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What Foods to Bring Camping? (30+ Tasty Recommendations)

What Foods To Bring Camping

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A great camping trip is not only choosing the right campground, but planning the best camping meals.

I know what I love, but everyone has different tastes and opinions.

So I asked outdoor and camping enthusiasts what was their personal favorite food to bring camping?

From homemade jerky to canned tuna to wild turkey soup, we had many weigh in on great meal choices that have pushed their camping trips over the top.

Best Breakfast Foods to Bring Camping

Even though I usually don’t eat breakfast, when I am camping that is a completely different story.

There are so many great options to choose from. Here are some of our camping enthusiasts favorites!

Oatmeal

oat meal What Foods to Bring Camping?

From Oat and Flax from Trader Joe’s to the old classic Quaker Oats, you cannot go wrong. Simply add water and enjoy!

Ovaeasy Eggs

ovaeasy eggs What Foods to Bring Camping?

Ovaeasy egg crystals are a great camping take along. Two things I appreciate the most about this breakfast is the lifespan and the taste.

Though usually you’d expect powdered eggs to be vastly inferior to the real thing, this product is right on the money when it comes to taste.

It also stores for ages, with over a two-year lifespan without having to keep it refrigerated.

It even lasts for months after opening provided you keep it dry.

This is a quality product for the cost and excellent food for a weekend camping trip.

Caleb Ulffers, Haven Athletic

Corned Beef Hash

Corned beef hash (out of a can) and eggs with a view!

MamieZembal

Coffee

Coffee and only coffee. If I eat anything at all in the morning, I can’t hike at my ridiculous pace that I love so much.

The Forever Walk

Bacon

bacon What Foods to Bring Camping?

In my opinion, bacon should be a staple of ANY meal. But it is an excellent choice for breakfast.

You can fry it up in any pan, and doesn’t require any cooking oils or butter.

We never head out camping without a few packages of bacon!

Pancakes

Coffee and pancakes with whatever local berries are ripe tossed in.

Donna

Bagel Sandwich

bagel sandwich with bacon, eggs and cheese

Let us not forget about the delicious bagel sandwich. Throw in bacon or sausage, fried eggs or scrambled eggs, and a little bit of cheese.

Toast the bagel on the fire, and you are in for about the best sandwich ever!

Mike Miller, Wilderness Times

Cottage cheese, Granola Bars, and Eggs

This is a perfectly well-rounded breakfast.

We keep our eggs in an egg Tupperware container, and that way they stay safe in the cooler until we are ready to fry them, scramble them, poach them, or turn them into a tasty omelet.

Eggs are super versatile and are a must have.

Best Lunch Foods to Bring Camping

And yet, no good camping day is sufficient without a great lunch (even if you’re out on a day hike)!

Hot Dogs

hot dogs What Foods to Bring Camping?

I’m an avid outdoorsman and have been since I was a kid.

I love hiking, fishing and camping. I know it may not be the most creative answer but there’s a reason why if you ask one hundred people the best camping food, 99 will answer the same way:

hot dogs! They’re delicious, they’re easy to cook, they’re impossible to mess up, you can make anywhere between one and 20 of them and there’s barely any increase in effort.

Not to mention they’re cost effective and come in plenty of flavors and varieties, even vegetarian and vegan for my non-meat-eaters out there.

Tom Monson, Monson Lawn & Landscaping

Hummus on Pita Bread

Hummus on pita bread makes for a terrific lunch on the trail. Lightweight, compact, tasty, and nutritious. Just add water to this package of dehydrated hummus!

Tim Stanton, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Canned Tuna

Not everyone loves canned tuna. I get it. But I love having a protein source ready to open and eat at a moment’s notice.

I also can eat my weight in seafood, so tuna is the perfect camping food for me. You can carry it and conceal it easily in your gear, whether in your knapsack or rain-resistant jacking.

You’re practically carrying around a full meal inside a 6-ounce can. Just remember to bring a can opener and fork. Some salt and pepper packets might be good, too.

Erik Rivera, USA Rx

Tacos

tacos What Foods to Bring Camping?

Simply bring all the fixings you want, and some taco seasoning and you are good to go.

Or take it next level by pre-marinating some steak for fajitas, or pre-cooking your barbacoa beef or pork carnitas in the slow cooker.

Best Dinner Foods to Bring Camping

Finally, no camping day is complete without a nice dinner over the campfire.

steaks being grilled over a campfire (1)

Steak With Rosemary and Butter and a Cast Iron Skillet

Maybe it’s memories of steak night when camping as a kid.

Maybe it’s that smell of rosemary filling the whole campsite. Maybe it’s the sound of the butter sizzling as you spoon it up and over the top of the steak until it gets the wonderful crust.

After a long day of hiking or fishing (with no fish brought back) there is something rewarding about a gourmet steak prepared in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet basted in butter filled with rosemary.

In my mind, and on my tastebuds, it is far better than grilling. And after you are done, toss in some small potato cubes in that wonderful rosemary butter.

Eric Miller, PADT, Inc

Chicken Foil Packs

Whenever we go camping, we make chicken foil packs with vegetables for a tasty treat.

Before leaving home, we create the foil packs with seasoned chicken breast, bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions.

These veggies are easy to cook over a grill or campfire and add flavor to the chicken as well.

Mixing and matching the vegetables you use is easy, so you can experiment with what you like.

The key is getting the heavy-duty aluminum foil so it doesn’t rip.

Annette Harris, Harris Financial Coaching

Adventure Meal Packs by Mountain House

My family and I love the Adventure Meal packs by Mountain House.

All you have to do is add water to the pouch and you have a meal in under 10 minutes.

They have loads of meal options including vegetarian, breakfast and even ice cream sandwiches! Always taste great, packed with energy and good nutrients, and easy to carry.

Plus, you can recycle the packaging after use – awesome!

Josh Smith, Roll To

Ramen

Since I’m in the PNW and I ocean kayak when I camp, I enjoy Ramen.

Susan In Seattle

Create Nachos at the Campfire

A great food to bring camping is Dutch oven nachos. You layer the ingredients like black beans, tomato sauce, green onions, cilantro, a Mexican cheese blend, and avocado over the chips.

You can build several layers depending on your group size. All you do is cover the Dutch oven and put it on the campfire or grill for 10 minutes.

The oven is great for withstanding heat and you can even cover it with hot coals so it cooks from all sides and both top and bottom.

It’s one of our family-favorite recipes.

Fadi Swaida, Halton Village Dental

Camp Pizza

english muffin pizza

For those real camp chefs out there, you can bring along some homemade dough and cook up some delicious pizzas.

Or you can modify them like us and bring english muffins, tomato sauce, and a melty cheese.

Five Can Chili

Five can chili is where it’s at, especially if you have vegetarians in the group. What is five can chili? Exactly what it implies.

The recipe calls for canned food, including kidney beans, black beans, chipotle peppers and diced tomatoes.

Cans are easy to store and don’t need a fridge to keep. You only need minimum equipment to cook it the right way over a campfire.

There’s also something so satisfying about a hearty hot meal around the fire that will boost your energy for hiking the next morning.

The only thing is, depending on how well your body processes beans, you may want your own tent.

Oliver Zak, Mad Rabbit

Tofu

Tofu is an excellent choice for vegan campers. With that ingredient, you can make several types of recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

For breakfast, scramble tofu is a fun way to substitute eggs and add excitement to bland camping food.

First, prepare with corn or gluten-free tortillas. Then, sauté a colorful array of peppers, add Mexican-style seasoning to the tofu, and, just like magic, breakfast burritos.

A plant-based diet is easy to follow if you stock up or marinate the tofu before spending several nights off the grid.

Benjamin Earley, HOLT

Idahoan mash and peperami

Idahoan mash and peperami. Magic combo.

Rusty Outside

Best Snacks to Bring Camping

Snacks are a must, especially when camping with your kids. They somehow find a way to nosh on everything!

Granola Bars, Juice and Cheese Sticks

Homemade Jerky

My husband and I try to keep our protein intake high, even while camping, and bringing jerky on our camping trips is one of the easiest ways to make sure we are getting sufficient amounts of protein throughout the day.

There are tons of jerky recipes, depending on what kind of meat and spices you want on your jerky.

We simply go with beef that we ask our butcher to cut for us in thin strips and bake it in an oven (a fancy dehydrator is not necessary).

Kristine Thorndyke, Test Prep Nerds

Fig Newtons (original version)

Trail Mix

Best Desserts to Bring Camping

And finally, we’ve made it to the best part of the day. Not breakfast. Not lunch. Not dinner. Let’s do this!

Camping Cone Desserts

Camping cones! These are everything that’s great about s’mores, but they’re even better.

Instead of putting only chocolate and marshmallows between two graham crackers, pile all your favorite dessert flavors into a waffle cone, wrap it in foil and heat over the campfire.

My favorite combo is snack-size Reese’s peanut butter cups, chocolate, marshmallows and strawberries.

The peanut butter cups, chocolate and marshmallows melt together and soften the strawberry slices to make a delectable, hand-held and spoon-able dessert.

Alex Carroll, Caliber Games

S’mores Kits

S’mores kits are the best food to bring camping.

These handy packages contain pre-portioned ingredients for individual servings of s’mores, so you can enjoy the treat without worrying about cleaning up and retying each bag or box.

Plus, many kits also include a candle or Sterno, enabling you to enjoy a tasty roasted snack if the kindling is too wet or if you are too tired to build a bonfire.

Michael Alexis, tiny campfire

Best Food to Forage/Hunt for When Camping

I love the recommendations here. This is not something I have leveled up to yet. But…I’ll get there!

Mushrooms

Mushrooms! Especially if I collected them while camping!

Gabriel Leete, Travel West Studios

Elk with Walnuts

I never bring food camping. I live off only what I can forage and hunt. My favorite is elk with walnuts cooked over an open fire.

Kevin, Outdoor Photographer

Hunter’s Stew

Hmmm…Wild Turkey Soup? Hunter’s Stew? Venison Stew? Venison Roast? So many choices…

Adirondack Outlaw

And Don’t Forget About Condiments

Tobasco Sauce

Tobasco sauce. Everything tastes better with it 😅 (learned that trick from my ex-military brother in letters that he’d written to me from Army boot camp.

He would steal mini sauce bottles from the mess hall and douse his MRE’s with it. Add to my dry meals & tastes awesome)!👍🏼

Jocelyn

Or Drinks!

Gotta have the drinks. From beer to wine, DO NOT FORGET the drinks!

IPA Beer

I agree with this. Nothing is better than an IPA Beer!

Whiskey

While I don’t drink whiskey, I know many who do

Summing it Up

From Ovaeasy eggs for breakfast to campfire cones for dessert, we were able to taste a little bit of everything with this list.

Truly the sky is the limit when it comes to what foods to bring camping. And if you’re backpacking, we’ve got some great backpacking food ideas for you too!

If you love it at home, chances are it is going to taste even better in nature. Bon appetite.

More Camping Meal Ideas:

Mike Miller
Mike, the founder of Wilderness Times, is a seasoned outdoors enthusiast and expert in camping and tent gear. After realizing he was spending way too much time in front of a laptop and not enough time in nature, he decided to do something about it. Nowadays, you'll often find him in the wilderness, where he actively engages in hiking, camping, and rigorously testing outdoor gear while embarking on his various outdoor adventures.

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