What are your favorite campsite meals?

[Rob]

I am kind of in a rut with food when camping and looking for ideas.

My go-to dinners are pretty simple:
-Steak on the BBQ
-Grilled Chicken on the BBQ
-Grilled bratwurst with the usual fixings
-burgers

Basically heat up a piece of meat on the BBQ...

Lunches are usually just some kind of sandwich in the field

Breakfasts I am a bit more creative with.  It can be as simple as a bowl of cereal when I am in a rush, to more elaborate omelets, scrambles, or pancakes paired with country fries etc.

So I am looking for ideas to expand my menu with.  What are your favorite meals when you are camping/hunting?  Specifically:
1.  What are your favorite meals when you have the luxury of time to prepare/cook
2.  What are your favorite meals when you are in a rush, or just want to put food on the table before you collapse into your tent/camper for the night.

[WSU]

The best way I've found to diversify is to cook/prep things ahead of time.  I've starting taking frozen homemade chili and sausage gravy.  Other good things are fajitas, stews, and pastas.  Pretty easy to do if have a wood stove, burner, etc.

[Rugergunsite308]

My are Pasties. My Finnish inlaws made them and my fatherinlaw would always bring them up to elk camp and just warm them on the wood stove for dinner. They had a come and go style of elk camp where everyone fended for themselves for food but you could come and sleep in the plywood shack they had set up. They even set up an elk camp sauna every year which sound's amazing. I need to figure out how to build one. But I digress.

My wife makes a couple dozen pasties at a time out of a mixture of dear and elk burger and bear sausage and then we throw them in the freezer individually wrapped in tinfoil. They make epic elk camp food.

I also throughout the year when we have leftover soups throw them in ziploc bags or mason jars and freeze them. Then in elk camp you throw the whole bag or jar in a pot of water and warm it up. No dishes.

I like pre-prepping and cooking wildgame while hunting because there is something in me that feels sacrilegious about eating beef or chicken while hunting.

[wadu1]

Well since I'm I like to cook in the field I go all out. I plan ahead, way ahead. Pork Loin rolled in dill, Rack of Lamb with sea salt dry rosemary rub topped with fresh rosemary or seasoned long island duck breast BBQ. Cheese Casa Deazas with eggs for breakfast, build your own sandwich for lunch.

[addicted1]

Usually do the following for dinner:
DIY personal pizza
Chicken fajitas (save the mixings for next meal)
Quesadilla(mixed with left over fajita filling)

Breakfast:
Cereal, hasbrowns, bacon and eggs, pancakes things like that

Lunch:
We usually make after breakfast and pack up for the day, sandwiches, salads, snacks

[str8meat]

Wife will smoke a 5-7 pound meatloaf and I will have leftovers for 3 days. It’s delicious.

[Smokeploe]

https://www.koreanbapsang.com/dak-bulgogi-korean-bbq-chicken/

We have been doing this, you can either grill it or cook it in the flat top(black stone). The wife uses pork most of the time, cut up a pork shoulder thin slices 1/4”.
 Serve over rice or in those ciabatta rolls from Costco!  We make it ahead like the couple of day before we leave. 

Smokeploe

[Alchase]

I am kind of in a rut with food when camping and looking for ideas.

My go-to dinners are pretty simple:
-Steak on the BBQ
-Grilled Chicken on the BBQ
-Grilled bratwurst with the usual fixings
-burgers

Basically heat up a piece of meat on the BBQ...

Lunches are usually just some kind of sandwich in the field

Breakfasts I am a bit more creative with.  It can be as simple as a bowl of cereal when I am in a rush, to more elaborate omelets, scrambles, or pancakes paired with country fries etc.

So I am looking for ideas to expand my menu with.  What are your favorite meals when you are camping/hunting?  Specifically:
1.  What are your favorite meals when you have the luxury of time to prepare/cook
2.  What are your favorite meals when you are in a rush, or just want to put food on the table before you collapse into your tent/camper for the night.

