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As much as we love the wild vistas, the geological marvels, and all the hiking, swimming, and paddling of a camping trip, a whole lot of the joy of camping centers on food, right? Sure, it’s a cliché that grub tastes better outdoors, but honestly, it’s true. However, just like at home, it’s easy to become bored with your campsite cuisine—or, if you’re new to the outdoors, figuring out what camping recipes to make can be a challenge.
That’s where Mountain House comes in. First off, our freeze-dried meals make scrumptious entrees that require no more prep work than boiling water—absolutely ideal for both car-camping and backpacking. We’ve been feeding campers since the 1960s, and our products boast the longest shelf life in the industry; a 30-year taste guarantee!
But we also want to inspire you more generally in the camp cooking department, which is why we’ve compiled this list of camping food ideas from some standout authorities. We’ve broken down the list into five categories to make it easier for you to put together the perfect meal plan:
Breakfast Ideas for Camping
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and that certainly applies in the woods. Beginning your day with a hearty camping breakfast ensures you’ll have the proper energy for an active morning of outdoor fun and exploration, avoiding the dreaded blood-sugar collapse and ensuing “hanger.”
Here are some easy meal ideas for a lovely, laid-back morning at the site!
Made-from-scratch pancakes for camp breakfast! Just add the dry ingredients to a mason jar for this make-ahead pancake mix, and then add the appropriate amount of eggs and milk to two more jars (or any other container of your choice), and you’re all set! Cook on a cast-iron skillet over the campfire for a delicious meal we can all get behind!
Upgraded Mountain House Breakfast Skillet
Our freeze-dried Breakfast Skillet pouch only requires some hot water, and you’ll have a great-tasting breakfast in no time. For an upgrade, add cilantro, chives, avocado, and black beans. If you bring tortillas, you can turn it into delicious breakfast burritos!
Campfire Apple Crisp Breakfast
One skillet and a crackling campfire to cook over are all you need for this fabulously delicious breakfast apple crisp shared by Escape Adventures.
Chickpea Flour Breakfast Scramble
Whip up a vegan-friendly breakfast scramble with this Fresh Off the Grid recipe.
If you think French toast is a breakfast classic best reserved for the kitchen back home, think again! This Lil Piglet shows how to make campsite-ready French toast.
The ingredient list and preparation couldn’t be simpler, but Dirty Gourmet’s Caramelized Banana Oatmeal tastes like a genuine gourmet breakfast when you’re in the great outdoors.
Asparagus Pancetta Skillet Hash
It’s easy but ill-advised to skimp on the veggies while adventuring in the outdoors. This campfire cooking recipe from Fresh Off the Grid incorporates delicious (and vibrantly colorful) asparagus, a durable and delicious green that’ll last quite a while in your camping food storage container.
Heads up: These devilishly good cinnamon roll creations from Almost Supermom are going to earn you plenty of around-the-campfire accolades.
We’re not sure we have to say much else beyond the name of this breakfast recipe to get you to check out the recipe over at Chowhound.
No-Cook Breakfasts to Try
- Overnight oats
- Bagel with cream cheese
- Freeze-dried biscuits and gravy
Camping Lunches
Whether you're gunning hard on the trail, the river, or the rock faces, or indulging in more leisurely sightseeing in a national park or scenic corridor, camping inspires a mean and honest appetite.
While backpackers might observe the midday camping meal as nothing more than an extended snack break, many other campers like to go for a more ambitious fresh-air lunch, in which case the following camping food recipes ought to fit the bill nicely.
Asian Broccoli Slaw w/Pineapple
Put together this zesty and colorful make-ahead slaw from The Adventure Bite team before your camping trip, and it’ll just get more flavorful with the extra sitting time in a ziplock bag or Tupperware container.
Mountain House’s Elevated Mac & Cheese
There’s nothing better than mac & cheese for lunch! You can divide up servings of this kid-friendly meal right out of the pouch or spice up your own serving with some tasty toppings like salsa and sour cream!
Cheesy Ham & Pineapple Sandwich
by Erin Clarke of Well Plated
This foil-wrapped, fire-cooked winner comes to us from Well Plated by Erin and its creator’s fond memories of Girl Scout campfire cookouts.
