For those who relish cooking in the great outdoors, the challenge often lies in creating delicious and easy meals without the convenience of refrigeration. This article explores a variety of no-cooler camping food ideas that are both simple to prepare and satisfying to eat, allowing you to fully enjoy your time in nature without the hassle of managing ice or worrying about spoilage.
Embracing the No-Cooler Camping Lifestyle
Many adventurers find that having a cooler expands their culinary options, but it also occupies valuable space and necessitates constant ice replenishment. Opting for meals that don't require refrigeration simplifies the entire camping experience, making it more relaxing and less encumbered. Whether you're camping in an RV or a tent, reducing the complexity of food planning can significantly enhance your trip. The ultimate lazy camping foods are those that require no cooking and no refrigeration.
Breakfast Options to Kickstart Your Day
- Pancakes: Pancakes are a camping staple, offering a quick and easy breakfast solution. Using a mix like Kodiak Cakes, you simply add water and cook. A small amount of cooking oil in a travel-sized container ensures perfectly cooked pancakes every time. Bring along powdered pancake mix and add in the water and oil at the campground. If you plan ahead you could even bring along some berries or mash a few bananas into the mix before cooking.
- Oatmeal: Oatmeal's versatility makes it a fantastic camping breakfast. Quick-cooking or instant oats are particularly convenient. Enhance the flavor and nutritional value with fresh fruit, nuts, peanut butter, honey, or powdered milk. You have a variety of oatmeal options for camping. You could slow cook some regular oatmeal over the fire or boil yourself some water and make up some instant oatmeal. Again, I like to make my own camping instant oatmeal so I can add more nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.
- Cereal with Powdered Milk: Ideal for both backpacking and car camping, cereal with powdered milk is a no-fuss breakfast. Mix cold drinking water with powdered milk, then add your favorite cereal. Using cold water is key to achieving a palatable taste. Most kids don’t mind eating cereal dry, especially if it’s a sweet cereal! My preferred choices, because they have a bit more fiber than a standard kid cereal, are Honey Shreddies and Mini Wheats. But, if you (or your kids) don’t like plain cereal, consider using canned milk or powdered milk. Since you won’t be drinking it plain, these options are usually satisfactory substitutes.
- Banana Bread and Doughnuts: Also either made ahead or store bought, banana bread is always a hit and can go a long way! Doughnuts - these may need to be eaten within the first few days, but who says no to a slightly stale doughnut? Doughnuts can also double as dessert, if need-be. My kids love this no-cook camping food option.
- Pop Tarts and Granola Bars: A simple breakfast treat that is fun for camping, pop tarts don’t have to be toasted or heated to be tasty! Useful for hiking, snacks, and breakfast!
- Precooked Bacon: Save the mess of cooking bacon at the campsite and instead bring it along pre-cooked.
- Eggs: If you’re lucky enough to have connections for farm-fresh eggs, chat with them and they’ll tell you all about storing eggs without refrigeration. Or, grab some powdered eggs for a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs!
- Apple Campfire Pies: We love these on a cold slow camping morning! Our favourite breakfast combo is apple pie filling with cinnamon raisin bread in the pie iron.
Quick and Easy Lunch Ideas
- Peanut Butter Sandwich: A timeless classic, the peanut butter sandwich is a simple and satisfying lunch. Pack your favorite bread, peanut butter, honey, and a ripe banana. A sprinkle of cinnamon can add an extra layer of flavor.
- Avocado Toast: Toast bread in a cast-iron pan until golden, then smash a ripe avocado on top and season with salt and pepper. Sliced tomato can be a delightful addition. Pack a good loaf of bread and a ripe avocado. I toast the bread in a cast-iron pan over medium heat until it gets golden. Then I smash a ripe avocado on the toast and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Sliced tomato would be a great addition!
- Tuna Packets with Crackers or Pitas: Flavored tuna packets are a convenient and tasty lunch option. Enjoy them straight from the pouch with crackers or in a pita with avocado.
- Peanut Butter Trail Mix Tortilla: For an on-the-go lunch, spread nut butter and honey on a flour tortilla, then sprinkle with granola or trail mix for added crunch. Pack flour tortillas, nut butter, honey, and some granola or trail mix. The granola or trail mix adds such a good crunch to this wrap!
- Toasted bacon and tomato sandwiches: Precook the bacon at home, you can even slice up the tomato if you like… make some toast over the fire. And, if you search around I bet you can even find some small individual serving packs of mayo to bring along. If not, just use butter. Yum!
- Scrambled eggs with add-ins: Find yourself some powdered eggs. I prefer to scramble these.
