Cook up a storm with our easy camping meals for family adventures
Sausages, s’mores and starry skies – there’s nothing quite like a meal round the campfire.
If you’re not sure how to or what to cook, fear not – for here we bring you some of our favourite easy camping meals for family adventures under canvas. Everything from one pot camping meals to vegan camping meals, with our top campfire desserts and camping food hacks mixed in the pot as well!
Top pick of easy camping meals for family breaks:
1. Pancakes
The ultimate in easy camping food because they can be sweet or savoury, are super simple to mix-up on site or before you leave home, and taste great at any time of the day. To make up a batch before you set-off for the campsite, just mix an egg, 1 cup of flour, ¼ cup of sugar, ¼ cup of instant milk powder, 4tsp of baking powder and ¼ tsp of salt and then store in a zip-up bag. Then cook in the pan, drizzle the syrup, throw on some fresh berries and enjoy!
2. Omelettes
Another star in the easy camping food guide. Crack a few eggs, give them a whip, pour into your pan and in minutes you have tasty and healthy camping food for brekkie, lunch or tea. Elevate your omelette with chorizo and fresh peppers, opt for a classic cheese and bacon, a veggie mushroom, or a simple sprinkle of herbs. Camping meal ideas don’t get any simpler.
3. The classic BBQ
Burgers and relish, sausages and sauce, the classic BBQ is the staple campfire go-to for a reason. If you’re glamping or camping with us here at Hilltop, you can head to our Farm Shop and buy our very own top-quality meats, ready prepped for the campfire. Or pick up some Halloumi for any veggie diners. Brioche buns, charred asparagus and crunchy fresh salad and you have a winning family feast.
4. One pot cooking
The place to turn for an abundance of easy camping recipes. Like ‘Anytime Eggs & Potatoes’ – the perfect camper’s brunch! Just sizzle onions and sliced potatoes over a gentle heat for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are golden. Then, crack in a few eggs and cook until the whites are set, then break the yolks. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley and serve from the pan.
5. Campfire stew
Another great place to turn for camping meal ideas is the humble stew. Campfire stew ingredients don’t need to be complicated, and you don’t need to simmer for hours – as this recipe shows! Simply cook some diced beef in a pan until no longer pink, add vegetables of your choice, plus a tin of tomato soup, a tin of beef soup, seasoning, a little water and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until all cooked through.
6. Summer salads
Summer Salads – if you’re after healthy camping food, or even camping food ideas no cooking required, zingy summer salads are fresh, easy and delicious. Pick up some fresh leaves, veg and fruit and make a simple dressing with a squeeze of lemon or lime. Add chicken, crab, pasta, lentils – the options are endless. There are no shortage of keto camping meal ideas out there either – like low carb almond flour bagels that can be made and packed ahead.
7. Campfire pizza
Yes rustling up pizza on a campfire is easier than you might think! To make the dough you just need to put 225g of self-raising flour into a bowl, make a well, add 3tbsp of olive oil and about 7 tbsp of warm water. This should make a soft dough which you can roll out to fit your frying pan. You simply press the dough into the pan (add a little olive oil to the pan first) and cook for about 10 minutes until the base is golden. Then add a tomato base (which you can easily make at home at pack), scatter with cheese and grill until it melts.
8. Easy desserts
So many options here. Core an apple, pour in some dried fruits or trail mix, wrap in foil and pop on the fire. Cut a banana, fill with chocolate, wrap, cook and enjoy! Or you can’t beat classic s’mores. Take two digestives, pop a choccy bar in the middle, toast marshmallows to gooey perfection and add to the sweet sandwich.
Finally (before you fire up the BBQ) we give you our:
Top camping food hacks
Plan ahead
As so many of the recipes we’ve outlined above show, forward planning can turn campfire cooking from time-consuming and messy to super quick and easy. Make your pancake batter and pack it, make your pizza basics before you leave, you’ll be glad you did! And whatever you do, don’t forget to pack plenty of tin foil – because you can cook almost anything on a campfire if you wrap it in tin foil!
Sugar & spice
So many campfire meals can be elevated with a little seasoning, sugar and spice. Bringing your spice rack with you probably isn’t going to work – but you could make a little travel-size version using tic-tac boxes, on-hand whenever you need!
Herbs on hot coals
A great hack – when cooking over a campfire, a genius alternative to a marinade is to sprinkle sprigs of fresh herbs — such as basil, rosemary or oregano – over the hot coals to add a herb-infused smokiness to whatever meat you’re grilling. You’re welcome.