Which Are The
Best Camping Recipes
We've found the best camping recipes depend entirely on the camping situation. We know this from years of camping as an active scouting family.
For most families, the most common camping situations are either:
Standing Camps
Standing camps are camps where you set up a camp site and stay put, taking daily hikes and returning to the base camp. At these camps, you can have heavier equipment and more than likely, you will be able to drive in to the site to set up camp.
We've even had the luxury of a folding cot to sleep in and the treat of folding chairs at our camps. Our children know how to set up dining tents, rig up proper tables and the little ones even knot up drying racks.
At a standing camp, you can cook a greater variety of meals with heavier cooking equipment such as a dutch oven, large frying pans, access to more pots and more than likely a gas stove.
Best Camping Recipes For Standing Camps
The best camping recipes for standing camps are those that use a dutch oven.
A dutch oven is a large heavy metal, mostly cast iron pot, generally 7 or 9 quarts in size and it will safely go on the coals of a campfire.
Its large volume means it will cook meals sufficient for numbers of campers.
The secret to cooking on a camp fire using a dutch oven, is how you manage the coals. Have a look at our recipe on Easy Roast Leg Of Lamb, where we share with you the formula for managing coals. Take care not to put the dutch oven into a too hot fire. This is an all to common mistake, as the food will burn.
From our experience, the best recipes are those that are:
- one pot meals
- ingredients can be multiplied easily to feed more campers
- quick to prepare
- simple ingredients
- uses dehydrated ingredients
- easy to wash up
Have a look at some of our easy camping recipes. These suit cooking at standing camps:
- Easy Camping Recipes
- Easy Damper
- Easy Dutch Oven Camping Recipes
- All In One Beef n Rice
- Easy Roast Leg Of Lamb
- Dutch Oven Fruity Chutney Beef
- Pumpkin Soup For Campers
- Hearty Breakfast Camping Recipes For Standing Camps
- Camping Menus
- Hearty Minestrone
Camping Recipes For Kids - Toasted Marshmallows With Chocolate Wheatens
Hikers' Camp
For hikers setting up camp on a hike, you want to carry as little weight as possible. When we do hiking camps, we carry just the billy can which does double duty for boiling water and cooking meals.
From our experience, the meals are generally:
- basic, not fancy meals
- one pot meals
- ingredients for yourself and a partner at most
- quick to prepare
- simple ingredients
- uses dehydrated ingredients
- uses preserved meat
- easy to wash up
Best Camping Recipes For Hiking Camps
We know from experience that the best bread when hiking is Lebanese flat bread. This bread is thick and keeps fresh for longer. It's also robust and you don't need to worry about protecting it from being squashed.
For hiking camp breakfasts, we have the usual spread on Lebanese flat bread, ie nutella, peanut butter or jam. These spreads come in small sachets, so you need not carry a jar with you.
For lunch, out comes the flat bread and we have this with sliced salami or spreadable cheese that comes in a tube.
For dinner, we generally take a break from flat bread and cook a hot meal in the billy. Have a look at our recipe Hikers Pasta n Salami which is our trusty recipe.
It is always tasty.
It's easy to buy the dehydrated food from the supermarket.
It's lightweight and easy to carry.
It's so quick to cook.
...and you always feel revived after this quick, easy, tasty meal.
Pre-prepared and dehydrated
If you have access to a dehydrator, dehydrate tasty meals cooked at home. These can be rehydrated by boiling in the billy. Simple meals to dehydrate are:
All In One Beef n Rice
Chicken Marengo With Red Wine Vinegar and Maple Syrup
For snacks on hikes we carry:
Scroggin
Hard Boiled Eggs
Lollies like jellied snakes
Beef Jerky
These are light weight, packed with energy and keep well without refrigeration.
We've had years of experience camping out with our scout group and these are our best camping recipes as they are tried and found the most reliable. Our scouts have prepared camp meals so often that they go shopping on their own in preparation for a camp and know exactly what is tasty and light weight.
Wishing you happy cooking!
For more Quick Easy Recipes:
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