Spend Less Time Cooking Around The Campfire With This Genius Hack

Going camping is a lovely experience whether it's with your friends, family, or just by yourself. However, the one thing about camping is that cooking outdoors can be time-consuming. This is because you have to first prep and chop all your ingredients and then cook everything over a flame that doesn't supply consistent heat — all without access to the tools you normally use at home. In the end, cooking over a campfire can take you out of the natural experience and land you directly in a frustrating experience. Luckily, there's one super easy way to avoid this problem on your next camping trip by bringing a precooked meal and then reheating it over the fire.

This method is great because it takes all the hassle out of the cooking process but still allows you to spend time near the fire enjoying the smell of a nice coal-cooked meal. Reheating food over the campfire works especially well for dishes that contain a broth like chili, soup, or even curry because it can add an extra layer of smoky flavor. To do this, simply make your dish before you leave when you have access to all your kitchen tools (and most importantly, your dishwasher), and then transfer the meal to a large Ziploc bag and bring it with you. Once you are ready to eat at the campsite, simply dump the contents of the bag into a pot over the fire. 

However, it is important to know that this camping meal-prep method doesn't only work for broth-based foods like soup and chili but can also work for a whole host of other delicious meals. Another great pre-cooked campfire meal option is pancakes because they can be made before you leave, stored, and then reheated the next morning over a fire for a wholesome breakfast. A great lunch option is toasted sandwiches and cheese melts. Simply assemble the sandwich and bring it with you, then toast it on a pan over the fire until the cheese is nice and gooey.

If you know you and your camping partners enjoy sitting around the bonfire, you can take advantage of this time to cook food on skewers. This method works for anything from hot dogs and bratwursts to kebabs. For kebabs, simply chop and prep all the veggies and meats beforehand and then store them in a Ziploc bag. Kebabs are a great option for large groups because each person can customize the kebabs to their taste. For some extra flavor, you can try coating the meat and veggies in seasoning or marinade before storing them in a Ziploc bag. Then, by the time you are at the campsite and arranging the ingredients on skewers, they will be jam-packed with flavor.

Now that you've decided on your pre-cooked campfire meal, it's time to take a look at some options for side dishes. One great idea for this is a baked potato. Baked potatoes are a great camping side dish option because all you have to do is wrap them in foil and then place them directly on the coals of the fire and let them sit while you warm up your main course. Then, when they are done, you can simply cut and serve the potatoes in the foil with toppings like butter or sour cream.

If you are going the chili or soup route for the main course, a classic side dish is a piece of buttered bread. While you can always buy bread from the store and bring it with you, another option that is also a fun activity for kids is to make stick bread. Stick bread is a German campfire tradition (like S'mores in the U.S.) and is done by making a bread dough beforehand and bringing it with you to the campsite in a sealable bag or container. Then, simply roll out the raw dough into long strands, wrap them around the end of a stick or skewer, and cook it over the fire.