Top tips for camp cooking

The core idea of camping is to spend a relaxed couple of evenings living a simpler life amongst nature – but that does mean leaving behind the convenience of a refrigerator, an induction cooktop, and a drawer full of pots and pans. How can you eat well when your house is made of nylon and naked flames are your only heat source? Glad you asked. Whether you're a seasoned camping nut or a beginner camper, here’s a guide to camp cooking whether you’re pitching a tent in the backyard or a camping in the outback. 

1. Know your heat source

Unless you’re at a holiday park with electric barbecues or camping in the backyard with an eight-burner Beefeater, your cooking options will likely be primitive – either a campfire (if permitted) or a butane stove. Getting too ambitious and trying to go full Jamie Oliver with either of these heat sources will likely result in heartbreak. As one camping enthusiast explains it, “A risotto is good because it packs well, but you certainly wouldn't cook risotto from scratch on a camp stove.” 

Inform yourself of the cooking facilities that await you at your campsite and tailor your recipes accordingly. 

2. Bring a frozen meal for the first night

While simplicity is key for cooking under the stars, there’s no reason you can’t cook up a storm at home the night before you leave, freeze the food in a container, and pop it in an esky the next morning for the drive out to your campsite. Once you have your campfire crackling or butane stove set up, you’ve got an easy to cook camping meal. Simply put the food in a pot and reheat it slowly for a delicious first-evening meal. 

3. Choose fresh food that travels well

While there’s nothing wrong with canned food (see below), if you want to bring along fresher ingredients it’s wise to choose foods that travel well. Rice and pasta are the obvious staples, and most fruits and vegetables will last a few days and make for easy preparation. Herbs and spices are an easy way to jazz up an otherwise bland meal. Obviously meat spoils quickly, although some types faster than others – kangaroo and ham/bacon remain usable much longer than chicken, for example. Legumes, lentils and mushrooms are good substitutes for meat protein. 

4. Opt for one-pot recipes

At home you can spread pots and pans out across the cooktop and at the end of the night have the luxury of hot running water and a dishwasher. Camping calls for economy, so if you can cook everything in one pot (or even no pot), that’s ideal. It doesn’t have to be bland or basic though – Italian food, Asian dishes based on noodles and rice, and even a traditional stew can be cooked in a single pot if you employ a little ingenuity. You’ll thank yourself at the end of the evening when there’s an empty bottle of red wine and only one pot and one spoon to wash up. 

5. Can-do meals

Canned food developed a poor reputation over the years, but much like microwaved meals and frozen pizza, its quality has come a long way. Nothing could be simpler than cracking a can, emptying the contents into a pot, heating it up over a stove or campfire, and serving it with some damper or potatoes (see point 6.) It’s much the same story with pasta sauce. If you buy a decent brand – Barilla, Providore, even Woolworths’ Macro – it’s nearly as good as anything you’d get in a restaurant. That just leaves boiling up some spaghetti or penne, straining, and stirring in the sauce. 

6. The camping classics

There’s a good reason certain foods are associated with camping – they’re simple to make, delicious, and don’t require a lot of prep or washing up afterwards. Here are some ageless classics for easy camp cooking ideas: 

• Damper In the 19th century, damper was a simple way for Aussie drovers and swagmen to make bread on the go with nothing more than a campfire. It’s literally just flour, salt, water and butter – there are endless recipes on the internet – kneaded together and cooked over an open flame on a stick or (for a full loaf) wrapped in tinfoil and placed in campfire coals for half an hour. 
• Sausages/hamburgers Another excellent option for the first night of camping. All you need is bread/burger buns, some snags or pre-prepared patties, and a frying pan to cook the meat. How complicated you want to get after that is up to you – cheese, onions, tomato sauce, salad can all be added. 
• Jacket potatoes Just let your campfire burn down, wrap some spuds in aluminium foil, push them into the white coals, and let them cook for 30 minutes to an hour depending on how big the potato is, turning them halfway. You can rub the skin with salt and oil beforehand for a crispier skin and some butter on the inside is heaven. 
• Toasted marshmallows Kids absolutely adore toasting marshmallows over an open fire and literally all you need is a packet of marshmallows and a few sharp sticks. If you want to give your campfire a delicious American twist, bring along a packet of chocolate-coated wheat biscuits and squash the molten marshmallows between two bikkies to create S’mores.