Food is an important item to have on your camping or hiking trip. Unless you are planning to hunt game and are equipped with the tools and equipment to cook, it is best to carry enough food to last you the entire trip.
Keep in mind that a camping trip is all about being with nature and living in survivor mode. Forget about gourmet food, cakes and lavish meals. You simply won’t have the ingredients and appliances to make meals that are beautiful to look at and delicious to eat.
Most of the time, you will need to make do with packed sandwiches, dried snacks and other camping food that you can boil and cook on the trip.
With that in mind, here is a short guide about what to eat while camping.
What You Will Need
If you are going to cook on your camping trip, you will need the right cooking utensils, fuel and plates to serve food. Here is a list of items that you will need to cook and eat while camping.
Cooking Stove
Cookware Mess Kit
Mesh Covers
Sandwich and Snack Bags
Dishes You Can Cook and Enjoy
Here are some nice dishes that you can easily prepare and take on your camping trip if you are wondering what to eat while camping.
Quick Cook Oatmeal
Oatmeal combines healthy eating with ease of cooking. You can carry a pack of dry oats with you on the trip.
Boil one and a half cup of water in a pot and pour around 100g of quick cooking oats into the mix. Stir the oats a little with a wooden spoon and let them cook for about 2 minutes in the boiling water. You can add a bit of sugar to it for adding taste.
Let the oats sits for five minutes after cooking and they are ready to eat.
Scrambled Eggs
Scrambled eggs are another popular camping meal that people enjoy. Crack 2 or 3 eggs into a bowl and whisk them until the yolk has blended with the white of the eggs. Add a cup of water or milk and a dash of salt and pepper. Whisk it again to get a smooth blend.
Heat up some butter in a pan and then pour the ingredients. Use a spatula to create curds and continue to stir it until the water starts drying out. Tasty, healthy and easy to make!
Potato and Egg Scrambles
This is another popular camping breakfast that is easy to make and a great way to start your day. You can cook it up in a pan and it serves two to four people.
Cut 2 – 3 potatoes into small chunks and dice an onion and some peppers. Fry a little butter in a pan and then add the ingredients. Cook them until the potatoes start getting soft and tender.
Add a little more butter into the pan and then crack 2 – 4 eggs into the pan. Mix them all together and cook until they start turning gold. Serve with a side of cottage cheese.
Sweet Potato Fries
Wash and skin some sweet potatoes and then cut them in long, thick strips. Chop a clove of garlic and mix it with the strips. Add some chili powder and then grill them in a pan with a sprinkle of cooking oil. Keep turning them over to prevent burning.
Cook them until they turn a little crispy and gold. Take out and serve. Sweet potatoes are full of carbs and taste great on an outdoor camping trip.
Boiled Rice
Rice is another popular dish on all camping trips. It packs a lot of carbohydrates and it quite nourishing. You can have boiled rice with a little salt without anything.
Rice can also be used for to make chili con carne, paella and more. You can add a side of curry, mashed potatoes, lentil soups or fried meats with rice. Uncooked rice is non-perishable and you can carry it for days without worrying about going bad. It can be a great stomach filler after a day of camping adventure.
Packed Sandwiches
Many campers take sandwiches and other cooked snacks on their camping trip. They are great for a short trip of less than two days. Sealable lunch bags can help maintain the freshness for a couple of days at least.
Packed lunches and sandwiches can also be useful for longer trips. You can eat them while setting up your camp and cooking spot during the first couple of days of camping.
Powdered and Long Life Milk
Milk powder can come in handy if you love coffee or tea with milk. Fresh cream can go bad soon after you open the pack. The hot temperature can also make it turn sour.
However, powdered milk can last weeks without expiring and you can take it with you in a small jar.
You can also take packed cartons of long life milk. Some brands sell milk in packets that are as small as 200g that you can consume on your trip.
Dry Foods
If you do not want to deal with the hassle of too much cooking, dry foods can be an option for camping trips as well. Food items like beef-jerky, nuts, seeds, dry fruits, crackers, crisps, cookies etc. are preserved for long life and great to have on hand while camping.
Most of these snacks cannot be a replacement for cooked meals. We recommend eating cooked meals at least 4 to 5 times per week. If you are going on a trip that lasts more than a day, take some cooking equipment and ingredients with you.
Our Final Thoughts
We may not realize the importance of food in our daily lives because we are accustomed to a life of abundance. Things are different on a camping trip.
Chances are that you will be moving more than usual and spending more energy than you do in your day-to-day life. Making sure that you consume the right amount of calories and nutritious food becomes vital.
We now hope you know what to eat while camping. The list is by no means exhaustive and you can probably think of more items to take on your camping trip. Feel free to share your camping food stories and recipes with us by getting in touch!
