There's a moment on every camping trip when the s'mores-and-hot-dogs routine starts feeling tired. A new roundup of campfire recipes from the Backpacker/Outside Online kitchens makes a strong case for upgrading that menu — seventeen dishes covering everything from breakfast to dessert, all built around coals and cast iron rather than a camp kitchen you'd need a trailer to haul.
The breakfast options alone are a step up from instant oatmeal. Picture pears with granola on a slow morning, fluffy pancakes that swing sweet with maple syrup or savoury with sour cream and chives, and a simple, not-too-sweet pastry the editors compare to something out of a family kitchen — good enough to serve as breakfast or dessert.
The savoury mains are where it gets interesting. One no-fuss diner favourite is assembled right in a bag, meaning zero pots and zero washing up — you eat straight from the pouch. A Washington-based cooking instructor named Charlie Borrowman contributes a spice-rubbed take on fresh-caught trout, while another recipe dresses up grilled salmon for cooks ready to move past foil-packet basics. There's even a prep-ahead camp pizza billed as a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, and a handmade pasta dish for anyone who refuses to leave home-cooked comforts behind.
A couple of recipes borrow from further afield. A Turkish classic gets upgraded with shelf-stable Spanish chorizo roasted on the coals, served inside roasted zucchini so there's literally nothing to wash afterwards. And a Mexican-inspired first-night dish can be prepped at home before you leave, ready for the flames when you arrive.
Then come the desserts, which lean properly decadent. A camping-friendly riff on an Italian confection that the editors say you'll dream about. A camp version of ice cream for when the craving hits miles from a freezer. An apple pie built on cinnamon, cardamom and ginger that works on summer nights as well as chilly autumn ones. And two cheeky twists on tradition: s'mores made with actual cheese (one editor swears by Dubliner), and a Thanksgiving sweet-potato mashup using graham crackers, instant sweet potato, marshmallows and fall spices.
The most party-friendly option might be the campfire cone: stuff a waffle cone with toffee and chocolate, wrap it, and let the heat do the work. Two practical tips come free with the recipe — you can swap in four chopped 1.4-ounce chocolate-covered toffee bars if you don't have plain toffee bits, and don't overfill the cones or they won't melt evenly.
Why should a traveller care? Because camp cooking is often the weak link in otherwise great trips, and almost all of these recipes are designed around real constraints: minimal cleanup, ingredients that survive a pack, and prep you can do at home. They're as useful for a campsite in the Alps as for a fire pit in the Rockies. Whether you're feeding friends at a festival pitch or cooking solo after a long hike, the common thread is that good food doesn't require a kitchen — just managed coals, a little forward planning, and the willingness to eat pasta out of a zucchini with your fingers, if that's where the night takes you.