- Muffins with a side of peanut butter apple slices: Bake your family’s favourite hearty muffins before camping, then at the campsite serve these with apple sliced covered in peanut butter.
- Peanut Butter & Banana wraps: These are one of our favourite. Take a large flour wrap and place a whole peeled banana across the middle. Now, spread peanut butter on the wrap, drizzle some honey if you’d like. You can even sprinkle some granola or seed mix (chia, hemp, flax seeds) onto the wrap. When you’re done, roll it up carefully and slice into bite sized rounds.
- Camping Charcuterie: This is the camping self-serve smorgasbord… whatever your family likes!
- Crackers - crackers pair well with any of the meats you may decide to bring.
- Nuts, Seeds, Dried Fruit - all that trail mix type stuff!
Hearty and Satisfying Dinner Solutions
- Indian Food Packets with Rice: Pre-made Indian food packets paired with pre-cooked rice offer a flavorful and convenient dinner. Simply heat and serve. I pack pre-made Indian food packets in a variety of dishes, along with pre-cooked rice packets. All you have to do at camp is heat things up and serve.
- Ramen: Ramen is a reliable and warming meal, especially on colder camping trips. Ramen is another go-to meal for me, especially on colder fall camping trips.
- Boxed Mac and Cheese: A universally loved comfort food, boxed mac and cheese is great for a quick dinner. Cook the pasta, reserve some pasta water, and mix in the cheese packet. Skipping the milk and butter doesn't compromise the taste. Box mac and cheese is great to have on hand for a quick dinner. I just cook the pasta as normal, but reserve a little of the pasta water and mix in the cheese packet. While the directions might say to add milk or butter as well, I just leave that out if I don’t have a cooler and it tastes fine.
- Canned or Dried Soups: Canned, boxed, or dried soups and chilies provide variety and warmth on cooler nights. This is one of the most underrated no cooler camping meals! There is so much variety with canned, boxed, or dried soups and chilies. They’re so great on colder nights at camp.
- Freeze-dried or Dehydrated Meals: These meals, commonly found at gear shops, offer a wide range of options. While they can be pricier, they provide a super easy dinner with minimal cleanup. There are many different brands, meals, and price points for these types of meals. These are some of my favorites: Good To-Go Thai Curry, Good To-Go Pad Thai. I like to save them more for backpacking because they can get a little expensive, especially if you’re camping with a larger family or group. But if you want a super easy dinner with no cleanup, then these might be for you!
- Pasta: A jar of your favorite marinara sauce and a box of pasta make for a satisfying and filling meal after a day of outdoor activities. Pack a jar of your favorite marinara sauce and a box of pasta. A big bowl of pasta is so satisfying after a long day of playing outside!
- Instant Potatoes with Canned Chicken or Tuna: Instant potatoes are quick to cook and come in various flavors. Combine them with canned chicken or flavored tuna packets for a protein-rich meal. Instant potatoes take a minute to cook and they come in all different flavors. They also only cost about $1. But potatoes on their own don’t make a complete meal, so I like to pack some canned chicken or flavored tuna packets to mix in with the potatoes for some protein. You can bring spices and herbs along as well.
- Canned or Boxed Soup: Take a few minutes to peruse the soup aisle and see what you can find! One of our family’s favourite is Lipton Chicken Noodle (in the box) with way too many saltine crackers crumbled up into the soup! There are lots of great cup-a-soups (just add boiling water) available too.
- KD Mac and Cheese: Make up a few boxes of KD Mac and Cheese. Yes, the instructions tell you to add milk, but it’s just fine with butter/margarine and skip the milk. Bulk up the KD and cook some broccoli with the pasta. This is so easy and can be very satisfying at the campground.
- Pasta with canned pasta sauce: Use your favourite pasta and canned pasta sauce. Add some veggies to the cooking pasta or a can of green beans as a side. I think my kids could eat this for every meal! It’s so simple to make when camping. Just boil some water, add in your noodles and wait a bit. If you’d like to take your ramen up a notch you could bring along green onions to chop in, a few mushrooms, even some crumbled bacon or beef jerky.
- Canned salmon patties: Using canned salmon, you can make salmon patties fairly easily. I don’t ever want to bother making a big breakfast, but I love the traditional breakfast foods. So, we often eat it for dinner.
- Sloppy Joes: Grab a can of sloppy joe mix from the grocery store and a can of kidney beans or lentils. Then, at the campground, mash the beans and sauce together, and scoop it over your favourite buns. I promise that it’ll be super messy, but should be super yummy!
