A well-fed camper is a happy camper! Whether you’re an advanced camper hiking the Appalachian Trail or an amateur camper planning a casual weekend with family and friends in the great outdoors, a good camping food plan is essential for a successful trip. This camping food guide will help you choose the right foods to stay fueled up, ensure everything is fresh, and avoid weighing yourself down. Camping food doesn’t have to be bland and boring. We will provide you with tasty recipes for camping meals and snack ideas that you will truly enjoy during your outdoor adventure.

Stay Fed, Plan Ahead

Being a smart camper involves a lot of planning. Here are some things to consider when planning out your camping food.

Trip Length & Group Size: How long is your camping trip? How many people are you feeding? Count how many meals and snacks you will need and make a meal plan. Keep in mind that appetites might be larger than usual while camping, especially if your group is burning a lot of calories hiking, swimming, etc.

Cooking Equipment: Don’t just think about what you’re going to eat, think about how you’re going to cook it! If you’re headed to a campsite, do some research to find out if there will be a grill or firepit available for you to use. If not, you’ll need to bring your own portable grill, stove, or tools to cook over the campfire.

Don’t forget the utensils! No matter how outdoorsy you are, a leaf and a stick can’t replace a fork and a plate. Bring enough utensils, plates/bowls for your group to eat off. Reusable camping plates and utensils are ideal, but if you opt for disposable picnic supplies, make sure to dispose of them properly.

Camping Food Safety

Eating while camping comes with a few unique challenges, but you can easily overcome them by following these camping food safety tips.

Avoiding Foodborne Illness Food

Food poisoning is miserable anywhere, but it’s arguably the worst when you’re stuck outdoors without the creature comforts of home like air conditioning. If you bring perishable foods camping, make sure they are properly refrigerated and stored.

Only You Can Prevent Cooking Fires

Campfires and grills pose a threat to you and the environment if not handled properly. Prevent fires with by following these safety tips:

Extinguish Completely: After you’re finished cooking, douse the fire with water, stir the ashes to ensure there are no remaining hot spots or hot coals, and feel for heat to make sure it is completely cool before leaving the campsite or going to sleep.

Clear the Area: Keep a 10 feet radius between the fire/grill and any flammable items. Make sure children keep a safe distance. Store starter fluid and canisters away from fire and children.

Never leave a grill/fire unattended

Keep the Pests Away

Animals and bugs are part of camping, but you don’t want to share your food with them. Follow these tips to keep pests away from your camping food.

Minimize Scents: Animals have a strong sense of smell. Do not leave food, trash, or items that smell like food in your tent or around the campsite.

Use sealed containers to contain the scent of food and to keep bugs from getting into your food.

Bear-Proofing: An unwanted visitor can be especially terrifying in bear country. Use hard shell bear-proof containers for food and store them away from your campsite for your personal safety.

Store food off the ground to keep it out of reach of animals. You can do so by hanging food in bags with rope from tree branches.

Leave No Trace

A responsible camper respects the outdoors by cleaning up after themselves. Do not leave garbage or food scraps behind. Dispose of them properly in campsite trashcans or bring your own trash bags to pack up your trash and take it with you. Leave no trace.

Camping Meals

What makes a good camping meal?

Nutrient-Dense: Camping food is about quality over quantity. Opt for nutrient-rich foods that fuel your body over junk food and empty calories.

High-Protein: Protein keeps your belly full and supports muscle function as you explore the outdoors.

Convenient: Choose food items that are easy to transport—light, not fragile, won’t leak—and food items that are easy to prepare.

Minimal Ingredients: You don’t have to bring half your kitchen along to have a delicious camping meal. Stick to recipes with minimal ingredients.

Versatile Seasoning: Bouncing off what we said above, bringing a whole spice cabinet is ridiculous. Bring a few seasonings that you can use for multiple recipes, or better yet, bring a versatile seasoning mix that packs all the flavor you need in one shaker.that packs all the flavor you need in one shaker.

Our stomachs are growling, so without further ado, let’s jump into our lists of the best camping breakfast, lunch, and dinner ideas.

