Camping Recipes

Great meals are made while camping. Camp cooking is fun and our creativity seems to soar. Just about anything can be made in your outdoor kitchen. The only limitation is your own imagination and innovation.

Share your camp cooking success – submit your favorite camping recipes

• Breakfast
• Main Dishes
• Side Items
• Desserts
• Outdoor Kitchen Checklist
• Cooking Methods
• Tips

Submit Favorite Recipes

Visit our Camp Store

These recipes are suggestions only and are meant to be helpful to our readers. Ingredients and preparation methods should be used at readers own discretion.

When camping, the rule of thumb for great recipes is to maximize taste and nutrition while minimizing preparation time and cleanup. The best camp cooking recipes allow you to do this with the limited resources available in the outdoors. These five campfire-cooked classics cover all the staples you need in a delicious, filling way.

Breakfast Burritos

Ingredients (for 1 serving):

• cooking spray
• 1 medium tortilla
• 1-2 eggs, depending on preference
• 2 bacon strips
• Optional: onion and green pepper
• Salt and pepper

To make these quick, easy-to-eat breakfast burritos, start by building a bed of hot coals and setting a frying pan on them. Give the pan a shot of cooking spray, and place the bacon strips on it. While the pork’s sizzling, use a mixing bowl to whip the eggs and optional chopped onion or peppers together. When the bacon’s done, set it aside on a couple of paper towels and pour your egg mixture in the pan. Stir frequently, as the coals will be hotter than the eggs’ optimum cooking temperature. When they’re finished (it should only be 5-10 minutes), lay the already cooked bacon and fresh eggs in the center of your tortilla, salt and pepper to taste, and roll it on up.

Pot Pie in a Pouch

Ingredients (for 1 serving):

• cooking spray
• ¼ to 1/3 pound ground beef
• 1 small diced potato
• your choice of vegetables, including green beans, carrots, onions, green pepper – or anything you like!
• Salt and pepper

Before the cooking starts, you’ll need a bed of hot coals to work with and some aluminum foil. Lay the foil flat, spray it with some cooking spray, and place all of your ingredients in the center together, separating the ground beef into pieces so you don’t end up with a semi-raw patty. Then, fold up the foil so it encloses the ingredients in a pouch form, and simply place the pouch inside the bed of coals. Keep in mind that it’s very hot in there, so you’ll need to check the enclosure early and often. Cooking time is roughly 15 minutes, depending on the coals’ temperature.

Barbecue Burgers

Ingredients (for 1 serving):

• cooking spray
• 1 quarter pound beef
• 2 tbsp of your favorite brand of barbeque sauce
• a hamburger bun
• Optional: your preferred condiments, including lettuce, tomato, onion, etc.
• Salt and Pepper

This exceedingly simple lunch staple uses barbeque sauce to improve upon any potential culinary shortcomings associated with open-fire cooking. To start, build a cooking fire, let it burn down to hot coals, and place a small grill grate or frying pan on top. Mix a tablespoon of barbeque sauce into your ground beef, and form it into a patty (incorporating the sauce with the raw burger imparts flavor and helps the patty stick together when flipped). When formed, place the patties on the pan or grate, flipping once every 4-5 minutes until the meat’s juices are running clear. Finally, slather on the other tablespoon of barbeque sauce, slap the patty on a bun with your favorite condiments, and enjoy!

Camper’s Crappie

Ingredients (For 1 serving)

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 to 2 crappie fillets
• Your favorite breading (can’t go wrong with Andy’s)
• Salt and Pepper

This basic fish recipe has endured as a favorite of campers and fishermen for more years than we can count. Start with the usual: building a bed of hot coals and placing a frying pan on top. Pour in your vegetable oil, and bread the crappie by placing the breading and fillets together in a bag and shaking it. When the oil is sizzling, place the fillets in the pan. Cooking time is relatively short, roughly 10-15 minutes depending on the temperature of the coals.

Chicken Chili

Ingredients (for one Serving):

• ½ chicken breast
• ½ can great northern beans
• ½ can chicken broth
• ½ of a small onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• salt and pepper
• optional: seasonings including oregano, cumin, and chile peppers to taste

Chicken chili, also known as “white chili” to some campers, is a dinnertime classic at many campsites. To make it, get a bed of hot coals smoldering. Then throw a pan on top, coat it with vegetable oil, and put the chicken breast in it. Cover it and let it cook until no pink is left in the breast (or about 165 degrees Fahrenheit). While it’s cooking, combine the broth, beans, onion, and seasonings in a separate pot and stir. When the chicken is done, dice it, toss it in the pot along with everything else, and let it simmer over the coals for 20-30 minutes. With that, your white chili will be piping hot and ready to enjoy.