Unless you’re the Bear Grylls type, prepping for a camping trip can be a lot of work. It’s tricky to figure out how you can consolidate your fave creature comforts of home into a pack you can sling on your back or bundle into an RV. And for all in-tents and purposes, if you’re anything like us, awesome eats are as much of a priority as sleeping bags and bug spray!
Pork ‘n beans simply can’t hold a kindle to our easy yet classy camping food ideas, that’ll guarantee that you and your gourmet-minded crew are a bunch of happy glampers.
Create A Sweet Coffee Set-Up
There’s no need to settle for instant, even if you’re “roughing it” in the wild. Your path to a better morning mug is an elegant and slender French Press. Besides making a stellar cup of coffee—since it captures, instead of filters out, the essential oils contained in beans—it’s easier to load into an RV than a bulky drip machine. And all you need is a means of boiling water to use it (time to bone up on those Eagle Scout skills!). Can’t get through the day without cold brew? Simply dilute bottled concentrate, or even purchase it conveniently bundled like compostable tea bags. They’re an ingenious way to transfer a chic café experience to the middle of the woods. And you don’t need to struggle building a campfire before you’ve even fortified yourself with caffeine! Just don’t be surprised if nearby campers start lining up outside your door.
Bring Something to Sip Around a Roaring Fire
It’s the ultimate camping image; everyone huddled in blankets and flannels around a flickering fire pit, roasting marshmallows and telling ghost stories with their hands wrapped around a steamy mug of (fill in the blank). Our vote is for hot chocolate, and not those standard pouches of powder. Nowadays, you can find envelopes of instant cocoa that’s fair trade, sustainably-sourced, and just as easy to stash in a backpack. We especially love Mexican-style drinking chocolate, spiked with earthy and fiery spices such as cinnamon and chipotle. It’ll warm you from the inside out (and spiking it with a mini bottle of spirits certainly wouldn’t hurt).
Free Yourself From Dirty Dishes
Whether you’re bunking in a cabin or no-frills tent, continuously scrubbing at plates is simply not in the cards. Disposables make sense, but being that you’re basking in nature, you’ll want to show respect for the great outdoors. That’s where eco-friendly dishes come in. Crafted from sustainable materials like bamboo pulp, wood fiber, and sugarcane, they also come in fun patterns and colors (by way of natural dyes, of course). In other words, so much cuter than Styrofoam, and a whole lot better for the Earth.
Pack Snacks for Every Occasion
What do we consider to be amongst the primary camping essentials? Snacks, and lots of ‘em. There’s always a need to nibble, whether you’re looking for a pick-me-up on the trail, a late-night nosh while watching the stars, or you simply don’t feel like cooking. But why should you settle for standard, preservative-packed corner store chips? Small-batch sweet and savories will turn grazing into a celebratory event. Think hormone-free turkey jerky, za’atar spice-dusted popcorn, organic gummy bears and more.
Consider A Winning Weiner Upgrade
Hot dogs roasted on sticks is one of the classic camping meals. But it’s so easy to throw a superior sausage party, by stocking your cooler with handcrafted Spanish chorizo, Polish kielbasa, or German-style brats. Besides being a lot heartier than your basic frank, these heat-and-eat options are made with meat you can actually identify (read: antibiotic-free pork), and can be found flavored with everything from cheese to black truffles to beer. They’re also a lot more versatile than hot dogs. Chop and add to a breakfast frittata, or stir into a stew with good canned tomatoes, roasted green chilies, a slug of beer, and some creamy white beans. They’re the missing link on your artisanal camping food list.