Camping trip food does not have to be limited to hot dogs and cold cut sandwiches, though there is nothing wrong with that. Roasting a hot dog on a stick is one of the simple pleasures of life that should be enjoyed whenever possible. However, even on a camping trip eating hot dogs day after day can get old.
Here are some camping recipes that are simple and easy once you get your fill of hot dogs.
Chicken is great when cooked over an open fire. However making sure that chicken is completely cooked can be difficult in a camping atmosphere. An easy solution to this is to cook the chicken before the camping trip and simply grill it once you are there. Chicken can be broiled, baked, or even microwaved the day before a trip and refrigerated until it is ready to use. After the precooking the chicken can be soaked in a marinate until cooking at camp if you wish.
Chicken can then be grilled over the open fire or used in a heavy duty aluminum foil pouch with other ingredients. Sliced carrots, diced potatoes and other vegetables can be placed the aluminum foil pouch. Leave plenty of liquids in the pouch to avoid burning.
Another simple camp recipe is to grill fresh fish. Place filleted fish or whole fish into aluminum foil shaped into a cup. Add plenty of butter, garlic, onion or other seasoning into the foil cup and cook until done.
Precooked polish sausage, kielbasa, or other sausage can also be wrapped in aluminum foil with vegetables and slowly cooked to make and makes a simple camping recipe. Allowing the sausage and vegetables to cook slowly will allow the vegetables to soak up the sausage taste for one of the best meals ever eaten at a campfire.
Grilling steaks over a campfire is another simple camping recipe. Hickory is probably best for grilling steak, but oak and maple which are more common in most firewood piles will work fine as well. Avoid pine if at all possible.
Perhaps the most useful cooking tool for camping is the dutch oven. The large pot with a tight lid can be used to make everything from main courses to desserts and best of all makes all of them simple to make. While too heavy for backpacking trips, the dutch oven is great for car camping. My favorite simple camping recipe for the dutch oven is to place strips of browned pork chops into the oven with a variety of vegetables, a package of onion soup and two cups of water. This simple camping recipe is placed into the oven and allowed to heat until it boils. Stir the contents, remove from high heat and place the lid on top. Allow to cook in the dutch oven for about an hour and enjoy.
These are but a few of the simple camping recipes that can be made in the great outdoors. By using precooked meats and other simple basic recipes, camping does not have to mean bland food.