Can't argue with any of those choices 

My favorites are Bacon wrapped Elk Backstrap cooked over a fire.
Bacon wrapped Grouse cooked over a fire.
BBQed Rib-eye with sauteed mushrooms and grilled corn on the cob (covered in garlic olive oil and Johnney's Garlic Seasoning)
Hotdogs (good quality hotdogs) preferred over a fire on a stick, but a BBQ Grill will suffice, LOL
For quick heatem up meals, Costco frozen Chicken Patties make great chicken burgers. Just heat them for a couple minutes, add condiments and eat.
Ramon Bowls, Costo has some really good Ramon bowls that you just add hot water to.
For sandwiches that I take in my pack - I only use Sandwich Thins instead of regular bread slices, and pack them with meat and cheese and condiments of your choice.
(https://www.target.com/p/brownberry-100-whole-wheat-sandwich-thins-12oz/-/A-54212706?TCID=PDS-19859758222&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-brK-urfjAMVzCRECB3vVywKEAQYASABEgKknfD_BwE)

[Rugergunsite308]

Oh I forgot to mention fry night!
My dad would always do a fry night in elk camp with either fish or hotwings as the main course, but before that we'd fry anything we wanted to from food we packed or things we'd scavenged. Deepfried chantrelles, boletes, or COW's, jalepenos stuffed with cheese, onions, orrio's, gummy bears, etc. You name it, we fried it.

Just remember your TP the next morning.

[ghosthunter]

Anything you can wrap in a tortilla.

Spaghetti

Hamburger Helper

[Buckjunkie]

Tacos

Hamburgers and hot dogs

Steak

French dip

Lasagna

Ham and Swiss sandwiches on ciabatta buns with honey mustard

Ham & Cheese omelette with fried potatoes and onions

[Dan-o]

Chicken fajitas (prepared at home)

Brisket on hard rolls

Chicken spread on croissants

[Stein]

Razor clam chowder

Leftover prime rib sliced thin for sandwiches with provolone, onions and peppers.

[pianoman9701]

Well, of course, fresh liver and heart are #1. Steaks with potatoes or pasta and sauteed wild mushrooms and berries. I use the sous vide method to precook all of my dinner meats and heat up for just a few minutes on the grill. The usual abundance of wild mushrooms really add the zing. Not much for veggies but corn on the cob and something like zucchini are easy to prepare. Anyone who's hunted with me has eaten very well.

[Mtnwalker]

Razor clam chowder

Leftover prime rib sliced thin for sandwiches with provolone, onions and peppers.

  If we're base camping it the wife usually sends a giant container of home made clam chowder. Man that hits the spot after a cold day in the mountains! Pre-making a big lasagna is another good one, then do up a couple sides to go along with it in camp. Also grilled salmon or halibut. Throw in some steaks, potatoes and onions and I'm a happy camper

[WoolyRunner]

I’ve been going easy route lately. I go to Safeway and buy a bunch of their pre-made dinners and just wrap em in foil and put em on the grill till hot. Quick and easy and good variety too.

[3nails]

 Pizza cooked over an alder fire is amazing. I look forward to that meal all year long.

[CarbonHunter]

My favorites are chili in the pot over the fire and steaks cooked over the grate on the fire, no bbq in elk camp for steaks if we can avoid it.

I have gone to the prepped and frozen meals as well and we typically put them in the oven or pot and they are ready in an hour but when there is time steaks, taters and chili is hard to beat. And the day after chili is chili dog night.

[Buckhunter24]

I mostly rotate brats, hotdogs and hot links 

[ganghis]

well, I rarely eat at my rig and when I do it's usually something like cold fried chicken, cheez-its, and beer.  But, in the field I gotta say there's a real pleasure in eating a dehydrated meal you've made yourself.  A couple I've done recently: elk chili mac, ethiopian elk stew w/ cous cous, and lentils & rice (definitely prefer the meat ones).  There's different ways of doing it, and mine definitely screws up the texture, but I tend to puree things a bit in a food processor before dehydrating. 

