Easy camping recipes

Ha ha annesixty and lupatria, what a blast from the past! We used to camp and later caravan, and we always took those M+S tins of chunky chicken, minced steak, steak chunks, and the curries too. The kids loved them, especially the chunky chicken in white sauce. We also took tins of peas, carrots etc, and tins of potatoes and even the packet mash, think it was called Smash. We also did barbecues and we did the barbecued bananas with chocolatBe someone mentioned. Yes, happy days indeed

When we self-catered- camping or caravan we would take tins of curry/chilli and boil in the bag rice; corned beef, mash and beans or, as we discussed on here awhile ago, tins of Fray Bentos meat pie. As much as we enjoyed them on holiday we never had them at home.

Cut potatoes into small cubes and put on to boil, when they are half-done add mince, onions, finely chopped and boil until cooked through. Or boil potatoes first and then make all the rest in a frying pan, including the cooked potatoes.

Please, if you make sausage and mash in advance and freeze it, make sure to eat it the first evening, as sausages can go off and give a very nasty and quite dangerous tummy upset!

You can do a stir fry easily. You can buy a pack of cooked chicken, a pack of stir fry veg, a jar or sachet of sauce and a pack of ready cooked noodles.

Tins were our main standby..a favourite meal was a tin of mince ( not veggies then) mixed with a tin of new potatoes, and carrots, peas, sweet corn.. no preparation and just one pan to wash. Just don't forget the tin opener!

Hi have you tried a bbq grill mat price is about £3.25 and my son loves it fried eggs vegetables bacon. Google it. So while your kettle boils you can be cooking brekkie on the bbq

typed a reply earlier but then my computer decided to shut down! perhaps it didn't like my shortcuts.
i went camping in a motor home with my now ex husband and children years ago. children were 1 and 4.
i decided i wasn't going to spend hours cooking and we all ate what was put in front of us which was handy.
i took a tin of m&s chunky steak, tins of peas and carrots and also a tin of baby new potatoes. added all these together and then cooked a suet crust pastry lid separately. went down a storm.
i was also a believer in instant mashed potato - used with "extras" it was a tasty ingredient. a tin of m&s minced steak topped with instant mash and accompanied by peas and carrots were lapped up too.
but i discovered something which they used to ask for when we were home for years after - a cheese and potato pie.
i fried onions in butter [bear with me here], melted grated cheese in milk and then used the milky cheese mixture to make the instant mash [had to add some water too] and then stirred in the buttery onions. topped with extra cheese and put under the grill until brown and accompanied by either sausages or fried eggs [or in the husband's case both] they made a tasty filling dish.
i also had a tin of m&s chicken in white sauce but what i did with that i just don't remember now [this is over 40 years ago!!] but i expect it went down very well.
before my daughter and 2 grandaughters moved in with me i very often made the same meals for quickness as i can't stand for very long to cook the "proper" thing.
hope you have a wonderful camping trip and that it doesn't rain!! it was different in a motor caravan - if it rained then we just drove somewhere else.

My children loved 'Harbour Stew', so called because my DH used to do long distance sailing, and on their last night would use up any tins left in their food store! I used to sling tins of meatballs, baked beans, new potatoes, spaghetti hoops, soup etc into a saucepan and simply reheat. Very yummy!

I agree with dumdum - nothing better than chilli con carne. My recipe is slightly different - mince, onion, green pepper, kidney beans, chilli powder (NOT seasoning) and the magic ingredient of Condensed tomato soup. Can cook in advance and reheat (though the chilli will be more intense if pre-cooked).

Chilli con carne....mince in saucepan plus onions and anything else you can lay your hands on, tin of tomatoes, baked beans, chilli spice ( or a commercial sauce), boil it all up, cook, serve with bag of salad and baguette.

Definitely pub lunches or dinners. Pasta or Tilda rice can do that in the saucepan. I used to get baked beans with sausages in and ordinary baked beans.
Definitely a B&Q if the weather is good.

Do not do pasta. A pot of water takes ages to boil on a little gas stove. Bread with everything is your answer. If you have electric hookup, take a kettle - for cups of tea and the hot water bottles. Salad stuff with bread and butter is the easiest.

One pot food like pasta with a sauce, baked beans, simple stews and yes BBQ. If you have a crock pot and access to electricity on the campsite you can get it ready and come back to it after a day walking or having fun.

This year we took dried mushrooms with us for the first time - so easy to rehydrate and a great addition to one-pot wonders including bacon / chicken, tomatoes, beans and garlic. DH cooked most nights. We bought chips from a van on site one night, but we did invest in a second gas stove - having two rings makes all the difference. We sometimes supplemented with hunks of fresh bread, but had a lot of pasta / rice. Rustic and lovely!

I hope you have a wonderful time. We took our children camping all through their young lives and had the most wonderful 'simple' holidays. Looking forward to repeating the process when GS is a little older!

If you have access to a BBQ lamb chops are lovely, even fish,

Sounds so much fun, hope you enjoy it

Crikey, I've just noticed that loads of posts came in whilst I was writing mine.

I once wrote a blog on this subject. The main rule is: cut everything up before cooking. Saves gas, because it cooks quicker, and the food will not cool down (as it is wont to do if you are eating outdoors) whilst you are cutting it up on the plate - you can just fork or spoon it straight in while it's still hot.

So, basically, just vary stews. If it's really hot out, just chop everything up and put it in a huge bowl, mix it all together and eat it as a salad with some crusty bread.

In both cases, one knife, one board, one saucepan or bowl should be all that is required.

A pressure cooker is a marvellous thing to have with you. Also saves gas!

My mother's camping speciality was "Pot mess". My cousins loved it, and it really was quick and easy. Just tins of veg, tomatoes (for the juice) and corned beef. Maybe start off with cubed potatoes, fry them for a bit, then empty the tins into the pot.

For the first day, I prepared a large stew some days before, and froze it. It defrosted on the journey and, what with pitching tents, connecting up gas cookers and pumping up mattresses, we could sit down to eat as soon as we were finished, as it was a ready meal with no preparation necessary, just needed heating up.

If using a barbeque
bananas left in skins slit down middle with giant chocolate button inserted then wrapped in tinfoil and chucked on the Barbie

I used to love camping. The smell of the tent, sitting out of an evening wrapped up looking at the stars.
Really you are all day in the fresh air and it is a completely natural existence with daylight and darkness.

I wouldn't mind giving it a go but not sure my body would ever manage getting off the ground!

Wurst and bottled potato salat and bottled red cabbage, beer, raddler, fizzy drink. German food is lovely at a camp.

Excellent ideas here - thanks. I could probably prepare the mash for the sausage and mash in advance and freeze? Should thaw in day or so and be ready for just heating up on camping stove. Thanks for the marshmallow reminder Lynda!
No electricity there anya.

Don't forget to take marshmallows Beanio sounds delicious gagagran. Might not wait till a camping trip to try that one out.

I was a Guider in the 1970s-80s and went to many Guide camps where I cooked for a week over a wood fire, 3 x times a day (plus a hot bedtime drink) for 20+ guides and leaders.

One favourite was "Beanio" which is baked beans plus any other tinned beans you may like with chunks of potato and onion and chopped up cooked sausages. Savoury mince with rice or potatoes, corned beef hash, stew and variations on, all formed part of the menu. Hot dogs were easy to do too.

There are some recipe sites on google for scout camps which might inspire ideas! Hope you enjoy it and the family too.

All in one pan corned beef hash with lots of onions buy some freshly baked baguettes and load up with butter and tuck in and enjoy

Will you have an electrical hook-up?