|
June 28, 2017

Camp Meal Ideas

Tracy from Shutterbean.com shares her Camping Meal Ideas to liven up your camp life!

Someone asked me if I’d write a post about Camp Meal Ideas and I thought I’d take a stab at it.  Everyone has their own approach to camping. Mine? I like to add little comforts of everyday life into our camping lifestyle. I’ve never done one of those backpacking camping trips where we live off of nothing but what’s on our back. Although I’m tempted to try a minimal camp experience, I’m more of an air mattress/good food/booze lady who likes to have as many luxuries from home that I can fit in my car.

We just went camping up in Manchester over the weekend (which is probably why I need a cleanse right now). One of the reasons why I like our site is that there’s a grocery store not too far away. There are so many things to remember when it comes to camping, that it’s nice that we can buy things like meat and other perishables when we’re up there. Plus, it means we have less to pack. I try to keep things minimal, but it never works out that way.

On our Two Nights/Two Breakfast camping trip we ate:

Tracy from Shutterbean.com shares her Camping Meal Ideas to liven up your camp life!

Our Camping Meals:

  • tacos
  • burgers
  • breakfast burritos (both days)
  • hippie banana bread
  • coffee cake
  • s’mores galore

Tracy from Shutterbean.com shares her Camping Meal Ideas to liven up your camp life!

Taco Night

  • corn tortillas
  • carne asada (bought pre-marinated at the grocery store)
  • mango salsa (brought ingredients to make from scratch)
  • cilantro
  • red onions
  • tortilla chips
  • radishes
  • limes
  • pickled jalapeños (from a can)
  • Spanish rice (we used a package mix)
  • refried beans (canned)

You can definitely be more minimal or go overboard with taco night. Cheese, guacamole, sour cream would all be good but they require cooler space, so if you don’t have much, you can leave them off your list. Tacos are great because you can take any leftovers and turn them into nachos for lunch the next day. Bring the cheese!

Tracy from Shutterbean.com shares her Camping Meal Ideas to liven up your camp life!

The second night, we had burgers.

Tracy from Shutterbean.com shares her Camping Meal Ideas to liven up your camp life!

Burger Night

  • ground beef (added salt + pepper)
  • buns
  • red onion
  • ketchup & mustard (mayo if you’re into that sorta thing)
  • lettuce
  • tomato
  • avocado (splurge!)
  • can baked beans
  • corn on the cob + butter

You could always shape the hamburger patties ahead of time. If you’re not a meat-eater, bring some veggie burgers. Next time I want to see if I can bring ingredients for a simple green salad.  It would be nice to have a little more vegetables in the mix.

Tracy from Shutterbean.com shares her Camping Meal Ideas to liven up your camp life!

Last year we added hot dogs to the mix. GRILL PARTY!

Tracy from Shutterbean.com shares her Camping Meal Ideas to liven up your camp life!

Breakfast Burritos

  • flour tortillas
  • eggs
  • potatoes
  • red peppers
  • onions
  • breakfast sausage
  • avocado

Or you can have yourself a nice breakfast platter!  As you can see above, I had my burrito a la carte. I didn’t have the energy in the morning to assemble mine. #bourbon

Tracy from Shutterbean.com shares her Camping Meal Ideas to liven up your camp life!

More Simple Dinner Ideas:

Don’t forget hot dogs! Or veggie dogs. Whatever you’re into!

You can keep it simple or make it fancy! Bring a can of chili and cheese for Chili Cheese Dogs!

Just consider who you are sharing a tent with…

Italian Pressed Sandwiches for your Summer picnics! Find the recipe on Shutterbean.com

Pressed Italian Sandwiches

These sandwiches would be great for your first night at camp. If you don’t feel like getting all your stuff out, just unwrap a sandwich you made before you headed out. You can also eat some for lunch the next day.

If you don’t feel like getting all your stuff out, just unwrap a sandwich you made before you headed out. You can also eat some for lunch the next day.

