There’s nothing better than enjoying the outdoors with your family. Being disconnected can do wonders for you and your kids’ health — even for just a day.
But come mealtime, you might find yourself in the familiar territory of trying to figure out what to make that will make everyone happy. Only now you’re in the wilderness, with even fewer resources than your kitchen back at home.
Being outdoors doesn’t mean you can’t whip up something that will turn everyone in your party into happy campers. There are so many delicious campfire recipes for families out there, we had a hard time picking our favorites.
We’ve rounded up easy camping meals for families so yours can be well-fed and ready to explore. Best of all, you won't hear a peep from the picky eater in your troupe ever again.
Ready to dig in?
Campfire Mac n’ Cheese with Kielbasa
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 20 min
Mac n’ Cheese and children go together like, well, macaroni and cheese!
This saucy spin on a home classic dish is an excellent addition for any road trip or camping getaway.
You’ll get automatic buy-in from your kids for this camping meal for kids, and you can spice it up a bit for the adults too with tasty add-ons.
Ingredients:
- 1 box elbow macaroni noodles
- 1 8-10oz jar alfredo sauce
- 1 ½ cup shredded cheese blend
- ¼- ½ cup milk
- 1 package kielbasa, bacon, or other meat of choice (or skip the meat and go vegetarian)
How to Make it:
- In a cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven, cook the kielbasa. Drain excess fat and set aside.
- Cook elbow pasta according to directions in a separate pot. Drain and rinse with cold water.
- Add noodles, Alfredo sauce, cheese, and slowly add milk to create a sauce (start with 1/4 cup and add more if needed).
- Heat over campfire coals for 5-10 minutes, stirring until cheese is melted.
- Remove from fire and serve it nice and hot.
The best part (in addition to how insanely tasty it is) might just be how quickly you can pull the whole meal together — without dirtying all your camping cookware, or trying to pull off 20+ bullets of cooking instructions.
You can cook the noodles at home before your trip — just shock them with some cold water to stop the cooking process and store them in a Ziplock bag in the cooler. Then it’s just a matter of cooking up that Kielbasa and throwing everything into a pot.
Boom. Dinner is served.
Read full recipe and nutrition information >
Maple Sriracha Chicken Kabobs
Prep Time: 10min
Cook Time: 15min
Camping food can get old fast, especially on a longer trip and when you’ve got little ones expecting you to deliver on flavor 24/7.
The struggle is over with these simple and mouth-watering skewers that are fun to make with your kids. You can grill them up for lunch or dinner, and use up left-over veggies you’ve brought from home.
Ingredients:
- 2 large chicken breasts (cubed)
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 tbsp sriracha sauce
- 1 pineapple (cubed)
- 1 red bell pepper (cubed)
How to Make it:
- Place cubed chicken breasts in a large resealable plastic bag.
- Whisk soy sauce, maple syrup, and sriracha sauce in a small bowl.
- Pour mixture into the chicken and marinate for at least 15 minutes to 24 hours in the cooler.
- Soak your wooden skewers in water for 10 minutes.
- Skewer the chicken, bell pepper, and pineapple onto the sticks.
- Grill those bad boys for 10 minutes.
A little spicy and a little sweet — we love this campfire recipe for large groups. You can mix and match your kabobs with other veggies like onions and mushrooms, or let your kids make a special dessert skewer with marshmallows, fruit, and chocolate.
Customizable and kid-friendly. What more could you ask for in a camping recipe?
Get your skewers out and have some fun >
Potato Boats
Prep Time: 10min
Cook Time: 20min
We love a good boat — especially when it's edible.
Kids are into that whole play-with-your-food thing too, so they’ll love this kid-approved take on the classic baked potato.
Ingredients:
- Large russet potatoes
- Sliced ham
- Cheese slices
- Sour cream
- Green onion
How to Make it:
- Slice your potato into 6 sections, leaving slightly connected at the bottom.