Sorry to screw up your car camping thread, but just a PSA you can still eat good over a camp stove in the backcountry without paying $12 a meal! 

[HereDuckyDucky]

Fresh elk tenderloin.

RW

[Rob]

Great ideas, appreciate the input!  However I don't appreciate the 10 pounds I have put on just by reading the replies...

I will be upping my game for sure with some of these ideas.  I think my key takeaway is, I don't do the pre-trip prep.  I tend to start everything right before I start cooking.  That will speed things up and increase quality and variety of food.

And backcountry ideas are NOT off the table so that does not screw the thread up. 

One time on a Mt. Baker climb one of our team members had put a whole large pizza in her pack.  Every time we stopped she pulled out a piece to eat.  By the time we figured it out she was half way thru the pizza!  She had to start being discrete from that point on as we were all quite jealous and not above stealing.

[NOCK NOCK]

Roast a mallow over fire, then squish between 2 reg tortilla chips.....tastes just like carmelcorn.

HOBO/foil wrap stew is always a winner.

Easy stroganoff....1# burger, 16z sour cream, 1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup, spice to taste. Brown burg. then add rest. serve over pasta.

How about quicky Swedish meatballs, similar to SOS (no balls made) just flavor it the same, serve over mashed taters, (little bags easiest)

[boneaddict]

I was treated to a simple delight one night from a fellow member that I believe has passed.   It was simple DintyMoore with fresh grouse breast cubed and added to it.   I was shocked how good it was.   Maybe it was the warming of the shot of Crown and the comradery, or the fact we just finished packing a moose out.  I'll never forget that meal.   

[Okanagan]

I was treated to a simple delight one night from a fellow member that I believe has passed.   It was simple DintyMoore with fresh grouse breast cubed and added to it.   I was shocked how good it was.   Maybe it was the warming of the shot of Crown and the comradery, or the fact we just finished packing a moose out.  I'll never forget that meal.   

Hadn't been paying attention to this thread but this Dinty Moore and grouse caught my eye.  One of our best ever campfire meals was when my then high school son and I loaded our Dutch oven with Dinty Moore, a few more carrots, onions and potatoes, and added diced up breasts from three grouse.  We set the Dutch oven on a bed of coals in the edge of the fire and went hunting in mid-afternoon.  We came back after dark in snow blowing sideways, all of the fire covered with snow except for the Dutch oven.  It was steaming hot when the lid came off, a fabulous mix of store bought and homemade stew with the delicious grouse chunks that had soaked up the other flavors.  Great memory!. 

[Longfield1]

My camping meals are whatever takes least amount of dishes and easy to cook. I usually bring just 1 cast iron pan and some oil and a burner. Usually forget even a spatula. My burgers and pepperoni sticks are always made from game that I've harvested.

Hot dogs
Burgers
Steaks


If the family is with me then its mostly different because my wife is cooking.

Bacon eggs pancakes hashbrowns for breakfast
sandwiches for lunch
stir fry, orange chicken, pasta, burgers

[Alchase]

I forgot home made Campfire Chili -
Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef
1 pkt dry chili seasoning
1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 tsp minced Garlic
1 small sweet onion, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp liquid smoke
1 cup ketchup
1 15 oz can chili beans, undrained
1 15 oz can black beans, undrained
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 cup sour cream

Hand full of chili peppers

1. Brown ground beef in a Dutch oven or large pot.
2. Sprinkle packet of chili seasoning in with meat and stir well.
3. Add fire-roasted tomatoes, garlic, onion, cilantro, liquid smoke and ketchup.
4. Fold in chili beans and black beans. 
5. Add chili peppers to desired heat.
6. Stir well and cover. Simmer for at least one hour over low heat, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Add a little water if chili becomes too thick.
7. Top bowls of chili with grated cheddar, sour cream and chopped cilantro as a garnish.

There is just something satisfying about sitting around a campfire after a long day of hunting, eating a hot bowl of chili.

