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Campfire Recipes

Ten campfire favorites for campers, cooked over coals, on a grate, or in a Dutch oven — chili for a crowd, foil packets that leave no pot to wash, popcorn and s'mores for the evening, and a skillet hash for the morning. Every recipe lists what you need, the steps in order, and one tip that makes it come out right.

1. Classic campfire chili

A thick, warming pot that feeds a crowd and tastes even better the second night.

Serves 6 · About 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds ground beef
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cans (15 ounces each) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
  • 1 cup water

Steps

  1. Set a Dutch oven over a bed of hot coals or a camp stove on medium heat.
  2. Brown the ground beef with the onion, breaking the meat into small pieces, until the meat is cooked all the way through with no pink left, about 10 minutes. Spoon off the extra fat.
  3. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and salt and cook for 1 minute.
  4. Add the beans, tomatoes, and water and stir well.
  5. Cover and simmer gently for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring now and then, until thick.
  6. Taste, add salt if it needs it, and serve hot.

Tip: Make it at home before the trip, freeze it flat in a zip bag, and let it thaw in the cooler — dinner is then just a reheat.

2. Foil-packet campfire nachos

Crisp chips, melty cheese, and everyone's favorite toppings, cooked right in the fire.

Serves 4 · About 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 bag (about 12 ounces) sturdy tortilla chips
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar or Mexican-blend cheese
  • 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup cooked chicken or cooked ground beef (optional)
  • 1/2 cup salsa, plus more for serving
  • 1/4 cup sliced pickled jalapeños (optional)
  • Sour cream, for serving

Steps

  1. Tear off a large sheet of heavy-duty foil and lay half the chips in the middle.
  2. Sprinkle on half the cheese, beans, meat if using, and jalapeños.
  3. Add the rest of the chips and toppings on top.
  4. Fold the foil into a sealed packet with room inside for steam.
  5. Set the packet on a grill grate over medium coals for 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
  6. Open the packet carefully — the steam is hot — spoon salsa and sour cream over the top, and eat straight from the foil.

Tip: Sturdy, thick chips hold up. Thin restaurant-style chips go soggy and break.

3. Campfire popcorn

Fresh popcorn over the fire, shaken in a foil packet or a lidded pot.

Serves 4 · About 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup popcorn kernels
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • Salt, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter (optional)

Steps

  1. For a foil packet: lay the kernels and oil in the middle of a large sheet of heavy-duty foil.
  2. Fold it into a sealed packet, leaving plenty of room inside for the popcorn to expand, and tie or hold it with long tongs.
  3. Hold the packet just above hot coals and shake it steadily.
  4. Listen for popping. When the pops slow to one every few seconds, take the packet off the heat.
  5. Open it away from your face, pour the popcorn into a bowl, and season with salt and melted butter if you like.

Tip: Keep shaking the whole time. A still packet burns on the bottom before the top kernels pop.

4. S'mores, three ways

The classic, plus two simple twists that use the same fire and the same graham crackers.

Serves 4 (two s'mores each) · About 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 16 graham cracker squares (8 whole crackers, broken in half)
  • 8 large marshmallows
  • Classic: 4 squares of milk chocolate
  • Peanut butter cup: 4 peanut butter cups
  • Banana: 1 banana, sliced into thin rounds, plus 4 more chocolate squares

Steps

  1. Lay out the graham cracker squares. Put the chocolate square, peanut butter cup, or a few banana slices with a chocolate square on half of them.
  2. Toast a marshmallow on a stick over the fire, turning it slowly, until it is golden all over and soft in the middle.
  3. Slide the hot marshmallow onto a dressed cracker half.
  4. Press the second cracker half on top, hold for about 20 seconds so the chocolate softens, and eat.

Tip: Warm the dressed cracker half near the fire for a minute first — the chocolate melts all the way through instead of staying firm.

5. Foil-packet sausage and vegetables

Smoked sausage, potatoes, and peppers cooked together in their own steam — no pot to wash.

Serves 4 · About 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 pound fully cooked smoked sausage, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
  • 4 medium potatoes, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
  • 2 bell peppers, chopped
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • Salt and black pepper, to taste

Steps

  1. Divide the sausage, potatoes, peppers, and onion among four large sheets of heavy-duty foil.
  2. Drizzle the oil over each pile and sprinkle on the garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Toss each pile with your hands so everything is coated.
  3. Fold each sheet into a sealed packet with room inside for steam.
  4. Lay the packets on a grill grate over medium coals.
  5. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes, turning the packets once halfway through.
  6. Open one packet carefully and check a potato piece — it should be soft all the way through. Serve straight from the foil.

