6 Tips for Quick and Easy Campfire Cooking

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Tips and hacks for quick and easy campfire cooking, including how to pack your food for ease, gear and supplies you may need, and a delicious one-pot-meal idea!

On every camping trip we take, there are nights we roll into a campsite with little to no time before it gets dark. This makes campfire cooking a bit more challenging, especially when you have 3 hungry boys to feed.

While we always make do, we've learned a few things over the years and have a few tips and tricks that have made all the difference. While there are so many ideas for camping food posted all over the internet, I'm going to share a secret with you… It doesn't have to be complicated.

In fact, outdoor cooking can be quite easy… It's all in how you pack and what you pack.

If you have a camping enthusiast in your life, check out our gift guide with 12+ awesomely useful camping gifts under $20, including items for campfire cooking!

Tip #1 – Keep your meals in mind when you're packing up for the day.

We pack both a regular food box and a snack box when we're headed out. We tend to keep that snack box pretty handy, so we can easily get into it. Our regular food box holds all our non-perishable dinner time foods and sides, like DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew.

can of DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew with campfire in background

We also pack 2 to 3 coolers…

  • Big cooler for all our main camping food
  • Drink cooler
  • And a lunch cooler

It doesn't hurt to keep the food and camping cooking equipment you'll need that day for lunch and dinner handy by packing them in the lunch cooler or keeping them near the top of the main cooler. That way if you do pull into a site after dark, there's no digging around for what you're going to make; it's all right there ready to go.

Tip #2 – Use fire starters for quick and easy campfire cooking.

You can buy fire starters, or you can make them homemade (stay tuned because we're actually working on our own DIY for this). They make it easy to quickly start a campfire for outdoor cooking, warmth, and light.

Tip #3 – Plan an easy one-pot-meal, like DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew.

DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew is an easy solution for dinner, especially when you've just pulled in after a long day of exploring. A hearty and delicious meal, it's filled with real meat, potatoes, and vegetables.

outdoor cooking over the campfire with beef stew in a Dutch oven

It brings back so many memories for me because my mom would keep a stash of DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew under the kitchen sink, and she'd bring it out whenever she needed an easy meal. We usually ended up enjoying a meal of beef stew with biscuits on top. So delicious!

You can purchase DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew at your local grocery store. Checkout 51 even offers product savings, so you can save money while you shop.

cooking DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew in a Dutch oven over the fire

DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew is the perfect camping food, and it can be quickly and easily heated over the fire in either a cast iron skillet or a hanging Dutch oven. Just pop open the can (you don't even need a can opener), pour it in, and heat.

Plus, the cans are easy to pack and travel with, especially if you pack a food box like we do.

delicious camping food like DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew in a backpack

Serve it all by itself or with an already made side, like homemade biscuits you made before you ever left home; and you've got the makings of a great meal.

Tip #4 – Use real utensils and dishes so you have less trash.

Less trash means less cleanup. It also means a safer environment, especially if you're camping where bears are prevalent.

boy taking bite of beef stew with camping cooking gear like real bowls and eating utensils

While you will have a few dishes to wash, it's always good to have less waste.

Tip #5 – Heat water in the same cooking pot to wash your dishes.

We usually don't have leftovers when we're camping… I don't know if it's because everyone is ravenous from all the exploring or what, but we usually eat it all up.

This makes it easy to heat up water for dishes in the same pot we used for cooking. This way we can quickly and easily wash dishes and spend more time relaxing around the campfire together.

father and son enjoying campfire cooking

When it comes to camping, we're always coming up with new and easier ways of doing things. What are some of your favorite campfire cooking tips or hacks?

Tip #6 – Campfire recipes you may enjoy:

Campfire Sugar Cone S’mores

Grilled Banana Campfire S'mores

Easy Skillet S’mores

30 Scrumptious Camping Recipes

Campfire Cinnamon Rolls

6 Tips for Quick and Easy Campfire Cooking
tips for easy outdoor cooking with DINTY MOORE Beef Stew
tips for quick and easy campfire cooking

5 thoughts on “6 Tips for Quick and Easy Campfire Cooking”

  1. Can’t beat a pot of stew to warm your cockles. I always carry tins of Irish stew, high in calories and high in taste.

    Reply

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