How to cook delicious food while camping — without a ton of gear
Expert advice on food prep and cooking techniques to help you level up your cooking in the wild
Barbecued hot dogs, fire-crisped marshmallows and ooey-gooey s'mores are all synonymous with camping — and we're not here to tell you to stop enjoying them! But there are also ways to make delicious, next-level camping meals that are simple to prepare, lightweight and non-perishable — and don't require a ton of gear.
"My mantra is eating amazing food in the most incredible places," said Estelle Blanchette, an avid hiker and founder of Jasper Food Tours, a culinary tour company that offers a guided "Peak-Nic" hike where guests learn to cook a gourmet meal overlooking the Rocky Mountains.
For Blanchette, the inspiration to start making better camping meals came during a 23-kilometre hike to a backcountry hut in the Fraser Valley in British Columbia. "I had done all the classic mistakes of having brand new hiking boots, bringing tomato sauce in a jar and packing a six-pack of beer," she said. "I made it to 17 kilometres and I was dying. I was crying."
When she finally got to the hut, she met a group of hikers making tasty-looking food using dehydrated ingredients like lentils and oatmeal. After the trip, she bought an inexpensive food dehydrator and started working on meals "that weigh a hell of a lot less so that I can still bring beer," she said. She's now working on a cookbook for her recipes.
Chris Nuttall-Smith, author of Cook It Wild: Sensational Prep-Ahead Meals for Camping, Cabins, and the Great Outdoors, came to a similar revelation while backcountry camping. When he first started backpacking, his menu included power bars, dried ramen and freeze-dried meals that left him bloated and gassy. "I just realized I can do a lot better," he said.
Now Nuttall-Smith, who was camping north of Manitoulin Island in Ontario when contacted by CBC Life, makes meals like Dan Dan noodles, shrimp burgers and savoury skillet cakes — all prepped ahead of time and cooked at camp in minutes.
Here are Nuttall-Smith's and Blanchette's tips for cooking delicious meals while camping.
Planning and prep
The first thing to consider is how long you need your meals to last. If you're in an RV with a fridge, or a car with a cooler in the trunk, you won't need food to last as long as a backcountry hiker might.
You'll also need to decide whether you want to make elaborate meals or just something to fill you up. "Picking your menu is one of the biggest things," said Nuttall-Smith.
Meal planning and food shopping
There's a surprising amount of food in the grocery store that can last in the wilderness without refrigeration, said Nuttall-Smith. In his cookbook, for example, he lists 18 types of cheese, including Gruyère, aged Manchego and Beemster, that can hold up for the first few days of your trip.
For other longer-lasting food options, check out the instant and dried food section of the supermarket. Powdered milk works well for cream soups, and dehydrated hash browns make a terrific breakfast side, said Blanchette. Nuttall-Smith recommends avoiding ready-made camping meals from outdoor stores "because [they] will generally be awful."
For more involved meals, do your prep at home by chopping vegetables, mixing batter or making sauces, suggests Nuttall-Smith. Then divide the ingredients into measured portions and pop them in the freezer until just before you leave for your trip. (You can even freeze whole meals in advance and eat them when they're thawed.)
You'll be glad you put in the work when mealtime hits. "Nobody wants to sit beside a campfire when they've just hiked or paddled a big distance and start, you know, chopping onions," said Nuttall-Smith.
Dehydrating food is Blanchette's preferred meal-prep method. If you have a food dehydrator, you can preserve the usual fruits and veg, but if you lay a piece of parchment paper on the tray, she said, you can dehydrate things like scrambled eggs or ground beef.
"Anything that's saucy works really well, like a bolognese or a chili. Or one of my favourites is to do an upside-down shepherd's pie," said Blanchette, explaining that she dehydrates a ground beef, onion and carrots mixture and then, at camp, pours the rehydrated mixture over prepared instant mashed potatoes.
