camping meal plan, all the way from breakfast to dessert.
Including 10 easy camping breakfasts, 10 lunches, 10 camping dinner ideas with 10 easy side dishes, plus 10 snack ideas and 10 camping dessert options. We’ve got you covered!
And to make our list of easy camping meals, the food or dish had to be portable, require little prep or be able to be prepped ahead at home, be simple to cook or reheat using a camping stove or fire, and use minimal dishes while at camp.
And be sure to print our free camping meal plan template along with a printable version of these 60 easy camping meal ideas at the bottom of the post!
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Easy Camping Breakfasts
Banana Bread or Muffins
Your favorite banana bread is something worth making in bulk so you’ve always got some on hand in your freezer. Biting into delicious bread when camping is such a treat! And if you’re camping with a lot of people (especially kids), baking your recipe in a mini muffin pan* cuts out the step of slicing while at camp.
Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits
At home: Wash and chop up several kinds of fruit, and smaller pieces are usually better if intended to go in a parfait. Pineapple, grapes, apples, blueberries, raspberries - just about anything is delicious! If using a fruit that gets brown like apples, dip them in orange juice after chopping and dry on a paper towel (the orange juice will still taste great too). Consider bringing granola or nuts as well.
At camp: Using individually bought yogurt containers will cut down on your cleanup. Simply lay out your tupperware full of fruit and nuts/granola choices and let everyone make their own!
Banana Roll
Spread peanut butter on a tortilla (warmed is even better), peel the banana, and roll it up in the tortilla. You could cut the banana in half lengthwise and use only half of it for little ones, or cut the snack into bite sized pieces after its rolled.
Ziploc Omelets
At home: A day or so before camping, wash, chop, and add any ingredients you’d like in your omelet to a Ziploc bag. The morning you’re leaving, break open a couple eggs into the bag. Press the air out and seal.
At camp: Squeeze the ingredients around in the bag before dropping it in a pot of boiling water. For a couple bag omelets, about 8 or 10 minutes in boiling water should do the trick. Remove a bag with tongs to check its doneness before dumping them all out onto plates.
Deluxe Camping Meal: Add salsa or cilantro, a side of fruit, and a slice of banana bread.
Quick Cook Oats or Overnight Oats and Toast
At home: We like to make our own packets of quick cook oats to limit the amount of added sugar - here’s the recipe I use to make them in bulk every couple of months. And if you don’t even want to heat water in the morning, another option is to make overnight oats - here’s a recipe for that.
At camp: For the quick cook oats, just boil ½ cup of water, stir it into the oats, and let sit for a couple minutes. For overnight oats, they are ready to eat! Making toast in a cast iron skillet with just a little cooking spray is a nice addition!
Aunt Jemima (just add water) Pancake Mix
This specific pancake mix* only requires that you add water to the batter before cooking - so simple. Don’t forget syrup or honey!
Avocado Toast with Hard Boiled Egg
At home: Boil your eggs. Afterwards, mark the shells with a sharpie so you don’t get them mixed up with any raw eggs while at camp.
At camp: Chop up your boiled egg. Either slice or mash up your avocado. If you have a cast iron skillet, heat it up, spray it lightly with cooking oil, and add your bread, turning once brown. Layer the avocado and boiled egg on your toast, add some salt and pepper, and enjoy!
Boiled Egg Sandwiches
At home: Boil your eggs.
At camp: Assemble simple but delicious breakfast sandwiches. Use english muffins and add your favorite cheese, sliced ham or precooked bacon, and the sliced boiled egg.
Deluxe Camping Meal: Taking the extra step of quickly heating all the ingredients in a pan before assembling can make this even tastier. And better yet, you could cook fresh eggs to go in the english muffin if you’ve got the time and energy.
Egg and Potato Scrambler
At home: Wash and chop up any veggies you’ll want in your scrambler. And purchase frozen cubed potatoes or frozen hash browns.
At camp: Start cooking the potatoes as directed on the package, add in your veggies and eggs towards the end of the cooking time and top with shredded cheese.
Deluxe Camping Meal: Toast some bread in a cast iron skillet or serve with banana bread and fruit.
