No-Stove camping food ideas?

jdwils14

Hello,

The family and I are going camping in Tahoe for a week next week, and we need some ideas on foods that do not need a stove to cook. We want to use campfires to heat things up and use the stove as close as possible to just boiling water. We will bring only one medium pot for liquids, and no skillets/pans.

There are some things that we have in mind for meals, such as cereal, sandwiches, weenies, and poor boys, but does anyone have ideas further than that? We do want to save the cooking for the evening fire, and there are 4 kids/2 adults to feed. There is not really any restrictions on macros.

Thanks!

RoxieDawn

Well I do not have a clue since no stove or outdoor oven, so bring coat hangers and cook up the smores these are in order!!!!

KiyaK

I'm assuming your fire is going to have a grate to cook stuff over? Or you'll bring one?

If that's the case, any meat. Cheeseburgers, grilled chicken, pork chops. Corn can also be grilled. You can do those aluminum foil wraps. You can do all kinds of stuff in them. Baked potatoes, chopped potatoes, all kinds of veggies (peppers, onions, squash, sweet potato, apples, zucchini, the list goes on & on). Just add olive oil & spices, wrap it up & put it on the grate or in the coals. You can take cans of soup & heat them over the fire (obviously not the kind you have to add water too) or any type of canned food for that matter. If you have pots you're willing to put over the fire, that opens up a whole other set of foods: noodle dinners, rice, stews, etc, etc.

About anything you can cook on a grill or stove top can be done over a fire. You might need some creativity, but it can be done. You can Google campfire dinners (or something along those lines) and will find endless options.

My husband would always rather cook over a fire than on the camp stove. But in my opinion, the camp stove is much easier (less mess, no waiting, easier to control temperature). Just curious, but why are you guys against using your camp stove?

sunnybeaches105

Buy a dehydrator, make and dehydrate some of your favorite meals, and enjoy. Just remember to dehydrate the meats separate from the vegetables, and add boiling water slowly so you get the right consistency. Done right you may forget it's trail food.

UpEarly

I was going to suggest dehydrated food, too! I backpack a lot and pretty much everything I eat is reconstituted with boiling water. I never actually cook. I've had chili, mac & cheese, spaghetti with meat sauce, chicken curry, oatmeal, beans and rice. The options are pretty endless! Minute rice and par-boiled pasta reconstitute with just water, too.

ninerbuff

Lol, I buy canned stuff (like chili) and eat it straight out of the can. I'll open it, put it over the fire for a bit, then just grab the can and use a spoon.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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RaeBeeBaby

Oatmeal for breakfast with dried fruit (raisins/craisins) & nuts. No need to cook, just pour boiling water over it and cover with a plate and let it steam. If your kids like them and you don't mind processed food, Cup O' Noodles or ramen are quick and easy. There are also cups of Mac & Cheese where you just add hot water. Definitely weenies and brats and buns.

A week is a long time to just boil water for foods unless you are backpack camping? If not, finding room for a skillet would definitely increase your options. Hubby and I car camp (in our Subaru) and we always bring a camp stove, skillet and a pot. The camp stove is a must have because it is WAY cleaner than cooking over a campfire. I make most of our food in advance (curry, spaghetti, cooked chicken breasts) and then we just heat it up in a couple minutes. The prep is worth the time and effort of bringing raw/unprepared foods. Of course, we do roast some marshmallows over the campfire.

jdwils14

KiyaK wrote: »

I'm assuming your fire is going to have a grate to cook stuff over? Or you'll bring one?

If that's the case, any meat. Cheeseburgers, grilled chicken, pork chops. Corn can also be grilled. You can do those aluminum foil wraps. You can do all kinds of stuff in them. Baked potatoes, chopped potatoes, all kinds of veggies (peppers, onions, squash, sweet potato, apples, zucchini, the list goes on & on). Just add olive oil & spices, wrap it up & put it on the grate or in the coals. You can take cans of soup & heat them over the fire (obviously not the kind you have to add water too) or any type of canned food for that matter. If you have pots you're willing to put over the fire, that opens up a whole other set of foods: noodle dinners, rice, stews, etc, etc.

About anything you can cook on a grill or stove top can be done over a fire. You might need some creativity, but it can be done. You can Google campfire dinners (or something along those lines) and will find endless options.

My husband would always rather cook over a fire than on the camp stove. But in my opinion, the camp stove is much easier (less mess, no waiting, easier to control temperature). Just curious, but why are you guys against using your camp stove?

Well, the main reason is dealing with dishes, but using the fire makes it all the more primitive, and something to teach the kids and do with the fire.

jdwils14

These are all great ideas. I like them. The boiling water part was for coffee/hot chocolate etc. I never thought of it as a way to rehydrate dehydrated foods. And I have never dehydrated foods before, so I will look into it! Thank you!