- Dehydrated Camping Meals: Spend a few minutes looking through all the varieties, you’ll be amazed! You can get vegetarian lasagna and beef stroganoff, curries and cobblers! While dehydrated camping meals are usually a bit on the pricey side, they are also usually very tasty and super easy to cook up!
- Using canned goods There are so many varieties of canned good these days. Pair this with buns or premade corn bread for a hearty hot meal. Or, if you’re feeling ambitious, bring some biscuit mix and make some up with your dutch oven over the campfire!
Sweet Treats and Snacks for the Campsite
- Doughnuts: Don’t these work in just about every category?
- Cookies: If you bring chocolate chip cookies, just be sure to keep them out of the sun.
- Campfire pies! Easy, yummy, and so much variety.
- Fruit: Fruit is great to have on hand when camping. Fruit can be added to any meal, have fruit for dessert, and fruit is perfect for snacks throughout the day too! Fresh Fruit - some great non-refrigerated options include apples, bananas, grapes, watermelon, oranges, pineapple, or cantaloupe. Dried or Dehydrated Fruit - useful for hiking snacks as well as meals. Dried or dehydrated fruit is perfect for camping since it can endure almost any weather. Camping tip: Go ahead and wash all your fresh fruit prior to packing. When we’re camping we’ll often just mix and match from this list below… the meals aren’t as formal, so we’ll often put out a variety of foods and we’ll all just pick our favourites until we’re full. Fruit (fresh, canned, dried, or dehydrated, or applesauce cups) - fruit is great for any and every meal or snack, so be sure to pack a lot of it! This is one of my favorite no cook camping meals.
- Jerky Who says jerky isn’t just a snack?
- Trail Mix: A trail mix is a perfect camping/hiking snack. It consists of dried fruit, nuts, and sometimes candy. Because a trail mix is made mainly of nuts and fruit, you can customize it however you want.
- Chips, pretzels, and crackers are light snacks that you can enjoy in various ways. Chips, pretzels, and crackers are dry snacks and do not require refrigeration.
- Sunflower seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, and pine nuts are packed with flavor, nutrients, and essential minerals. Seeds are easy to store and last a while.
- Granola bars Packed full of oat, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and chocolate, granola bars are the perfect energy source.
- S’mores are a camping classic. They are fun, tasty, and can be quickly prepared.
Essential Camp Kitchen Gear
The beauty of these no-cooler meals is that they require minimal equipment. A propane stove and a pot or pan are typically all you need.
- Camp Stove: A reliable stove like the Camp Chef Everest Stove is ideal for quickly boiling water and cooking meals.
- Cast Iron Pan: Cast iron pans are durable, retain heat well, and require little maintenance, making them perfect for skillet cooking.
Tips for Camping Without Refrigeration
- Keep Food in the Shade: Protect your food from direct sunlight to prevent spoilage.
- Opt for Non-Refrigerated Options: When shopping, choose shelf-stable versions of products whenever possible.
- Plan Your Meals Strategically: Be mindful of items that require refrigeration after opening and plan your meals accordingly to minimize leftovers.
- Proper Food Storage: Although these foods can survive without a refrigerator, it is essential to take proper measures to ensure they remain fresh.
- Shop for single servings If you are a solo traveler, stick to creating meals around anything that comes in single servings. There are more and more items that are packaged for single servings, like vegetables, fruit, pasta, rice, meats and many more. The options vary at different grocery stores, but it’s worth a stroll down the aisles to see what is offered. This is the best way to avoid leftovers, especially with the items that need to be refrigerated after opening.
- Don’t just abandon the food. While many of these non-refrigerated foods don't need a fridge, keep in mind that when you open their packages, you will need a fridge for storage.
A Comprehensive List of Foods to Take Camping Without a Fridge
Meat
- Canned Chicken
- Tuna Packets
- Canned Roast Beef
- Chicken Packets
- Summer Sausage
- Fish (canned)
- Canned Chili
- Pepperoni / Turkey Pepperoni
- Canned Ham
- Precooked Bacon
- Bacon Crumbles
- Beef Jerky
Alternative Sources of Protein
- Nuts
- Lentil Soup (e.g., Tasty Bites Madras Lentil Soup)
- Canned Soup
- Peanut Butter
Milk
- Powdered Milk
- Shelf Stable Cartons of Almond or Soy Milk
- Cans of Evaporated Milk
- Creamer Packets or Powdered Creamer
Eggs
- Fresh Eggs (unrefrigerated)
- Powdered Eggs
Cheese
- Grated Parmesan Cheese
- Blocks of Hard Cheese (like cheddar or gouda)
Fruit
- Fresh Apples and Oranges
- Fresh Kiwi, Mango, Bananas
- Fresh Watermelon, Pineapple, Cantaloupe
- Avocado
- Individual Cups of Black Olives
- Dried Fruit
- Canned Fruit
- Fruit Cups
Vegetables
- Fresh Veggies: Carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, celery
- Potatoes
- Cabbage
- Fresh Veggies for Sauteing or Grilling: Peppers, onions, zucchini, potato, butternut squash
- Corn on the Cob
- Onion
- Canned Vegetables: Tomatoes, corn, mushrooms, green chiles, green beans, etc.
