21 Camping Meal Ideas That Are Actually Easy to Make Outdoors

Looking for easy camping meal ideas that do not feel overly complicated? Hanging around camp with good food is one of my favorite parts of camping and it definitely helps to have meals that are simple, filling, and easy to clean up.

That’s what this guide is for. These are camping meal ideas that work well for beginner-friendly car camping, especially when you want good food without feeling ling you need to pack your entire kitchen.

I’m sharing our go-to meals that we come back to most often, from quick breakfasts and easy dinners to some of our favorite Asian camping meals. These are built around the way we like to camp: front-country campgrounds, with a camping stove, a cooler, and whatever feels realistic after a long day of activities.

Breakfast ideas

For camping breakfasts, I like meals that are quick and warm. These are the breakfast ideas I think are easiest to come back to.

1. Bagels, scrambled eggs, and bacon

This one is a little more effort than the others, but it still feels very manageable at camp. None of the individual parts are hard to make, and when you want a slower breakfast at camp, this is one of the best options.

We cook the bacon at camp because the smell of bacon in the morning just feels right when you are camping. Then we do scrambled eggs and serve everything with bagels. It is not always our default because there are a few ingredients involved, but it is worth it when you want something filling and hot.

2. Frozen waffles

Frozen waffles are such a fun camping breakfast, especially if you have one of those camping toasters that sits over the stove. We use that to heat them up, and it works surprisingly well. You can also use the same toaster setup for bagels or bread, which makes it one of those little extras that actually earns its place if you like breakfast at camp.

This is one of the easier warm breakfasts because you are not really cooking much. You are mostly heating things up and making breakfast feel a little more fun. Frozen waffles also go really well with scrambled eggs if you want something more filling.

3. Mountain House breakfast skillet

This is one of the easiest camping breakfasts on this whole list. You just boil water, pour it into the bag, zip it up, and let it sit for a couple of minutes. That’s it.

We normally get the Mountain House breakfast skillet, and it really does taste like eggs and breakfast ingredients. I think this is especially good for beginner campers who are still figuring out their morning routine at camp or who need to pack up and get moving quickly in the morning.

4. Breakfast burrito

Breakfast burritos are a great camping option because they are warm, filling, and very easy to customize. They’re also really easy to assemble at camp. You can keep it simple, or you can throw in things like tater tots, jalapeños, bacon bits, scrambled eggs, or whatever else sounds good.

Once everything is inside the wrap, you can heat the whole burrito on the stove so the outside gets a little crisp and holds together better.

5. Instant oatmeal and freeze-dried fruits

This is one of the easiest breakfasts anyone can make at camp, and I still think it is genuinely good. We first got into this idea while backpacking, but it works just as well for car camping when you want something easy and warm without much cleanup.

I really like the Quaker instant oats as they have a few different flavours, and we usually also add on freeze-dried fruits on top of it.

Lunch and dinner ideas

Some meals are better for camp lunches, some better for dinner, and a few can go either way depending on the day.

6. Pasta

Pasta was one of my early camping go-tos, and I still think it is one of the easiest meals to make at camp. You boil the pasta, add a jar of sauce, and customize further from there depending on how much effort you want to put in. For example, you could add onions, meat, or whatever else you have.

7. Trader Joe’s seafood boil

This one is a little more unique, but it is still very easy. Trader Joe’s seafood boil from the frozen section is basically a hearty seafood stew with things like shrimp, fish, clams and other ingredients. It is a little spicy so it really warmed me up on a cold evening. We had it with bread and just ate straight from the pan, which kept cleanup very minimal.

8. Grilled vegetables and meat

If you have a fire pit with a grill, this is one of the most fun meals to make together. We usually buy pre-marinated meat from a grocery store and then grill it with vegetables. King oyster mushrooms work especially well for this, and peppers are always good too.

You get the fun of grilling and eating outside without having to do a bunch of prep at home first. This is a great meal for a group, especially if everyone is hanging around the fire.

9. Pita with chicken salad

This is such an easy lunch option, especially if you want something you can pack and take with you on a hike. Store-bought chicken salad works fine here and keeps the whole thing low-effort.

Pita is nice because it holds up better than regular sandwich bread and does not get squished as easily while you are transporting it. Since chicken salad is already meant to be eaten cold, there is nothing extra to do once it is time to eat.

10. Chicken fajita bowl

This is a good meal if you want something that feels a little more put together without being complicated. The basic version we make is quinoa, chicken, vegetables like peppers and onions, and whatever spices you like.

11. Pita with chicken shawarma

We like using store-bought shawarma-style chicken for this because it is already marinated and tastes good every time. You can also make a sauce at home with yogurt, dill, and whatever else you like, then bring that along as a topping.

12. Chicken stew

Homemade chicken stew is one of the coziest things to bring camping if you want something warm and easy. We make it at home and then reheat it at camp and eat it with something like Hawaiian rolls. You could even leave it on a low fire as you’re eating out of the pot. We tried using a clay pot for this which really helped retain the heat of the stew.