Mediterranean Pasta Salad is a weekly staple. Perfect for work lunches paired with extra greens. Find the recipe on Shutterbean.com

Pasta Salad

Bring a container full of pasta salad. Great to fortify dinners or for lunch. Plus, you don’t really have to worry about it being TOO cold or TOO hot. The cooler keeps it just right.

Quick Tomato Basil Pasta is a great idea for a simple weeknight dinner. Find the recipe on Shutterbean.com

Quick Tomato Basil Pasta

I suppose if I didn’t camp with men, I’d have more meals like this pasta dish. It’s easy to chop up tomatoes, boil water over the stove for pasta and assemble.

Kale Soyrizo Tacos for a quick vegetarian weeknight meal! Find the recipe on shutterbean.com

 Kale Soyrizo Tacos

This is a good addition to the lineup. Soyrizo is pretty easy to use and doesn’t take up much space in a cooler. Plus there you have some kale for health. Add some eggs to any leftovers and you’ve got a good breakfast situation.

Put together an easy weeknight dinner with this Grilled Chicken + Tomato Parsley Salad recipe. Check it out on Shutterbean.com!

Grilled Chicken + Tomato Parsley Salad 

If you want to keep it light and clean this is a really good meal. I’d probably add some bread in there, but that’s just me!

Grilled Greek Panzanella // shutterbean

Greek Grilled Panzanella

If you like doing your chopping outside (like me!) you’ll like making this dish while camping.

GRILLED PEACHES with BLUE CHEESE & HAZELNUTS// shutterbean

Grilled Peaches with Blue Cheese

Look at this fancy number. I bet you’ve never had blue cheese on a camping trip. There’s a first for everything.

Other Recommended Sweets:

Hippy Banana Bread Shutterbean

Hippy Banana Bread

I brought a loaf this year because I knew my father-in-law (who is a protein nut!) would go crazy for the stuff. CORRECT!  It’s a great breakfast option and if you’re back at camp needing a little afternoon snack, it’s perfection.

 

This Grapefruit Yogurt Cake tastes like a citrus crumb doughnut. Find the recipe on Shutterbean.com

Coffee Cake

Coffee cake is great to have on hand. I just wrap it up in foil and call it a day. Before our breakfast burritos were made, a few of us were digging into a few pieces with our campfire coffee. That’s what coffee cake is for!

Tracy from Shutterbean.com shares her Camping Meal Ideas to liven up your camp life!

S’mores

Stock up before you go! I’ve found that most places that are within a campsite sell all the supplies at a REALLY HIGH MARKUP. It definitely pays to think ahead. No one needs to be paying $7 for a box of graham crackers.

Tracy from Shutterbean.com shares her Camping Meal Ideas to liven up your camp life!

If you have Camp Meal Ideas you’d love to share, let me know.

I’m always looking to shake things up!

  • Jill

    If I’m in charge of a dinner for group camping I do falafel. I make some things at home: shredded carrots and beets in the food processor and store in a zip lock bag, cumin vinaigrette, tzatziki…then bring pita, box of falafel mix, oil, lettuce, cucumbers, hummus, feta. I mix the carrots and beets with the vinaigrette, start frying and set everything out and it’s like the Liba Falafel truck came to our campsite!

  • Scarlett

    Ugh WOW these all look so good. I want to go camping with you guys! Growing up my idea of camping was standard hot dog and burger fare with smores and pizza pies (bread, pizza sauce, pepperonis and cheese in those pie irons that you stick in the fire) which was always DELICIOUS and so fun, but now, my husband’s idea of camping is more… backpacking and survival, haha. Which I’m still trying to get used to!

  • caitlin

    this post is so fun! giving me some good ideas for my upcoming bachelorette weekend away in the mountains! (in a cabin with a working kitchen, but still, we can still grill outside and bring some homemade baked goods like these with us!) thanks for sharing, Tracy!

  • Thymeline 22 | Feast In Thyme

    […] these ideas for camp meals from […]

  • OptimindRyan

    Your Camping Dinner ideas are a culinary delight for outdoor enthusiasts like myself! The creativity and simplicity you bring to each recipe make planning meals for camping trips an exciting adventure. Thanks for turning camp dining into a delicious experience!

Leave a Comment