16 One Pot Camping Meals
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Easy-to-cook and easy-to-clean, these one pot camping meals are perfect for your next camping trip.
We love cooking outside, but unfortunately, many home recipes don’t lend themselves well to being cooked at a campground. For most car campers, the relatively limited camp kitchen setup (two-burner stove, no oven, no microwave, no electronic appliances) means you need to be a little more creative with the way you cook.
Thankfully, there’s a simple solution: one pot meals!
One pot camping meals (or one skillet meals) can be made with just a single piece of camp cookware. Instead of using separate pans, for example, to boil water for pasta, simmer a sauce, and saute vegetables, one pot meals simplify the process and make the camp cooking experience so much easier!
We love making one pot meals when we’re camping and here are just a few of the reasons why:
Less Mess: One of the biggest advantages of one pot cooking is having fewer dishes to wash at the end of the meal. At home, this is nice. But when you’re cooking at a campsite, without a dishwasher (or even a sink!), not having to scrub multiple pots and pans at the end of the night means you get to spend less time cleaning and more time hanging out in front of your campfire.
Timing: Every home cook knows how difficult it can be to get each part of a recipe ready at exactly the right time. This problem can be even worse at a campsite where you can’t just pop something in the oven to keep it warm. By cooking a meal in one pot, everything is ready at once.
Scalability: Whether you’re cooking for two or an entire trail crew, one pot meals can be easily scaled depending on the size of your group. Although you might find you need a bigger pot!
We’ve collected a variety of one pot recipes for you to try out on your next camping trip. Spend more time enjoying your time outdoors and less time doing dishes! Enjoy!
Blueberry Banana Pancakes
Caramelized bananas and bright, juicy blueberries create an extra special twist on a camping breakfast classic.
Chickpea Hash
A protein packed update to breakfast hash, this chickpea and vegetable breakfast skillet is a healthy way to jumpstart your morning.
Cast Iron Frittata
This frittata is bursting with the summer flavors of ripe tomatoes and fresh basil and is topped with melty cheese. It cooks in one skillet right over your campfire or camp stove.
Chilaquiles
Crispy tortillas simmered in a spicy tomato sauce and topped with a few eggs. Chilaquiles takes less than 30 minutes to make, and are vegetarian, too!
Campfire Nachos
A beloved happy hour classic, now being served at a campground near you. What better way to end the day outside than with a cold beer, warm campfire, and a big pot full of cheesy nachos?
Dutch Oven Chicken Marbella
Sweet, savory, crispy, and saucy, this Dutch oven recipe for Chicken Marbella delivers a “gourmet” campfire experience but without any of the work.
Lentil Sloppy Joes
A plant-based twist on a summer classic, these red lentil sloppy joes pack in just as much flavor (and protein) as the original – but without all the funky extras.
One Pot Protein Pasta
Combining red lentil pasta with garlicky sauteed kale, this super easy one pot camping meal delivers a ton of protein while still being vegetarian-friendly.
Sweet Potato Peanut Stew
If you’re looking for something hearty, comforting, AND healthy the next time you’re out camping, you need to try this vegan, West African-inspired sweet potato peanut stew.
Cheesy Asparagus One Pot Orzo
Quick cooking orzo, lots of vegetables, and melty cheese! This is a quick and easy meal that never fails to please.
Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread
Cornbread is the perfect side for so many camping meals! This recipe cooks in a cast iron skillet right over the campfire.
Dutch Oven Enchiladas
These enchiladas are packed with onions and peppers, beans, and cheese, making them a awesome vegetarian meal that cooks right on the campfire.
One Pot Chili Mac
Blending the best of both worlds, chili mac combines the smoky and spicy flavor of chili with the rich and creamy texture of mac & cheese. It’s a camping classic and using this recipe, you can make it using just a single pot!
Dutch Oven Apple Cobbler
Soft cinnamon spiced apples, crumbly topping, and a sweet syrupy sauce, all baked to golden brown perfection inside a Dutch oven, this apple cobbler is a great dessert to enjoy around the campfire.
Quick and Easy Apple Crisp
This no-bake Apple Crisp is designed to be an afterthought of a dessert. Something so simple that you’ll be hard pressed to come up with a reason not to make it!
Hungry for more?
Check out these easy camping meals, great camping breakfasts, and the best camping desserts to share around the fire!
