Got everything ready to go on your camping trip? Have you considered some make ahead camping meals? You’ll eat well on a budget when you do!
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I know. Maybe you have some romantic vision of popping open canned beans and setting them in the coal fire to heat, sitting around the fire eating simple food and drinking good beers.
And if that’s what you love, you go for it!
If however, you want a little more, then let’s chat.
You may think that going camping relegates you to hot dogs and canned beans, but there’s so many great make ahead meals you can take with you, that with a careful meal plan and a little prep ahead, you can eat just as good in the woods (or the dessert or at the lake or at the beach) as you do at home!
Why Make Ahead Camping Meals?
Cooking while camping takes a little extra planning than cooking at home. You either need to pack all the kitchen equipment you could possibly need and your spice cupboard OR you coordinate your meal plans to work together and use common utensils.
On the other hand, make-ahead camping meals, like those that are meal prepped or frozen are the best of all!
Receive a special camping badge by simply prepping meals or meal components in advance so you can spend less time cooking and more time swimming, boating, skiing, fishing, or whatever else you wanna do on your trip.
Tips for Success
Use the right containers. Leakproof packaging like plastic containers that seal airtight are best. This will help food stay fresh longer.
Keep perishable food cold. Freezing the last items on your meal plan will keep them colder longer and serve as back up ice as yours runs out. Be sure you have a way to replenish your ice as it melts.
Store uncooked meats in a separate cooler from cooked foods. Inevitably something leaks and to avoid food poisoning, reduce the risk of cross contamination.
Serve the more perishable food first. Save food from canned goods or solidly frozen meals for last. Enjoy the stuff that won’t last first.
Chill food prior to freezing it. When you’re prepping, remember that cold food freezes fastest, so chill all items in the fridge for a few hours prior to freezing it.
Be sure to observe campground safety rules. There’s good reason for storing food in special places during camping trips. Make sure to follow them.
How to Plan Make Ahead Camping Meals
Think about your camping meals in terms of style of cooking as well as ease and time to prep. The simpler the better.
For best results, focus on these kinds of make ahead camping meals:
- one pot dinners that you can reheat in a dutch oven, skillet, or even a slow cooker if the RV or campsight has electricity
- precooked proteins that you mix and match into salads, sandwiches, and wraps
- grilling meals that you can cook over the BBQ
- no-cook meals that involve assembling a few items from the cooler or enjoying premade cold meals from home
Any of your favorite recipes that fit in these categories are going to work for camping. Do a little prep ahead and double check your ingredients as you can’t just run out to the store.
Let’s look at each of these different kinds of meals perfect for camping:
One Dish Dinners
One-dish dinners are those that are self-contained; they have all the elements you’d want in a meal. These include soups, stews, pasta dishes, casseroles, and skillets.
To make them in advance, you can prep all the elements ahead of time to assemble at the campground, or prepare it in its entirety and just reheat before serving. For instance, it’s easy to cook the ground beef for chili at home and add the pinto and black beans for chili when you serve it.
When serving, add fun toppings and good bread to make these meals feel a little special.
Precooked Protein Meals
Taking your proteins already cooked makes meal assembly super easy. This is a great play at home or away.
Cooked breakfast sausage can be easily folded into fresh scrambled eggs for breakfast burritos. Cooked bacon tucked into sandwiches for easy BLTs.
Grilling Meals
Sleeping outdoors pairs naturally with the best of cooking outdoors, grilling. If you bring your meat, fish, and veg trimmed and grill-ready it will feel easy.
You can do the standard protien, starch, veg, or jazz things up with different cooking methods like foil packets or fun serving styles like turning your grilled beef into Tri-tip Sandwiches or Carne Asada Tacos.
Here are some of our favorite meals to prep ahead to serve while camping:
If you’re pinched for time, be sure to grab a custom spice mix to add to the meat or fish on site.
No-Cook Meals
Even when you’re not cooking, your meals will still benefit from some prep ahead. Plan no cook meals that share ingredients so you can make sure not to waste food.
This might be a cold supper you assemble from pre-cooked or no-cook ingredients or one that you prepped at home and can enjoy cold on site.
Here are some faves:
Don’t forget Breakfast and Snacks
You may not want to serve a full breakfast, but there’s actually loads of breakfast items you can make in advance to make your breakfasts feel elite-level glamping.
There’s pretty much no end to the variety of camping food you can enjoy!
Let us do the planning for you.
Pack the vacation bundle on your next trip for easy meal plans done for you. You’ll find everything you need for every kind of vacation you want to take, from camping to road tripping to vacationing at home.
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