My Favorite Camping Recipes

If you are like me, you love camping... LIKE LOVE LOVE MUCH MUCH! I love being in nature, bonfires, the smell of the camp fire on my hoodie, the rustic throwback and the time with family. HOWEVER, ... This often means that when packing food for the family, convenience will often outweigh nutrition... #momofbusyboys so I often try to find ways to keep nutrition in mind while planning our meals but that are also easy to do.

Boy Scout Camp has been Set up!

AND... I just so happen to have a son in Boy Scouts, so we have been learning a great deal about campfire cooking and I have found that cooking is quite easy to do while camping. My favorite methods are the foil packet system and pie irons for sure!

Here are some of those great recipes for camping!

Campfire Foil Cowboy Dinner

Ingredients:

¼ lb hamburger

Seasoning of choice

Sliced onion & potatoes

Mushrooms (optional)

Sliced peppers (optional)

Garlic (optional)

Can of baked beans (with juice)

Tinfoil

Directions:

Layer hamburger (normally ¼ pound and add seasonings), sliced onions & potatoes, you can also add mushrooms, peppers, garlic, etc (whatever you like) and then top with canned baked beans (with juice).  You just make a tightly sealed package and set it on a grid over the fire.  It will puff up and everything will steam inside, normally it takes approx 25 minutes and you will flip it every 10.   Open it up and enjoy!

 

Campfire Hobo Dinner

There are pretty much unlimited combinations with this.

Ingredients:

meat – chicken, salmon, kielbasa, beef, sausage, etc
vegetables – potatoes, peppers, onion, green beans, corn, etc
sauce – Asian, Italian dressing, pesto, cream of mushroom... etc
Aluminum foil
Roaring fire

Directions:

Using two sheets of aluminum foil, make an envelope and fold the edges to seal.

Add your choice of meat, vegetables and sauce. Fold to seal.

Place on grate above fire or directly in the coals.

Cook 15-30 minutes. Test potatoes for doneness. Eat hot.

Campfire Lumberjack Breakfast Packets

Ingredients:

Sausages or Canadian bacon

Frozen hash browns, or leftover cooked potatoes, diced

Eggs

Chopped tomatoes and green onions, if you like

Shredded cheese, any kind.

Directions:

~Kids love to help make their own breakfast packets! ~

Ummm... We are going to need
about 40 more...

Lay sausages or Canadian bacon on a double layer of foil that has been sprayed lightly with cooking spray.

It is best to have the meat on the bottom so it can receive direct heat from the grill to cook properly.

{Leave out the sausages if you don't like meat, and just start hash browns and a big dab of butter.}

On top of the sausages, add a handful of frozen hash browns or diced leftover potatoes, an egg or two, and diced tomato and green onion if you like.

Salt & pepper to taste.

You can also add Cajun spice, or Old Bay spice or whatever spice your family likes.

Wrap up packet and place on a hot BBQ for 15-20 minutes or until meat is thoroughly cooked.

After the packet has cooked for 15-20 minutes...

I like to open it up and add shredded cheese and put it back on the BBQ with the cover down to melt the cheese for a few minutes.

Campfire Potato Boat Dinner with Ham, Cheese & Bacon

This meal is so, so easy but it does require some planning and a bit of prep...it's a great idea to bake the potatoes before you leave home and wrap them in tin foil to take on the camping trip..and keep them chilled.

 

For this recipe, you will need:

Large potatoes, baked

Sliced ham

Cooked bacon slices

cheese slices {we like marble}

Sour cream for topping

Green Onion for topping

Directions:

Slice baked potatoes like shown. 

Between the cuts, stuff a slice of cheese, bacon and ham.

Add small dabs of butter on top of each of the slices. Salt & pepper to taste.

Wrap potato in double layer of tin foil lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

Place on a hot BBQ for 20+ minutes...until potato is hot and cheese, ham & bacon have melted together, and it looks toasty and good!

Top the Potato Boat dinner with sour cream and green onion if you like.

The Potato Boat has so many possibilities...you could leave out the ham & bacon and just add cheese and broccoli, or chili, or cooked taco meat.

THINGS I HAVE COOKED IN A PIE IRON… 

Oh man… this is one of those things that I cannot go camping without. Pie Irons are the best!  They are fun, easy and one of those camping memories every kid should have. Here are some things I have cooked in pie irons...

Tater-Tot Casserole in a Pie Iron - yes for real

Pizza

Ham N Cheese

Mini Tater-tot Casserole

Ruben

Bagel Sandwiches

Chicken Pot Pies

Hot PBJ

Fruit Pies

Omelets 

Breakfast Burritos

Regular Burritos

Cinnamon Rolls 

Tater-Tot-Casserole

Ingredients:

Frozen Hash brown patties, thawed

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Pre-Cooked ground beef crumbles

Cheddar cheese, shredded

French-cut Green Beans, drained

French friend onions

butter

Directions:

Grease iron

Use 3 hash brown patties per pie iron.

Cut one patty in half and press 1 & 1/2 patties into buttered pie iron.