Another absolutely scrumptious foil-wrapped homerun of a camping lunch is this grilled hot pastrami sandwich courtesy of Kleinworth & Co.
These veggie tacos made with the Greek cheese halloumi (another Fresh Off the Grid score) are easy to throw together in the campsite or picnic area.
And if you're looking for more Mexican camping food ideas, the Mountain House Cheesy Beef Enchilada Bowl pouch is a quick, flavorful option that’s ready in minutes.
Campfire Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich
Enjoy the City of Brotherly Love’s signature sammie at the campsite with this hassle-free foil packet recipe from Twin Dragonfly Designs.
Goat Milk Gouda Veggie Sandwich
Cheese takes a starring role in this delicious sandwich, a blue-ribbon midday reward on the trail. Check out the recipe at Dirty Gourmet!
No-Cook Lunches
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
- Veggie and hummus wrap
- Freeze-dried pasta primavera
Dinner Ideas for Camping
There's nothing like an evening at the campsite, and nothing like thoughts of dinner to propel a hiker down the trail. Here's a varied roundup of awesomely easy camping food recipes: none of them particularly complicated or demanding to make, yet delivering flavors to impress even the pickiest campsite diner.
Easy to assemble, quick to cook, a cinch to clean up: You’ll definitely want to give these oozy delicacies from the Dirty Gourmet recipe archives a try!
Mountain House Restaurant-Style Fettuccine Alfredo
You don’t have to go to a fancy restaurant to get an amazing pasta meal for dinner. Prepare a pouch of Mountain House Fettuccine Alfredo and add some fresh herbs, mushrooms, shrimp, or breadcrumbs, and you’ll have an amazing dinner in about 10 minutes.
Sloppy Joes are an outdoor dining favorite for many, and with this preparation from Fresh Off the Grid, you can put smiles on the faces of the whole crew with a healthier alternative to the traditional.
More foil packet dinnertime goodness with this BBQ chicken recipe courtesy of Life in the Lofthouse!
At the end of a long day on the trail or up on the knife-edge ridges, this delicious, warming broth—a gift to us all from the Dirty Gourmet team—is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Kielbasa, Pepper, Onion, & Potato Hash
For a super-easy and quick-cooking but also hearty dinner, give this two-skillet preparation (you can make it in one, too, but read the recipe’s disclaimer) from The Two Bite Club blog a try.
Smoked sausage, potatoes, and carrots come together in one-skillet harmony in this surefire campfire cooking recipe from Rasa Malaysia.
Turn the campsite into an Italian trattoria with this easy-to-make Dutch oven preparation of lasagna, thanks to Fresh Off the Grid.
Make this to-die-for BBQ sauce (from Cooking With Janica) ahead of time at home, and you’ll be thanking yourself when the aroma of grilled chicken hits you around the campfire.
You’ll be dispensing gourmet goodness by following these Damn Delicious (indeed) directions for campfire-style Shrimp Scampi foil packets.
Pizza is one of those beloved comfort foods that tend to star in an awful lot of backcountry hankerings. Well, no need to wait until after the camping trip to enjoy it! Here’s a backcountry pizza hack employing tortillas instead of dough (courtesy of the experienced camp chefs over there at Backpacker).
If you’re craving a fast and no-fuss take on pizza while camping, the Mountain House Pepperoni Pizza Bowl delivers all the cheesy, pepperoni-packed flavor you love with no campfire or cleanup required.
These easy-peasy pigs-in-a-blanket are fun-to-cook crowd-pleasers. (How many hyphens can we have in one sentence?)
Classic comfort food like mac ‘n cheese tastes even better out in the woods, and this recipe from Hapa Nom Nom is a quick-to-make, one-pot version that nonetheless tilts toward the gourmet side of the spectrum.
The campsite chefs at Dirty Gourmet “campified” an Armenian dish, ghapama, and the result is this delightful Dutch-oven dinner of rice-stuffed pumpkin.
Bacon tastes all the better in the backwoods. This simple and hearty chowder, brought to you by Backpacker, incorporates this reliably magical ingredient to keep hiking muscles well-fueled.
Steamed broccoli in a foil packet over a campfire? Sure—just follow these steps laid out at the Spicy Apron blog!
For the angling-inclined among you, check out this great lakeside preparation of fish tacos courtesy of the folks at Dirty Gourmet.
