Sitting round the campfire is one of the things we most look forward to on a family camping trip.
Fun as that is, for the cook planning and preparing all the meals it can be a bit of a challenge.
Just what should you eat while camping this summer?
What to Cook When You Go Camping
Preparing a delicious meal while camping may seem like a challenge, but with the right equipment you can cook many of the things you would make at home.
The key is to plan ahead and decide what to take, how to store it, and how to cook it before you go.
Whether you are heading off into the wilds or going to a busy campground with plenty of facilities, it makes sense to take plenty of food and water with you.
After all, who wants to spend their vacation in a store?!
The food you take should be easy to store, easy to carry when out on the trail and easy to keep fresh.
Non-perishable and dried items are best to take for further into your trip, but perishable items can be used if you have access to a refrigerator or good quality cooler that will keep them cold for the first few meals of your trip.
We don’t recommend the freeze-dried pre-packaged camping meals you can buy as they can be expensive, and the food is often bland and not as nutritious as a proper meal.
Bring fresh foods for your first meal as a bit of a treat, then move to frozen meals you have pre-prepared, and then cans and jars for later meals.
Start off your trip with some meals you have made in advance and frozen.
Put them in your cooler just before you leave home and they will stay frozen for a while as well as keeping other items cold.
Dishes like chillis, curries, stews and casseroles work well for this.
Then you can just throw some potatoes into the campfire to bake, heat the frozen meal and serve.
Camping food ideas: What to Cook on a Self-Catering Holiday
For your first night at camp, embrace the traditional by cooking sausages or hotdogs over the fire and heating up some beans.
The next night or even two you can have your pre-frozen meals, then you need to get a bit more creative.
From then on cans are your friend - just remember to bring a can opener!
Canned beans and canned vegetables are a good source of nutrition and can be used in numerous recipes.
You can easily make a stew out of canned beans and canned vegetables that will provide you with a hearty meal that is easy to prepare and easy to clean up.
And whatever you do, don't forget the marsmallows!
Any meal followed by a toasted marshmallow or s'mores dessert will be a success!
For lunches, bring a portable camping stove that you can heat a can of soup up on.
Or toss some cheese and some crackers in your pack.
Add some raw veggies and this can be more than a snack and will provide nutrition and give you an energy boost while hiking.
Remember that when you are hiking from your campground you will need to carry lunch and snacks with you.
Choose items that are lightweight and do not require a lot of preparation, such as cheeses, breads, snacks and sweets.
Any foods that require simply adding water are great.
Cup of soup packets or noodle bowls where you just add hot water and let it steep are great for a quick and easy meal or snack, and perfect for cold weather to help you keep warm.
Cereals, nuts, dried fruit, and candy are great snacks and can be mixed together before you go for an energy boosting trail mix.
Store portions in airtight containers, then add some packets into your backpack to provide a healthy snack while on the trail.
For sweets, candy and dried fruits are excellent.
But who can resist a traditional s’more?
Marshmallows, chocolate bars and graham crackers are lightweight and can be carried and stored with ease.
Sitting down to a fire while roasting marshmallows and melting chocolate onto the graham cracker is a fun way to satisfy your sweet tooth.
3 Brilliant Meal Ideas for Family Camping
Camping is an incredible experience for family bonding, and full of adventure.
It's also exhausting, so we've got lots of fun family camping tips to help you.
If you've been camping before, then you know how difficult it can be to make healthy eating choices when camping.
However, as we've discussed above, just because you're in the great outdoors doesn't mean you need to sacrifice healthy eating choices for convenience.
Here are 3 meal ideas that are perfect for your next family camping trip:
1. Breakfast Burritos
For those who love to start their day with a hot meal, then you can easily meal prep breakfast burritos before you leave for your camping trip.
All you need to do is cook your ingredients like scrambled eggs, sausages and peppers.
Then you simply wrap them in a tortilla, add whatever ingredients you desire for further flavour, such as cheese and salsa, and then wrap the entire burrito in tin foil.
These should be kept in a freezer or fridge until it's time to cook them again.
At breakfast time, simply throw them on the fire inside of their tin foil to heat it up.
More ideas: What to Cook on a Self-Catering Holiday
2. Pancakes
You can even make pancakes while out camping!
All you need to do at home is prepare the batter from scratch, or you could simply mix together the store version in camp.
Once the batter is prepared, you just have to store it in a plastic squeeze-bottle or even a plastic baggie.
Once breakfast time arrives, you can just squeeze the batter onto a pan and cook the pancakes over the open fire.
Add toppings and serve. What a treat!
3. Chilli
To be honest, it's difficult to go wrong with a chilli recipe, whatever you do.
Not only is it a favourite meal for many but it also freezes well, which makes it the perfect choice for campers.
You can easily cook the chilli at home then store it in a container and freeze it until it's time to cook.
Again, cooking it can be easily done over the fire, just add some packs of ready-cooked rice, baked potatoes from the fire or even just good crusty bread.
This is an easy recipe to cook in bulk. So, if your family doesn't mind eating the same meal for a few days, then this could be all you need for your dinners.
Bring along a few extra ingredients to top off your chilli in order to make it fresh and exciting.
When you are camping remember that this is a temporary thing.
Don’t worry that you aren’t getting the most balanced meal or gourmet food, there’s plenty of time for that at home!
When camp cooking concentrate on ease of preparation and fun. Then enjoy the campfire and have fun.
More family camping tips:
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