Premade Breakfast Burritos
At home: Follow your favorite breakfast burrito recipe at home by cooking everything that goes in the burrito as directed, wrap them in a tortilla, and then tightly wrap it in foil. If the burritos are made to order, write each person’s name on the foil. These can be made ahead of time and frozen.
At camp: If frozen, these could be thawing in your cooler while you’re at camp. Heat over your stove or fire the morning you want to enjoy this delicious camping breakfast!
Deluxe Camping Breakfast: Add salsa and a side of fruit.
Easy Camping Snacks
Fresh Veggies and Hummus
At home: Wash and chop your choice of veggies. Some transport and keep more easily than others, so think baby carrots, sliced cucumber, celery sticks, mini sweet peppers, etc.
At camp: It’s ready to go!
Ants on a Log
At home: Wash and cut celery into pieces.
At camp: These are especially fun for kids. Fill the celery with peanut butter and top with raisins.
Fresh Fruit
Select fruit that doesn’t bruise easily and doesn’t require refrigeration, and wash thoroughly. Apples, clementines or oranges, bananas, grapes, cherries, etc are all great options.
Green Apple Cookies
These are another hit with kids, although adults will love them too! Green apples taste best! Slice the apple, layer with peanut butter, and dot with chocolate chips.
Chips and Dip
Whether store bought or homemade, this is a camping snack that is simple to just set out and pick away at.
Fruit Skewers
At home: Wash and cut fruit into pieces that are large enough to stay on a skewer.
At camp: Let individuals assemble their fruit skewers* buffet style
Nuts
Nuts are easy to pack and eat while camping, and if you pick up some flavored almonds or honey BBQ peanuts they’re sure to be a hit.
Campfire Popcorn
Pick up some popping corn to heat up in a cast iron skillet over the campfire. Don’t forget the cooking oil!
Chex Mix
Another easy option. Make your own at home or pick some up from the grocery store.
Flatbread Galore
Warm a piece of flatbread in your skillet and then top with peanut butter, sliced banana, chocolate chips, honey, jam, or whatever else sounds yummy. This is a really filling snack!
Easy Camping Lunches
Peanut Butter and Jelly
A classic and ever so delicious.
BLTs
Precook that bacon at home or buy precooked bacon (which is usually pretty thin and not as tasty), slice some tomatoes, and assemble at camp.
Meat, Cheese, and Veggie Sandwich
Yes, this is as simple as it sounds, but stack those toppings high and it’ll be a deluxe camping lunch. Of course, slice all the veggies at home, and don’t skimp! Onion, peppers, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, black olives.
Grilled Cheese
Heat over your camp stove or campfire - especially delicious for a chilly camping trip. But keep in mind, this isn’t an ideal plan if you’re feeding a crowd and can only make a couple sandwiches at a time.
Pigs in a Blanket
Wrap refrigerated crescent rolls around hot dogs to be cooked over the fire on a roasting stick*. Paired with some easy camping sides, you’ve got a meal.
Brats or Hot Dogs 2.0
At home, dice up some hot dogs and onion. At camp, heat them together along with some barbeque sauce and serve in hot dog buns per usual.
Flavored Chicken or Tuna Packets
These can be bought in a huge variety of flavors and are easy to throw on sandwich rounds with cheese, or spread it on top of crackers. This is an easy one to pack up for a hike as well.
Cracker Stackers
This is just as it sounds - a bunch of tasty stuff stacked on crackers. Peanut butter and jelly, cheese and salami slices, hummus and veggies, turkey and cheese. This is an easy one to do buffet style where everyone makes their own.
Sandwich Wraps
A twist on the sandwich but using a lot of the same ingredients. Rather than mayo or mustard consider using a hummus spread on your tortilla before layering on all the meat and veggies and cheese your heart desires. Roll and eat!
Quesadillas
Chop all the veggies at home and saute any that need it. Precook and cut up meat or bring a can of chicken to camp. Assemble at camp, heating the ingredients through and melting the cheese either over your camp stove or in a cast iron over the fire.
Easy Camping Dinners
Walking Tacos
At home: Wash and chop all the veggies you want in your tacos. Cook and season the meat.