Camping Breakfast

Breakfast–it’s the most important meal of the day! Fuel up early with these camping breakfast ideas.

Pancakes: Bring dry pancake mix that only requires water for an easy hot breakfast cooked over the fire, grill, or camping stove. Don’t forget to bring a skillet and spatula!

Jerky: If you need some meat to go with your breakfast, jerky is a great substitute for bacon/sausage if you don’t want to deal with refrigeration.

Skillet hash made from potatoes, onions, and/or peppers is a delicious camping breakfast. Fresh whole veggies, canned, or jarred vegetables will do the trick.

Camping Recipes for Lunch & Dinner

Nothing hits the spot like a good meal after a long day exploring outdoors. There’s no need to settle for eating beans straight out of the can if you have a few good camping recipes in your repertoire.

Grill Classics: If your campsite comes with a grill or you have your own camping grill, you can cook up tons of classic camping recipes.

Grilled corn on the cob

Burgers

Kabobs

Fish (bonus points if you catch it yourself)

Hot dogs/sausages

Chili/Stew: If you’re camping in the cold, hot and hearty chili or stew is a great option! Throw your canned or fresh ingredients in a Dutch oven over the fire or a portable stove for an easy and filling meal.

Foil Packets are a camping classic! Just throw your ingredients in a bundle of tin foil with some butter/oil and seasonings and place it on a grill or the hot coals of a fire and let the magic happen. Here are some popular camping foil packet combos:

Sausage & peppers

Steak & potatoes

Fajitas: chicken/steak/shrimp, peppers, onions, fajita seasoning

“Hobo Dinner”: ground beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, cream of mushroom soup/soup mix

Shrimp “Boil”: shrimp sausage, corn, potatoes, Cajun spice mix

Fish & lemon

Chicken & broccoli

Pasta is a simple comfort food that most people don’t associate with camping, but they should! Pasta is easy to transport, won’t weigh down your bag, and can be cooked easily in a pot over an open fire or on a hot plate. Bring along a jar of sauce and voila, a delicious and satisfying hot dinner.

Camping Snacks

You’ll need snacks to keep your hunger at bay between meals. What should you bring? You don’t want your coolers to get too heavy, and you’ll need space to store meal items, so sticking to non-perishable snacks is a good idea. The best camping snacks are lightweight, filling, high-protein, and have a long shelf (or backpack) life.

Popular Camping Snacks:

Jerky: Meat sticks and jerky are high in protein, nutrient rich, and easy to throw in your bag. Plus, most jerky bags are conveniently resealable. Jerky can even replace meat at mealtimes since transporting raw meat isn’t ideal.

Nuts are a great source of healthy fats, protein, and fiber. They’re lightweight and do not spoil easily.

Dried fruit is packed with all the vitamins and natural sugars that keep your body fueled, but easier to transport and far less perishable than fresh fruit.

Trail Mix: Nuts + dried fruit + chocolate—trail mix offers all the benefits seen above plus a sweet treat.

Emergency Snacks

Smart campers always come prepared and that includes bringing extra snacks to sustain you in an emergency. Whether you take a wrong turn, get stuck because of bad weather, or an injury stops your journey, if you have emergency snacks with you, hunger is one less thing to worry about.

Crockett Creek Jerky: A Snack Best Enjoyed Outdoors

Praised for its delicious taste, high protein content, all-natural ingredients, and wide range of flavors, Crockett Creek jerky is enjoyed by outdoorsmen across the country. Handcrafted in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains using family recipes and premium ingredients, the flavor and quality of Crockett Creek jerky are unmatched.

In addition to our jerky and meat sticks, we offer a spice mix and marinade so you can add the flavor of Crockett Creek to your own creations! The Blazin’ Cajun Spice Mix and Original Marinade are ideal for on-the-go cooking with all the flavors you need for a delicious meal in a single bottle/shaker.

Whether you’re embarking on an all-day fishing trip, treacherous hike, or camping trip, Crockett Creek is there to fuel your adventure! Shop jerky, beef sticks, spice mix, and marinade today!