Got everything ready to go on your camping trip? Have you considered some make ahead camping meals? You’ll eat well on a budget when you do!
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I know. Maybe you have some romantic vision of popping open canned beans and setting them in the coal fire to heat, sitting around the fire eating simple food and drinking good beers.
And if that’s what you love, you go for it!
If however, you want a little more, then let’s chat.
You may think that going camping relegates you to hot dogs and canned beans, but there’s so many great make ahead meals you can take with you, that with a careful meal plan and a little prep ahead, you can eat just as good in the woods (or the dessert or at the lake or at the beach) as you do at home!
Why Make Ahead Camping Meals?
Cooking while camping takes a little extra planning than cooking at home. You either need to pack all the kitchen equipment you could possibly need and your spice cupboard OR you coordinate your meal plans to work together and use common utensils.
On the other hand, make-ahead camping meals, like those that are meal prepped or frozen are the best of all!
Receive a special camping badge by simply prepping meals or meal components in advance so you can spend less time cooking and more time swimming, boating, skiing, fishing, or whatever else you wanna do on your trip.
Tips for Success
Use the right containers. Leakproof packaging like plastic containers that seal airtight are best. This will help food stay fresh longer.
Keep perishable food cold. Freezing the last items on your meal plan will keep them colder longer and serve as back up ice as yours runs out. Be sure you have a way to replenish your ice as it melts.
Store uncooked meats in a separate cooler from cooked foods. Inevitably something leaks and to avoid food poisoning, reduce the risk of cross contamination.
Serve the more perishable food first. Save food from canned goods or solidly frozen meals for last. Enjoy the stuff that won’t last first.
Chill food prior to freezing it. When you’re prepping, remember that cold food freezes fastest, so chill all items in the fridge for a few hours prior to freezing it.
Be sure to observe campground safety rules. There’s good reason for storing food in special places during camping trips. Make sure to follow them.
How to Plan Make Ahead Camping Meals
Think about your camping meals in terms of style of cooking as well as ease and time to prep. The simpler the better.
For best results, focus on these kinds of make ahead camping meals:
- one pot dinners that you can reheat in a dutch oven, skillet, or even a slow cooker if the RV or campsight has electricity
- precooked proteins that you mix and match into salads, sandwiches, and wraps
- grilling meals that you can cook over the BBQ
- no-cook meals that involve assembling a few items from the cooler or enjoying premade cold meals from home
Any of your favorite recipes that fit in these categories are going to work for camping. Do a little prep ahead and double check your ingredients as you can’t just run out to the store.
Let’s look at each of these different kinds of meals perfect for camping:
One Dish Dinners
One-dish dinners are those that are self-contained; they have all the elements you’d want in a meal. These include soups, stews, pasta dishes, casseroles, and skillets.
To make them in advance, you can prep all the elements ahead of time to assemble at the campground, or prepare it in its entirety and just reheat before serving. For instance, it’s easy to cook the ground beef for chili at home and add the pinto and black beans for chili when you serve it.
When serving, add fun toppings and good bread to make these meals feel a little special.
Get cozy this season with a bowl of this Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup. It comes together quickly with just five basic ingredients.
This easy chicken minestrone soup mixes up in minutes with just five basic ingredients. It’s delicious and filling without feeling heavy, perfect any time of year for lunch or dinner.
Loaded with tender chicken breast, lots of veggies, taco spices, and a rich chicken stock, this simple recipe for Chicken Taco Soup is one you will love to serve both for easy weeknight suppers or fancier Cinco de Mayo celebrations. It’s ready in less than half an hour!
This Spicy Pork Chili with Pumpkin will wow everyone at your table. Tender chunks of pork simmer in a pumpkin-tomato sauce redolent with chile.
Want a dinner you can set and forget? Stir up a batch of this Mushroom Beef Stew with Kalamata Olives for a hearty, flavorful supper any night of the week.
Enjoy a quinoa chili supper that’s full of flavor and a good dose of protein. This naturally vegan, Quinoa Chili comes together quickly and easily for a super supper.
Cozy up with a bowl of this Potato Soup with Sausage. Chock full of potatoes, vegetables, and a spicy Italian Sausage, this soup is delicious comfort food.
Homemade Guinness beef stew is homey and comforting. It’s also so easy to make, you’ll wonder why anyone would think to ruin it in a can.
This easy white bean chicken chili comes together quickly but is packed with flavor.
Reminiscent of canned bean with bacon soup — without the bacon or the can! — this Smoky Bean Soup is economical and filling, without much fuss.
Precooked Protein Meals
Taking your proteins already cooked makes meal assembly super easy. This is a great play at home or away.
Cooked breakfast sausage can be easily folded into fresh scrambled eggs for breakfast burritos. Cooked bacon tucked into sandwiches for easy BLTs.
Looking for a simple yet flavorful way to cook pork? Combine a homemade rub with a cheap cut of pork and cook it slowly in the slow cooker for a fantastic filling for sandwiches, lettuce wraps, and tacos.
Shredded beef is a great filling for tacos, burritos, and taquitos. This recipe cooks up easily in the slow cooker.
These Turkey Lettuce Wraps come together easily on the stovetop, are freezer friendly, and taste delicious, making for a refreshing yet filling meal anytime.
Making homemade roast beef is a great alternative to buying deli roast beef for sandwiches.
Sloppy Joes are a quick and easy dinner that won’t break the budget. In fact, you can very easily — and economically — make this savory meat mixture completely from scratch. No cans, mixes, or ketchup required.
