Best "easy" camping food (1 Viewer)

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Mace

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Gonna go on a three day Rubicon run with another 8 people or so. I've got all sorts of ideas on what I like to take, but what do you folks tend to take with you on multi-day camping trips for easy food? I do not want to have to haul a bunch of pots and pans with me. Grill and a single burner are kinda what I'm considering, but I have multiple burner stoves available.

What are your favorite camping recipes when room is a concern?
 
Flat pack stuff. Tortillas and lunch meat. Maybe some shredded meat that I vac seal into flat packages - warms up quickly once you open it up with no stove or fire needed. Pasta that boils in a skillet and absorbs all the water. You can find pasta sauce in boxes now to eliminate glass jars. Hell, Barilla sells Ready Pasta in a bag that's already cooked. Just heat it in a skillet and add some sauce or pesto. It's edible. Be fancy and bring some precooked frozen meatballs. Put them in the fridge the night before you leave so they start thawing. They'll finish and heat through quickly with the pasta and sauce.

If you have time to prep food before leaving home:
1. Cook some bacon at home to a little less crispy than normal and freeze it. Reheat in the skillet. It'll leave enough grease in the pan for eggs and you saved a lot of time and cleanup. I like doing this but it's not for bacon snobs.

2. Sweet potatoes hold really well in the fridge after cooking. 4-5 days easily. Get smaller ones. EDIT: Cook at home, then Wrap in foil, place in covered skillet with some water to steam them. They'll stay hot while using the skillet for the next thing.
**tip** Cook sweet potatoes in the oven at 275*F until soft if you like them sweet. The sugars befit from the longer time at the lower temp. Way different from doing them at 350* or higher. Just give pleeeenty of time for them to cook at that low temp. It's also about impossible to overcook one.

I'm assuming you're not cooking for all 8 people each meal?
 
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We like to do either stir fry to serve up with some rice* or some sort of Mexican and serve with tortillas. Either one can be knocked out pretty quick with a single burner and a wok/discada.

*Pre cook the rice at home, bag it then add to the stir fry near the end.
 
Slumgulligion;
It's always a hit when I make it for a crowd.
My recipe, (scale for the number of people), this serves 4-6:
1 pound ground beef, 1 large onion, 1 bag elbow macaroni, one big can diced tomatoes, lots of smokey paprika, salt and pepper, 1 quart beef stock. Brown the beef and onion season with S&P, add a helping of paprika, garlic is also good if you like it. You can add bell peppers and other stuff if you like. Add the macaroni and tomatoes. Simmer, adding stock until the macaroni is cooked, use water if you run out of beef stock. Add a healthy amount of paprika at the end.

I never have leftovers.

It's an easy recipe that adapts to whatever you have on hand. When times were tough my step mom would make this and stretch half a pound of hamburger to feed two adults and two teens. We never complained because it is a tasty dish.
 
Slumgulligion;
It's always a hit when I make it for a crowd.
My recipe, (scale for the number of people), this serves 4-6:
1 pound ground beef, 1 large onion, 1 bag elbow macaroni, one big can diced tomatoes, lots of smokey paprika, salt and pepper, 1 quart beef stock. Brown the beef and onion season with S&P, add a helping of paprika, garlic is also good if you like it. You can add bell peppers and other stuff if you like. Add the macaroni and tomatoes. Simmer, adding stock until the macaroni is cooked, use water if you run out of beef stock. Add a healthy amount of paprika at the end.

I never have leftovers.



It's an easy recipe that adapts to whatever you have on hand. When times were tough my step mom would make this and stretch half a pound of hamburger to feed two adults and two teens. We never complained because it is a tasty dish.

Substitute black beans and corn for the macaroni and add some chillies for a different variation.
 
We have come a long way since Dinty Moore...;)
I keep a can of Dinty Moore in my grub box for just in case. Sometimes s*** happens and you roll into camp late. Dinty Moore is the most basic camp comfort food, right up there with beenie wienie.
 
Slumgulligion;
It's always a hit when I make it for a crowd.
My recipe, (scale for the number of people), this serves 4-6:
1 pound ground beef, 1 large onion, 1 bag elbow macaroni, one big can diced tomatoes, lots of smokey paprika, salt and pepper, 1 quart beef stock. Brown the beef and onion season with S&P, add a helping of paprika, garlic is also good if you like it. You can add bell peppers and other stuff if you like. Add the macaroni and tomatoes. Simmer, adding stock until the macaroni is cooked, use water if you run out of beef stock. Add a healthy amount of paprika at the end.

I never have leftovers.

It's an easy recipe that adapts to whatever you have on hand. When times were tough my step mom would make this and stretch half a pound of hamburger to feed two adults and two teens. We never complained because it is a tasty dish.
We grew up with that recipe, my dad lovingly referred to it as "Slop". Neighborhood kids never wanted to stay for dinner slop...go figure.
 
The half cooked bacon and pre-cooked meatballs are great ideas. For the eggs, we pre-scramble a bunch and put them into a pourable container, saves a lot of time and cleanup out there.

For quick meals, we usually grab a burrito or pre-package sausage or gyro meat in foil wraps and through them in the YotaTEQ Manifold warmer so we're ready to eat when we finish a run. Cooking is usually a JetBoil and some Mountain House freeze dried packages. Easy to cleanup. If we feel adventurous, it's hot dogs or a burger patty in a skillet.
 
We grew up with that recipe, my dad lovingly referred to it as "Slop". Neighborhood kids never wanted to stay for dinner slop...go figure.

:lol:
 
potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic and whatever else you like cut into inch cubes. bring lots of salt pepper and butter... and bait...you're gunna need some fish, and foil, can't go camping without foil...those canned sardines in tomato sauce with a cheese log and some 3 day old French bread is downright grub, depending on how much work you've been doing...and you don't need a fancy fridge to keep em from rotting...just bring plenty of TP...
 
Pack dry goods like rice and oatmeal for breakfasts, and the eggs in plastic container, already cracked, of course. I like to take tortillas or pita's for lunches, but work good for all kinds of meals. Par cook some bacon/sausage/hamburger, add fixins, and you can make a lot of meals.
Don't dis the ramen, either. Soup on a chilly night is always good, and it's cheap and packs easy.
I also like to take some hard sausage meats like pepperoni or salami, and cheese.
I have an Engel in the hundy, so I can pack vegetables and fruit, which is a nice change from starches and carbs all the time.
 
Discada

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For the first night I like to bring a Bertolli bag dinner in my cooler. I have a small pan so I usually split it into two helpings.
 
I like this coffee making hack as I need my cup of Joe in the morning. Just fill a coffee filter with a scoop or two of ground coffee and tie it tightly with some fishing line or yarn or dental floss. You now have a “coffee bag” perfect for making a single cup by steeping hot water. On this same note does anyone have any favorite coffee suggestions?
 

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