Q: I am going camping this weekend with my husband and three-year-old. Since there's a burn ban in effect we are unable to have a campfire and can only use our two-burner propane camp stove. I'm looking for suggestions on what to make ahead and take with us.
Ideally I'd like to get creative and have some really delicious and nutritious dishes and treats. It's hot here in Austin so I'd also rather not make or take anything highly perishable that requires a truck ton of ice.
Sent by Raquel
Editor: Raquel, let me direct you first to these past posts...
• Good Question: Best Meals to Cook On Camping Trips?• Best Campfire Foods: What Do You Eat While Camping?
• Campfire Cooking: Best Easy, Frugal Foods for Camping
...and then throw this out to the readers. What would you guys take on a camping trip this weekend?
Related: Camping with Aplomb and a Cooking Stove
(Image: Jill Slater)

Comments (19)
Backpacker magazine is a great source for these types of recipes. Check it out: http://www.backpacker.com/article/topic/?action=custom&bp=topic_article&tag=Recipes
We have a cabin we go to on weekends and I have made this up ahead...only to just add scrambled eggs at the end.... Cook bacon, sausage, onions, peppers, musgrooms...whatever you like.....set aside and mix with hashbrowns you purchase by the bag...don't cook the hashbrowns. Put this mizture in a large ziplock...then camping morning, throw it in a frying pan and warm thru...add scrambled eggs. Toss some cheese on top if you want and voila! Very hearty...and it can be adapted to any ratio of things you like...but all the messy work is done at home. Packs well too.
Slice up some onions, peppers, and garlic, and put it in a ziploc with a little olive oil. Put a pouch of cooked chicken breast and a box of couscouse. Boil water, pour it over the couscous. While the coucous is hydrating, saute the peppers in a little skillet, add in the chicken, and pour over the couscous. Tasty, easy, and no refrigeration required.
To keep things really cold I would suggest mixing dry ice with your ice. We went camping in the desert this past weekend and did this. Came home with a cooler filled with ice! It does get cold enough to freeze so this isn't good for canned beverages, but for things that can be defrosted this works great.
As for food- we made breakfast burritos, pasta, cereal, sandwiches, oatmeal, precooked mango and chicken sausages...
I have learned, I have a 3 and 5 year old, that being creative is not always best. Simple and easy is best right now (learned this the hard way).
P.S. I only used a small layer of ice/dry ice in my cooler and it kept everything cold. I had another cooler filled with ice and a block of dry ice (for beverages and to replenish the cooler ice)- the ice never melted. It was a great solution for us.
I always take a can of coconut milk (I know--cans are heavy); curry paste (a few Tb. in a baggy or tiny tupperware); and non-perishable veggies (carrots, zucchini, and eggplant all hold up great without refrigeration) and make a coconut curry served over rice noodles or rice.
Frittata keeps well (at least a day even in the heat) and is great served at room temp; there's a recipe up on my blog now.
http://localkitchenblog.com/2011/05/02/ramp-asparagus-fritatta/
If we are going to be backpacking in, I often bring frozen chicken breasts (marinating in a Ziploc) or sausage; helps to keep other things cold, and by the time you set up camp, the meat is thawed. Easy to pan fry over a camp stove. As someone else suggested, couscous is a great camping staple; those vaccuum-packed gnocchi (we get our at Trader Joe's) are my husband's favorite. Pasta of any sort is pretty easy on a camp stove, and it's simple to bring a spice/herb mix and a small tupperware of olive oil to make a quick sauce.
Stroboli or a stuffed bread is a nice make-ahead option, although it is heavy for backpacking: http://localkitchenblog.com/2009/03/06/sausage-herb-mozzarella-bread/
Homemade granola (with those room-temp stable milk juice-boxes) is a staple for breakfast.
When I go backpacking I like to keep things light (when you are carrying everything you need on you for 5 days, you don't want to worry about cans or foods weighed down with water). Also, when you are working with small camp stoves, it's nice to be able to conserve fuel. My favorite meals to take are mostly dry goods. Lots of pre-cooked rice & quinoa that could be reheated in a little boiling water and meals like lentils with freeze dried vegetables. You let the lentils (or other legumes) soak during the day when you are active and then cook and serve with your grain when you are ready to eat. These items are also easily portioned in baggies and take up little space. Oatmeal with freeze-dried fruits are good too and by going the dry route you can leave a cooler behind. Less to think about.
