100+ Easy Camping Food Ideas for Families

Breakfast Burritos

These freezer-friendly breakfast burritos are one of the best breakfasts to take camping. Make and wrap them at home, then keep them chilled or frozen in the cool box.

Reheat the burritos in a covered frying pan, on a camping stove or wrapped in foil over a barbecue. Eggs, sausage, vegetables and cheese make them a filling start to an active day.

Eat these early in the trip while your cool box is at its coldest.

Banana Oat Muffins

Our high protein banana muffins are portable, family-friendly and easy to eat without plates or cutlery.

Bake them before you leave, allow them to cool completely and store them in an airtight container in the cool box.

Serve with fruit or yogurt from the cool box for an easy camping breakfast.

Homemade Granola

Take a jar or reusable bag of low-sugar granola and serve it with long-life milk, yogurt from the cool box or simply eat it dry.

You could also make our air fryer granola before leaving. Add dried fruit, nuts, seeds or a few dark chocolate chips to make it more substantial.

Overnight Oats

Prepare overnight oats with frozen fruit in individual lidded jars. The frozen berries help to keep the jars cold while you travel, although they still need to be stored in a properly chilled cool box.

For a simpler version, combine oats, UHT milk, dried fruit, cinnamon and honey at the campsite and leave the mixture in the cool box overnight.

Camping Pancakes

Pancakes make camping mornings feel special without needing complicated equipment.

Use a just-add-water mix or portion the dry ingredients into a container before leaving.

For a homemade option, make the batter for our blender protein pancakes shortly before travelling and keep it chilled. Alternatively, cook pancakes at home and gently reheat them in a dry pan.

Serve with mini pots of jam, peanut butter, sliced banana, honey or syrup.

Banana Oat Cookies

These healthy banana oat cookies work as both a breakfast and a snack.

They are easy to pack, naturally sweet and useful when you need to get everyone fed quickly before leaving the campsite for the day.

Breakfast Hash

A one-pan breakfast hash is ideal when you have a camping stove.

Use tinned potatoes or leftover cooked potatoes with onion, peppers, sweetcorn, chopped sausages or bacon.

Use our breakfast hash as inspiration, simplifying the ingredients to suit what you can safely transport.

Camping Lunchables

Our easy adult Lunchable ideas can easily be adapted for camping and for children.

Pack crackers, cured meat, individual cheeses, dried fruit, olives, nuts and something sweet. Use a sectioned container or pack the ingredients separately so everything stays crisp.

Keep meat and cheese in the cool box. For a completely shelf-stable version, use crackers, nut butter, dried fruit, roasted nuts, pretzels and fruit pouches.

Greek Pasta Salad

This Greek pasta salad is filling, colourful and easy to make in a large batch before travelling.

Portion it into sealed containers and keep it in the cool box.

Because it uses an oil-based dressing rather than a thick mayonnaise dressing, it travels well, although it must still be kept properly chilled because of the cooked pasta, vegetables and feta.

Mediterranean Rice Salad

Our Mediterranean rice salad combines rice, vegetables, beans, olives and feta.

It works as a complete vegetarian lunch or as a side dish with cooked chicken or skewers.

Make it the day before travelling, cool the rice promptly and keep the finished salad cold.

Quinoa Greek Salad

For another substantial make-ahead option, try this quinoa Greek salad.

Pack it into lidded containers with the dressing already mixed through.

It is a useful lunch before a long walk because the quinoa, feta and olives make it much more filling than a basic green salad.

Roasted Vegetable Couscous Salad

Our roasted vegetable couscous salad is another excellent first-day lunch.

Prepare it at home and serve it cold from the cool box.

For a simpler campsite version, pour boiling water over instant couscous, cover and leave it to absorb. Stir through tinned sweetcorn, roasted peppers, olives, herbs and a small bottle of dressing.

Pasta Salad Jars

These meal-prep pasta salad jars are easy to transport and already divided into individual servings.

Keep the dressing at the bottom, sturdy vegetables and pasta in the middle and delicate ingredients at the top.

