Are your camping adventures coming up? If so, it’s time to learn all about meal prep for camping, including all the top fireside and BBQ food hacks. With the right camping food hacks on your side, you can rest assured excellent meals await as you put your all into the explorations ahead. Ready to get started? Here’s a look at some cooking tips for camping trips.
Prep for Easy Meals
All the work you do ahead of your camping trip is time saved for hiking, swimming, and other fun activities. So, do all the meal planning and prep work before leaving the house. Start by creating a list of all the breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals you’ll enjoy while camping.
Then, make it happen by:
- Chopping up the veggies you’ll use in your meals
- Putting your prepped meat in marinade-filled zip-top bags
- Assembling shish kabobs using a mix of meat, veggies, and fruit
- Making a big pot of soup, stew, or chilli to reheat on busy days
- Separating snacks into portion-size bags or containers ready to grab and go
Freeze the meat and shish kabobs and prepare meals that you’ll cook later to keep them fresh throughout your travels.
Cast Iron is Your Friend
Cast iron cookware is a must while camping. The cast iron heats up evenly on the grill, over the fire, and on propane stoves. Plus, it’s easy to clean when you’re done.
To create every meal you’re craving, make sure you have a variety of cast iron cookware, such as:
- 10-inch skillet
- Reversible grill
- 2-quart pot
- 4-quart Dutch oven
Don’t forget to pack a pot lifter and fireproof mitts. That way, you can move your cookware on and off the flame as needed to make each meal.
Embrace Dutch Oven Magic
If you want at least one of your meals to practically cook itself, you need to embrace Dutch oven magic. As long as you have hot coals on hand, you can create any baked dish imaginable in your 4-quart pot.
To make that happen:
- Create red-hot coals using firewood, lump hardwood charcoal, or even briquettes
- Put all your ingredients in the Dutch oven as called for in the recipe at hand
- Place the lid securely on the Dutch oven and put it over the hot coals
- Carefully scoop up coals with a shovel and pour them on top of the pot lid
- Let the recipe cook low and slow in the pot surrounded by hot coals – stir as needed
Since you’re using hot coals, you’ll want to stick somewhat nearby to keep an eye out for danger. But for the most part, this cooking method prepares the food without much effort from you.
Think Outside the Pan
Although cast iron will get the job done more often than not, the joy of camp cooking involves roasting pure deliciousness over the open flames. You’ll need to bring roasting sticks or create your own from found hardwood branches to do that.
Go with the traditional hotdog and marshmallow fare to start, of course, but don’t stop there. As long as you’re willing to cook it long enough, you can roast a wide range of foods on a stick, including steak bites, pineapple chunks, and even bread.
Tin Din Recipes Rule
When doing your meal prep for camping, don’t forget to bring along a huge roll of foil. Otherwise, you’ll miss out on enjoying tin din recipes galore. Foil pack recipes are a long-time camping staple, after all.
With just a little bit of foil and a lot of creativity, you can easily make everything from garlic fries and jambalaya to lemon butter salmon and peach cobbler. The foil packs cook everything evenly, whether you put them on the BBQ grill or right over the coals. Just be careful opening them, or the steam could get you fired up.
Don’t forget to get your RV insurance squared away as you get ready to enjoy all these fantastic camping food hacks. Whether you’re piloting a motorhome, towing a fifth wheel, or even driving a truck with a camper attached, you can get the insurance coverage you need on your travels. To get started, give our team at Wayfarer Insurance Group a call at 1-844-929-4768.
We look forward to helping you enjoy all your adventures to the fullest, so please feel free to reach out any time.