50 Food Essentials to Bring Camping

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Check out our list of 50 Food Essentials to Bring Camping to make your camp cooking a little less stressful.

Whenever I go camping, I have to admit I stress over what to pack for food knowing that I won’t be able to quickly run to the grocery store or over to a coffee shop for my morning cup of goodness. So I sat down and made a checklist that will help me and you out in preparing for further camping trips.

Breakfast ideas:

Bread or english muffins: Yes! you can toast these over the fire and spread a little butter and jam on top.
Cereal: Cereal is perfect for camping, especially those little prepackaged cups you can pour milk in.
Oatmeal: Just heat up a little water or milk over the fire and pour it into you oatmeal cups.
Bacon: Did you know you can skewer bacon and cook it over the campfire? Or bring a pan to set on the fire.
Eggs: Easiest way to prepare campfire eggs is scrambled, but you can add in whatever you like that way (ham, cheese, veggies).

Lunch ideas:

Hot dogs: Of course! Just pop them on a roasting stick and cook them over the fire. Don’t forget your buns and topping.
Sandwiches/cheese: Pack a couple different kinds of deli meats and cheeses in your cooler and make sandwiches, that way everyone can make theirs how they like.
Macaroni and cheese: Just like the cereal and oatmeal cups, they make macaroni cups too! Just add a little hot water, stir, and enjoy!
Canned tuna/chicken: Mix in a little mayo and have it with crackers or eat it right out of the can.
Ramen noodle cups: These bring me back to college but I still enjoy them every once in awhile…like last night.

Snack ideas:

Beef jerky
Popcorn
Granola bars
Trail mix
Fruit
Hummus and pita bread
Fruit snacks
Pretzels
Chips
Nuts
Cookies
String Cheese
Yogurt
Peanut butter
Vegetables
Crackers
Dried fruits
Applesauce

Drinks:

Instant coffee: Yes I know it’s not quite the same but it’s so easy to make while camping.
Tea: It’s a great nighttime relaxer in case your sleeping on the ground that night.
Juice/Gatorade: Because of the convenient little containers and of course how delicious it is.
Water: Fill up a couple jugs before you go and fill up reusable water bottles to save on trash and recycling.
Milk: You will need this for the cereal too.

Dinner:

Chicken: Chicken is great on the grill or fire pit, add a little BBQ sauce and you’ll have the whole campground jealous.
Beef: Prepare some kabobs ahead of time, package and seal them up for a fantastic dinner on the grill/fire.
Soup: Grab a big kettle, soup you prepped at home, and warm it up over the fire.
Foil packs: You can really put anything in foils packs and have a delicious no hassle dinner, I made buffalo chicken tenders in a foil pack the other night and they were fantastic.

Sides:

Beans: For some reason I laugh when I think about cooking beans at camp but I love them and would still eat them.
Canned vegetables: They travel well and you can heat them up quickly, just remember your can opener.
Corn on the cob: Did you know you can grill the corn still in the husk?
Rice: Just add water to those cute little cups.
Condiments: Don’t forget these.
Noodles: Just boil them over the fire.

Dessert: