The possibilities are endless when deciding what foods you will bring when camping. The more non-perishable foods you bring the better because it is safer and more convenient. If you’re planning to hike, dried food is also much easier to carry.
You don’t have to cook everything on the campfire. Coleman stoves are economical, practical and easy to pack ,although they would be too heavy to bring along backpacking.
Solar cookers/ovens are a popular alternative when cooking outdoors and they are very lightweight. They use the heat from the sun to cook food and are easy to assemble with foil and cardboard.
Breakfast Food Ideas
- Cold cereal: Powdered milk is also handy and it tastes fine when mixed with cereal.
- Oatmeal: If you mix it up ahead of time and use instant oats, all you need to do is add water. To add some flavor to your oatmeal, try a little cinnamon, raisins or dried apples.
- Granola or granola bars: Make your granola ahead of time and include dried fruits for a full breakfast.
- English muffins, pitas, tortillas: Great with jam, eggs or cheese.
- Pancakes: Make sure the pancake mix is the type that you only need to add water.
Lunch & Snack Ideas
- Dried fruit (banana chips, raisins, dried apricots)
- Instant noodles
- Bagels
- Pitas
- Biscuits
- Dried soup mixes
- Instant rice
- Trail mix
- Nuts
- Beef jerky
- Salami, pepperoni
- Crackers & Cookies
- Peanut butter
- Cheese
- Cucumber
- Celery
- Tomatoes
- Berries
Drinks
Bring along instant coffee, tea, powdered fruit drinks and powdered milk.
If you must have brewed coffee, bring along a French press. It is an effective and delicious way of filtering the grounds without using electricity.
Foil Wrapped Foods
Baked potatoes are delicious wrapped in foil and cooked on coals. To add some flavor and moisture try splitting the potato, adding a bit of olive oil, rosemary and/or garlic, onion, green pepper, carrot or other favorite vegetable. Sprinkle with bacon bits or grated cheese if desired.
Another very versatile food item is instant mashed potatoes. You can use it to make fish cakes with fresh or canned fish. Canned food has obvious benefits since it will keep for months but they're heavy to drag around. If you do bring cans, don't forget the can opener. Common ingredients for fish cakes include egg, onion, flour, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Make sure you dust your hands with flour before coating them because they’re sticky.
Cooking Food on Sticks or Skewers
There are other things to cook on sticks besides marshmallows. Hotdogs are always fun but what about sausage, vegetables, and biscuits? If you make the dough thick enough it will stay on the stick and brown nicely.
Dutch Ovens
You can cook just about anything with a Dutch oven because they’re heavy, covered and can be placed more directly into the heat. It still needs monitored and a grill would be handy to keep the Dutch oven straight and prevent it from getting too hot. Some foods that are good for Dutch ovens include stews, dumplings, cakes, chili, and spaghetti sauce.
For more information or recipes see:
