Easy and Nutritious Meals and Snacks for Camping
Updated on March 13, 2023
Perhaps it’s a little early to be talking about camping, seeing as how spring isn’t even quite here yet, but if we’re being honest with you, we’re so darn excited about our summer camping trip that we’re already planning it! Besides the route, where we’ll pitch our tents and campers, and what kinds of activities we’ll do while we’re stopped, our favourite part of the plan is picking out the snacks and planning our meals! That might not sound that exciting but, if you really think outside the box, there are actually plenty of deliciously creative meals that are particularly great for camping because they’re individually packaged and easy to heat on a camp fire! We’ve tried all kinds of things but we’re always on the lookout for new, yummy ideas wherever we can find them.
Just in case you’re as excited and intrigued by the idea of campfire snacks and meals as we are, here are 15 of the best ideas we’ve come across so far in our search!
1. Vegetarian, gluten free campfire nachos
One of the easiest ways to make a full meal over a campfire is to make it skillet style, roasting everything in a pan together so save yourself time and cleanup. This means finding meals that include ingredient that can be cooked all together like that and still taste good. Now, nachos are absolutely one of our favourite snacks, but those are usually something you baked in the oven so we never thought of them as something you’d make yourself roasted in a pan over the fire… until we discovered this delicious campfire nachos recipe featured on Fresh Off The Grid.
2. Campfire grilled loaded baked potatoes
Have you ever made yourself tinfoil roasted baked potatoes? Well, whether you’ve done them like a slow roast wrapped in the oven or properly roasted them in tinfoil on the grill of your barbecue, you already know how absolutely delicious and flavourful the technique makes them! It only makes sense, then, that these tinfoil roasted campfire potatoes are absolutely mouth watering as well. The Kitchen Magpie shows you how to make a version that’s completely loaded with all kinds of awesome toppings!
3. Easy campfire beans
No matter how you’re preparing them, making baked beans is a process that’s always worth it because the preparation is so easy but it has massive taste pay off. Picture how easy it is to make regular baked beans at home. It doesn’t seem like they’d be made with that same ease if you didn’t have you electricity and appliances, right? Well, Camping Converts is actually here to try and prove you wrong! Check out their tutorial to see how they made campfire beans.
4. Campfire cinnamon roll-ups
Believe it or not, dinner pieces and entrees aren’t the only things you can make over a campfire, which is particularly good news when you’re on a trip that’s supposed to be a relaxing treat for everyone involved. That’s why we always make sure to look up how to make some desserts and sweet snacks as well! One of our particular favourites is this recipe from Almost Super Moms which shows you how to make delicious cinnamon roll ups that taste just like cinnamon buns. Roast them over the fire, drizzle some icing or glaze on, and voila!
5. Easy raspberry cereal
Just like not everything you make while camping has to be a savoury entree, not everything has to be made over the fire either! One of our very favourite breakfast meals to eat at our campsite is actually one that we could technically make anywhere, anytime, but it just brightens up a morning out camping like no other! Camping Tourist shows you how easily adding fresh raspberries (we usually try to get them from a local market near wherever we’re traveling or set up) can transform a simple bowl of your favourite cereal.
6. Bannock campfire bread
If you’re going to make roasted campfire meals while you’re out on the site, would you prefer to make sure you’ve got some really authentic recipes that campers and voyagers have made over their bonfires for centuries, so your kids or guests really get the true experience? Then we’d absolutely suggest taking a look at this amazing (and surprisingly simple) bannock campfire breads featured on Get Out With The Kids.
7. Campfire cones
As delicious a treat as ice cream makes, particularly as the weather warms up, it does’t actually make that great a camping treat unless you have a fancy camper with a freezer on board. enjoying cone treats is a great idea for when your kids are running around excited, however, because they can just carry their treat right in their hand. That’s why we thought this melted campfire cone idea was so great! Hip 2 Save shows you how to fill a cone with candies and chocolates that will melt together easily and taste great once they’re melded inside an ice cream cone.
8. Prep-ahead taco soup
Just because you’re going on the road doesn’t mean you can’t take a cooler or two carrying at least a few prepped meals that aren’t assembled in tinfoil or ready to put together right from the package! This delicious prep-ahead taco soup is the perfect example of what we mean. Super Healthy Kids shows you how to mix the ingredients and spice it just right so that it sits well in a pot, letting its flavours settle together so its tastes even better by the time you’ve traveled and place it over the fire to warm up.
9. Campfire breakfast burritos
If you ask us, being on the road is no excuse to skip out on getting a great breakfast that’s both delicious and nutritious! That doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to stick to mostly fruit, though. Instead, try combining all the ingredients that you’d normally put in a hearty egg breakfast into a burrito and tinfoil roasting it over your campfire, just like Taste and Tell did here! Add as many or as few fillings as you please depending on how much you want to fill your family up that day.
10. Tinfoil wrapped warm S’mores granola
Are you perhaps searching for a compromise dish that gives your kids some yummy sweetness but without giving them a wild sugar crush that they’ll crash from soon too? In that case, perhaps this delicious S’mores granola featured on The Big Man’s World is a better option than some of what you’d seen so far! Their recipe and tutorial show you how to mix your granola with chocolate chips and miniature marshmallow like a delicious melted bake.
11. Lumberjack breakfast
Did we really catch your attention when we started talking about including all of the components of a delicious, hearty breakfast into one travel sized, easily manoeuvred meal but you’re just not sure that a wrap or burrito is quite the breakfast you’ll be craving on the road because you’ve just never been a huge fan? Then we think maybe you’d prefer this delicious lumberjack’s breakfast roasted over the campfire a lot more. Check out how it’s made on Echoes of Laughter.
12. Campfire orange cinnamon rolls
Did we really catch your attention when we started talking about cinnamon skewers above because cinnamon buns are your favourite treat, but you think you’d rather make something more akin to an actual, full cinnamon bun? Well, you’ll still need something that travels well and the classic fluffy kind won’t necessarily survive a jam packed car journey, so here’s a crafty camper’s version outlined nice and clearly on Oleander and Palm! We guarantee your kids will get a total kick out of making something sweet and delicious inside an orange peel, which is a total added bonus.
13. Apple and cranberry tinfoil packets
Are you still looking for sweet, dessert-like alternatives for outright baked goods but you still want to make sure your family get to enjoy some kind of treat on their journey? Then we’d suggest taking a look at this absolutely mouth watering apple and cranberry bake from The Country Cook! They show you how to pre-prepare individual tinfoil packs that are spiced to perfection with cinnamon and wrapped, ready to be roasted once you’re all set up on site for a cookout!
14. Campfire French toast
If you’re going to pre-package a breakfast dish for when you’re on the campsite, would you prefer to do one big wrapping session instead of wrapping individual packs to hand out? Then we think maybe you’ll find this share-able campfire French toast idea from This Lil’ Piglet a little more intriguing! We think you’ll be surprised by how easily this one is made, and how quickly too.
15. Foil pack cheesy fries
Let’s be honest with ourselves for a second; when we go camping, we really just want to eat junk food. There’s just something so satisfying about letting yourself totally let loose and eat whatever you want, just for a couple days! That’s how this tinfoil wrapped recipe for campfire cheesy fries became one of our very favourite things to make and chow down on when we camp. Check the whole idea out in more detail on Table Spoons.
Do you have another favourite tinfoil packet or campfire recipe that you love to make for your family each summer when you camp, but you don’t see that idea on our list? Tell us all about how it’s made or link us to the recipe in the comments section!