10 Meal Planning Tips for a Camping Weekend by Erica

When I was a teen, my family became obsessed with camping trips. We would go with a group of families and spend the weekend hiking, canoeing, playing sports and card games, and cooking hearty food. I loved every minute of it. A a bonus, I got to spend three days with my major crush (now my husband).

This was the age I became obsessed with cooking. So of course I wanted to take charge of the food while we were camping. I was able to hone my planning skills by figuring out the meals for the weekend (with the help of my sisters). Things didn’t always go as planned—once, we left our cooler at home!—but over the years I learned a few tricks to avoid some of those pitfalls.

Here are my top 10 tips for making a game plan so your cooking-while-camping goes as smoothly as possible.

 
 

1. Assess if this is a relaxed camping trip or one where you’re always on the go.

If the whole point of your camping trip is to sit around the campfire and relax, it’s okay to plan some more-involved meals. But if your entire trip centers around hiking, canoeing, fishing, swimming, etc., you’ll want to choose easier meals.

 
2. Consider the weather.

If it’s going to be hot, choose cold meals like sandwiches, salads, etc. If it gets chilly in the evening, hot meals are very welcome.

 
 

3. Plan meals that don’t spoil quickly.

Unless you have a camper with a working refrigerator, you need to plan meals that won’t spoil in the cooler. Things like pasta with canned sauce, soups, and guacamole (covered in lime juice so it doesn’t brown), will keep pretty well. Choose veggies like carrots and celery that hold up well. Make salads that don’t wilt (such as cucumber salad vs. a greens salad).

 
 

4. Plan to eat the more perishable meals first.

Along those same lines, when you plan when to eat which meals on what days, make sure you eat the more perishable items first. For example, if you’re going to have marinated chicken, make sure to eat that the first day. Things like pre-cooked pasta with canned tomato sauce will keep for quite a bit longer, so plan to eat that on the last day.

Bonus tip: Pack your cooler with the more perishable foods directly on the ice. This will (obviously) keep those things colder so they won’t spoil as quickly.

 
 

5. Plan some meals to cook over the fire, some to grab-and-go.

I love cooking over the fire. There’s something very satisfying about building the fire from scratch and then cooking your food over it. It makes you feel very accomplished. But cooking over the fire takes a lot of time and work. If you plan every single meal to be cooked this way, you might wear yourself out. Plus, if any children are relying on you for sustenance, they will become very impatient if the meal takes longer to cook than planned.

 
6. Choose a protein that cooks quickly.

If you do decide to go ahead and cook every single meal over the fire, make sure to choose meats that will cook quickly. Things like thin-sliced steaks, shrimp, and pre-cooked meats will cut down on cooking time. It can take quite a while to cook a thick, juicy pork chop all the way through.

 
 

7. Plan meals that are simple and where you can do the bulk of cooking ahead of time.

Remember: everything takes longer and is more difficult when cooking outdoors. Something that would be easy at home can be difficult while camping. A simple task like buttering bread can become an ordeal when you’re cooking in the wind/rain/heat/mosquitoes. If a meal is involved and requires all of the work to be done last-minute, consider choosing an easier option.

 
 

8. Prep as many ingredients as possible.

Along those same lines, do as much work at home as you can. Look at your recipes and assess what can be done ahead of time. Wash and cut your veggies, pre-make dishes that won’t spoil, cook any pasta or rice, etc. It may seem like a lot to do, but you’ll be so happy when the bulk of your cooking work is done after unpacking, pitching a tent, gathering firewood, and building a fire.

 
 

9. Don’t forget all of the cooking equipment!

It’s easy to forget all of the little tools you need to cook each meal. Look over your recipes and write down every single little thing you’ll need to make it. Mixing bowls, tongs, knives, and whisks are easy to forget. It has happened to me where we get to the campsite and I realize that I have no way to prepare a certain dish.

Garbage bags, extra storage containers/ziplock bags for leftovers, hot pads, dish rags, dish towels, dish soap, and a tub for washing dishes are all handy. Don’t forget your silverware, napkins, plates, bowls, and cups!

 
 

10. Plan for in-between-meal snacks.

Something about being in the great outdoors makes you get hungry more quickly. Especially if it’s a chilly weekend. Make sure to bring along easy snacks for when the munchies strike. I’ve planned a camping menu without snacks before, and it just didn’t cut it.

 
 

So those are my top 10 tips for planning out your meals for a camping weekend. If you have any tips of your own, make sure to leave them in the comments!