Do you ever get a bit overwhelmed with what meals to plan for camping? I don’t know about you, but I get decision fatigue. After I have made sure all the laundry is done, scheduled care for our animals while we are away, packed for me and my two littles, packed gear and activities and games and toys and whatever else we need, I feel like meal planning is a burden that I don’t have the energy to think about. So here are a few super simple family-friendly camping meals that are actually realistic. This would be two full days of meals plus one breakfast. We recently camped Friday-Sunday, but had planned to leave Monday after breakfast (we left early because it rained almost the whole trip!)
Friday night – grab dinner on the way! We picked up sandwiches to eat at the campsite
Saturday morning– Breakfast Burritos. You can fully make and assemble these at home, but they are easy to throw together at the campsite, too. I had a half bag of frozen diced potatoes with onions and peppers that I cooked in some oil in a skillet. Then you can make the eggs – I crack all me eggs in a small water bottle at home for easy transport. A bit of butter and scramble those up quick. I did pre-cook the breakfast sausage at home so I had that in a glass pyrex dish, reheating that saved a bit of time. I steamed the tortilla shells (burrito size) over the cast iron skillet, and assembled the burritos with potatoes, eggs, sausage, and shredded cheese. Then you just roll them up and grill in that skillet. Easy and delicious!
Saturday lunch- keep it simple with sandwiches! The kids had pb&js (you can toast these over a fire to make it fancy) and the adults had turkey and cheese. Another go-to is lunch meat and sliced cheese rolled up in a large flour tortilla. We ate the sandwiches with apples.
Saturday snacks– Campfire popcorn was a hit! I love my stovetop popcorn maker, but I didn’t want to bring another pot. I lined our deep cast iron skillet with parchment paper, added a generous amount of oil, a half cup of popcorn kernels, some salt, and covered the skillet with foil. It worked perfectly! There were a few burnt pieces at the very bottom, but not bad at all. It was delicious.
Saturday dinner– What’s camping without roasting some hot dogs over a fire? We elevated the classic hot dog by wrapping it with crescent roll doll and roasting that over the fire. Then we sprayed it with avocado oil and sprinkled everything bagel seasoning on top. YUM! I forgot the ketchup, but these were so good as-is, no one noticed. Chips served on the side.
Saturday dessert- s’mores. Nothing fancy here, just classic sticky, messy s’mores.
Sunday morning– French toast and sausage links. I used cinnamon bread, had a jar of eggs and milk that I had whisked at home, and fried up some amazing cinnamon french toast. The second skillet had the sizzling sausage and I think the entire campground was drooling. It smelled so good. Don’t forget to pack syrup!
Sunday lunch- cup o’ noodles. Ok, I know these are terrible for you, but we only eat them while camping! On a rainy Spring day, these hit the spot. The kids like them, they are super fast and cheap. Just add hot water (our JetBoil is a game-changer) and let the noodles cook in the cup. Sandwich bread leftover from the day before with a bit of butter to go with the noodles.
Sunday dinner- Grilled cheese and tomato soup. This is another easy, cheap, kid-friendly meal we often have. You can make at least two grilled cheese sandwiches at a time in a skillet, and heat up the tomato soup in a pot. easy-peasy
Sunday dessert- we had some chocolate chip cookies and more s’mores !
Monday morning- If this is your last breakfast camping, keep it simple and light. Instant oatmeal packets and bananas. Don’t forget a measuring cups and spoons!
Other snacks:
We tried some freeze-dried beef jerkey from Costco, and it was SO good!
Trail mix (also from Costco)
Heavenly Hunks are like a dessert but actually pretty healthy (you guessed it – Costco!)
Annie’s Cheddar Crackers
Z Bars (Costco)
Chips- we love The Good Crisp Company chips
Another great snack option is bringing homemade mini muffins with! It also keeps young children happy in the mornings while breakfast is cooking. My favorite is my mom’s raspberry mini muffin recipe.
We didn’t make them this trip, but we love making “donuts” over a fire! You can see my old fried donut recipe here.
I will continue sharing these easy family camping meals all Summer long!
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