Tip everything into a bowl or shake the jar thoroughly before eating.

Homemade Flatbreads

Make a batch of our easy homemade flatbreads before travelling. They can be used for hummus wraps, falafel wraps, tuna wraps, breakfast wraps and quick pizzas.

They can also be cooked in a dry frying pan at the campsite because the dough does not need yeast or proving.

Savoury Muffins

Our savoury muffins with cheese and vegetables are ideal for a first-day lunch, packed lunch or snack.

Serve them with fruit, vegetable sticks, crackers or soup. Keep them chilled in particularly warm weather, especially if they contain plenty of cheese.

Camping Chilli

Make our slow cooker chilli con carne at home, cool it and transport it in a sealed container.

Reheat it thoroughly in a pan and serve with instant rice, tortilla chips, wraps or campfire baked potatoes.

For later in the trip, use tinned chilli instead. It is not quite the same as homemade, but it is convenient and does not take up valuable cool-box space. You can get canned curry too.

You can also make turkey chilli in advance and use the leftovers for nachos or jacket potatoes.

Campfire Jacket Potatoes

Pre-cook some potatoes then tightly wrap in foil and cook them in the hot embers of a campfire or barbecue, turning them occasionally. Cooking time will depend on the size of the potatoes and the heat.

Use our jacket potato with beans and cheese for topping inspiration.

Tinned beans, grated cheese, tuna, sweetcorn, chilli and butter are all easy options.

⚠️ Check that your campsite allows fires before planning this meal. You can just reheat them in a pan too.

Flatbread or Pita Pizzas

Spread flatbreads, naan breads or pitas with tomato purée or pizza sauce. Add dried herbs, grated cheese and a few simple toppings.

Use our easy naan pizza as a starting point. At the campsite, cook the pizzas in a covered frying pan or wrap them loosely in foil and heat them over a barbecue.

Campfire Nachos

Put tortilla chips into a foil tray and add beans, salsa, sweetcorn, jalapeños and grated cheese.

Cover the tray with foil and heat until the cheese has melted.

Our chipotle black bean nachos provide plenty of topping inspiration. You can also add reheated chilli or cooked shredded chicken.

Barbecue Chicken Skewers

Our marinated chicken skewers can be prepared at home and cooked on a barbecue at the campsite.

Raw chicken must be transported in a reliable cool box, stored separately from ready-to-eat food and cooked early in the trip.

For less risk and less mess, cook the skewers at home and reheat them thoroughly at camp.

Halloumi and Vegetable Skewers

These halloumi and vegetable kebabs are a simple vegetarian barbecue dinner.

Prepare the vegetables at home so you only need to thread and cook the skewers at camp.

Serve with flatbreads, salad and individual sauce sachets.

Grilled Corn

Our grilled corn with herb butter is an easy camping side dish.

Wrap the corn in foil or place it directly on a barbecue, turning regularly.

Plain butter, garlic butter, chilli sauce or a sprinkle of hard cheese can all be used as toppings.

Cool them completely before cutting and pack sheets of baking paper between the layers.

For a more traditional treat, try our chocolate flapjacks.

No-Bake Granola Bars

Our no-bake granola bars are packed with oats, fruit and nuts.

Because they are softer than baked cereal bars, keep them in a rigid container rather than a bag.

Store them in the cool box during hot weather so they remain firm.

Blueberry Oat Bars

These blueberry oat bars combine blueberry chia jam with a peanut butter oat crumble.

They need to be kept chilled, so they are best for the first day of a trip or for campsites where you have access to a reliable fridge.

Carrot Cake Oat Bars

Our carrot cake oat bars are baked, portable and suitable for breakfast or snacks.

They are a good alternative to sticky cereal bars and can be made several days before travelling.

Camping Energy Balls

Make our dark chocolate chip energy balls before a walking or cycling holiday.

They contain oats, seeds, peanut butter, coconut and dark chocolate chips.

Our chocolate energy balls are another portable option.

