Camping Food Ideas (dairy Free, Gluten Free Options)
Looking for camping food ideas for your next camping trip? Keep scrolling for breakfast, lunch, and dinner meal ideas as well as snacks and desserts that are so good you’ll wish you ditched the dehydrated stroganoff and instant oatmeal sooner. All recipes are dairy free and can also be made gluten free.
The good news is that camping food doesn’t only mean subsisting on dehydrated beef stroganoff, granola bars, ramen, and instant oatmeal.
There’s nothing quite like having nature right outside your door.
With all that fresh air, it’s only natural that you also want healthy, home-cooked meals that feel fancier than prepackaged food, but are easy enough to prepare.
With a little meal planning and make ahead prep, you’ll be slinging these gourmet meals like it’s your job and wondering why you didn’t stray from the beef stroganoff sooner.
Breakfast Ideas
French Toast with Fresh Berries, Sausage, & Real Maple Syrup
Dairy free french toast is so easy to make but somehow tastes fancier than pancakes. Top it with fresh berries and real maple syrup.
Optional: serve with bacon or chicken maple breakfast sausage links.
Prep ahead: add the eggs, milk, and seasonings to a tightly sealed jar. A mason jar works great for this!
Day of: soak bread in milk mixture and cook until golden brown on each side.
Healthy Yogurt Parfaits
The morning you plan to eat it, layer your favorite yogurt in a cup with granola and seasonal fresh fruit. See what’s in season right now.
Prep ahead: maple tahini granola (nut-free) or 5-ingredient peanut butter granola. You can make either recipe days or even weeks ahead. If you don’t have time to make your own granola, store-bought is fine.
You’ve now created a fresh and healthy breakfast that feels fancy, but took little time to prepare.
Breakfast Hash
Prep ahead: cut up any leftover odds and ins in your fridge and pantry, and add them to a mason jar or airtight container. For ideas, see my healthy breakfast hash.
When you get to the campsite, cook it all up in a skillet with a little olive oil. You’ll have a colorful, home cooked meal in a short amount of time thanks to your pre-chopped ingredients.
Chia Seed Pudding With Strawberry Compote
This healthy breakfast is packed with plant-based protein and fruit that will keep you full and energized until lunch.
Plus, it holds up well in the cooler and can be made before you leave on your trip.
Prep ahead: make the chia seed pudding as well as the strawberry compote. Or get fancy and make Matcha chia pudding.
Quick & Easy breakfast Tostada With Eggs
Instead of just eating boring scrambled eggs you can pile them onto a crispy tostada shell smeared with refried beans and top with any fixings of your choice.
If you’re anything like my family, you’re likely already bringing a jar of salsa with chips for snacks, so now you can repurpose it by adding a drizzle on top of your breakfast tostadas.
Prep ahead: there’s no need to prep anything. Everything can be done the morning of.
Brown Sugar Cinnamon Oatmeal
Forget those instant oatmeal store-bought packets because homemade oatmeal couldn’t be easier. Plus there are no artificial flavors, just a few really simple ingredients.
Prep ahead: place the old fashioned oats, brown sugar and ground cinnamon in an airtight container.
Day of: add the dry ingredients to a small saucepan with the rest of the ingredients and cook according to recipe instructions. It’s ready in under 10 minutes.
Lunch Ideas
Egg Salad With Dill Pickles
Dill pickle lovers will love this flavorful spin on classic egg salad. It’s crunchy, creamy, tangy, savory, and fresh.
Make ahead: egg salad.
Day of: once you get to the campsite, toast your bread, spoon on a thick layer of egg salad and enjoy in either an open faced sandwich or top with lettuce and top with another piece of toasted bread.
Honey Mustard Chicken Salad
A quick, flavor packed lunch with shredded chicken, crunchy vegetables, crisp apples, and roasted nuts in a creamy honey mustard dressing.
It’s sweet and savory and is one of my favorite lunches. It’s delicious scooped up with crackers or enjoyed on toasted bread as an open face sandwich.
Prep ahead: make the chicken salad.
Day of: enjoy on bread, in a lettuce wrap, or with crackers.
Mexican Chicken Salad Tostadas
Chicken salad tostadas are packed with protein, fresh vegetables, and a crunchy tostada shell. And if you’re already making breakfast tostadas, it’s one less item you have to bring.
Prep ahead: make the salad (minus the avocado) and toss with the dressing.
Day of: assemble onto the tostadas and add the cubed avocado just before enjoying.
Spicy Tuna Salad On Toast With Greens
Made with canned tuna and a few other pantry staples, this easy lunch comes together quickly and requires minimal prep. Plus, you can easily adjust the spicy level according to your preference.
