Camping

Your Favorite Camping Foods

There are so many great conversations on the Hotline—it's hard to choose a favorite. But we'll be doing it, once a week, to spread the wealth of our community's knowledge—and to keep the conversation going.

Today: What to make in the great outdoors.

S'mores

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Pack your sleeping bags and pitch a tent: It's summertime and we're going camping. Besides bug repellent and a flashlight, food is the number one priority. Instead of relying on hotdogs and hamburgers (which are great!), look at the great outdoors as just another type of kitchen—albeit a bit more primitive than the norm. 

Over on the Hotline, Hallie wants to know what simple, but stellar camping-appropriate meals she can make. "We'll have a propane two-burner stove and plan to have a campfire as well," she says. Your answers proved that foil and fire make a great team, prepping ahead reigns supreme, and s'mores in any form are a necessity. Here are your favorite camping foods:

  • Arcane54 suggests baking biscuits in hollowed-out onion halves—a favorite recipe from this cookbook. Mix your biscuits, place in onion halves, wrap in foil, and bake at the edge of the campfire (turn occasionally to avoid burning).
  • Nancy says to make a nice dinner at home and bring it with you—at least for the first night.
  • If it’s not too warm, Emily Love says a frozen soup or stew reheats wonderfully. 

Burrito

  • Kim McBride suggests foil-wrapped campfire breakfast burritos (“Campurritos”) filled with hash browns, cheese, sausage, and eggs. 
  • Cakesy says, “I braise sausages at home the day before I leave, that way they only need to be kissed by the flames a bit to warm/crisp them up.”
  • Savorthis brings “a baguette that has been sliced in half and pre-spread with butter, herbs, and cheese to bake in foil over the heat.” She also suggests packing precooked grains.

Have a go-to camping meal? Tell us in the comments below!

Photos by James Ransom

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • donna j beaumont
    donna j beaumont
  • MeganBaroness
    MeganBaroness
  • Em
    Em
  • Leslie
    Leslie
  • Jacob McDonald
    Jacob McDonald
I fall in love with every sandwich I ever meet.

11 Comments

donna J. September 27, 2020
Been gone for a while. Trailer camped 6 times this summer. One recipe I always have on hand is from https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/butter-bean-tuna-and-celery-salad
because I usually have all the ingredients. Capers for chicken Caesar, olive oil for anything, celery for munching on the road and beans and Ortiz tuna are pantry friendly.
 
donna J. September 27, 2020
Butter Bean and Tuna Salad
 
MeganBaroness July 11, 2015
We wrap halved sweet potatoes that have been oiled and salted into the coals and then simmer a few of the trader Joe's Indian pouch meals. Serve those with a piece of fire-toasted naan, and it is a killer tasty vegetarian meal that satisfies and is not perishable.
 
Riddley G. July 15, 2015
What a great idea! I've always eyed those pouches.
 
Em July 5, 2015
My favorite camping breakfast is kasha, or buckwheat porridge. Add buckwheat to salted boiling water and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in chunks of cheddar or blue cheese. It's hot and filling and will give you energy all morning long.
 
Riddley G. July 15, 2015
Cheese in kasha?! This is on my to-do list.
 
Leslie July 4, 2015
We cook/bake all kinds of great food in our camp Dutch ovens and charcoal, like green chile enchiladas or this easy and yummy blueberry and cream cheese french toast. http://www.texasironchef.com/?recipe=blueberry-and-cream-cheese-french-toast
 
Jacob M. July 4, 2015
I don't have any sage wisdom worthy of a separate recipe or a recipe at all regarding this recommendation. It's more of a technique than an end product after all. It's called a pudgy pie and it's made using a special contraption called a pie iron. A pie iron seems to be listed as a featured product for this post but I think they're worthy of a mention.

There are a number of recipes for them listed at pieiron.com
 
Riddley G. July 15, 2015
I love pudgy pies! Thanks for sharing.
 
donna J. September 27, 2020
do you have a recipe? thank you
 
Roxanne G. July 4, 2015
We have an offroad race team. One of my roles is team cook. Favorite camp meals include one-pan meals, soups, frittatas, skewers, or "bars" like a taco bar. We feast like royalty, even when we're camped in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Here are some of my favorites https://www.pinterest.com/faunron/food-camping/