Keep either version chilled in hot weather and check your campsite's guidance about storing food where wildlife could reach it.

Homemade Nut Bars

These homemade Kind-style nut bars are sweet, salty and crunchy.

They are particularly useful for adults and older children on active days.

Homemade Crackers

Our easy homemade crackers can be made before leaving and packed into a rigid airtight box.

Serve them with cheese spread, nut butter, tinned fish, olives or individual dip pots.

Savoury Muffins

Pack savoury vegetable muffins for the first day.

Serve them with soup, salad or vegetable sticks.

Foil-Wrapped Jacket Potatoes

Pierce the potatoes, rub them with a little oil and salt and wrap them in two layers of foil.

Cook them in hot embers, turning occasionally, until completely tender. This does take a long while, so use pre-cooked potatoes to speed this up.

Serve with beans, cheese, chilli, tuna, sweetcorn or butter.

Foil-Packet Vegetables

Add sliced vegetables to a large sheet of foil with oil, dried herbs, salt and pepper.

Fold the foil into a secure parcel and cook until the vegetables are tender.

Peppers, courgettes (zucchini), mushrooms, sweetcorn, onions and small pieces of potato all work well, although potatoes will take longer than softer vegetables. You could also add chorizo and canned potatoes to this.

Campfire Quesadillas

Fill a tortilla with cheese, drained beans, sweetcorn and salsa. Fold it in half and cook it in a frying pan or wrap it in foil.

Avoid overfilling the tortilla, as the filling will escape when you turn it.

Bread on a Stick

Use ready-made bread dough or a simple flour-and-yogurt dough. Roll it into a long strip, wrap it around a clean suitable cooking stick and carefully cook it over the fire.

Turn it regularly so the outside does not burn before the middle has cooked.

Campfire Nachos

Layer tortilla chips, beans, salsa and cheese in a foil tray.

Cover and heat until the cheese melts.

Foil Pizza Pockets

Spread tomato purée over half a tortilla, add cheese and toppings, then fold it over.

Wrap it in foil and heat it on a barbecue or in a covered pan. You can also buy a whole small pizza, wrap it up and wrap it in foil and cook it until melted.

Grilled Sandwiches

Fill bread with cheese and a tinned filling such as tuna, beans or sweetcorn.

Cook in a frying pan or sandwich cage until the bread is toasted and the filling is piping hot.

Banana Boats

Slice through the skin of a banana without cutting all the way through.

Fill it with chocolate chips and marshmallows, wrap it in foil and warm it until soft and melted.

Fire-Roasted Apples

Remove the apple core and fill the centre with cinnamon, dried fruit and a little sugar or honey.

Wrap the apple in foil and cook until soft.

Simple Weekend Camping Menu 📋

Friday Evening

Dinner: Homemade chilli reheated on the camping stove with instant rice and tortilla chips or pre-cooked baked potatoes.
Dessert: Banana boats with chocolate and marshmallows.

Saturday

Breakfast: Reheated breakfast burritos with fruit.
Lunch: Greek pasta salad or DIY Lunchables.
Snack: Flapjacks, oat bars or energy balls.
Dinner: Campfire jacket potatoes with beans and cheese, plus grilled corn. Or chicken fajitas.
Dessert: S'mores or cinnamon apples.

Sunday

Breakfast: Granola with UHT milk, banana and dried fruit.
Lunch: Flatbread wraps with tuna, hummus or leftover chilli.
Journey-home snack: Banana oat muffins, fruit and pretzels.

Camping Menu Without a Cool Box 📋

Breakfast: Instant cinnamon and apple porridge, or granola with UHT milk.
Lunch: Tinned tuna and crackers, peanut butter wraps or instant couscous with tinned vegetables.
Dinner: Tinned curry with instant rice, one-pot tomato pasta or beans and sweetcorn quesadillas.
Snacks: Fruit, dried fruit, nuts, popcorn, cereal bars, crackers and pretzels.
Dessert: Toasted marshmallows, tinned fruit or cinnamon tortillas.