Ws2016

There's a book of camping recipes about one pot meals. Probably find it on amazon.

Brans34

I camp quite a bit in the summer. I have a campfire coffee pot, and I take a cast iron pan. Scrambled eggs and ham are easy to do, and you can cook just about anything you'd like. For baked beans or pork and beans, or other canned stuff, I just open the top most of the way (you want it to vent but not all the way off cause it keeps ashes out). I also have a rack that unfolds like a laptop/t.v. dinner tray that you can put over the fire. Chicken or burgers, or anything you normally grill on a BBQ can be cooked on it. All dishes are paper or plastic so they can be thrown away, except for the coffee cups for the coffee (or cocoa for the kids).
Have fun!

Cheesy567

Google Freezer Bag Cooking. Basically homemade instant food, just add boiling water to the ziplock bag of food, wrap in a sweatshirt for 15 minutes while it rehydrates. Like the backpacking meals you can buy, except you're in control of all the ingredients.

fishshark

Cheesy567 wrote: »

Google Freezer Bag Cooking. Basically homemade instant food, just add boiling water to the ziplock bag of food, wrap in a sweatshirt for 15 minutes while it rehydrates. Like the backpacking meals you can buy, except you're in control of all the ingredients.

yea this... we just went camping and I made potpie filling and put it in baggies. Brought a pot that could go on/near the fire and put water in it then put the vacuum sealed bags in to warm up. Also made breakfast gravy and like a enchilada casserole. Potatoes in tin foil also a favorite with caned chili to put on top.

SingingSingleTracker

jdwils14 wrote: »

Well, the main reason is dealing with dishes, but using the fire makes it all the more primitive, and something to teach the kids and do with the fire.

Screw that! Use the Coleman stove and teach your kids how much better for the environment it is than burning all that wood and throwing out all that tin foil. Not to mention they'll learn how to do dishes/chores while enjoying a camping vacation. Cooking over a fire is fun for a meal or two, but the stove is much easier and efficient.

laur357

Direct-fire cooking:
BLTs - get bacon, thread on to stick (I usually use cherry wood - but if you have those metal campfire sticks, go for it), roast slowly over hot coals. Add to bread with tomatoes and lettuce. Or, wrap bacon around a hot dog, secure with toothpicks, and cook the hot dog slowly over hot coals. (The coals will give you a hotter area with more even heat than trying to cook over high flames. I find this to be true for cooking most things over a fire.) Bacon roasts are a thing where I'm from, and we have entire parties built around cooking bacon over an open fire.

Cubes of chicken or pork can also be threaded and cooked easily over a fire. Make sure the chicken is cooked through before eating, obviously. Very kabob-like. You can add vegetables, but I'd probably cook them separately in case they burn way before the chicken is finished.

Corn on the cob - either husk and wrap in foil or cook it in the husk.

Baked potatoes - wrap in foil and set in hot coals for about an hour. I love baked potatoes with spicy black beans and salsa. You can also bake most of the way, then cut off the top, crack in an egg and some cheese, re-wrap and cook the egg in the potato.

Hardboiled eggs, really any eggs if you want to make them in a pot. You can eat these on some seriously good grilled bread if you have a cooking grate.

JustMissTracy

Pretty much anything you could do on the stove you can do over a fire..bring tinfoil for veggies....bring a pot and pan, and a grill if you have one...we've been known to bring the rack from inside our oven...don't forget butter, salt and pepper, and whatever spices you usually enjoy! Have fun!!

muffintopmaven

Pie irons! They're like a cast iron double sided basket on a stick. You can make any kind of grilled cheese, panini, chicken, burgers, eggs, anything. Because it's cast iron, there is minimal cleanup.

puffbrat

My husband and I do kabobs on the grate. They just take a little longer to cook.

You can take canned food (corn, beans, etc.) and heat it on the grate, just remove the label first and be prepared for the can to get hot.

For anything that can be cooked in a pot, put the pot on the campfire grate or directly in the fire. We have done oatmeal and chile this way.

markrgeary1

Make your one pot a Dutch oven and cook anything you'd like.

jgnatca

I wouldn't do it. I predict misery. It will take too long to heat in the cold mornings and pot meals get old fast. At least bring a heavy frying pan and tin foil.

Porridge in the pot for mornings.

Bannock on a stick in the evenings.

http://www.paddlinglight.com/articles/tutorial/how-to-cook-bannock-on-a-stick-campfire-bread/

Zipp237

Get a cast iron Dutch oven and there will be almost nothing you cannot make. Lids often do double-duty. Even a cast iron skillet would improve your meal selection process. Cast iron goes right into the coals, sits there a while and comes out none the worse for wear.