When you hit the open trail, the last thing you want to worry about is whether or not you can scrounge up a meal. If you’re looking to save yourself a massive headache, you can meal prep before you head out and enjoy your meals without spending a moment cooking.
No more worrying about whether or not weather conditions will allow you to cook outside. Instead you can have the best of both worlds – enjoy meals and spend more time with friends and family all while enjoying the great outdoors! Keep reading about camping food ideas no cooking.
Camping Food Ideas No Cooking – Breakfast
When you’re at the campground, make breakfast a meal to remember. Whether you’re camping with family or friends, you’ll be everyone’s favorite person if they wake up to a warm cooked meal that you prepared!
Scrambled Eggs
Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 1 Tablespoon of butter
- Fresh or dried parsley to taste
It’s a campfire staple, but so many people do it wrong. There are a few tips and tricks that can help elevate your campfire eggs to the next level. First, take the time to melt your butter before you ever add the eggs. This will keep things from sticking and burning.
Second, keep the heat down. Whether you’re using a skillet on a portable stove or an open fire, it’s easy to burn eggs if you use too much heat. Take the extra time to cook it right with less heat.
Finally, don’t mix it up too much! Yes, you’re making scrambled eggs, but they should cook together. Don’t let them disintegrate into a jumbled mess by over mixing them once they’re in the pan or skillet.
Spice it Up!
Scrambled eggs are great, but if you’re looking to turn yourself into a campfire legend, try adding some of these ingredients to elevate the dish to the next level!
Optional ingredients:
- Bacon
- Potatoes
- Cheese
- Onion
If you’re adding potatoes, boil them in salted water until you can pierce them with a fork. Cut and dice them before mixing them with the uncooked eggs. When using bacon, cut slices into small pieces and cook them until crispy.
Fry onions in butter until transparent, and then add them to the eggs. You should cook all optional ingredients thoroughly before adding them to the uncooked eggs. From there, cook the eggs in a skillet or pan.
Pancakes
Everyone loves pancakes, and when you’re on a camping trip, it’s an easy meal to bring along. The easiest boxed mixes just require the addition of water. From there, heat the skillet and add some butter or cooking spray, so nothing sticks!
Everyone loves waking up to warm, fluffy pancakes! And who says you can’t have pancakes for lunch or dinner too!
Spice it Up!
Pancakes are one thing, but if you add a few of these optional ingredients, you won’t get them off the griddle or skillet fast enough.
Optional ingredients:
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Nutella
- Peanut Butter
- Chocolate Chips
If you’re looking to indulge, use all of the above. For every 3 cups of pancake mix, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Mix in the chocolate chips and cook like normal. When serving, top with Nutella or peanut butter for a savory-sweet mix everyone will love!
Cereal/Poptarts
Not every meal has to be the fanciest out there. Prepackaged meals provide a quick and easy way to fill your belly in the morning and let you get on with your day. There’s nothing wrong with going the easy route for a few meals on your trip!
Spice it Up!
If you’re looking for something to add a little extra nutrition to your breakfast why not add some fresh fruit? Bananas, apples, and pears all pair well with breakfast. You can either eat them as a standalone side dish or slice them up and add them to your cereal!
Lunch/Dinner
Whether you’re headed out to the trail or looking for a meal at the campsite, you want to come prepared. These meals are perfect options for getting together around the fire!
Pasta
While not everyone thinks of pasta as a camping staple, there’s no reason they shouldn’t. All you need is a pot, some salted water, and a campfire to get them going! From there you don’t even have to worry about getting too creative with the sauces!
There are plenty of canned pasta sauces out there that you can mix into the cooked noodles for a delicious and nutritious meal!
Spice it Up!
If you’re really feeling fancy why not add some protein to your meals?
Whether it’s pulling chicken out of a cooler and cooking them on a skewer over the fire, or slicing up hot dogs and turning it into a camping tradition, there’s no reason that you have to keep your camping pasta recipes simple!
Hot Dogs
Hot dogs are a campfire favorite. All you need is a stick, a fire, and a hotdog for a great meal. Of course, you can add all your favorite toppings and buns to really make it a memorable meal!
Spice it Up!
Everyone does hotdogs, why not set yours apart? The easiest way is to add chili or cheese (or both!) to take your hotdog to the next level.
Hotdogs are great, but chili cheese dogs are better. Both chili and hotdogs are campfire staples; why not combine them? Plus canned chilli is easy to transport and cheese can be kept cold in your cooler.
Fish Fry
Whether you catch your fish in the lake or river or bring them yourself, a fish fry is a great campfire meal. Below is a great recipe to put your fish fry over the top!
Ingredients:
- 1 pound fish fillets
- 1 cup buttermilk pancake mix
- ¾ cup beer
- 1 cup flour
- ¼ cup cooking oil
Cooking Instructions:
- Heat your oil in the skillet.
- Thoroughly add flour to your fillets
- Mix pancake mix and beer thoroughly
- Evenly coat over fillets
- Fry!
Foil Roasted Veggies
Just because you’re out camping doesn’t mean that you can’t eat meals that are both healthy and delicious! Foil roasted vegetables are one of the easiest ways to add a little extra flare to your campfire meals.
Whether you’re looking for a standalone meal or a delicious side all you need to do is slice up some veggies, wrap them in some foil, and cook them in a pan over the fire.
Spice it Up!
Instead of foil skewer it. Kebabs are delicious, and they’re the perfect recipe to make while camping. Prepare a few skewers for everyone and have them roast themselves while they’re sitting around the campfire!
If you want to add a protein you can, just make sure that it gets thoroughly cooked before you dig in!
