Camping food can be as simple or complicated as you want. If you love to cook, there are great ideas out there for camp food. I like to keep things simple. There is enough to do when I’m camping, like hiking, fishing, and napping! I want the cooking part of the trip to be easy and with minor cleanup. The ideas I share here are not elaborate but delicious and easy. 

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Camping Food Cooking Mechanisms

First, consider how you will cook your food or whether you will cook at all. There are many ways to cook and heat food while camping. Options include:

• Propane camp stoves
• Backpacking stoves
• A cast iron dutch oven
• A campfire
• A wood camp stove

What you have will dictate what you can prepare.

Propane Stoves

Simple propane camp stoves come in one, two, or in the bigger versions, even three burners. If you go this route, which you choose will depend on how much space you have to pack it and the propane, how many people you’ll be feeding, and how elaborate you want to get. You can cook simple or complicated meals on a propane stove using pots and pans.

Backpacking Stoves

There are a few types of backpacking stoves and most run on Isobutane propane canisters of fuel. However, there are some wood backpacking stoves now. Some, such as Jet Boils, are systems designed to boil water rapidly. However, Jet Boil has come out with a new design that allows for cooking with pots and pans. Small burners also attach to the top of a canister, and you can set your small pot or pan on top. Keep in mind these are designed for backpacking, much smaller than regular pots and pans, and more challenging to cook on. They’re great for boiling water for coffee or rehydrating freeze-dried meals.

Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking

Dutch oven cooking for camping involved cast iron dutch ovens, beds of coals, and patience. This is a great way to cook camp food and is highly recommended, but there is a learning curve. The food is prepared in the dutch oven, sits over coals beds, and often has coals placed on the lid. The idea is that the heat will convect and cook the food inside. Dutch oven cooking is excellent for large groups of people or when you have lots of time on your hands. These pots are also large and heavy, so you must have enough room to pack them.  

Open Fire

If you know how to start a fire, this can be an easy option for camp food cooking. Sometimes a simple grate propped over an open flame will do. Even setting foil-covered food in the coals around the perimeter of a campfire can be efficient. It all depends on what you’re planning on cooking, but this can be a simple way to heat up food without a lot of planning or packing extra gear. 

Wall Tent Wood Stove

Most people won’t have this option, and those that do will likely prefer to get fancier than my suggestions. But it is an option if you have a wall tent setup and a stove. For the most part, you can cook the same on these stoves as a propane stove. Of course, you need wood to burn. These are also bulky and heavy, but a wood stove is an excellent option if you’re looking at setting up a base camp or packing with horses and mules in colder weather. 

What are the Best Foods to Take Camping?

The best foods to take camping are those that will store well in a cooler or don’t require cold storage. If you’re doing a multiple-day trip, you can take frozen items and cook them once they’ve thawed out in a few days. Eat the most perishable items first. Avoid things like milk and mayonnaise. However, with a cooler and plenty of ice, I will take half-and-half for my coffee. Use common sense and pay attention to what might cause food poisoning.  

Camping Food Ideas No Cooking

Lots of times, food that requires no cooking is the easiest. That’s why I love these ideas. They’re easy to throw in a pack, require little cleanup, and leave me plenty of time to do other things.

Camp Bagels

Here me out before you scroll past this one! I know it sounds terribly boring, but let me explain. First, these can actually require more time in topping preparation if you choose, or they can be pretty straightforward. I love picking huckleberries and making jam out of my bounty. This jam is perfect on an Everything bagel, smothered in plain cream cheese, and topped with a delicious homemade huckleberry jam. It elevates this tailgate camp food to a whole new level.

And if you want to take this camping food delight to yet another level, try adding smoked fish to one half, and the jam to the other. Now, this can be smoked trout or salmon you buy, or if you fish, try smoking them yourself! You can’t go wrong, I promise. 

Salami, Cheese, and Crackers

This is another go-to no-cook camping and hiking food for me. It’s easy, there is no mess, and you get plenty of protein and carbs. I prefer to buy a package of sliced cheese of my choice and cut the slices into quarters. It’s like making my own adult Lunchable. Get a package of sliced pepperoni, salami, or a stick of it, and crackers of choice. You can also substitute tortillas for the crackers. If you really want to get fancy, throw in some packages of dijon mustard. Whether you use this as hiking food or lunch at camp, it’s a great, easy, no-mess idea. 

Pre-Cooked Camping Food

If you get creative, anything you make at home can be adapted, cooked ahead of time, and warmed up at camp. Some things are better than others, but it’s okay to experiment. Things like taco meat can easily be reheated in a pan (or eaten cold!). Good camp food can be easy and simple.

Breakfast Sandwiches

You know the frozen Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches you can microwave? These are like that but way better. You can make your own delicious breakfast sandwiches. Instead of a microwave, wrap them in foil and reheat them in the coals on the edge of a fire or wood stove. 

Prepare your sandwiches at home. Toast your bread of choice, whether it’s a bagel, English muffin, or bread. I’ve found bagels are dry enough to hold up to chilling and reheating. Then cook your bacon or sausage and fry an egg. Make sure to salt and pepper your egg well. Butter your toasted bagel and layer on the meat, egg, and a slice of cheese. Then, wrap the entire sandwich into two layers of foil and put it in the freezer or fridge until it’s time to go camping.

Once camping, heat them up whichever way works best for you and enjoy! There is zero cleanup, and you have a fulfilling breakfast option to prepare you for the day’s activities. 

Cooked Camping Food

I have a few tried and true go-to options if you want to cook while camping but want to make everything simple. I can’t reiterate enough how much I don’t want to spend time cooking while camping.

Adult Mac and Cheese and Hot Dogs

Yeah, I know hot dogs are an easy go-to camping food, but this is not that. I’m talking about Velveeta Shells and Cheese and jalapeno cheddar dogs. This is easy and better because the shells and cheese only come with a package of cheese sauce to mix in with the macaroni. Use your heat source, whether it be a pot on the propane stove, a grate over an open fire, or a wood stove. Boil your shells until soft like you would at home. Then mix the cheese in.

While the mac is cooking, you can cook your jalapeno cheddar dogs in many ways. You can slice them in two and fry them in another pan. Or you can skewer them with a stick and cook them over a campfire in true camping fashion. Once cooked, slice them into pieces and mix them into the finished shells and cheese. I can’t tell you how delicious this meal is; you might even feel like a kid again. 

Mountain Houses

No, really, this is one of my suggestions. You get a complete and delicious meal just by boiling some water, mixing it in your meal of choice, and letting it sit for a few minutes. Whether you’re backpacking or car camping, I have found most Mountain Houses delicious. There is zero cleanup other than licking your spork clean and properly disposing of the bag. I’ll do Mountain Houses when car camping; that’s how much I hate spending my time cooking and cleaning up when out in the woods.

Final Thoughts on Camping Food

Yes, I get this isn’t the “Top 20 Camp Food Recipes of 20whatever,” but it’s much like my approach to camp food. Easy and tasty with minimal cleanup. These are tried and true, and I go back to them every time I go camping for a reason. Mix in some Cheez-Its, a dessert of choice, coffee in the morning, and an adult beverage at night, and you’ll be living the high life while watching the sunset over the mountains.