Camping Food: How to Plan and Cook for Your Next Camping Trip

Your memories of camp food might not be the best, but ours sure are. It’s not necessary to subsist on freeze-dried pouches or cans of chili heated up on the coals…unless you want to, of course. One of our favorite things to do is come up with delicious meals for our camping trips, so we thought we’d share our culinary strategies with you. Bon appétit!

Meal Planning

If you want to have time to relax and enjoy your trip, meal planning is key. You’ll be working with the bare minimum once you’re in the backcountry, and you’re going to work up an appetite between hiking, biking, swimming, and all that other fun stuff! Ensure a terrific trip by making a foolproof plan before you even leave.

What You’ll Need

• Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner for each day you will be gone x the number of people in your party

• Morning and Afternoon snacks for each day you will be gone x the number of people in your party

• Snacks to carry during activities

• Plenty of drinking water - at least a gallon per person per day (more if you are in a hot climate or doing strenuous activity). If car camping, use large water jugs that can be refilled rather than single-use bottles. If backpacking, don’t forget your water filter and purifying tablets.

• Any other beverages you wish to consume on your trip!

***You will also need to bring water for pets, cooking, and washing (your dishes and yourself). Bring another gallon per person per day for these other needs. And scope out ahead of time to see if there is anywhere you will be able to refill your water while on your trip.

Pre-trip Prep

Everything you do while cooking at home becomes more complicated in the wild, cleaning up after cutting raw meat, for example. For that reason, prep as much as you possibly can before you even get on the road. Prepping some of your food beforehand will also save cooler space and streamline your efficiency when cooking in the backcountry, making your trip so much easier! 

Prepping the Food

• Chop, measure, portion, and mix all food and spices (that you can) ahead of time.

• If bringing bacon, cook it beforehand and deal with the grease at home.

• Reduce the amount of raw meat prep you have to do at camp by breaking down meats at home. This might mean cutting chicken into cubes or trimming steaks and marinating ahead of time.

• Remove everything you’ll need from store packaging and place it in watertight, resealable containers (Ziploc® bags work well or plastic containers). Pack them tight! Space is a commodity. Toss in a few extra Ziplocs® for any leftovers!

• Refrigerate everything before it goes into the cooler so that nothing needs to be cooled down, wasting the chill of your precious ice. And freeze anything freezable that you aren’t using on the first night.

Packing the Cooler

• Pick out a great cooler! And make sure it has enough room to have an ice to food ratio of 2:1 while holding everything you need for your trip.

• Make sure your cooler is clean. Use a disinfectant spray to protect against foodborne illness.

• Pre-chill your cooler using cold water or ice to start off with freezing temps.

• Prep your food (see above)

• Start getting your ice and reusable freezer packs ready a few days ahead of time. Freezer packs are better for shorter trips. Cubed, crushed, and blocked ice are better for longer trips. But if convenient, you might want to do a combination.

• Put a solid layer of ice on the bottom of the cooler.

• Things that need to be kept colder need to be kept at the bottom as cool air sinks. These include items that can go bad like meat and dairy products.

• Place food in sections (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) in reverse order of when you plan to eat them.

• Fill in empty space with crushed/cubed ice and smaller items.

• Top off the cooler with a layer of freezer packs.

Pro Tip: Skip the ice and use an electric fridge! They come standard with our vehicle rentals.

Helpful Hints

Our partners at Fresh Off the Grid had these terrific ideas to add:

• Leave your meltwater in the cooler until you are going to replace it with ice.

• Keep your cooler out of the sun…and the trunk of your car.

• Have separate coolers for food and drinks.

Meal Ideas

You can do gourmet glamping or keep it simple, but eating well on the trail is always an option. Check out Fresh off the Grid for tons of great ideas to get you thinking beyond just hot dogs. 

If some of those look a little beyond your skill set, below are some of our go-to car camping meals that are simple but hearty and healthy.

Breakfast 

• Pancakes

• French Toast (syrup, yogurt, fruit)

• Breakfast burritos with eggs, tortillas, cheese, pre-cooked bacon, salsa

• Oatmeal with nuts and dried fruit

• Granola with fruit

Lunch 

• Sandwiches (cold cuts, BLT, PB&J)

• Bagels, cream cheese, and smoked salmon

• Wraps

• Cheese, crackers, and salami

• Hummus, pita, baby carrots & dried fruit

Dinner 

• Grilling: hamburgers, hotdogs, brats, steaks. Add peppers and onions for a veggie

• Tuna mac and cheese (add dried veggies, too)

• Cashew/peanut noodles with veggies & chicken packs

• Zatarain’s beans and rice with bell pepper and chicken sausage (we recommend getting fully cooked sausage)

Drinks

• Lemonade powder to add to your water bottles during the day

• Hot drinks: Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, hot cider

• Favorite can of beer (don’t bring glass in case it breaks)

• Canned hard cocktails can make camp cocktails super easy; we love anything made by Cutwater

All Done With Dinner, Now What?

How To Clean The Dishes In The Backcountry

Pack it in, pack it out—no matter what! Also, ensure you are 200 feet or more from any natural water source. So, how exactly do we follow those rules when cleaning up the dishes after a delicious camping meal?

1. If your meal planning was a success, you won’t have any leftovers! But if you’re human and made a little too much, save them away for later. 

2. Scrape all leftover food residue into the trash with a spatula, brush, or towel.

3. Take your dirtiest pan and add water to it, filling it ¾ full. Heat the water on the stove until it is hot (doesn’t need to boil). Meanwhile, in a clean pot or collapsable sink, add clean water for rinsing. Start with a couple inches of water.

4. Add biodegradable soap to the hot water. It is usually concentrated, so start with a small amount.

5. Use your hot water as your dirty water to clean all your dishes and the cold water as the rinse water. Sometimes you have to be creative if your dishes are too big for the sink.

6. Set the dishes aside to dry before toweling them off and putting them away for the night.

7. Save all of the water used in the hot pot, this is the “gray water.” Clean it last by straining the gray water to remove any remaining food residue and placing it in the trash.

8. If in a campground, dispose of gray water at the designated gray water disposal site.

9. In bear country, dig a sump hole 6–8-inches deep to empty the strained gray water. Or sprinkle the remaining gray water in a wide area.

How Are You Getting There?

Now that you’ve got all the tools you need to have a successful outdoor culinary experience, have you thought about where you’re going to go? Or how you’re going to get there? 

Titus Adventure Company is the one-stop shop for your next Colorado adventure. Our Denver camping rentals include campervans, 4WD trucks, SUVs, and Jeeps with rooftop tents allowing you to camp in serious comfort and style. 

Vehicle rentals come with all the gear for your camping trip, taking care of the details so that you can enjoy yourself! Contact us today to schedule your adventure rentals for your Colorado trip, or to check on the availability of our 4WD rental vehicles. And don’t forget to Book Ahead for Adventure, as spots are filling up quickly!

For more from Titus Adventure Company on camping and adventure, check out our blog!