 

[Wingin it]

Steak and taters
Burgers
Brats/dogs
Chili
Soups
Philly steak sandwiches
Pastas (spaghetti, fettuccine Alfredo)

Breakfast is always a fend for yourself situation. Usually cereal or quick oatmeal packets.
Lunch varies from sandwiches, egg salad is a favorite, to whatever snacks are in my pack.

[Twispriver]

We have breakfast for supper about half of the time. Hashbrowns and eggs, pancakes, french toast and omelets are frequent dinner meals.

[CarbonHunter]

I forgot home made Campfire Chili -
Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef
1 pkt dry chili seasoning
1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 tsp minced Garlic
1 small sweet onion, diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp liquid smoke
1 cup ketchup
1 15 oz can chili beans, undrained
1 15 oz can black beans, undrained
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 cup sour cream

Hand full of chili peppers

1. Brown ground beef in a Dutch oven or large pot.
2. Sprinkle packet of chili seasoning in with meat and stir well.
3. Add fire-roasted tomatoes, garlic, onion, cilantro, liquid smoke and ketchup.
4. Fold in chili beans and black beans. 
5. Add chili peppers to desired heat.
6. Stir well and cover. Simmer for at least one hour over low heat, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. Add a little water if chili becomes too thick.
7. Top bowls of chili with grated cheddar, sour cream and chopped cilantro as a garnish.

There is just something satisfying about sitting around a campfire after a long day of hunting, eating a hot bowl of chili.

 

Hard to beat anything cooked over the fire in a Dutch oven on a cold evening after a long day of hunting. Not much that you can’t cook this way.

[Caseyd]

Great ideas, appreciate the input!  However I don't appreciate the 10 pounds I have put on just by reading the replies...

I will be upping my game for sure with some of these ideas.  I think my key takeaway is, I don't do the pre-trip prep.  I tend to start everything right before I start cooking.  That will speed things up and increase quality and variety of food.

And backcountry ideas are NOT off the table so that does not screw the thread up. 

One time on a Mt. Baker climb one of our team members had put a whole large pizza in her pack.  Every time we stopped she pulled out a piece to eat.  By the time we figured it out she was half way thru the pizza!  She had to start being discrete from that point on as we were all quite jealous and not above stealing.

Prep is key for cutting out time and dishes. Think of a menu and try to do anything you can at home.


Example: this year I did a crab boil for elk camp    Made a condensed broth at home and froze it in gallon ziplocks. Cut the red potatos in half and broke the corn. Crab was froze in clusters. Shrimp was frozen raw/cleaned ready to roll. Added water at camp and got the broth up to temp and added everything. Only addition thing I could have down ahead of time was cut the kielbasa but was easy to fit that 1 minute in. In total used one large pot and slotted spoon

[Crunchy]

Our has always been tacos.  Fresh clean elk grind, peppers, homemade salsa, avocado on a soft warm tortilla.  Damn it is good. 

[greenhead_killer]

In our Idaho camp, we have one guy with a trailer. Has a gas stove/oven in it. We all divide the trip up and bring a meal accordingly. Usually 2 per person. Nice not having to be responsible every day for eating dinner after a hard hunt day. There’s always a pulled pork dish, spaghetti or some sort of pasta, and a chicken and rice. Those are staples. We’ll build off that for variety. We never get through all the food. Usually have enough for another 2-3 weeks. Key is making it all in 9x13 al pans ahead of time. That way there we just pop in the oven and walk away.

[Wingin it]

Our Montana camp is a house. That one is super easy as we all rotate who cooks for the day. We bring a crockpot and we all do dump and go meals. It is pretty sweet to get back to a house that smells amazing with the evenings dinner. Dive right in and cleanup is easy too.

[highside74]

A half tub of red vines and a coke zero. Followed by Nutter Butters and a solo cup of milk. No cooking, no cleaning.

One of our favorites was clam digging then coming back to camp and my brother who was a chef for many years would make a giant pot of Clam Chowder. It was an annual event for many years. My boys still talk about it.

[Okanagan]

Highside74’s comment about “no cooking, no cleaning” resonates with me.  I HATE any kind of dish washing when camping.

