What are some good meals to cook while camping?

Question

Taking into account that you can't store food that needs refrigeration or freezing and that your means of cooking are slightly limited.

Answer 1

Weight, storage and cooking are key considerations when choosing. Weight -- you gotta pack it in (and trash out if you're a good camper!) Storage -- protected, packable, non-perishable. Cooking - what cooking methods available to you and what cookware can you pack in. Will you be cooking on a fire using available fuel, i.e., wood, dry buffalo chips (works!) or will you be using a gas stove (which limits you to the fuel you can pack in).

Top items/must haves: grains & beans (dry). Rice, oats, beans, etc. Note: dry beans require long cooking times, so they're not a good choice if you can't build a cooking fire. Rice and oatmeal still are -- just use minute rice and instant or quick oats.

Condiments, S&P, herbs(dry), garlic, onions, extra virgin olive oil. You can put a lot of "bam" in the camp with just a few basics. Ginger -- fresh or candied (and the candy ginger makes a nice little treat - better than chewing gum!)

Canned tomato products - paste, sauce, diced, etc.-- more bam.

Hardy veggies (take a licking and still rib-sticking!) Spuds & carrots are staples, and basic for soups, stews, sides.

Hardy fruits -- a bit more tricky, because they do bruise. Apples and oranges. Lemons and limes, too! (more bam, plus you can add them to tea, water, lemonade etc).

Dried beef, salt pork, shrink-packaged tempeh, and if you can stand the weight, canned beef, etc. Smoked sausages. Salt cured ham. (Shrink-wrapped packs in the market). Eggs (in a good egg packer). Eggs stay fresh w/o fridge for about a week. Hard cheeses, and small smoked cheeses (more firm/semi-hard, no softies).

Dry soup mixes -- many good ones out there.

Bread -- choose a firm, whole/multi grain bread with a good crust. Pack a serrated edge knife.


You need proteins, fats, fibers, vitamins -- and variety.

BTW, brown basmati rice has all the proteins humans need.

And, the all important snack factor!! Nuts are always a must-have for proteins and good fats. Dried fruits. Dates, raisins, "craisons" (dry cranberries, the sweetend kind). Hard biscuits/cookies. Have you ever roasted cloves of jumbo garlic? I call 'em Italian marshmallows, and they not only smell and taste wonderful, but I swear they cut down on skeeters and vampires too! POPCORN -- Jiffy Pop (in the cook-in foil pans). Trail mix, granola, hard candies! Candied fruit (not that fruitcake crap, the good stuff!) Chewing gum.

Can't forget beverages. Coffee, tea. Pack in a coffee percolator - it's worth it. Tea bags -- priceless. Nothing like sipping tea by the fire. Lemonade mix! Instant cocoa
mix!!!

Water -- will you have potable water, or will you have to pack in what you need? If a river runs through it, a filtration unit and iodine tablets may be your best friends.

Another option -- for the first night in, you can bring some durable perishable foods, like hot dogs. You can also pack in some bacon for the first breakfast, but you have to get the real bacon -- not that crap in the supermarket. That stuff is full of water and doesn't keep like real bacon.

Dang, I've gone on listing stuff but not any recipes.

Well, if you take all or most of the stuff above, plus other stuff I didn't list that you might think of, then you'll be set to pull off some terrific meals from one pot wonders to campfire gourmet.

Oh -- take LOTS of aluminum foil.

Man, I wish I were up on the mountain, or down in the canyon....I can smell the garlic on a stick now....

Source: My first merit badge was camp cooking -- true story, scout's honor! Oh, and I'm a chef and a hiker.

Answer 2

take plenty of foil and grab some potatoes, corn, onion whatever you like to cook at home. Everything tastes better over a camp fire. The corn on the cob is great you can leave the husk on and put the corn directly on the coals bring along some butter and it's amazing. The onion is good if you take the skin off cut in half wrap in foil with a half stick of butter and put directly in the hot coals then let cool a bit and enjoy. Chicken is also good on a fire just be sure you cook thoroughly.