- Canned Beans: Baked beans, black beans, and refried beans
- Dried Beans
Grains
- Pasta
- Rice
- Quinoa
- Couscous
- Instant Potatoes
- Tortellini
- Boxed Mac n’ Cheese
- Cans of Corned Beef Hash
- Instant Hashbrowns
- Cereal
- Oatmeal
- Pancakes ("Complete" or "Just Add Water" mix)
Bread
- Pizza Dough (sealed premade crusts)
- Dinner Rolls
- Tortillas
- Pita Bread
- Naan
- Sandwich Rounds
Snacks and Desserts
- Granola Bars
- Poptarts
- Covered Raisins
- Chips
- Crackers
- Popcorn
- Pudding
- Applesauce
- Trail Mix
- Cookies or Brownies
- Muffins
- Waffle Cones
- Graham Crackers
- Marshmallows and Mini Marshmallows
- Chocolate: Hershey’s, candy bars, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips
- M & Ms
Condiments
- Stick of Butter
- Olive Oil
- Syrup
- Honey
- Condiment Packets: Mayo, Jelly, Honey, Ketchup, Mustard, etc.
- BBQ Sauce
- Pasta Sauce
- Salsa
- Salt, Pepper, and Other Basic Seasonings
- Cinnamon
Drinks
- Tea
- Juice Boxes
- Hot Chocolate Packets
- Powdered Milk
- Shelf Stable Almond Milk
- Water Flavor Packets
- Breakfast Essentials Drink Mix
- Coffee
- Powdered Creamer, Sugar, or Sweetener Packets
Non-Refrigerated Camping Meals: Putting It All Together
Breakfast
- Oatmeal with nuts and dried fruit
- Cereal or Granola Bars with Fresh Fruit
- Pancakes with syrup, banana slices, or mini chocolate chips
- Omelets using powdered eggs, bacon bits, and veggies
- Precooked Bacon and Powdered Eggs
- Breakfast Potatoes: Instant hashbrowns, seasoned diced potatoes, or canned corned beef hash
- Breakfast Essentials Drink Mix and Fruit
- Toast with peanut butter, cinnamon, or sliced banana
- Naan with peanut butter and honey, or nutella with sliced fresh fruit
Lunch
- BLT Sandwiches (substitute cabbage or avocado for lettuce)
- PB&J Sandwiches
- Tuna Sandwiches
- Avocado Boat: Avocado with tuna and seasonings
- Fresh veggies: Carrots, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, peppers, broccoli
- Boxed Mac N Cheese with powdered milk and summer sausage
- Cracker Stackers: Summer sausage or pepperoni, cheddar cheese, and sliced veggies on crackers; or peanut butter and jelly
Dinner
- Tasty Bites Lentil Soup or Canned Soup and Dinner Rolls
- Campfire Baked Potato with Chili and shredded cheese
- Red Beans and Rice with Sausage
- Pizza
- Chicken Tortillas
- Campfire Nachos using canned chili
- Pre-packaged Backpacking Meals
- Mix and Match One Dish Meal: Pasta or rice, non-perishable meat, canned veggies, shelf-stable cheese, sauce or milk substitute, and seasoning
Desserts
- Cookies or Brownies
- Sweet Apple Sandwiches: Apple slices with peanut butter or nutella and chocolate chips, fruit, or nuts
- S’mores
- S’mores Nachos: Graham cracker pieces with chocolate and marshmallows
- Dessert Cones: Waffle cone with chocolates, nuts, marshmallows, fruit, etc.
- Dessert Pizza: Nutella spread over naan with sweet toppings
- Baked Apple Slices: Cinnamon and sugar over sliced apples
- Banana Boat: Banana with chocolate, peanut butter, nuts, marshmallows, etc.
- Tortilla Roll Ups: Peanut butter or nutella with chocolates, nuts, fruit, etc.
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