Prep ahead: make the tuna salad.
Day of: toast the bread and add greens of choice before assembling.
Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad
Cranberry pecan chicken salad is a sweet and savory recipe with shredded chicken, sweet-tart dried cranberries, crisp apples, and crunchy celery tossed in a creamy lemon dill dressing.
Prep ahead: make the chicken salad the day before leaving. The flavors continue to improve the longer they sit.
Day of: enjoy on bread, in a lettuce wrap, or with crackers.
Veggie Packed Turkey Club Sandwich
A turkey club sandwich layered with colorful vegetables (both quick-pickled and fresh) toasted bread, and a smoky chipotle lime sauce.
Prep ahead: make the chipotle lime mayo at home. And use it for things beyond this sandwich, like the breakfast tostadas, eggs, burgers, or any kind of bowls.
Dinner Ideas
1. Dragon Bowls With Creamy Tahini Sauce
Dragon bowls are super easy to make. I like to use a mix of roasted and fresh vegetables, plus they’re a great way to use up any leftover veg, rice, beans, or protein.
Not only are they packed with flavor, but they’re really customizable.
This is a great camping meal because you can bring frozen shrimp that doubles as an ice pack until thawed.
Prep ahead: dragon sauce.
Fish Tostadas with Slaw
Make ahead: homemade coleslaw (no mayo!).
Frozen fish is a great camping food because it has two purposes: acts as an ice pack and a meal. Bring a batch of DIY taco seasoning to flavor it.
Cook it up by adding your fish to a hot pan with a little oil. Then, break up the fish with a spatula, sprinkle it with taco seasoning, and serve it up on a crunchy tostada shell and top with the coleslaw.
Plant-based option: use black beans instead of fish.
Creamy Peanut Sauce Noodles With Vegetables
Peanut sauce noodles are what you make when you have vegetables in the fridge, noodles, and a jar of peanut butter in the pantry. Add cooked protein for more of a complete meal.
Prep ahead: Thai peanut sauce.
Day of: cook your pasta (you could also use rice), lightly saute vegetables of choice, and a protein of choice (optional) and mix with the sauce.
Pasta with fresh herbs
Make ahead: peel the shrimp (if using).
Using fragrant, fresh, hard-stemmed herbs like rosemary or thyme is a great way to add a lot of flavor to a seemingly simple meal.
A really delicious pasta dish is using sauteed carrots, onions, and garlic with fresh rosemary, a drizzle of raw honey, salt, and pepper plus sauteed shrimp.
Gourmet Dessert Ideas
Elevated Strawberry S’mores
Make ahead: none if you’ve already made the strawberry compote for the chia pudding.
No camping is complete without s’mores. There’s little that compares to the warm chocolate, gooey marshmallows, and crunchy graham crackers.
However, you can take it up a notch by adding some of the leftover strawberry compote. If you love s’mores, you’ve gotta try this combo!
Grilled Fruit with Honey & Ricotta
Make ahead: dairy-free ricotta (optional) or get store-bought.
Stone-fruits work really well: plums, apricots, peaches, nectarines. Cut the fruit in half, remove the pit, and grill for 1-2 minutes on each side. Serve with a dollop of ricotta, a drizzle of honey, and a few chopped nuts.
5 Minute Dairy Free Hot Chocolate
Make ahead: combine all the ingredients at home in a tightly sealed jar and mix well. Grab my 5-minute dairy-free hot chocolate recipe.
When you’re ready for a warm sweet treat, add the contents of the jar to a pan to warm up, and top with marshmallows.
Snack Ideas
Seasoned Popcorn
Make ahead: none.
Make popcorn on the grill by adding popcorn kernels to a pot with oil and a lid. Season with the leftover taco seasoning (it’s incredible on popcorn).
Trail Mix
Make ahead: Homemade Trail Mix.
Whip up a batch of homemade trail mix with all your favorite ingredients to snack on when you’re on a hike. It’s super easy to make and is the best satiating snack.
Helpful Tips
Repurpose Your Ingredients
Bringing vegetables, spices, and other ingredients that can be used for several different dishes makes it much easier and also helps keep it cost-effective.
Cooking Tools
If you plan to do a lot of car camping, getting a Coleman grill is a great investment. Other helpful tools are a cast iron pan (10-inch pan is ideal), metal spatula, knife, cutting board, and tongs.
Be Eco-Minded
Reusable plates, cups, and silverware work well. Avoid single-use plastics to cut down on unnecessary environmental waste.