Make Ahead Meal Ideas for Camping

Camping is a great getaway from the everyday, but it can feel like a lot of work. If you want camping to actually feel like a vacation, make ahead meals are the way to go. With a little bit of prep work, you can put together some delicious breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for your family to enjoy on your trip. With the help of these make ahead meal ideas for camping, you’ll have everything you need to keep your family fed during your entire trip.

I used to hate camping because it felt like all the work of home without all the conveniences. My friend Cathy lovingly but persistently showed me the beauty that can be made in memories with family and friends around a campfire and I relented.

But if I was going to start camping with my family, I was going to find a way to make it easier. And I still wanted to eat well.

Once I started bringing freezer meals along for the trip, the stress lowered and the food got a whole lot better. Sometimes I’ve even brought a Crock Pot if there will be electricity at the campsite. It makes meals so easy!

In fact, my relatives joke that before I started going camping and bringing meals, my husband only fed the kids hot dogs and cereal!

Make Ahead Breakfasts for Camping

These are so nice to have for easier mornings.

Breakfast Sandwiches

Breakfast Sandwiches are perfect for bringing on a camping trip. They can be individually wrapped and can be heated or eaten cold.

Scrambled Egg Bites

Customize your Scrambled Egg Bites with your favourite vegetables or add bacon, cheese, or breakfast sausage.

Breakfast Burritos

Make these easy Breakfast Burritos ahead to pack with you for tasty mornings. Wrap them in foil so that they can be heated over the fire.

Homemade Granola

For the Freezer Granola, you’ll want to bake it up and store it in a bag or airtight container to bring with you on your trip rather than cooking it there. Serve with fresh fruit and granola for a lovely breakfast.

French Toast Casserole

A great family brunch option is our French Toast Casserole. The best way to transport it is to make it in a foil tray so that it’s right ready to bake and you don’t have to bring a casserole dish.

Make up your pancake batter ahead and store it in a condiment squeeze bottle to squish onto a griddle or skillet for a pancake breakfast in the forest.

Ziploc Gallon Food Storage Freezer BagsTHERMOS Vacuum-Insulated Food Jar with SpoonColeman 316 Cooler 52QTCast Iron Sandwich Press For CampfireThe Freezer Meals 101 ClubCondiment Squeeze BottleCrockpot 7-Quart Slow CookerSlow Cooker LinersRotating Marshmallow Roasting SticksColeman Triton+ Portable 2-Burner Propane Camping Stove

Camping Lunches You Can Prep Ahead

Hot Roast Beef or Ham Sandwiches are a real hit with my teens. An easy hand-held meal. 

Nice for a group, these Ham and Cheese Sliders can be heated and pulled apart for a simple lunch.

Since these Beef and Bean Burritos are individually wrapped, you can bring them as many as you need along. They can be heated or eaten cold.

Monte Cristo Sliders are like the classic sandwich but in a more portable, camping-friendly form.

What Meals Can I Freeze for Camping?

Making meals ahead of time is a great way to prepare for your next camping trip. On top of having meals ready to go, freezing food for your trip will also help cut down on the prep work you have to do before each meal.

And since there are a variety of delicious foods you can make ahead of time, you’ll have plenty of options when it comes to putting together a camping menu for your family. Try making these freezer recipes the next time your family heads out on a camping trip:

Chili

Chili can be heated up in a slow cooker or in a large pot. It is a great one for feeding a group.

Ginger Soy Salmon

Ginger Soy Salmon is something I love to bring because it feels like such a treat! Wrap it in a foil packet and cook on the grate over the campfire and serve with potatoes.

Cowboy Baked Beans

This Cowboy Baked Beans recipe goes well any day when you’re camping, but it’s especially perfect for a drizzly, overcast kind of day when it warms you up from the inside out. With ground beef, bacon, veggies, and beans, it’s hearty and great for a crowd.

BBQ Shredded Chicken

If you’re planning on bringing a slow cooker, BBQ Shredded Chicken is a wonderful meal to serve on buns with coleslaw and potato chips.

Hamburger Hoobie Soup

This hearty Hamburger Hoobie Soup belongs in the great outdoors. Put it in a soup Thermos for your day trips hiking in the woods.

Burgers

Blue Cheese Hamburgers – I usually bring plain homemade burgers for the kids and leave these delicious blue cheese hamburgers for the adults who can fully appreciate them. 

Speaking of plain hamburgers, these homemade burger patties can be made ahead and frozen to bring on your outdoorsy vacation for grilling up.

Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork

Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork can cook all day while you’re enjoying your vacation. So good on buns with coleslaw. 

Other Camping Dinner Ideas:

I make Buffalo Chicken Quesadillas ahead and freeze them flat on a baking sheet before transferring them to a freezer bag. Then I can cook those in a skillet or over the fire. 