Tip: Cut the potatoes small. They take the longest; small pieces finish at the same time as everything else.

6. Dutch-oven cornbread

Golden cornbread baked in coals, ready to sit beside chili or stand on its own with butter.

Serves 8 · About 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups cornmeal
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup melted butter, plus a little more for the oven

Steps

  1. Set a 10- or 12-inch Dutch oven over coals to heat, and grease the inside with butter.
  2. Mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
  3. In a second bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, and melted butter.
  4. Pour the wet mix into the dry mix and stir just until there are no dry patches — a few lumps are fine.
  5. Scrape the batter into the hot, greased Dutch oven and put the lid on.
  6. Set the oven on a bed of coals with more coals spread on the lid. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is golden and a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean.
  7. Rest it for 10 minutes before slicing.

Tip: More coals belong on the lid than underneath. Most of the heat should come from the top, or the bottom browns too fast.

7. Campfire quesadillas

Crisp tortillas and melted cheese, made one at a time in a skillet or straight on the grate.

Serves 4 · About 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 8 large flour tortillas
  • 3 cups shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup cooked chicken, chopped (optional)
  • 1/2 cup canned black beans, drained (optional)
  • Butter or oil, for the skillet
  • Salsa and sour cream, for serving

Steps

  1. Heat a skillet over medium coals or a camp stove and add a little butter or oil.
  2. Lay a tortilla in the skillet and cover half of it with cheese, plus chicken or beans if using.
  3. Fold the tortilla in half over the filling.
  4. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until the tortilla is crisp and golden and the cheese is melted.
  5. Repeat with the rest, cut each one into wedges, and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Tip: Put a thin layer of cheese against both sides of the filling — it melts into a glue that keeps everything inside when you flip.

8. Walking tacos

Taco filling spooned into a small bag of corn chips — no plates, no washing up.

Serves 6 · About 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
  • 1 packet (about 1 ounce) taco seasoning, or 2 tablespoons of your own blend
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 6 small single-serving bags of corn chips
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 cup shredded lettuce
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • Sour cream and salsa, for serving

Steps

  1. Brown the ground beef in a skillet or Dutch oven over the fire, breaking it into small pieces, until it is cooked all the way through with no pink left. Spoon off the extra fat.
  2. Stir in the taco seasoning and water and simmer for 5 minutes, until thick.
  3. Open each chip bag along the top and gently crush the chips a little with your hand.
  4. Spoon the hot meat over the chips in each bag.
  5. Add cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and salsa right into the bag.
  6. Hand each person a fork and eat straight from the bag.

Tip: Set the toppings out and let everyone build their own — it is the easiest camp dinner there is for a mixed-age group.

9. Cinnamon-sugar campfire apples

Soft, warm apples in a foil packet, tasting like the middle of an apple pie.

Serves 4 · About 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 firm apples
  • 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup raisins or chopped nuts (optional)

Steps

  1. Core each apple and cut it into wedges or thick slices.
  2. Divide the apple pieces among four sheets of heavy-duty foil.
  3. Dot each pile with butter and sprinkle on the brown sugar and cinnamon. Add raisins or nuts if using.
  4. Fold each sheet into a sealed packet.
  5. Lay the packets on the grate over medium coals and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the apples are soft.
  6. Open carefully and eat straight from the packet, or spoon over oatmeal or ice cream.

Tip: Firm apples hold their shape. Soft eating apples turn to sauce — good sauce, but know which one you are making.

10. Skillet breakfast hash

Crisp potatoes, peppers, and eggs in one big skillet to start a camping day.

Serves 4 · About 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons oil or butter
  • 1 cup cooked sausage or ham, chopped (optional)
  • 6 large eggs
  • Salt and black pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 cup shredded cheese (optional)

Steps

  1. Heat the oil or butter in a large skillet over medium coals or a camp stove.
  2. Add the potatoes in one layer and cook for about 15 minutes, turning now and then, until they are golden and nearly soft.
  3. Add the pepper, onion, and sausage or ham if using, and cook for 5 more minutes, until the vegetables are soft and the potatoes are cooked through.
  4. Season with salt and pepper and spread the hash flat in the skillet.
  5. Make six small wells in the hash and crack an egg into each one.
  6. Cover the skillet with a lid or foil and cook for 5 to 8 minutes, until the egg whites are set and the yolks are done the way you like them.
  7. Sprinkle cheese over the top if using, let it melt for a minute, and serve from the skillet.

Tip: Cut the potatoes the night before and keep them in water in the cooler — drained and dried in the morning, they crisp faster and breakfast lands sooner.