Easy Camping Meals for Families (Everything You Need to Know!)
Do you have a group to feed, with kids of different ages (and fussiness levels!) on your camping trip? Here are our favourite meals to make while on a family camping trip!
Camping Breakfasts:
Porridge
Cereal (Weet-Bix with honey)
Leftovers
Bananas
(Sometimes we might do bacon and eggs, but rarely unless there is a barbeque provided at the campsite)
Camping Snacks:
Kids eating baked potatoes with toppings at their esky camping table!
Fruit
Yoghurt pouches
Muesli bars
Crackers
ANZAC biscuits
Corn thins
Blueberry muffins
Easy Camping Lunches:
Wraps with salad (premade bags from the shops) and chicken or ham slices
Sandwiches with peanut butter, honey or jam
Toasted sandwiches (using a jaffle iron over hot coals on the fire)
Instant noodles
Baked beans and cheese
Our cast iron camp oven is perfect for pastas and curries!
Camping Dinners:
Can’t wait to eat this curry for dinner!
Hot dogs with cheese and sauces
Noodles with vegies
Burritos with mince, beans, refried beans, salad and cheese
Curry and rice (we did 2 different types – Japanese curry and Rendang curry)
Nachos with mince, beans, cheese and sour cream
Toasted wraps and sandwiches (ham and cheese, tinned beef/vegies and cheese, tinned spaghetti and cheese)
Baked potatoes and sweet potato with toppings (the kids chose their own – shallots, bacon, mushroom, cheese and sour cream)
Sausage sandwiches (bread, sausages, barbequed onions, cheese and sauces)
Pumpkin soup and bread
Spaghetti with mince, beans and cheese
Pasta bake (made in a camp oven over hot coals - cook the meat and onions, then add pasta, vegies, pasta sauce and water and cook with lid on. Add cheese when serving.)
Camping Desserts for Kids:
Generally no one needs dessert after such a great meal, and us parents don’t want to cook anything. So we opted for easy after-dinner treats instead!
Milo
Hot chocolates
Marshmallows (for toasting or putting in hot chocolates) or Smores
Blocks of chocolate to share
Coffee (the most important meal for parents):
We’ve tried a few different options for coffee over the years. Here are some fantastic coffee solutions depending on how hardcore you are about needing ‘real’ coffee.
Instant – not really an option unless you can enjoy this normally. The best alternative to instant coffee are coffee sachets with flavours. We enjoyed these as a warm drink during the day, but they don’t give you much of a caffeine hit.
Handpresso/Minipresso – if you drink pod coffee, this is a great option. It’s compact and easily packable, and tastes amazing. The only problem is having to clean it after each use. These are fine for making one or two coffees, but not for a group.
French press – a bit more work and cleanup, but at least it makes enough for two.
Coffee bags – these are awesome, they’re basically a super quick version of a French press, it’s as easy as making a cup of tea and is more coffee-like than instant coffee.
As for boiling water, these options work well:
Teapot or kettle over a fire/hot coals
Teapot or kettle over a gas cooker
Jetboil (we LOVE our jetboil, but it only does enough for about two mugs at a time)
Fill up a 24hr Thermos with boiling water while you’re just hanging around the fire. Then you have hot water for cuppas right when you want it, rather than having to wait! We also used this for the kids instant noodles at lunch times.
Tips for Camping Food with Families
I love to keep things as simple as possible while camping. Our camping trips are usually holidays and getaways, not an ongoing lifestyle, so we allow ourselves a fair bit of leeway compared to our usual nutritious meals we cook at home.
Easy set up with a barbeque plate, teapot and sandwich maker! All you need are HOT coals to make great family camping meals.
We try to stay as healthy as possible while also keeping things super simple and enjoying special treats too.
Avoid cooking for every meal if you can. We rarely cook breakfasts just so we can get up and get into the day quicker, with less washing. Also, everyone in our group wakes up at different times, so cereal is an easy option.
Prep any meals at home if you have space and time. Chopping up any raw meat at home, where you can properly clean everything. Chop up vegies into zip lock bags or containers.
Be aware that the more junk food you eat, the more water everyone will want to drink.
Have some special treats you only have while camping. This adds to the experience and memories you’ll make together.
If our campsite is near town, we’ll plan to get groceries while on vacation, rather than packing everything ahead of time.
If we’re near town, we might plan to have takeaway for dinner one night, or get lunch at a local bakery one day.
Cooking Equipment for Camping meals
If you’re staying somewhere with facilities, take advantage of barbeques! Otherwise, here are the things we use to cook different meals:
Small gas burner stove with a frypan or saucepan.
Camping ‘oven’ pot for using with campfires.
Toasted sandwich maker (though this is really unnecessary, it’s just a treat for us!) Get a double sandwich maker for camping like this, so you can make two sandwiches at a time (unless you have the most super patient kids in the world!)
It’s pretty simple really! You don’t need a special set up if you’re doing easy meals.
Conclusion…And Your Turn!
These meals have been our go-to’s over the past few years. We’ve just returned from a trip with a group of nine, and even our 16 year old nephew was happily full and content each evening!
Let me know below – what are your favourite camping meals for families?