Answer 3

1. Wrap a hamburger patty, a sliced potato and some onion in several layers of aluminum foil. Make an individual packet for each person. Put all packets in a ziplock and freeze. Use in cooler to keep beer cold. When thawed lay packets in hot ashes/coals for about 30 minutes. Turn often.

2. Do the same as above, but use a boneless chicken breast, carrot slivers, mushrooms and potato. Season with a fresh sage leaf.

3. Cook and crumble breakfast sausage with onion, mushroom, peppers (whatever else you want). Cool. Put into freezer bag, break in some eggs. Freeze. Use as ice. Boil a large pan of water over the campfire. Put individual packets into the water until eggs are cooked. Serve with feta cheese and tortillas.

4. Preslice some good smoked sausage, green peppers, mushrooms, garlic and onions. Throw in a bit of butter. Freeze. Stirfry over campfire or put in foil packets.

5. Take premade biscuits or bread dough. Roll them into snakes and wrap around a stick. Cook them over hot coals. Serve with jelly, honey and butter.

6. Place apples or pears directly into hot ashes/coals. Eat carefully, they will be hot... and juicy and delicious. Good to do with an onion too.

Answer 4

Loaded Campfire Potatoes!
Category: Vegetables Rating: 10
Backpack: No Effort: easy Serves: 3-4 Prep time: 1-30m

Ingredients:

* 4 med. potatoes
* Finely shredded cheddar cheese
* Real bacon bits (the imitation don't work as well)
* Butter
* Your favorite seasoned salt
* Non-stick cooking spray


How to Prepare:
In a large foil packet, spray w/ non-stick cooking spray. Place a layer of potatoes, butter and seasoned salt in foil packet. Sprinkle cheese and bacon bits over the top. Repeat until you run out of ingredients. Close foil packet and place on hot coals or grill until potatoes are tender. Enjoy!!!

Answer 5

One of my favorite camping meals is one that I always make on the first night-"hobo" dinners: Take a piece of aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray (i.e. Pam), Then place a hamburger patty in the center of it. On top of that, layer thinly sliced onion, carrots, and potatoes. Set this on your grill grate, or on the side of your fire, keep turning it over occasionally, and after about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, you will have an awesome meal in a pouch. Try it, I think that you' ll like it. Let me know how it goes...

Answer 6

Well, it depends.
What I do is take a frozen hamburger patty, place it in the center of two feet of aluminum foil, put a large slice of onion on top of it, 2 thick slices a potatoe and put one under onion and the other on top.
You can also include carrots. Salt, peper, and garlic powder. Wrap up in the aluminum foil. Keep frozen if possible. If not possible, use the shorter cooking time.
Build a large camp fire, throw the packets into coals for about 15 - 30 minutes.
Dig out, unwrap and enjoy.

I find if I wrap them up together in a couple of terry cloth towels they will stay frozen longer.

Otherwise you could take raman noodles with dried vegetables and some of canned chicken. All you do is boil water, add noodles, vegetables and chicken. Cover, wait 5 min. Dinner.

Answer 7

Canned Beans & Hot Dogs.

Canned Soups

Canned Beef Stew

Canned Meatballs & Sphagetti.

Answer 8

Shrimp Kabobs
Chicken Kabobs

Answer 9

Baked Beans
BBQ Works
Pancakes
Fish
ETC.

Answer 10

Buy fresh bread, milk each day from the campsite shop. If stocked, buy salad ingredients at the end of each day to supplement your main meal - for camp dinners, we usually have pasta & sauce packets with salad and nice bread rolls bought from the shop that day. Other easy dinner ideas: bbq (purchase meat that day with disposable bbq if they are permitted on site), bacon & eggs , canned soup, rice rosotto (packet mix) - take along a chopping board and knife .