We cook nothing in camp that requires cleaning cooking or serving gear, with possible exception of a large cooking spoon and fork.  I have a deep cake pan that fits inside my Dutch oven.  I cook biscuits etc. in that so the Dutch oven stays clean.  Biscuit pans just wipe out.

We keep a pot of water hot, and cook or drink anything that requires only hot water:  instant coffee, cocoa, Ramen, etc.  Foil wrapped items in coals is our main way to cook full meals:  corn on the cob, salmon, potatoes, grouse breasts, a mix of veggies and meat.  Of course, many kinds of meats can be grilled on a stick over a fire. 

Paper plates etc. and everything used to cook and serve goes in a garbage bag.  A pot for hot water is the only non-disposable.

  I’d sure prize to eat some of the meals described in this thread, but we have made a conscious choice to focus on the hunt and save the great cooking for home. We want energy for a few days, not a balanced diet.  FWIW we are back pack hunters who are adapting to camping by a vehicle.  Minimal is almost a fetish.   

[follow maggie]

I precook everything except what I’ll bbq. I freeze it in those heavy aluminum foil type containers & I have a Camo Chef stove/oven that I  use. Take something out of the cooler in the morning & that evening it’s as easy to fix as a mountain house but way better. My favorites are lasagna, meat loaf, chili & enchiladas..

[bb76]

Beer pancakes
Sausage patties
Breakfast burritos
Stew
Steak
Hobo dinners
Fried eggs
Sandwiches
Oatmeal
Breakfast Sandwiches
It all depends on how and where I'm hunting. I precook or do prep work at home.

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[Angry Perch]

Beer pancakes
Sausage patties
Breakfast burritos
Stew
Steak
Hobo dinners
Fried eggs
Sandwiches
Oatmeal
Breakfast Sandwiches
It all depends on how and where I'm hunting. I precook or do prep work at home.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

You had me at "Beer pancakes"!!

[OutHouse]

I love to buy a nice big steak, cut it into one inch cubes, season them individually, and then cook them on a stick. That's a meat only dinner.

Another favorite is carne asada on a hanging grill. Have refried beans heating on the stove. Cook the carne, throw a corn tortilla on the grill for a moment, add some beans and the meat, some cotija cheese and eat small quesadillas all night. When we do that, dinner lasts about four hours cooking and handing them out to people.

[hunter399]

Beer pancakes
Sausage patties
Breakfast burritos
Stew
Steak
Hobo dinners
Fried eggs
Sandwiches
Oatmeal
Breakfast Sandwiches
It all depends on how and where I'm hunting. I precook or do prep work at home.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

You had me at "Beer pancakes"!!

Fried egg sandwich sounds good right now. 😂🤤

[bb76]

Beer pancakes
Sausage patties
Breakfast burritos
Stew
Steak
Hobo dinners
Fried eggs
Sandwiches
Oatmeal
Breakfast Sandwiches
It all depends on how and where I'm hunting. I precook or do prep work at home.

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

You had me at "Beer pancakes"!!

Fried egg sandwich sounds good right now.

We've had those in camp a few times.

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[Alchase]

Back in 91, hunting up by Spider lake on the peninsula. The four of us paid $40 each and a buddies wife came along as camp cook. She was an amazing camp cook! Every morning woke up to scrambled eggs and bacon with coffee. In our lunch was fresh fried Indian bread with sugar cinnamon or black berry jelly, and Squaw Candy (she skokomish and yes she called it sqwaw candy as well) every day after the hunt we came back to camp to either chili, stew, or 7 bean soup!
I never ate that well on in deer camp since.

[pianoman9701]

When I worked for the gourmet foods and wild mushroom company, Mikuni, we'd have special treats in camp like expensive caviar, bourbon maple syrup for pancakes. It didn't suck.

[EnglishSetter]

Well duh..........liver & onions and backstrap from freshly killed venison.

[kodiak06]

Mississippi pot roast was my go to last year. Froze a few containers and took with me and I even ate it for breakfast one time lol...