Easy Camping Recipes and Tips for Great Camping Food

Find easy camping recipes and camp food ideas here for campfire cooking and great camping food. These recipes are delicious and quick to make, and will make everyone feel like very happy campers! Camping food for all types of weather!

However, before you try these simple recipes you will need to know how to start a campfire, and how to make sure that you put it out once you have finished so that you don't start a forest fire!

For those of you who light fires in your fireplaces everyday will know that there are somedays when the fire just won't start and you scratch your head wondering how it is that rampant fires destroy homes and businesses everyday but starting a fire can sometimes be the most difficult thing in the world.

First of all, your wood and kindling for your campfires should be dry. The lighter the feel of the wood, the less water content and the better it will burn.

Place a circle of flat rocks on the sand away from overhanging trees where you want to set up your camp fire. The rocks will not only protect your fire from the wind, but it will also keep the heat in once the flames die down and the hot coals remain. Finally, the stones also help to mark the area so that people don't end up stepping on the coals by mistake.

There are 5 things you will need to Make your Campfire:

1) A lighter or matches

2) Paper, cardboard or dry grass

3) Kindling made up of small, dry twigs

4) 1 inch thick branches

5) More solid, larger pieces of wood.

If you have cardboard tear it up into smaller pieces stack the cardboard in a pyramid fashion to get air into the fire. If you have paper, crumble or roll the pages into cigar shapes, twist into a knot and lay these into a pile. On top of this you then lay your kindle. Stack it so that again there is air between the sticks. On top of this, place thicker pieces of wood, about an inch thick. Once this is lit and it catches, you can slowly add bigger pieces of wood. However, the biggest mistake at this stage is adding too much wood, too soon where you actually end up putting the fire out, and not having enough kindling.

You cannot cook over an open flame for most of the time, otherwise your food is likely to burn on the outside, and still be raw on the inside. So, how can you tell when your fire is ready to cook on? Well, first of all you have to wait until you have red hot coals. And the quality of your coals will depend on the type of wood you have used.

The best wood for campfires are hard woods such as oak, maple, juniper etc.

Finally, you will need to know how to judge when your coals are ready to start cooking. Place your hand about a foot over the coals and see if you can hold your hand over the area for 10 seconds. If you can withstand the heat, then you can start cooking.

Once you have finished cooking, and no longer need your campfire, shovel sand onto the fire making sure that it is completely extinguished.

Camping Cooking Tips

* Freeze bottles of juice and milk when you pack your ice-box to keep food colder for longer. When these supplies run out resort to your dried and can camp cooking recipes.

* Before leaving home, cook a chicken, leg of lamb or roast beef to provide cold meat for salads and sandwiches. Also hard-boil a few eggs to take with you.

* If space and weight is not restricted, start out with a supply of fresh fruit and vegetables. Apples, oranges, mandarins and lemons will last the longest. Onions, carrots, cabbage, pumpkin and potatoes can survive almost 2 weeks. Store them in string bags to allow air to circulate.

* Bake a batch of your favorite cookies, along with packets of dried fruit such as dried apples, prunes, pears etc. Store in an airtight container.

* For a quick energy snack food pack some easy to make, homemade fruit leather.

* Wash hands well before cooking. Cook everything thoroughly. East prepared food straight away.

* Sterilize eating utensils by placing in a little boiling water before use.

* Don't forget to pack the can opener!!!

Useful Camping Food

* Dried beans, rice, peas, lentils and other pulses.

* Dried fruit such as prunes, pears, apricots, apple rings, raisins.

* Long-life milk, cream, fruit juice and custard.

* Dried herbs, salt and pepper in small bottles or plastic zip-lock bags clearly labeled.

* Tinned food such as beans, sweetcorn, sardines, tuna, spam, corned beef.

Campfire Cooking Methods

With campfire cooking you can :

1) Stew
2) Fry
3) Bake

Stewing is done in a heavy pot or Dutch oven once the flames have died down, as is frying. Although stewing can be done by placing the pot directly in amongst the coals, with frying it is best to have a metal grill placed over the coals and then place your frying pan on the top of that.

With regards to baking, this can be done by wrapping fish or vegetables in tin foil and placing them in amongst the coals or you can use a Dutch oven and place the coals on top of the lid to ensure an overall temperature.

Building a Clay or Mud Oven

Some of you may be lucky enough to be camping next to a stream or river where you have good access to clay. As a result, you could build yourself a clay or mud oven from this material.

You will need:

willow branches, or similar, cut at 3 foot lengths
clay

Take your willow branches and bending them make a dome-shaped frame that will become the foundation for your mud oven. Ideally you are looking at an oven that is at least 2 feet wide and 3 feet deep. Leave some space at the opposite end of your opening for a chimney stack. Into this opening insert a large aluminum can as your chimney that has had both the top and bottom removed.

Once you have the right shape you will need to cover this frame with some cotton sheeting and then cover the whole frame in 6 inches of heavy clay. Make sure that there is enough clay around your chimney to create a perfect seal.

Allow for this to dry, adding more clay if large cracks start to appear as it is drying out.

Now light a fire in your oven so that you burn out the wooden framework and the cloth that was used to build it. Once this has been burned out, brush down the oven inside and allow to cool. Next build a fire inside your oven until you have glowing coals. Push these to the back of the oven, place in your chicken to roast, or your bread tins etc. place a flat stone across the entrance to keep in the heat and enjoy the results!

Campfire Recipes using a Dutch Oven

Campfire cooking

I don't know about you, but I love the food that has been cooked in a Dutch oven. There is something about the taste that is so different, and if you get it right, the meat is tender and falls off the bone. I also like the fact that it is one pot cooking if you are making a hearty beef stew that can be forgotten about once you have put it in.