At camp: Set everything out buffet style and let everyone assemble their tacos. Buying snack sized bags of chips to assemble and eat right out of the bag will save on clean-up.
Pizza
At home: Wash and cut up any desired ingredients.
At camp: We usually prefer to use mini pizza crusts that come with individual packets of pizza sauce. Heat both your cast iron skillet and lid as you assemble each pizza as desired, and then cover to cook for about 10 to 15 minutes over the lowest heat setting. And here are 3 Easy Ways to Make Delicious Camping Pizza, in case you want to shake things up!
‘Tasty Bite’ Lentil Soup (or Other Flavor)
We’ve only tried one flavor of Tasty Bite Entrees* (madras lentils), and it was so tasty! Paired with flatbread warmed in a cast iron skillet, it is a surprisingly filling meal. Zero cleanup, as you just boil the pouch in water and can eat right from it.
Freezer Bag Meal
Walk up and down the freezer section of your local grocery store to find easy precooked dinner meals in a bag. Many have protein, veggies, and carbs in one dish, just ready to be heated up at camp. Put a bag around the packaging to avoid leaks in your cooler or camping fridge.
Burgers
At home: Season and cook the meat ahead if you want to just reheat and eat at camp! And slice any toppings you’ll want.
At camp: Either cook or reheat your premade burger patties, and top with whatever your heart desires.
Kabobs
At home: Pick how extravagant you want the choices to be and prepare all ingredients ahead of time. Shrimp, chicken, steak, pineapple, peppers, onion, mushrooms! Washing, chopping, marinating, seasoning, sauteing or precooking - anything you can do at home will make this feel like a really nice but easy meal once at camp.
At camp: Although not as fun, it’s actually best to put all like ingredients on skewers* together because of the variation in cooking times. This post has some great tips on making perfect camping kabobs if this meal makes your list.
Sloppy Joes
At home: Brown your ground beef with chopped onion and anything else you like to add. If you make your own sauce, mix up the ingredients at home. Otherwise buy a can of sloppy joe sauce.
At camp: Reheat your ground beef and bring to a simmer with your sauce before serving it up on buns.
Sausage and Potatoes
At home: Buy precooked smoked sausage and cut into chunks, slice some red onion, wash baby potatoes and cut in half, and grab some baby carrots.
At camp: Throw everything together in a pan to heat, starting with the potatoes and carrots, and adding the onion and sausage towards the end. Top with shredded cheese if desired.
Make Ahead Chicken Enchiladas
At home: Pull out your favorite chicken enchilada recipe, assemble, cook, then wrap in foil and freeze.
At camp: Thaw and reheat at camp, topped with your favorite garnishes.
Shredded BBQ Pork or Chicken
At home: Cook and shred your meat at home.
At camp: Warm your shredded meat over your stove or campfire and enjoy this as a sandwich on hamburger buns, over a baked potato, or just on its own.
Easy Camping Sides
Packaged Salad Kits
These can be pricey but it is incredibly convenient to have everything you’ll need for a salad while camping, including the dressing.
Avocado
Slice an avocado in half, sprinkle with seasoned salt, and eat it right out of the shell with a spoon.
Sliced Tomato
A super easy and delicious side that's easy to overlook. Wash the tomatoes at home, slice at camp, sprinkle with seasoned salt, and enjoy!
Frozen or Canned Veggies
Run through that freezer aisle and grab some frozen broccoli or green beans to quickly heat and eat! When adding them to your cooler or camping fridge, place them in a sack to avoid a leaking mess if they thaw a bit. Canned veggies are even easier.
Instant Mashed Potatoes
Just add some boiling water and mix!
Precooked Rice
We love Uncle Ben’s pre cooked wild rice - and all you have to do is add a little water and heat in a skillet.
Quinoa Packets
Some grocery stores sell quinoa packets that you just boil in water to prepare. Pour right out of the package and onto your plate!
Tortellini
Filled with cheese or other options, just add to boiling water and cook as directed. This is a really filling and easy side dish that could stretch to feed groups with lots of kids.
Cold Pasta Salad
At home: Pick out your favorite pasta salad recipe and assemble the recipe at home. Cook your noodles, add in any veggies or pepperoni slices, mix in the dressing.