Patch holes with hash-brown pieces

Mix drained beans, cheese, french fried onions and ground beef (I find a zip-lock does the trick well)

Top with spoonful of ingredients.

TIP

Sear both sides over high heat, then move to a cooler spot.

Campfire Bagel Sandwich

Ingredients:

Bagels

Lunch meat

Cheese

Directions:

Wrap in tinfoil

Toss into fire until cheese is melted

This can also be done with pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni

Pie Iron Pizza Pies

Pizza Pocket Pies

Ingredients:

Sliced Pepperoni

Pizza Sauce

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Bread (you can also use crescent roll dough)

Butter

Directions:

Top one piece of buttered bread (or  with Pepperoni. Add Shredded mozzarella. Now add Pizza sauce – careful not to overflow it, 2 – 3 tbsp) add a bit more cheese and cap with second piece of buttered bread.

Close and cook as above, 3 minutes per side.

Place on plate and enjoy

 Pie Iron Ham & Apple Grilled Cheese

Hmmmmm Yummy

Ingredients:

bread,

shredded cheddar cheese,

shaved smoked ham (deli),

apple slices

Directions

Spread a layer of shredded cheese on one piece of bread. Top with a generous portion of shaved ham.

Sprinkle a little more shredded cheese and add a layer of thin apple slices.

Top with another thick layer of shredded cheese, then cap with second piece of bread. (remember, one side generously buttered)

Close and cook as above, 3 minutes per side.

Enjoying Campfire songs

Pie Iron Reuben

Ingredients:

Rye bread

shaved corned beef

Swiss cheese

Sauerkraut

spicy mustard

Directions:

Spread thin layer of spicy mustard on bread.

Top with a generous portion of shaved corned beef, then a slice of Swiss cheese.

Spread a couple spoonful's of sauerkraut over cheese, season with ground black pepper, then top with another slice of Swiss cheese.

Cap with second piece of buttered bread, (also with a thin smear of spicy mustard).

Close and cook as above, 3 minutes per side.

Place on plate and enjoy

Pie Iron Sweet Pies

Ingredients:

Your choice pie filling (Cherry, Apple, Strawberry)

Bread

Butter

sugar

Directions:

Top one piece of buttered bread with pie filling – careful not to overflow it, 2 – 3 tbsp). Cap with second piece of buttered bread.

Close and cook as above, 3 minutes per side.

Place on plate and sprinkle both sides with sugar – while still hot.

Goofing around with S'mores

Peanut Butter S’mores

Ingredients:

bread

peanut butter

graham crackers

chocolate bars

mini-marshmallows

Directions:

Thickly spread peanut butter on one piece of bread. Top with chocolate bar and mini-marshmallows, then cap with small broken pieces of graham cracker. Finish with second piece of bread.

Close and cook as above, 3 minutes per side.

Campfire Sizzle Sticks (this is one of my favorites)

Ingredients:

1/4 c chopped fresh mystery herb (mint, parsley, your choice)

1 tsp diced fresh ginger

2 cloves diced garlic

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Greek Grind - dried Greek seasoning found at our local farmers market

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 lb ground meat - I used beef but lamb, pork or turkey would be yummy too!

Metal or bamboo skewers

Directions:

Mix together the dry ingredients. Then take a deep breath and put your hands into the ground beef to combine the ingredients well

Form the meat into balls (6 worked for me) and skewer.

Form a sausage around the skewer and barbecue

And of course, we can’t forget the classic Walking Taco. Also known as Dump-N-Crunch in our house. Just watch the fun as the kids dump in their ingredients, crunch, scrunch, and shake to mix, and then dig in.

All you need to do is make sure they don’t get carried away with the crunching and shaking. This camp recipes for kids isn’t just delicious – it’s fun too.

The concept is so simple. Each camper spoons the ingredients they want into their individual bags of chips. Then they just scrunch them a little to mix things up – and they’re done! Eat with a plastic fork or spoon and toss everything in the trash for clean-up.

Note:

A little prep at home can make this a no-cook, fast and easy camp meal. Just cook the hamburger/taco seasoning mix at home and bring to camp in a gallon-size Ziploc. (can be served cold at camp or warmed in a skillet)

The vegetable slicing and dicing can also be done at home and brought to camp in Ziplocs.

Then it’s just a matter of putting things out for the kids to use.

TIPS FOR CAMPING

Dice up all your veggies and put them into Ziploc bags

Onions

Green Bell Peppers

Red Bell Peppers

Potatoes

Tomatoes

Hard Boiled Eggs – having these on hand is helpful for quick no fuss breakfasts.

Snack Bags:

Any mix of Nuts, Dried Fruit, M&Ms, Goldfish, Chex Cereal works. Pre-portion them out for on the go. I find it help to keep the kidos happy so you can enjoy your camping too.

ALWAYS bring extra zip lock bags (sandwich size and gallon sized)

Always bring skewers for roasting things over the fire. Anytime a child/adult can cook their food over a fire/grill is great fun.

 

Hotdogs

Braats

Smores

Sizzle Sticks

Chicken Strips

Kabobs