These all look amazing! Perfect timing too as I’m going camping next weekend with my sisters. Might just have to test out those campfire nachos!!
Wow those vegan kabobs are an amazing idea, for camping and for home! Love this post!!
http://www.cultwanderer.com
I absolutely love the one pot meals, in particular I love just wrapping food in tin foil and throwing it in the fire. Flavors that intertwine give you the opportunity to make some very unique dishes that aren’t only healthy but delicious! Great article!
Thanks! We’ve been meaning to develop some tin foil packets recipes this summer. Do you have any favorite ingredients combos we should try?
Wow, some amazing recipes and photos to go along. Thanks for taking the time to share them with us. We will definitely book mark this and try them out! Found your article on Pinterest. 🙂
Thanks! We’ll be adding more soon too. So stay tuned!
What great recipes and tips! We love to camp, and we are super envious of your journey and adventures! We like to make as much of our meals before hitting the road. We use a foodsaver to vacuum seal the meals and then freeze them. They usually keep for several days.
Interesting. We’ve never used a foodsaver or tried vacuum sealing meals before. So does it help it keep longer or just compress it?
Either way, definitely, we would like to check out at some point. Thanks for sharing.
Do you typically make your cast iron meals over an open fire or on stovetop? Great recipes! Have been follow you on Instagram for some time now. We are getting ready for a three month road trip and will certainly be trying some of these 🙂
Most of the time we cook on a camp stove, but when have the opportunity, we like cooking over an open fire. Unfortunately, there have been a lot of state / county wide fire bans during the past couple of years – especially out west, so often times a campfire isn’t allowed. Excited for your road trip! Sounds like it’s going to be a blast.
Love your recipes! Everything looks so fresh and yummy. Can’t wait to try them. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks so much. I’ve been trying to find camping recipes that are nutritious as well as adaptable to allergies. This is the first website I’ve found with that in mind. Picking out a few to give them a try.
While aren’t really campers I did just get a new set of cast iron pans and I’m looking for recipes to make using them. These are perfect!
We’ve been cooking with cast iron inside and outside for years. It’s definitely a relationship – you get out of them what you put in. Happy cooking!
All recipes look’s very delicious. Food which was cooked on the fire has own special taste.
After reading this an amazing article. I am also planning to do that once with family.
The one pot protein pasta is going into our recipe box for our next outing. Thanks for the list. Good stuff.
Enjoy! But as another commenter mentioned, follow the cooking instructions for the particular brand of pasta you pick up. Cook times vary brand to brand, so just be aware of that.
So many 1 pot camping meal ideas in one single page. Simply superb.
Lots of great recipie in one single page. Great.
I am so excited to try these. We are gluten free so this is very appreciated with all of the GF options. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I love camping its full of fun and adventures. Next time I am going for camping I am defiantly gonna try some of your recipe specially blueberry banana pancakes and dutch oven chicken marbella and I hope I made them as yummy as it looks in the pictures finger crossed.
Ok you guys are PROS & super fancy with these recipes :p Thanks for sharing!!! Going camping this weekend! They all look so good. One I’m really drooling over is the chic pea hash!
Katie | http://www.meshkomoments.com
Thank you so much for this post! The last time we went on a road trip I didn’t want to look at another pasta dish or cheese and ham sandwich again! It’s hard to think outside the box sometimes but these ideas are awesome! We head out on another road trip next week and I’m determined not to fall into the same trap and get some good meals on the go! Thanks for the inspiration!
Alicia
Hah, I get suuuper burnt out on meals, too. Ask me how I feel about oatmeal and tuna sandwiches after I ate that 90% of the time on a recent trip!
Hope this helped you mix up your menu this summer!
Megan
Not just great for camping! these are great for family meals at home too. One pot meals are certainly my favourite for campouts.
These recipes are so awesome and easy! Thank you so much! So excited to try!
What terrific meals. We are off to the MTNS in August and plan a variety of these to try. Dee licious ,……..
Yes these are great. If you are not using coals or an oven but on top of a fire and grate, how would you cook this?
Which recipe are you referring to specifically? Many of them can be done directly over a campfire w/ a grate, but the approach might change based on the individual recipe.
These look great! I’ve been backpacking and camping for 40 years and need some new recipes. I’m heading off on a van camping trip this weekend so I’ll give some of them a try and let you know how they work out for me.