I also do the freeze the meat and bring it as it keeps it cold and then by the time I need to use it, it is thawed. Lately I have started to freeze the meat with a marinade so that as it thaws it also marinates.
if you are bringing a two burner stove does not sound like you are back packing in. Its easy and fun to make tacos. What ever left overs like meat, avocado, beans, cheese, salsa could be added to eggs and had the next morning for breakfast.
One of my favorite easy meals on camping trips is spaghetti with clam sauce made no with refrigeration-needed, light-weight canned clams, clam juice and dry pasta. The only fresh things needed are lemon, parsley and garlic.
I also agree with freezing stuff. It's not a bad idea to freeze anything perishable that can be frozen. They'll only add the the coldness of the cooler. Any make-ahead meal, like casseroles or stews or sauces, that you'd normally freeze works just as good on a camping trip. Of course, they're best if frozen flat in a ziploc bag. A little bit of planning...on when to take a package out of cooler to thaw enough to heat in pan, is needed though. Especially with a hungry 3 year old!
Have a fun trip.
Some of the best (car) camping foods I've made/had are kebobs (literally cut up meat, cheap beef from Costco, marinated in a bag with red wine for a couple days, put on skewers over fire) and taco soup (ground beef optional, cook onion in cast iron, cans of tomatoes, black beans, corn, shredded cheese and tortilla chips on top). Those and beer are staples! I also make sure to make scotcheroos or cookies to keep the crowds happy, and we bring way more snacky foods than necessary.
Here's a list of things I try to bring that don't need to be refrigerated:
-Country ham, dry-cured bacon, smoked salmon, summer sausage, eggs (they can actually last weeks out of the fridge)
-Carrots, parsnips, onions, potatoes
-Apples, berries, melons
I've found The Great American Camping Cookbook to be an excellent reference, plus it's a really fun read:
http://www.amazon.com/Great-American-Camping-Cookbook/dp/0767923081
I made this on my last car camping trip, and it was perfect: http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/warm-chickpea-and-artichoke-salad/
Just make the dressing before you leave and store it in a jar, and all you need is can of artichoke hearts and a can of chickpeas. Cook it in a pan and serve with some sausage (also cooked in a pan). Super easy and delicious, and doesn't seem like camping food!
Also, MikeT's suggestion of couscous is a great one. All you need is to boil some water in a kettle and a bowl to mix it! It's a really great camping side.
It's not something you'd need your burner for, but practicalhacks.com has a great staple recipe for energy bars (DIY Cliff Bars.) We've been making them for our camping and hiking trips for a light and easy breakfast or snack.
There is a whole site dedicated to this as well: http://www.trailcooking.com/
I have had good success with their recipes.
I'll echo tands up there and say that I love creative cuisine, but we always have a better time camping when the food is stress-free. The best was last time when we only brought veggie dogs, fruit salad, tetra-pak milk, a jug of water, pretzels, vegan marshmallows, and premade breakfast burritos. High-protein, low fuss, and a small cooler. It was great.
How about pad thai? Slice and freeze some chicken breast, and cook them and some thinly sliced carrot and red pepper in a skillet on your stove. The noodles cook in 2 minutes (boil water, remove from heat, add noodles and let them sit until done). Toss all that together with pre-made pad thai sauce (store bought or homemade, up to you), and serve with roasted peanuts and fresh lime.
It's simple enough to make on backpacking trips - if you're car camping it should be no problem.
We normal go hearty for dinner while camping, because we don't typically eat lunch (breakfast is usually some type of egg scramble or pancakes), but we're in the North East.
I'm assuming you are car camping since you are bringing a 2-burner, so I'll plug my Black Beans. They're great wrapped in a flour tortilla, sprinkled with a little cheese. We usually do them over the campfire (well, a side fire on a small grill), but a stove would be perfectly fine.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/sidedishes/mexican-black-beans/
I'll be honest, though. We are in the middle of the woods (not in a campground), but we eat like we're in a gourmet kitchen. We bring several cutting boards, and chefs/santoku knives, and each one of us (3 couples typically, sometimes more) packs a large cooler.