I also always bring freezer meal taco meat for walking tacos. Heat up your already made taco meat and add it into small bags of Doritos, Fritos, or tortilla chips along with diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, salsa, jalapenos, diced green onions, and shredded cheese. Add a plastic fork and you’ve got a meal everyone always loves.

Camping Side Dishes to Make Ahead

Garlic Bread – You can actually place the foil wrapped garlic bread right on the grate over the fire and heat it that way. 

Having this Caesar Chicken Pasta Salad means you have an easy side to go with burgers, hot dogs, or chili.

Baked Beans – There is just something about baked beans that screams “camping”.

Whether you have these cornbread muffins with Chili or Cowboy Baked Beans, they are camping perfection!

The nice thing about this Cilantro Lime Corn is that you can eat it as a cold corn salad or warm it up as a side dish.

Snacks are great to have for the drive there and back as well as in between meals. I like to make homemade trail mix and zucchini loaf as well as some of these make ahead recipes:

How Do You Store Food While Camping?

When it comes to meal prepping before you camping trip, one of the biggest things you’ll need to consider is how you’ll store the food you prepare. Making sure all your meals are frozen before you hit the road is essential because it will help the ingredients stay fresh throughout your trip.

So, before you even set out on your vacation, take the time to properly store each of your camping meals in the freezer using these helpful tips:

• Pre-cook as much as you can. Since your cooking options will be limited at your campsite, it’s a good idea to cook as much of the meal as you can while you’re at home. In addition to making it easier to reheat your freezer meals while camping, this preparation method will also help you avoid the need to store raw ingredients for an extended period of time.
• Use freezer bags. You’ll need all the space you can get when storing your make-ahead camping meals, which means freezer bags are your best option. After adding the ingredients to the bags, place them flat in the freezer. That way, the ingredients will freeze flat and take up less space in your storage container at your camp site.
• Label each bag. When your bags are labelled with the cooking instructions, you won’t need to look up the recipe on your device with potentially unreliable wifi. You’ll have everything you need right there. We have printable labels available for all of our recipes in the Freezer Meals 101 Club.

Once you have your freezer meals prepared and frozen, you can start planning out how you’ll store the food when you get to the campsite. Use these tips and tricks for keeping your frozen meals safely stowed away.

• Use separate coolers for food and drinks. Since your family will need to open the cooler several times throughout the day to get fresh drinks, it’s a good idea to keep your beverages separate from the rest of your camping food. That way, the lid to the food cooler can stay shut and sealed, keeping the warm outside air out and preventing the food from thawing too quickly.
• Store the food in the order you plan to cook it. Making a meal plan before you set out on your trip will help you keep your food storage more organized. Place the recipes you plan to cook at the end of your trip at the bottom of the cooler, then stack each day’s meals on top in reverse order. The frozen food on the top of the cooler will help the food on the bottom stay cold until you’re ready to cook it.
• Secure your food from animals. When you’re not cooking, your camping food should be safely stored away to keep animals and pests from stealing your supply. Keep the food coolers in a vehicle or other safe space away from your sleeping area to keep animals at bay.

Easy Snacks for Camping

Homemade Granola Bars with peanut butter and chocolate chips are a chewy, delicious, and popular camping snack.

Nice for a grab and go snack, hiking, or a morning bite, these healthy energy balls are a great option to bring.

Camping Desserts

One of the other things Cathy taught me was to make a cherry pie using a Cast Iron Sandwich Maker, bread, cream cheese, and cherry pie filling and cook it right over the fire.

And of course there’s the classic roasting marshmallows to turn into s’mores. While you can’t make that ahead as a freezer meal, you can make them easier by using cookies that already have the chocolate on them like Celebration cookies.

Dutch Oven Blondies cook up right there with you in the wild for a mostly make ahead dessert that’s sure to make your trip more memorable.

How Do You Heat Up Food While Camping?

Now that you have your meals planned and your menu lined up, it’s time to think about how you’ll reheat your dinners while you’re at the campsite. Consider these different cooking methods while making your camping meal plan.

• RV kitchen. Using the kitchen in your RV is a great option, allowing you to reheat your meals using a stovetop or oven inside the camper.
• Camping stove. If you don’t have an RV at your campsite, you can also make use of a camping stove to reheat meals. Meals that can be cooked in a pot or pan are perfect for cooking on a portable stove.
• Grill or fire. Another popular cooking option at the campsite is fire. Use your grill or campfire to cook your meals using cast iron pots and pans.
• Slow cookers. If your campsite has electricity, bringing along a slow cooker is a great option. Dump and go freezer meals can easily be reheated in a crockpot on your campsite for quick and easy recipes that don’t require much prep work. Pack some slow cooker liners to make cleanup even easier.

Having meals made ahead means less stress and more opportunity for relaxation. Enjoy your time away!