30 Exciting Camping Recipes for Dinner Around the Campfire
Camping season is all about taking to the great outdoors, enjoying the fresh air, and oohing over the star-studded night sky. It's certainly not about serving white-tablecloth gourmet meals, but that doesn't mean hot dogs on a stick and lukewarm beans in the can are the only options. We've collected 30 easy and crowd-pleasing campfire dinner recipes that will turn even the most outdoor-averse into happy campers.
Whether you're looking to prep cold salads and classic spreads like egg salad and pimiento cheese beforehand—or if you're excited to use your campfire to whip up cast-iron skillet suppers, foil packet dinners, and camp food recipes like juicy burgers and cowboy steak—these will have you covered, so that you can just enjoy being around the flame with your loved ones.
Get your scary campfire stories ready, because these delicious camping dinners will have you itching to pitch a tent.
Foil Packet Red Beans and Rice
Recipe: Foil Packet Red Beans and Rice
This comfort dish just got a travel-friendly makeover. You won't be sorry showing up with these prepped and ready to warm back up.
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Fried Chicken Sliders with Pimiento Cheese
Recipe: Fried Chicken Sliders with Pimiento Cheese
Make a classic pimiento cheese sandwich even more satisfying by stuffing it with store-bought fried chicken tenders. Prep the pimiento cheese spread beforehand and assemble the sandwiches on-site for a quick meal.
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Brined Grilled Chicken with Dipping Sauces
Recipe: Brined Grilled Chicken with Dipping Sauces
This grilled chicken gets a ton of flavor from the brine, made with herbs, garlic, brown sugar, and chiles.
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Ranch Turkey Burgers
Recipe: Ranch Turkey Burgers
Something about ranch just feels like summertime, and these burgers definitely master the ranch-flavored zing.
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Cowboy Pasta Salad
Recipe: Cowboy Pasta Salad
Inspired by our beloved Cowboy Casserole, this recipe uses taco-inspired ingredients such as black beans, corn, cheese, jalapeños, cilantro, and ground beef to create a filling pasta salad to make and take.
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Vera Stewart's Mama's Egg Salad
Recipe: Vera Stewart's Mama's Egg Salad
Prep these classic Southern sandwiches ahead of time and store in a cooler for whenever you need a quick bite to eat.
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Sweet-and-Salty Snack Mix
Recipe: Sweet-and-Salty Snack Mix
This mix will satisfy everyone's craving for something sweet and salty. It's packed with cereal, bite-size pretzels, candy-coated peanut-butter candies, mini marshmallows, and a yummy butter mixture that includes brown sugar and honey.
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Magic Cookie Bars
Recipe: Magic Cookie Bars
These retro bar cookies always please the crowd. One Test Kitchen Professional described them perfectly: "gooey, slightly crunchy, and melt-in-your-mouth, chocolate-coconut heaven."
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Steak-and-Potato Kebabs
Recipe: Steak-and-Potato Kebabs
Steak and potatoes—it's as no-fuss as it gets. These kebabs go from backyard barbecue to campfire grill without missing a beat.
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Sweet Heat Hot Dogs
Recipe: Sweet Heat Hot Dogs
Upgrade your basic campfire hotdogs with sweet-hot pickles, shredded red cabbage, and a creamy topping made of mayo, whole grain mustard, and hot chili sauce.
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No-Bake Granola Bars
Recipe: No-Bake Granola Bars
These bars will double as a post-hike snack and post-dinner sweet.
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Lemon-Basil Chicken Breast Foil Packets
Recipe: Lemon-Basil Chicken Breast Foil Packets
The steam and juices from the chicken, lemon, tomatoes, and butter make for a tender pasta supper that will fill up all the bellies.
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Frito Pie
Recipe: Frito Pie
Any Texan knows that this recipe will feel right at home on the campgrounds. The corn chip-laden dish will be even easier to serve if the chili is made ahead, then reheated and assembled into its Frito pie form over the fire.
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Puppy Chow Snack Mix
Recipe: Puppy Chow Snack Mix
Odds are you've enjoyed this sweet, powder sugar-covered delicacy before, and it's a great option to bring as a huge batch.
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Ham-Stuffed Biscuits With Mustard Butter
Recipe: Ham-Stuffed Biscuits With Mustard Butter
These mini sandwiches are simple but wonderfully tasty. Instead of baking, wrap them in tin foil and throw them over the fire.
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Cranberry Chicken Salad
Recipe: Cranberry Chicken Salad
This spread will see you through when you need a packable dinner that can be kept at the ready in a cooler bag. We dressed up the grocery-store staple with celery, sweet pickle relish, chives, parsley, and seasonal favorite dried cranberries.
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Lemon-Herb Chicken Kebabs
Recipe: Lemon-Herb Chicken Kebabs
Just look at that char, folks. Using chicken thighs will make sure these kebabs don't dry out as quickly.
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S'mores Pie
Recipe: S'mores Pie
Enjoy this old-school camping treat in a whole new way that can be prepped ahead and brought along to serve up later.
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Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
Recipe: Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
This bacon-and-tomato pasta salad is already a crowd-pleaser, but you can make it extra inviting by serving in small Mason jars—which are easily portable!
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Cast-Iron Cowboy Steak
Recipe: Cast-Iron Cowboy Steak
You can't beat the cast-iron crust that this recipe gives to tender steak. It's the ultimate camping meal.
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Skillet Charred Beans
Recipe: Skillet Charred Beans
These soup beans feel wonderfully nostalgic as is, but we really kicked up the flavor with jalapeño chiles and thick-cut bacon.
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Potato Chip Cookies
Recipe: Potato Chip Cookies
Another salty-sweet favorite that will satisfy everyone's post-dinner cravings, these classic chocolate cookies get a salty crunch from crushed potato chips.
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Oatmeal-Caramel Cream Pies
Recipe: Oatmeal-Caramel Cream Pies
This old-fashioned childhood favorite just got even more scrumptious with a surprising salty-sweet caramel filling.
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Potato-Bacon Hash
Recipe: Potato-Bacon Hash
This side will always be welcome around our campfire. The skillet is packed with russet potatoes, bell peppers, onions, and thick-cut bacon.
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Sloppy Joe Carolina-Style Burgers
Recipe: Sloppy Joe Carolina-Style Burgers
This recipe combines two camp meal favorites: Sloppy Joes and burgers. And the crowd will go wild.
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Ham and Dijon Grilled Cheese
Recipe: Ham and Dijon Grilled Cheese
No one will turn down a hearty grilled cheese with ham and Dijon mustard after a full day of outdoor activities.
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Grilled Peach Cobbler
Recipe: Grilled Peach Cobbler
We prefer not to give up our favorite summer cobbler, even for the camping weekend. Turns out, the cast-iron skillet might make it better.
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Top-Shelf Chicken Under a Brick
Recipe: Top-Shelf Chicken Under a Brick
This juicy brick chicken recipe will win the camp crowd over, easy. Crispy chicken and cast-iron skillet potatoes work together in perfect harmony.
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Grilled Pork Meatball Kebabs
Recipe: Grilled Pork Meatball Kebabs
These easy grilled kebabs master a balance of sweet and heat, just how we like it.
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Ginger-Plum Slump
Recipe: Ginger-Plum Slump
A slump is essentially a cast-iron skillet of simmered fruit topped with pillowy, lightly sweet dumplings—which makes it perfect for using a grill or campfire instead of an oven.