At camp: Stir and serve! A great summertime option.
Black Bean and Corn Salad
At home: This is another one that's easiest made at home and brought to camp. Depending on your recipe (or try this one), you might want to leave the liquid ingredients separate from the veggies until the morning of your camping trip to keep everything fresh. Also consider leaving any tomato or avocado out until closer to serving time.
At camp: Stir in any ingredients you haven’t yet and serve!
Easy Camping Desserts
Cookies
Buy a couple packages or bake cookies at home before camping.
Roasted Marshmallows or S'mores
Don’t forget this classic! It’s fun to sit around the campfire and see how each person roasts their perfect marshmallow! Turn it into a s’more with Hershey’s chocolate and graham crackers.
S’mores With a Twist
Trade out the traditional graham cracker for a cookie (think Oreos, chocolate chip cookies) or trade out the Hershey’s Milk Chocolate for a different candy bar (like Cookies and Cream, Kit Kat, or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups) - get creative!
Cinnamon Rolls
Buy a tube of cinnamon rolls in the refrigerated aisle of the grocery store and either heat them over the fire on a skewer, or cook them in a dutch oven on your camp stove (great with breakfast too).
Tortilla Roll Ups
Fill a tortilla with all things tasty, roll, wrap with foil, and warm over a campfire. Think Nutella, peanut butter, caramel, chocolate chips, nuts, strawberries, marshmallows. The sky's the limit!
Banana Boat
Leaving the peel on, cut a slit in a banana lengthwise. Fill the middle with deliciousness (chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, graham cracker crumbles, etc), wrap that sucker up in some foil and warm it over the campfire for a few minutes (upright!) before opening and eating with a spoon.
Dessert Pizza
Use Nutella as your spread and top with your favorite sweet toppings and fruit. Preheat both your cast iron skillet and lid, and then cover to cook for about 10 minutes over your lowest heat setting.
Dessert Cones
Grab some ice cream sugar cones and fill with whatever sweet toppings you want. Are you seeing a theme with these desserts yet?! These are fun for kids to assemble themselves, buffet style. Wrap tightly with foil and heat upright over the campfire for 5 or 10 minutes, allowing everything to become a melty mess before enjoying.
Baked Apple Slices
Slice some apples, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, wrap in foil, and heat in the fire for 10 or so minutes.
Cake or Brownies in Oranges
Cut the top off an orange, scoop the fruit out of the middle (eat that as a midday snack!), and replace it with cake or brownie batter, prepared as the packaged directions say (so don’t forget the eggs or anything else needed). Fill each orange about ¾ of the way with batter before replacing the top, wrapping it tightly with foil a couple times around, and placing it upright in the campfire for about 30 or so minutes. You might want to mark which end is the top!
And check out these 20 Easy Camping Dessert Ideas for even more delicious camping treats to make on your next adventure - Yum!
General Camping Meal Tips
We love this inexpensive cast iron skillet/pan/dutch oven combination* for camping. It’s really versatile and a cinch to clean. Don’t forget a couple silicone handle covers* and cast iron conditioner*. We’ve got a detailed guide on how to use and care for your camping cast iron:
The Best Cast Iron Set for Camping [And How to Use It Like a Pro]
Use heavy duty aluminum foil* if cooking or heating food over a campfire.
Check out this post if you’d like tips on setting up an inexpensive camp kitchen box, complete with all you’ll need for cooking at camp.
If you’d like these easy camping meal ideas printed out to keep with your camping gear, click on the link above!
Hopefully you can fill in your camping meal plan with these easy camping foods and recipes, creating a stress-free weekend outdoors, while also serving up delicious camping food!
As always, thanks for reading, and we’d love for you to SUBSCRIBE to get more camping and travel related tips sent right to your inbox.
Now head over to this post - 35 Fun and Easy Camping Meals for Kids - for some more camping meal ideas! Or check out these 50 No Cook Camping Meals and Food Ideas and skip the cooking altogether on your next outdoor adventure!
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Over 30 Healthy Camping Snacks You Can Easily Make or Buy
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