This healthy Fresh Off the Grid stew option nourishes taste buds, stomach, and soul alike at the end of an invigorating day spent outdoors.
Healthy, hearty, slurp-worthy: this miso noodle soup is another Backpacker dinner gem.
No-Cook Dinner Ideas
- Veggie-packed salad with your choice of protein
- Deli meat sub
- Freeze-dried beef stew
Dessert
Don't neglect dessert at the campsite, which, besides keeping the camping crew happy, sets you up for a nice and warm snooze with some slow-burning sweet-stuff energy. The following confections will knock your socks off under a deep, blazing sea of stars.
A little pre-trip prep work pays off big time at camp when you pop open some make-ahead jars of peach crisp from Flavour & Savour dessert.
Another easy and delicious dessert baked ahead of time and highly camp-friendly, via Dirty Gourmet.
Pound cake, dried strawberries, almond butter, and water—BAM. Thanks, Backpacker, for this wilderness dessert.
One does not compile a list of camping desserts without including at least one take on s’mores—so here you go, a playful spin on traditional s’mores by Hungry Brownie.
Camping Snacks
Back at home, sometimes you may try to skip the snacks, but on a camping trip, they're an essential part of your daily food intake. They needn't simply take the form of a chocolate bar or handful of store-bought trail-mix, though those are both great options, but you can expand your snack horizons with the following between-meal camping food ideas!
Sun-Dried Tomato Bacon Guacamole
Dani over at The Adventure Bite shares a magnificently mouthwatering recipe for guacamole, which she reports is part of her family’s regular camping cuisine. Tortilla chips and guacamole at the campsite—heavenly.
Mountain House Granola and Fresh Fruit
Granola is an amazing snack at any time of day. Mix in some peanut butter or chocolate chips and add some fresh fruit and any other favorite toppings and everyone’s going to ask you to share.
It’s not exactly health food, but you’ve earned this decadent happy-hour-at-the-campsite feast from the Kitchen Magpie via some hearty hiking or paddling or rock-climbing…right?
Dried Cherry Almond Granola Clusters
Granola’s a classic trailside snack, of course, packed with both energy and flavor to keep you going when the miles start adding up. Here’s a great recipe for homemade granola from Call Me PMc.
Here’s another top-shelf granola recipe, this one courtesy of Dirty Gourmet.
The name for this creation by Amanda over at Peppers & Pennies stems from a Canadian cheese soaked in wine, but the nachos recipe itself also calls for the incorporation of beer, all of which sounds pretty great to us.
A dough-wrapped stick, a campfire: what could be simpler? This Shock Munch recipe may well end up in your go-to bag of campfire-cookery tricks.
Tips for Easy Camping Meal Prep
Here are some tips to make meal prep for your next camping trip faster and simpler:
- As some of the above-mentioned recipes suggest, you can save yourself a lot of time and hassle at the campsite by prepping certain ingredients (grated cheese, marinated chicken, etc.) ahead of time or choosing meals that are completely make-ahead.
- Bring some aluminum foil for easy grilling. It also works great for making foil-pack recipes on the camp stove.
- One- or two-pot meals work great at the campsite. You can exercise quite a bit of resourcefulness and creativity by planning out your cooking meal plan: Cook the rice in a pot, then set it aside covered, and use the same pot to sauté veggies or heat up curry to go on top. Even if the rice cools down a little more than your liking, you can always dump it back in the pot with the rest of the cooked ingredients to warm it up right at the end, just before serving.
- Skip the planning with a ready-made meal plan. If you don’t want to figure out meals yourself, use Mountain House’s pre-built plans for easy prep: 7-Day Camping Food Meal Plan or Week-Long Backpacking Trip Meal Plan.
- Pack a few freeze-dried Mountain House meals to ensure you have a quick, easy-to-prepare, and delicious option on hand whenever you need it.
Take Mountain House on Your Next Adventure
From breakfast to dinner, snacks, and dessert, these camping food ideas keep your meals flavorful, satisfying, and (in the case of make-ahead options) stress-free. For reliable, mouth-watering meals at the campsite, Mountain House has you covered. Explore our full camping and backpacking collection for tasty, easy-to-prepare options that are tough to beat after a day outdoors.
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