4 Easy and Tasty Campfire Recipes

Food Planning for Campfire Recipes

Camping is a great family experience and cooking over a campfire is a big part of it. Planning the best foods to pack and cook over a campfire may seem daunting, but can be simple.

Camping with children often seems to revolve around food. Kids often have a more regular meal schedule, making three meals a day a requirement even when camping. Planning easy, fun meals and snacks will ensure a smooth camping experience for the entire family.

Camping Foods for All Weather

For those camping in a camper or recreational vehicle with access to a stove and refrigerator, cooking while camping is not much different than cooking at home. However, for those planning to cook over a campfire or with a simple camp stove, a little more planning is necessary. You’ll definitely need some campfire recipes.

When cooking under the open sky, weather becomes a major factor at mealtimes. Planning for rain is essential to getting food prepared. Bringing a gas fired camp stove, and using it under an awning, will ensure that the breakfast pancakes can be prepared despite the weather.

Easy, simple-to-prepare foods are essential for those rainy days. Packing a can of soup, pre-made pasta salad, the ingredients for the children’s favorite sandwiches and other simple foods will make lunches and dinners easy to assemble and eat during a rain shower.

On the day of arrival at the campground, having pre-made foods available for a quick meal will be welcome for weary travelers. Setting up a tent or camper does take some time, which could crowd into the lunch or dinner hour.

Portable Foods for Camping

The family camping trip often includes exciting adventures like hiking trips, boating or exploring the beach. Unless parents plan to make frequent trips back to their campsite, packing portable snacks and meals will be necessary.

Pre-packaged snacks such as yogurt, granola bars, dried fruit and nuts make wonderful healthy snacks out on the trail. Packing individual portions of cheese and meat cubes, crackers, grapes, cubed fruits, or sandwiches will allow for eating on the run. Children should be allowed to pack some of their favorites, as well.

Make Camping Foods Fun

For many children, the novelty of a campfire is their favorite part of camping. Incorporating the fire in the meal preparation will enhance the camping experience, and allows the older kids to be involved in cooking their own foods. These easy campfire recipes can definitely get the kids involved.

Cooking dinner in a foil packet over the fire or on a grill gives kids a chance to help in the food preparation and makes clean-up a breeze. Parents can help their children layer in a chicken breast, cubed potatoes, sliced veggies, seasonings and a little butter for a simple yet nutritious meal.

Parents should consider their children’s favorite foods, and alter them for cooking over the fire. Using a pie iron is a great way to make a classic grilled cheese sandwich or pizza pocket over a camp fire. A pie iron is like a sandwich maker, with two hinged halves to receive the ingredients and a long handle for holding it over the fire. They can be used to make fruit pies for dessert, as well.

For a warm and toasty grilled sandwich, layering in bread buttered on the outside, cheese and meat, and a second slice of buttered bread is all that is required. These sandwiches are especially welcome on a cool day, and can be paired with some hot soup and raw veggies for a complete meal.

Using this same technique, pizza pockets will become a favorite camping treat. Children can choose their favorite pizza toppings and cheese, and grill the sandwich over the fire. Warmed pizza sauce for dipping just adds to the fun.

For a fruity dessert treat, the buttered bread can be layered into the pie iron with canned fruit pie filling tucked into the center. After grilling, this hot fruit pie can be dusted with powdered sugar or cinnamon and sugar for a yummy treat. Children should use caution when eating any of these pocket treats, as the fillings are very hot.

A campfire can also be used to make a classic s’more treat. Children love to toast marshmallows, and placing them between graham cracker squares and chocolate is a great way to create a memory.

TIP: Replacing the graham crackers with chocolate chip cookies creates a new treat. Or, changing the plain chocolate squares with peanut butter cups or mint patties will offer little campers a fun way to personalize their desserts.

Camping food should be simple and nutritious, but it should also be fun. Reinventing some family favorites into campfire recipes is a great way for parents to enjoy camp cooking with their children.

These campfire recipes are all easy to make.

Campfire Chili- This is a favorite that will warm your belly on those chilly nights.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound hamburger/Turkey
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 small bell pepper chopped
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 3 cans or jars of spaghetti sauce ( 3 cheese Ragu is my favorite with this recipe)
• 1 can kidney beans (optional)
• 2 tbsp onion salt
• 1/2 can/jar water
• 1 large skillet or pot

First brown your hamburger( or Turkey) over fire, a small flamed fire is best for this recipe. Do not drain. Then add chopped onion and pepper simmer for 2 minutes, and then stir in spaghetti sauce, chili powder, onion salt and water.

After simmering for 5 minutes add your kidney beans if you want. You can serve this as soon as 20 minutes after adding your kidney beans or you can simmer it for up to 2 hours then serve.

If you choose to simmer it make sure the campfire heat is low and move it to cook on the edge of the fire. That way it wont scorch.

Grilled Basil Butter Corn– This is a tasty treat that delights the taste buds.

Ingredients:

• 6-8 ears of corn ( soaked in cold water for 30 min)
• 1/4 cup chopped basil
• 1/4 cup soft butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• aluminum foil

After soaking corn pull back stalk and blot corn with a paper towel until slightly damp. Take butter and mix with basil until smooth. With a basting brush or spoon apply a liberal amount of butter and basil mixture to the corn.

Then pull the stalk back over the corn and wrap in aluminum foil. Place the corn in the coals of the fire for 20 minutes, unwrap add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy.

Campfire S’mores- These have a different fun twist than the traditional smores.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of large marshmallows
• 1 chocolate bar
• 1 box graham crackers
• 1 long stick

These are fun to make and delicious to eat. Take your chocolate bar and chop into small pieces, and then take one marshmallow and cut a small slit in its center place 2-3 small chocolate pieces into the marshmallow and using your fingers close. The stickiness of the marshmallow will close around the chocolate.

Then roast your marshmallow, when you reach desired consistency place between two graham cracker squares and enjoy. Making smores this way melts the chocolate with the marshmallow and makes a scrumptious smore treat.

Last but not least a breakfast treat to be enjoyed by all.

Eggs in a basket on ham – I really don’t have a proper name for this but I can tell you right now it is a great meal.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 4 slices of bread
• 4 thick slices ham
• Butter
• skillet

Melt the butter in the pan over medium campfire heat. Then take a slice of bread and using your fingers or a knife take a circle out of the center of the bread. You can eat or discard the circle. Place the bread in the pan, and then crack an egg and place on top of bread with yolk over the hole that you made.

Take one slice of ham and place in skillet. After about one minute flip bread over, depending on how well done you like your egg cook to your specifications. If you like over easy cook for 1 minute on the other side and then remove from pan.

Flip ham until heated properly and then place on plate. Place bread on top of ham and enjoy.

Next time you go camping try these tasty recipes and you will have your family begging for more.