Easy Camping Meals: 4 Camp-Stove and Campfire Recipes for the Weekend

Camp cooking is half logistics. The best campsite meals are the ones you mostly prepared at home: vegetables already chopped, spices already mixed, protein already marinated. With the prep done, the campsite work is just heat and time. These four recipes are camp-test reliable and cover breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert across a weekend trip.

Camp Fajitas Recipe

A skillet meal that fills the campsite with sizzle and the smell of fire-charred peppers.

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 1½ pounds skirt or flank steak, sliced thin against the grain
• 2 bell peppers (any color), sliced
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 8 flour tortillas
• Lime wedges, cilantro, salsa, sour cream to finish

Instructions:

1. At home, slice meat and vegetables. Mix spices in a zip-top bag.
2. At camp, heat a large cast-iron skillet over the camp stove or grate. Add oil.
3. Sear steak in batches, 1-2 minutes per side. Set aside.
4. Add peppers and onion to the hot skillet. Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring.
5. Return steak to the skillet. Sprinkle spice mix over the top. Toss to coat. Cook 2 minutes more.
6. Warm tortillas on the grate. Pile fajita filling into each. Top with lime, cilantro, salsa, and sour cream.

Favorite Camp Frittata Recipe

A breakfast that handles whatever leftovers you have. Cooks on the camp stove or over coals.

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 8 large eggs
• ¼ cup milk or cream
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup chopped vegetables (peppers, onion, mushroom, spinach)
• 1 cup shredded cheese

Instructions:

1. Whisk eggs, milk, salt, and pepper at home in a sealed jar. Pack with the rest of the ingredients.
2. At camp, melt butter in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat.
3. Add vegetables. Cook 4-5 minutes until softened.
4. Sprinkle bacon over the vegetables. Pour egg mixture over the top.
5. Top with cheese. Cover with a lid or foil. Cook 8-10 minutes on low heat until eggs are set.
6. Slide onto a board, slice into wedges, serve.

Mountain Top Monkey Bread Recipe

Dessert in a Dutch oven over coals. Pull-apart cinnamon-sugar pieces, gooey caramel.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans (16 oz each) refrigerated biscuit dough, cut into quarters
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

Instructions:

1. Heat coals to medium-hot. Line a 12-inch camp Dutch oven with foil.
2. Toss biscuit pieces with cinnamon and granulated sugar in a zip-top bag.
3. Layer half the biscuit pieces in the Dutch oven.
4. Whisk melted butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. Pour half over the biscuits.
5. Repeat with remaining biscuits and butter mixture.
6. Cover with the Dutch oven lid. Place 8 coals on top and 8 on the bottom for medium heat.
7. Bake 35-40 minutes, rotating the lid and oven occasionally.
8. Cool 5 minutes, invert onto a plate, eat with fingers.

Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

Stick-to-the-ribs Dutch oven supper for cold nights.

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

• 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded (or 4 cups cooked chicken)
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 3 celery stalks, sliced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 can (10 oz) cream of chicken soup (optional but classic)
• 2 cups refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into bite-size pieces
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of oil.
2. Add onion, carrots, and celery. Cook 8 minutes until softened.
3. Add chicken broth and cream of chicken soup. Bring to a simmer.
4. Add shredded chicken, thyme, salt, and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes.
5. Drop biscuit pieces into the simmering stew. Cover and cook 12-15 minutes until the dumplings are puffed and cooked through.
6. Ladle into bowls. Serve hot.

Cook by the Best Days Calendar

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Camping Cooking Tips

• Prep at home. Pre-chop vegetables and pre-portion spices. Saves time and limits dishwashing at camp.
• Bring a cast-iron skillet. It is heavy but it cooks evenly over fire, coals, or camp stove.
• Block ice, not cubes. Block ice in a cooler lasts twice as long.
• Foil packets simplify everything. Vegetables, fish, sausage. Toss on coals for 15 minutes.
• Coffee first. A percolator over the fire makes the morning. Bring more coffee than you think you need.

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Amy Grisak

Amy Grisak is a freelance writer, blogger, and photographer specializing in gardening, local food, and stories about her home state of Montana. She enjoys sharing her experiences with self-reliant living and outdoor recreation. Her article on the "hugelkultur" gardening technique appears in the 2021 Farmers' Almanac. You can follow her topics on her site, AmyGrisak.com.

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