Packing smart
Storing your food in reusable containers can work if you're car camping, but if you're living out of a backpack, Blanchette suggests resealable plastic bags to reduce bulk and weight (reusable silicone bags work, too). "When it's three days, who cares [about a heavy bag]? But if you're doing the North Boundary Trail [in Jasper National Park] and you're doing 180 kilometres, it adds up."
A great packing tip is to put your last meal — usually the one that'll keep the longest — in the bottom of your bag. Then pile the rest on top, said Blanchette: "If my first meal is spaghetti bolognese, I'm going to have the noodles together with the dried sauce, and that's going to be in one bag at the top of my pack." Once that first food bag is empty, Blanchette uses it as a garbage bag for the rest of her trip.
Techniques and tools
There's nothing quite like cooking directly over a fire, and many campsites have grills directly on top of the firepit. "Just clean it off with a stick to make sure there's no bird poo and make sure it's burned off properly," Blanchette wisely suggests.
A campfire grill is perfect for steaks, salmon, corn on the cob or veggies. You can even throw tin foil–wrapped potatoes on the edge of the fire — just be sure to keep an eye on them so they don't burn.
Camp stoves are handy alternatives to a fire as they pack well and heat up quickly. When shopping for a stove, look for one where you can adjust the temperature, said Nuttall-Smith. "A lot of backpacking stoves, they're like blowtorches — you can't cook anything over them except boil water."
Blanchette recommends looking for non-stick cookware to avoid spending precious time in the great outdoors scrubbing stuck-on food. And choose pots and pans with a removable handle, she adds, since they are easier to pack.
Avoid cast iron pans, said Nuttall-Smith, as they can get too hot and burn your food (not to mention their weight). Instead, he suggests opting for a steel paella pan, which can be used to fry freshly caught fish or heat up sandwiches.
Meal ideas
Next-level breakfasts
Breakfast at camp can be as simple as rehydrated eggs and hash browns with pre-cooked bacon — or something more elaborate like crepes Suzette. Blanchette's recipe involves rehydrating orange slices in a pan with a bit of water and sugar, and then splashing in some brandy to flambé. Once it cools slightly, pour the sauce over your crepes. "It's nice French gourmet," she said.
Nuttall-Smith's recipe for corn, cheddar and green onion skillet cakes involves premixing the batter at home and then, at camp, adding water and folding in pre-sliced green onions and corn. The cakes can be paired with breakfast sausages and topped with maple syrup.
Light and portable lunches
Blanchette loves to warm up a quick soup when she's out on the trail. She's also a fan of sandwiches but prefers to use bread that doesn't fall apart or get soggy, like wraps or bagels.
One of Nuttall-Smith's favourite camp lunches is a simple "bikini" sandwich — a grilled cheese toastie that is iconic in Barcelona and made with buttered bread filled with cheese and ham and heated on a pan. "They're spectacular," he said.
Snacks
Good ol' trail mix with nuts and dried fruit is always a winner for a snack, said Blanchette. Or bring crackers and store-bought dehydrated hummus, which just needs water. "It's nutritious, delicious and it weighs nothing," she said.
Dinner feasts
A trip to Mumbai and a cooking class with a local chef inspired some of Blanchette's favourite camping dinner recipes. Her no-yeast naan dough is prepared at home, then flattened by hand in the wilderness and plopped onto a hot pan. The naan goes well with her dehydrated red lentil dahl recipe, which is made with shallots, cloves, ginger, red lentils and veggie bouillon.
Nuttall-Smith likes to make a squid and shrimp paella that makes use of his trusty paella pan. Or for something simpler yet no less tasty, he roasts some fingerling potatoes, drains burrata cheese and prepares a packet of just-add-water chicken gravy for a fancy campsite poutine.
Tips for cleanup
Always remember to leave no trace when you're camping, and pack out everything you brought in.
When cleaning up, Nuttall-Smith warns against adding bleach to your soapy water because it can be harmful to the environment. Instead, clean your dishes with biodegradable soap and avoid dumping the dirty water in the river or lake. Use your campsite's grey-water disposal area, if available, or toss it on your campfire when you're turning in for the night.