There are those who will cook perfect dishes using the oven just on top of the coals, but I perfer a different method.

Whenever we go camping we always drag

along the Dutch oven. I can use it not only to make mouth-watering stews, but I also use it to make bread. So how do I do it?

Dig a hole in the ground that when you put your Dutch oven into the hole it is about 4 inches below the level of the ground and there is about an inch or two all the way around the circumference of the oven.

Now removing the oven, light a fire in the hole and wait until the fire has died down to just glowing coals. Now take your stew filled Dutch oven, lower it into the hole directly on top of the coals, and back fill the hole with the soil that you removed.

To get a good seal on the lid, I usually mix up a dough of flour and water and seal the lid with this before I place the oven in the hole.

After 6-8 hours you have a great stew that cooked on its own without having to worry about how it was doing. Camping cooking the easy way! And I am all for that!

Easy Camping Food Recipes using Cans

EASY CAMPING RECIPES: Crab and Tomato Soup

1 x 440 g tin tomatoes

1 x 170 g tin crab

1 cup orange juice (fresh or store-bought)

1 cup water

Combine soup, juice and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil. Add crab. Stir through to heat. Simmer for 1 minute. Serve.

EASY CAMPING RECIPES: Bean Soup

1 cup dried beans, soak in water overnight

Drain and add 2 cups of fresh water

Add 2 peeled and cubed potatoes

Add 1 sliced onion

Add some slices of salt pork or bacon

Salt to season and boil for 1 hour.

EASY CAMPING RECIPES: Ham and Pineapple

1 tin of cooked ham

1 tin pineapple rings

rice

Slice tinned ham into steaks. Top with pineapple rings. Cook in frying pan with a dash of honey and pineapple juice from the tin. Serve with rice.

Easy Camping Food Recipes Using a Flask

EASY CAMPING RECIPES: Flask Rice and Vegetables

Combine 1 cup of rice with about 1/2 cup dried fruit or vegetables. Place in a vacuum flask. Add 2 cups boiling water.

Seal and leave for 2-3 hours. Serve.

EASY CAMPING RECIPES: Flask Breakfast

Place 1 cup of cooking oats in a vacuum flask and add 2 cups boiling water. Seal and leave for 30 minutes.

Serve with milk and sugar.

Easy Camping Recipes for Cakes and Breads

You can make very quick breads and cakes when you are camping. All you need is a little imagination. One of the things kids love to do is to take conventional bread dough, knock it down and then roll it into a long sausage before winding it around the stick in a long spiral, before cooking it over the fire. Camp bread on a stick makes happy memories!

Just make sure that whatever wood the children are using to cook with, is not from any poisonous tree.

Camp Bread Recipes: Ash Cakes

There are also other quick breads for camp cooking. One of the easiest to make is the Ash Cake.

Take 1 cup of corn meal and add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Then add enough boiling water to the corn meal just so that you can then mould it into a ball. Place the balls into the coals of the fire, just like the recipe for the potatoes below and leave them in the coals until they are cooked.

Camp Bread Recipes: Johnny Cakes

Other quick camp bread is the Johnny Cake. Use the corn meal mixed with the salt and water, as for the Ash Cake recipe, but instead of placing the ball into the fire, pat out the corn dough so that you have a disc 4 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick.

Now heat up a pan with some butter and fry the corn disc until it is dark brown on both sides. Once it is cooked you can split the Johnny Cake open and butter it, or you can leave it whole and serve with maple syrup.

Camp Bread Recipes: Camp Corn Bread

Camp corn bread is made in a frying pan with your corn mixture being a batter.

Take 1/2 pint flour and the same of corn meal. Add 2 teaspoons of baking power; 1 level, 1 heaped, and about 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix dry ingredients together. Now add 50/50 milk and water until you have a batter consistency.

Pour into a well greased pan and place next to a quick fire. Make sure that the fire has enough heat that will allow the corn bread to cook quickly at first, otherwise if not, your bread will be very heavy. Once the bread starts to rise, you can then slow the cooking process down and allow your bread to bake until cooked.

A heavy cast iron skillet works really well with this type of bread as it keeps the heat in.

Other Camping Recipes

EASY CAMPING RECIPES: Instant Asian Noodles

2 packets of instant noodles

4 tablespoons tomato sauce

2 teaspoons soy sauce

Cook instant noodles as directed. Mix in tomato sauce and soy sauce. Pour over noodles and mix.

EASY CAMPING RECIPES: Sausage Cheeses

12 thick pork sausages

1/2 cup tasty cheddar cheese

Cook sausages in pan until cooked through.

Make a slit in each sausage. Fill with grated cheese.

Place back in pan, slit side up, cover with foil or lid for as few minutes until cheese is melted.

EASY CAMPING RECIPES: Spanish Omelette

Chop and cube 1 large potato, 1 medium onion, 1 green and red pepper, 2 rashes of bacon.

Fry lightly in a little oil over fire in a pan.

Add 6 scrambled eggs. Let it set. Divide into quarters and turn over each piece once to cook through thoroughly. Serve.

EASY CAMPING RECIPES: Perfect Baked Potatoes

Perfectly baked potatoes on a camp fire.

There are 2 ways you can bake potatoes. One of our family favorites is to take the potatoes, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with coarse sea salt, add an inch or two of fresh rosemary, cover in aluminum foil and then back on top of the coals before you cook your meat.

Another way is to leave off the aluminum foil and just throw the potatoes with this skins on, into the fire. However, in order not to end up with burnt potatoes on the outside, and raw inside, you will need to bury the potatoes in amongst the coals and then heap more coals on top. Buy cooking this way on your camp fire, you will have perfectly baked potatoes.

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One of the best and easiest ways of cooking fish while out camping is with this method. A fire is built the size for the amount of food to be cooked …

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