- Between cuts, add your slices of cheese, bacon, and ham.
- Add a few dabs of butter on top of each section and season with some salt and pepper.
- Wrap that big boy in a double layer of tin foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.
- Throw it on the BBQ for 20 minutes until cheese is good and melty.
- Top with sour cream, chili, green onions, etc.!
This is a great pick for your messy eaters as well since they’ll be digging it all out of that foil packet, leaving you with an easy clean-up.
Set sail on the great potato boat with your kids >
Camping Breakfast Burrito
Prep Time: 5min
Cook Time: 20min
You don’t need to be in the city to get a great burrito anymore. We fully encourage you to take that burrito on the road with this snappy and filling breakfast burrito that your kids will be begging for when they get home.
Ingredients:
- Large flour tortillas
- 4 potatoes peeled, chopped, and cooked (or a bag of frozen potatoes in a pinch)
- 1 lb. bacon crumbled
- 8 scrambled eggs
- 1 ½ cups cheddar cheese grated
- Green onions, salsa, and sour cream for toppings
How to Make it:
- Mix all your cooked ingredients in a bowl.
- Throw some mix into a tortilla and wrap in foil.
- Cook foil packet over fire for 10-15 minutes as cheese melts.
You can save time on this one too by making some of the fixings ahead of time, like the scrambled eggs, bacon, or opt for pre-cooked frozen hash browns.
Parents, you can basically go on auto-pilot for this one. The kids got it from here.
Start the day with the ultimate camping burrito >
Chili Campfire Bake
Prep Time: 1min
Cook Time: 15min
Chili is the ultimate feel-good home recipe. Bring it on the road and adapt your beloved family recipe to the wilderness with this simple campfire dinner for everyone that is ready in a split-second.
Don’t blink, it’ll be ready to eat before you can even break out the Fritos!
Ingredients:
- 1 box elbow macaroni noodles
- 15 ounces pre-made chili (can or your favorite recipe)
- 1 bag Fritos
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
How to Make it:
- Pour the box of noodles into a large skillet and fill with 3 cups cold water.
- Cook on high for about 10 minutes (until most of the liquid has evaporated).
- Add the chili and simmer until heated through.
- Top with Fritos and cheese.
This all-in-one pot camping recipe is excellent for large families and big groups of friends. You can simply double up the noodles and chili and freeze your leftovers for later.
Yep, it’s really that easy.
Make your new favorite chili bake on your next camping trip >
Red Wine Hot Chocolate
Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 5 min
With all the time you’ll save from making these easy camping meals, you’ll have more time to unwind a bit in the evening — possibly with a delicious drink.
This spin on traditional hot cocoa will be the perfect cherry on top of your family's evening meal, and will leave you feeling warm and toasty. The added wine is for the adults-only, of course.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups red wine (adults only!)
- 2 tbs cocoa powder
- 2 tbs sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 4 cups milk
How to Make it:
- Whisk cocoa powder, sugar, and cinnamon in a large saucepan.
- Add the milk for the kiddos and heat it up over stove or open fire until smooth.
- Serve the small ones.
- Add the red wine (and more milk as needed) for the grown-ups.
- Enjoy a warm cup of pure bliss.
For added flare, you can throw a roasted marshmallow on there too. And then it’s all smooth sailing until bed time.
Make this hot camping beverage for adults and kids >
Step Up Your Camping Meals This Season
Let’s face it: When you’re out adventuring with your family, the last thing you want to do is worry about what’s for dinner.
And we bet even your kids are getting tired of the hot-dog-over-the-fire routine.
So keep it simple and keep it tasty, friends.
If you’re looking to kick things up a notch, don’t be afraid to go gourmet on your next camping adventure.
We’ve got some easy but insanely delicious camping recipes that are sure to impress your friends — or that you can keep on hand to spoil yourself every once and a while.
Check out more quick campfire meals that are surprisingly luxurious >
