Cooking Tips to Make Your Camping Trip Easier
When you go camping you want things to be as simple as possible. However, cooking meals at a campsite can be a little daunting at first, but with a few tips, you will be a master chef of the outdoors!
The Simpler, the Better
You don’t need to make a huge buffet while camping. All you need is a few ingredients to make a delicious meal. Let's explore few nifty ways you can create a memorable dining experience with limited ingredients and effort.
The first option is to do single pan meals. Single pans meals are straightforward. There’s an enormous amount of different recipes online, but the gist is you throw everything you’re cooking (veggies, meats, spices, etc.) into a single pan and cook it all together. The biggest benefit of a one pan meal may actually be the easy clean up! Here’s my personal favorite recipe:
One Pot Campfire Mac & Cheese
Ingredients:
2½ cups whole milk
1 cup water
2 cups macaroni noodles
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
2½ cups grated cheddar cheese
½ tsp dry mustard powder
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Get your fire going or turn your grill to medium-high heat.
2. Pour milk and water into a medium pot and bring to a boil, then add the macaroni noodles and stir. Cook the noodles, stirring often, until tender, about 7 to 10 minutes.
3. Take the pot off the fire or grill and immediately stir in butter, grated cheese, mustard powder, salt and pepper. Mix well so the noodles are cheesy, gooey and delicious. Serve hot.
The second option to create a near effortless breakfast, lunch, or dinner is to utilize jar meals! These are mainly prepared before you leave to go camping. You add all your ingredients in a jar (I prefer a mason jar) and all you have to do is open and enjoy! Like the one pan meals, there are tons of recipes online to try out! Take a look at my personal favorite jar meal recipe:
Bacon & Eggs in a Jar
Ingredients
2 Eggs
Fresh Spinach
Shredded Cheese
Bacon
Dash Salt & Pepper
Instructions
Mix Eggs, salt & pepper, spinach and cheese together in a bowl
Pour mixture into a mason jar
Cook in microwave from 1:30-2:00 minutes (checking often)
The egg mixture will puff up during cooking but deflate when out of the microwave, so don't freak out if you see it rise higher than the jar.
Top with some additional cheese & bacon crumbles
Get Creative
here are many different food related camping hacks to make your life easier! Your camping trip should be relaxing, and these creative tips will keep it that way!
One extremely helpful tip is to keep your spices in separate Tic Tac containers. There’s no reason to bring a whole spice bottle, but there’s also no reason to forgo some flavorful spices. If you don’t have Tic Tac containers, consider pill containers or another type of small container.
Another great tip if you’re a coffee person is to pre wrap coffee grounds in a coffee filter (use a string to fasten) to create a kind-of coffee tea bag. Just drop in your makeshift coffee tea bag into some hot water and drink up! By the way, did you know coffee always tastes better with a beautiful mountain view?
Conclusion
Food is an essential part of the camping experience. They help to bond us with the people we’re with as well as make the already enjoyable experience that much better. There are many ways to make the cooking experience while camping a simple but delicious one.
Outdoor AdVANtures™ is a Campervan Rental Company based in Denver, Colorado run by people that are passionate about the outdoors, just like you! We offer a fleet of late model, customized vans along with the highest quality outdoor gear designed to make your trip a memorable experience.
Sources:
https://www.foodnetwork.ca/canada-day/blog/one-pot-campfire-mac-cheese-is-the-ultimate-camping-comfort-food/
https://masonjarbreakfast.com/bacon-eggs-in-a-jar-mason-jar-breakfast-recipe/