The best camping dinners are the ones you can cook in one pot or pan, by headlamp, on a two-burner stove. These five take about 30 minutes at camp, use ingredients that travel well in a cooler, and leave one pan to wash. All of them work on a camp stove, so they're still on the menu when fire restrictions ban campfires.
Before you go: prep at home
Most of the work in an easy camp dinner happens in your kitchen:
- Chop onions and peppers and pack them in zip bags.
- Mix spice blends for the chili and tacos into small labeled bags.
- Cook the rice for fried rice at home and chill it; cold rice fries better than fresh.
- Pack the cooler in reverse order, as USDA suggests: the food you'll eat last goes in first. Raw meat goes in double bags at the bottom, below ready-to-eat food, or in a separate cooler.
Bring a food thermometer. USDA recommends one for camp cooking because color isn't a reliable sign of doneness, and it's hard to judge by headlamp: ground beef is safe at 160°F, chicken at 165°F.
One-pot camp chili
The camp dinner that feeds a crowd and gets better as it sits. Make a double batch and have it again on hot dogs or baked potatoes the next night.
Recipe · Dinner
One-Pot Camp Chili
Ground beef, beans and tomatoes simmered in one pot on the camp stove, ready in about 30 minutes.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 35 min
- Serves
- 4
- Cooked on
- Camp stove
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained
- 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- Toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, corn chips
Steps
- Brown the beef with the onion and pepper in a large pot over medium-high heat, breaking it up, for 8–10 minutes, until no pink remains and the beef reaches 160°F. Spoon off the extra fat into your trash, not the ground.
- Stir in the chili powder, cumin and salt and cook 1 minute.
- Add the beans and tomatoes, bring to a simmer, and cook 15 minutes, stirring now and then so it doesn't catch on the bottom.
- Serve with cheese, sour cream and corn chips.
One-pot sausage pasta
The pasta cooks right in the sauce, so you don't need to drain boiling water at camp, which is the part most likely to go wrong on a wobbly stove.
Recipe · Dinner
One-Pot Sausage Pasta
Pasta cooked right in its sauce with smoked sausage, so there's no draining and only one pot to wash.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Total
- 30 min
- Serves
- 4
- Cooked on
- Camp stove
Ingredients
- 12 oz fully cooked smoked sausage, sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 jar (24 oz) marinara sauce
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 12 oz short pasta, such as penne or rotini
- 2 cups baby spinach (optional)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Steps
- Brown the sausage in the oil in a large pot over medium heat, about 4 minutes.
- Add the marinara and water and bring to a boil.
- Stir in the pasta, cover, and simmer 15–18 minutes, stirring often so it doesn't stick, until the pasta is tender and the sauce has thickened. Add a splash of water if it gets too thick.
- Stir in the spinach until it wilts, and top with Parmesan.
Skillet chicken quesadillas
Start with a rotisserie chicken bought on the way to camp, and dinner is mostly assembly. Cook them one at a time and let people eat as they come off the pan.
Recipe · Dinner
Skillet Chicken Quesadillas
Crisp quesadillas made in a skillet with pre-cooked chicken, cheese and salsa: a fast dinner kids can help with.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 30 min
- Serves
- 4
- Cooked on
- Camp stove or campfire grate
Ingredients
- 8 flour tortillas
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken works well)
- 2 cups shredded Mexican-blend cheese
- 1/2 cup salsa, plus more to serve
- 1 tbsp butter or oil
- Sour cream and sliced avocado, to serve
Steps
- Mix the chicken with the salsa.
- Lay 4 tortillas flat and cover each with cheese and a quarter of the chicken. Top with the remaining tortillas.
- Melt a little butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the quesadillas one or two at a time, 2–3 minutes a side, until golden and the cheese has melted.
- The filling should be steaming hot (165°F for reheated chicken). Cut into wedges and serve with salsa, sour cream and avocado.
Camp stove fried rice
A good second- or third-night dinner: ham and frozen vegetables keep well in the cooler, and the rice can come from shelf-stable pouches.
Recipe · Dinner
Camp Stove Fried Rice
Fried rice from pre-cooked rice, eggs, frozen vegetables and ham, in one skillet in about 15 minutes.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Total
- 20 min
- Serves
- 4
- Cooked on
- Camp stove
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 8 oz cooked ham, diced
- 2 cups frozen peas and carrots
- 4 cups cooked rice, cold (cook it at home, or use 2 ready-rice pouches)
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 green onions, sliced
Steps
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat (a smaller pan steams the rice instead of frying it). Scramble the eggs until fully set, then move them to a plate.
- Add the rest of the oil, the ham and the frozen vegetables, and stir-fry 3–4 minutes until hot.
- Add the rice, breaking up clumps, and fry 4–5 minutes, stirring, until heated through and starting to crisp.
- Stir in the soy sauce, eggs and green onions, and serve.
Walking tacos
Kids love them, and the bag is the bowl, so there's nothing to wash but the skillet.
Recipe · Dinner
Walking Tacos
Taco meat and toppings spooned straight into single-serve bags of corn chips: no plates, almost no cleanup.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Total
- 22 min
- Serves
- 4
- Cooked on
- Camp stove
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1/3 cup water
- 4 single-serve bags of corn chips or nacho tortilla chips
- Toppings: shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, diced tomato, sour cream, salsa
Steps
- Brown the beef in a skillet over medium-high heat, breaking it up, until no pink remains and it reaches 160°F, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in the taco seasoning and water and simmer 3–4 minutes, until saucy.
- Crush the chips lightly in their bags, cut the bags open along one side, and spoon in the meat and toppings. Eat with a fork, straight from the bag.
Vegetarian swaps
- Chili: skip the beef, add a third can of beans and a cup of corn, and cook 15 minutes.
- Pasta: leave out the sausage and add a can of drained white beans with the spinach.
- Quesadillas: use black beans and corn mashed with the salsa instead of chicken.
- Fried rice: replace the ham with an extra egg or two and a block of firm tofu, diced and browned first.
12 more easy camping dinner ideas
- Hot dogs or brats on the grate, with a pot of baked beans on the side
- Burgers in a skillet or on a grill grate, cooked to 160°F
- Skillet nachos: chips, cheese, beans and leftover chili, covered until melted
- Grilled cheese and tomato soup from a can
- Pie-iron pizzas: bread, sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni, toasted over the coals
- Chili dogs with the leftover chili from night one
- Breakfast for dinner: pancakes and bacon on a griddle
- Pasta salad made at home, served cold with sliced salami
- Baked potatoes wrapped in foil in the coals, topped with chili or cheese
- Ramen upgrade: instant ramen with a soft-boiled egg, frozen peas and green onion
- Sausage and peppers in a skillet, on hoagie rolls
- Steak night: a skillet steak, rested after reaching 145°F, with foil-packet potatoes
More easy camping dinners
- No pots at all: our foil packet camping recipes cook on the campfire grate, and the classic hobo dinner is a beef patty and potatoes in foil.
- Leftovers: USDA says leftovers are safe only while the cooler still has ice. Reheat them to 165°F, or throw them out.
Planning where to cook? Find a campground in our camping guides by state.