Non-Refrigerated Meals for Camping
If you’re looking for some meals you can take on your next camping adventure, but you don’t have anything to keep food cool, that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a nice meal. Below we’ve highlighted some great cooler-free options for every meal throughout the day!
Breakfast
When you’re out on your camping adventure, you need a hearty breakfast to get you ready for the day. While your options are a little limited without refrigeration, there are plenty of choices to get you started on the right foot!
Cereal and Fruit
It’s probably one of the easiest breakfast options you have. While you won’t have any milk for your cereal if you don’t have any refrigeration, there’s nothing wrong with eating it right out of the box!
To finish getting all the nutrients you need to get through the day, we recommend adding a few fruits to your breakfast too! Some good fruits that hold up without refrigeration include bananas, apples, pears, avocados, watermelons, and cantaloupes.
Overnight Oats
There are a few different variations you can use for overnight oats, but one of the great perks is that you can make up your meal the night before and have breakfast ready to go in the morning with minimal work!
While many people think you should refrigerate overnight oats, the truth is that by leaving them out of the refrigerator, they actually get more nutritious! Below we’ve highlighted one of our favorite overnight oats recipes you can use on your next trip.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup warm filtered water
- 1½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon of sea salt
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- ½ cup crushed pecans
- 1 banana
- Cinnamon to taste
Cooking Instructions:
- Pour oats into a glass bowl and stir in warm water. Add apple cider vinegar and cover loosely for 7 to 24 hours.
- When ready to eat, pour your soaked oats into a non-stick pot with sea salt. Bring to a boil and cover for 5 minutes
- Serve into bowls and add coconut oil, pecans, banana, and cinnamon
Bagels/Doughnuts
If you’re looking for a super simple breakfast that you don’t need to prepare in the morning, it’s hard to go wrong with bagels or doughnuts. All you need to do is pull them out of the bag or box and chow down! It’s hard to get any easier than that!
Lunch
Lunch is a meal that you need to have ready to eat on the go. Whether you’re headed out for a hike or just trying to stay busy throughout the day, you need something quick and easy to keep your energy up. Below are some of the best camping lunch ideas we’ve found!
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches
It’s a camping staple, and for a good reason. You can prepare the sandwiches back at camp or before you ever head out for the campground. You don’t need to refrigerate them, and they last for a while. If you’re looking to mix up a regular peanut butter and jelly sandwich, try swapping out the jelly for honey!
Stacked Crackers
Stacked crackers are an excellent option for camping since there are so many ways to mix them up! If you have a picky eater, you can slap some peanut butter on them, or if you’re looking for something with a bit more flavor, you can stack cheeses or dried meats, like salami, for a hearty meal on the go!
Trail Mix
Trail mix is the perfect meal on the go for those out on a hike. Nuts are packed with tons of protein and energy to get you through the rest of the hike. Even better, trail mix is lightweight and easily packed in even the smallest backpacks.
You can build your own trail mix or buy a premade bag, but either way, it’s an excellent lunch or snack option when you’re on the go!
BLTs
While BLT’s are a staple for a hot meal at home, all of the ingredients hold up well for a little while without refrigeration. You can make your BLT a few days in advance with cured bacon and be ready to go for a satisfying lunch on the go!
Dinner
Campfire dinners are one of the signature events of an outing. While you don’t want to spend a ton of time making the meal, there are a few options that will allow you to make a hearty meal while you’re at the campsite!
Beef, Cheese, and Cabbage Wraps
Our favorite option of all the dinner recipes we looked at, these wraps offer a unique meal for those looking to mix things up. Use jerky for your beef, add your favorite shredded cheeses, use a helping of cabbage, and wrap it all up in a tortilla for a great dinner at the campsite!
You’ll get tons of flavor and more time to spend with everyone since you don’t have to spend any time cooking! Even better, if you have picky eaters, they can simply leave off the toppings they don’t want!
Canned Raviolis, Pastas, or Soups
Opening a can and heating it over the open fire is a rite of passage in many camping families. There are tons of options you can choose from, everything from ravioli to chicken noodle soup. All you need to do is open the can, heat it over the fire, and dig in!
The best part is that canned products have an insanely long shelf life, and you never need to refrigerate them!
Canned Chicken, Tuna, or Ham Sandwiches
While we don’t advocate eating every meal out of a can, it’s hard to beat the convenience if you don’t have any refrigeration. Today you can buy canned chicken, tuna, or ham, and all you need to do for a great dinner is add it to some bread.
It’s a quick and easy dinner option that’s perfect for the campsite!
What Kind of Food Should I Bring for Camping?
When you’re heading out for a camping trip, there are a few different ways to plan your meals. You can plan to cook over an open fire, or you can opt for the easy route by bringing ready to eat food with you.
But even if you plan on cooking your meals over a fire or with portable cooking equipment while you’re camping, you should still have some easy meal ideas ready to go. That’s because if there’s inclement weather, you don’t want to be looking for a way to feed everyone!
Furthermore, keep in mind you won’t have power while you’re camping, at least not enough to power a refrigerator. So, make sure you don’t need to refrigerate the foods you pack and that they’ll last at room temperature for the duration of your trip.
If you want to bring a few chilled items along, make sure you pack a cooler and keep in mind that it won’t keep everything as cold as a refrigerator would.
What to Cook When You Have No Ideas?
Half the battle of making a meal is deciding what to cook. The good news is there are many options to choose from for your next camping trip. Just make sure to bring all the cooking materials you’ll need for each meal and a cooler to store everything until you’re ready to use it!
Summary
There are a ton of adventures to be had at campgrounds, and the last thing you want to worry about is finding a meal at the end of the day. That’s why you should prepare before you head out and always have a backup idea if you plan to catch your own food.
No matter the amenities, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy a hearty, healthy, and delicious meal when you’re spending the night under the stars!
