Kid-friendly food provisions
Camping with kids can be a fun and memorable experience for everyone involved. However, preparing meals while camping can be a challenge, especially if you're not used to cooking outdoors. Fortunately, there are plenty of easy meals you can prepare that are both kid-friendly and delicious. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Breakfast
No-cook options:
We often stick to no-cook options, because we want to get out and enjoy the day and cooking a big breakfast with clean-up takes time.
Hard boiled eggs pre-cooked at home
Melon - cut half for the first 1-2 days and cut the other half at camp
Lox
Cheese
French or Italian bread
Bagels / cream cheese
Cereal - sometimes we do those mini boxes because they can be bowls. Don’t love the waste but it’s pretty convenient .
Fruit pouches for littles
Bananas - these seem to always go bad on day 3 so we try to eat them at the beginning.
Tip: if you bring berries or grapes put them in a tupperware. They tend to get messed up in the cooler if you leave them in supermarket containers..
Lite-cook options:
Instant oatmeal packets
Pancake mix - These pancakes are surprisingly good. You just add water and shake. We used one jug for 4 adults and 3 kids and it just barely covered us. You could also DIY this with your own mix in a glass jar.
Broccoli, Egg, Bacon, Cheese Scramble:
Egg whites or pre-mixed eggs in a jar / container so you’re not cracking tons of eggs at your campsite
Bacon bits
Broccoli florets - chop up a little and just steam these in a pot for a few minutes, put them aside and mix in near the end
Cheese - anything yummy and melty
Breakfast tacos:
Scramble some eggs (see earlier point about buying egg whites or pre-mixing)
Tortillas
Avocado slices
Salsa
Potatoes (especially if you have some left over from the night before)
Zucchini (also from the night before)
Notes on cookware for breakfast:
A thin skillet packs well and works well for cooking breakfast.
Bring your french press or invest in a Java Jet Boil for coffee unless your OK with instant coffee!
Lunch
We recommend keeping lunch basic and picnic-style. We’ve got a few variations we like.
The Trader Joe Picnic Lunch:
One incredibly simple way to build a picnic lunch is to head to Trader Joes. They tend to excel in tasty, fresh, well packaged items like this:
Salami - precut or a stick. The stick is super easy to pack away and I’ve got a good knife in the kit
Turkey
Cheeses
Grape leaves
That crazy good TJ garlic dip
TJ Red Pepper Spread (nice because it doesn’t have to be refrigerated until you open and even then it’s pretty forgiving)
Hummus
Loaf of bread
Canned smoked trout
Avocado
Grapes
Apples
Chips or crackers - something salty and crunchy is usually a hit
Pre-made sandwiches:
Whatever sandwiches you like. Either pack before your trip or bring ingredients and make them in the morning. Just remember to bring some tin foil or sandwich bags.
Cold noodle dishes
There are a ton of pre-made cold noodle salads recipes that you can cook at home and bring in a ziplock. These will last a few days and are usually a hit.
Dinner
We highly recommend getting chips and dip, pirate booty or whatever your favorite snack is to hold everyone over while you’re cooking.
Before kids we used to get really elaborate with our dinners. Typically these days we stick to things like this.
Pre-made Chili, Stew or Hearty Soup- we usually try to bring a chili or soup of some sort for one night. Super easy. Don’t have to think about it. Add some bread and butter to round it out.
Marinated meat - ideally you’re looking for something that cut relatively thin (not a tri-tip!) and pre-marinated. We personally like the marinated carne asada from Costco or the marinated chicken at A-foods or another Mexican market. This is super easy (read: fast) to cook on the stove top.
Vegetable Packets - potatoes, onions, zucchini. You can prep these at home as long as you cook them in the first 1-2 days. Separate potatoes from other vegetables like zucchini, because they cook at different speeds. The key is to chop things relatively small and wrap them in small batches in tin foil with olive oil and salt and pepper. Try to keep each foil package to the size of a fist. Get the fire going, let the flames die down a little and then throw the packs on the coal for about 10-20 minutes. It’s usually about 20 for potatoes. Make tons, because you can re-use everything in a breakfast taco or scramble!
Instant mashed potatoes - the kind out of the box that you might never buy. They are shockingly yummy, super easy and belly bombs for tired little people. You don’t even need to add butter.
Steamed broccoli
Hot dogs, Sausages, Sauerkraut - hard to go wrong with these classics. Don’t forget the ketchup and mustard!
Grilled cheese and tomato soup - classic, easy.
This shrimp boil foil packet is another great choice!
Notes on cookware for dinner:
We recommend doing most of your cooking on a camp stove, because it’s easy to get started and to control the temperature.
You can do foil packets in the fire. Remember to bring an oven mitt and some longer tongs to help pull those out. Grab a big stick to stir them around a bit in the coals.
It’s possible that the fire ring at your campsite will also have a grill you can pull down over the fire if you’d like to cook over open fire. If you do that you’ll probably want to put foil on the grill. We rarely do this just because of the work and precision it takes with the fire and… hungry kids.