13. Grilled sausage

Grilled sausage is one of the easiest camp dinners and one of our repeat meals. We usually get hot Italian sausage from Trader Joe’s, and we’ve also tried cheese-stuffed jalapeño sausage. If you can’t tell already, I really like spicy food.

Sometimes we eat it as part two of dinner while sitting around the fire. You can eat it on a bun, on its own, or with other grilled food.

Asian camping meal ideas

When we first started camping, we found it difficult to find easy Asian meal ideas so we improvised and tried various things along the way.

14. Instant ramen

Instant ramen is one of our most repeated camping meals and probably the easiest meal on this whole list. We usually go for Korean instant noodles like Shin Ramyeon or Neoguri, and every once in a while we try a different beef noodle soup version if we want to mix it up.

At camp, we like adding an egg while the water is boiling so it cooks right in the noodles. It ends up somewhere between soft and set, which is exactly how I like it. If you already have onsen eggs, that would also be a great topping.

15. Trader Joe’s frozen fried rice

When we first started camping, Trader Joe’s frozen fried rice was another one of our go-to options for dinner. It cooks really well outdoors because all you are really doing is heating it up in a pan.

We tried a few versions, including Japanese fried rice and Thai fried rice – both really tasty options. Sometimes we add a fried egg or sausage on the side to make it more filling. I’d recommend this to all beginners because it is convenient, reliable, and you’re unlikely to get it wrong.

16. Bulgogi beef

Bulgogi is a popular Korean barbecue meat options, and in the past we bought frozen bulgogi beef to cook at camp. It worked really well because it mostly thawed while we were driving to camp. Once you are there, you can cook it in a pan and eat it with noodles or whatever else you have on hand. If you are camping with friends or family, it is a really good one for sharing.

17. Korean spicy noodles

I love Korean spicy noodles at camp, especially Buldak. This is not for the faint-hearted though. It’s really spicy, makes you break out in sweat, yet somehow very fun to eat outside. I personally like them best with marinated meat on the side and a fried egg on top.

18. P.F. Chang frozen noodles

These are another easy freezer-section meal that works well at camp. We tried the Dan Dan noodles, and they were honestly really good. You just put everything in a pan and heat it through. The portion felt just right and there was already meat in it. This is a good one if you want something convenient that still feels a little different from the usual camping meals.

19. Peanut noodles

This one came from my friends, and they kind of threw together peanut butter, sesame oil or soy sauce, garlic, and Sichuan mala chili, and somehow it just worked. These are best served hot, and they make a nice camping meal if you want something that’s flavorful and feels homemade.

20. Self-heating hot pot

This was honestly a fun novelty and we love the Hai Di Lao self-heating hot pot. We found it especially helpful on a very windy trip where getting water to boil the normal way would have taken forever. All you do is add water to the heating pack, and the whole thing heats itself up.

It is a clever backup meal to have around, especially when camp cooking conditions are not cooperating. I would not call it the most filling meal on its own since it tends to be heavy on vegetables, but it came in handy enough that I would still keep it in mind.

21. Korean rice cakes

Frozen tteokbokki is another easy one to throw into the camp meal lineup. Trader Joe’s has been our usual source for this, and it is very simple to heat up in a saucepan because everything you need is already there. I think of this more as a snack or a side than a full dinner on its own, and I’d add a boiled egg to make it feel a little more complete. It’s perfect for when you want something warm and slightly spicy.

Tips for planning camping food

The easiest way to make camping food less stressful is to give yourself a few shortcuts before you even leave home. Camp meals don’t need to be perfect, but a little planning makes a big difference once you are actually outside.

• Use ice packs instead of loose ice: Loose ice melts into a cold pool of water, and then everything in your cooler starts getting wet and annoying. Ice packs are just easier to manage and reuse.
• Bring a collapsible basin: Some campgrounds don’t want you washing things right at the spigot, and even when they do, it is still a hassle to keep running back and forth. A collapsible basin lets you bring water back to camp and do a quick rinse or soak easily.
• Don’t forget oil, butter, or a lighter: These are some small things that are easy to miss and very annoying to realize when it’s too late.
• Keep a small scraper in your kit: It helps get stuck-on food off plates and bowls quickly, which makes cleanup a lot easier. On short trips, we usually just rinse what we need to rinse, wipe things down, and save the more detailed washing for home.
• Protect eggs and soft ingredients: I like wrapping eggs in kitchen towels and putting them in a container so they don’t crack or get knocked around in the cooler.

Concluding these easy camping meal ideas

A pot of noodles, grilled meat over the fire, or even just a warm breakfast at a picnic table can end up being one of the most memorable parts of the trip. Once you have a few go-to meals, camp cooking starts to feel a lot more manageable, especially when your setup is simple and you use practical swaps like Little Kamper propane to cut down on waste and hassle.

Learn about Little Kamper’s propane exchange program

When you are just starting out, camping meals don’t need to be complicated to be good. Cooking is one of the best parts of camping for me. It gives us something to do together, makes the campsite feel cozy, and turns the meal into part of the experience.