Cooking tender chicken for shredding in the pressure cooker is super quick and easy. This Instant Pot Shredded Chicken is excellent for tacos, burritos, sandwiches, and more!
Skillet Chicken Tenderloins are quick and delicious to prep. They are tasty on their own with your favorite sides or you can chop them and add to your favorite recipes calling for cooked chicken.
With tender chicken breast, celery, dried cranberries, and a tangy poppy seed dressing, this classic Cranberry Chicken Salad is a treat!
Grilling Meals
Sleeping outdoors pairs naturally with the best of cooking outdoors, grilling. If you bring your meat, fish, and veg trimmed and grill-ready it will feel easy.
You can do the standard protien, starch, veg, or jazz things up with different cooking methods like foil packets or fun serving styles like turning your grilled beef into Tri-tip Sandwiches or Carne Asada Tacos.
Here are some of our favorite meals to prep ahead to serve while camping:
This spicy rub recipe for tri-tip and other cuts of beef is super easy to prepare. Rub the meat and throw it on the grill for a super supper.
Whip up an easy dinner in a flash with these Sausage Packets for the Grill. Toss together a green salad and dinner is ready in no time!
Baked Salmon in Foil comes together in minutes, tastes delicious, and reheats well, making it a practically perfect way to add more fish to your diet.
This delicious spicy chicken marinade features the flavors of the southwest: tomatoes, jalapeno, onions, and cilantro, and adds a great kick to grilled chicken.
Homemade spice blends are a cheap and easy way to add flavor and texture to your favorite grilled meats. Try this grilled pork tenderloin with its warm, spicy rub.
Fresh basil and tangy balsamic vinegar add rich flavor to these grilled pork chops. Make a double batch and freeze one for a later date.
Enjoy the smoky, savory goodness of homemade carne asada that you marinate yourself. With this carne asada recipe, you can avoid the unhealthy additives of commercial marinades and focus on real food flavor.
Take hobo dinners to a new level. Wrap chunks of fish and whole shrimp in foil with vegetables, herbs, and butter for a simple and succulent supper.
If you’re pinched for time, be sure to grab a custom spice mix to add to the meat or fish on site.
No-Cook Meals
Even when you’re not cooking, your meals will still benefit from some prep ahead. Plan no cook meals that share ingredients so you can make sure not to waste food.
This might be a cold supper you assemble from pre-cooked or no-cook ingredients or one that you prepped at home and can enjoy cold on site.
Here are some faves:
What happens when you wrap up sub fillings in a tortilla? You can an Italian wrap that’s out of this world and full of flavor.
The classic Italian Sub is an easy and affordable sandwich to make yourself. You’ll enjoy a great lunch at a price that can’t be beat!
A Yogurt Berry Parfait makes for a delicious breakfast, snack, or dessert. It feels indulgent, but can actually be quite good for you.
A Ploughman’s Lunch is the English equivalent of a Snacky Lunch. Quick to prepare and easy to share, it’s an ideal no-cook meal and excellent for packing on the go.
The Snacky Lunch is just that – a lunch of snacks. Assemble a variety of proteins, vegetables, fruits, and breads for a DIY meal to please the masses.
Brown bagging it will taste amazing when you pack up a Black Bean Taco Salad. These stay good for several days in the fridge, so make a bulk batch!
Mix up a tasty tuna salad with dill, lemon, scallion, and celery for the best tuna sandwich recipe. Easy to make and super affordable!
Tender chicken, juicy raspberries, and tangy goat cheese get together to party in this simple yet flavorful Chicken & Raspberry Salad. No need for a cafe salad today when you’ve got this going on!
Don’t forget Breakfast and Snacks
You may not want to serve a full breakfast, but there’s actually loads of breakfast items you can make in advance to make your breakfasts feel elite-level glamping.
Quit standing by the stove getting splattered by bacon grease. Learn to bake bacon in the oven to make it easier — so you can eat more bacon, more often!
Make perfect hard cooked eggs every time in the electric pressure cooker.
This make-ahead Breakfast Charcuterie Board is super fun and easy to assemble, featuring all your favorite breakfast foods, yet with little work!
Prepare the easiest and tastiest of snacks with this simple Trail Mix Recipe with Fruit, Seeds, and Chocolate. It’s delicious on its own, atop yogurt or oatmeal, or baked into cookies.
With Greek yogurt, almond milk, protein powder, chia seeds, and rolled oats, Protein Overnight Oats is an easy, make-ahead Meal Prep Breakfast that’s delicious and comforting.
Homemade vanilla almond granola is easy to make and a great way to save money on breakfast fare. Flavored with maple and vanilla, this recipe is a hit at my house.
Instant oatmeal packets are a convenient breakfast on the go. They’re full of whole grains and dried fruit, making for a great breakfast. The best thing is that you can make them yourself!
Making French press cold brew coffee is an easy way to enjoy a cold brew concentrate. All you need are ground coffee beans and cold water.
Enjoy a variety of flavored cream cheeses for bagels, toast, or crackers. These three variations mix up quickly and easily.
You can make s’mores in rain or shine with this easy recipe. It’s so quick, you’ll have chocolate on your face in less than five minutes.
There’s pretty much no end to the variety of camping food you can enjoy!
Let us do the planning for you.
Pack the vacation bundle on your next trip for easy meal plans done for you. You’ll find everything you need for every kind of vacation you want to take, from camping to road tripping to vacationing at home.
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