Weekend Camping Trip Menu for Families

By Carrie Willink

If you are like me, you love camping but sometimes the thought of food preparation sounds overwhelming. Camping should be about unplugging, enjoying the outdoors and those around you. So I decided to layout an easy 2-day camping trip menu plan for 6 people. Perfect for that weekend camping trip. Feel free to take this plan and tailor it to you!

I see a lot of blogs with recipes and ideas but if you are like me you want more than this. What will and will not work once you get there. This menu is one I did with 6 people and it worked smoothly. Not only did I have that time for a cup of coffee but I also had time to take a shower once. Crazy, right?

Below is a menu, supply list, grocery list, prep work, and cooking. I hope you can copy the ideas and enjoy with your family!

Pre-Trip Meal Prep

An average of 1 hour of prep work, not including your trip to the store 🙂

• Bake or stovetop cook a pack of bacon. Let cool, store in a gallon bag.
• Scramble 12 eggs, store in a seal-tight container.
• Slice up raw chicken into strips
  • Over a stovetop cook the chicken until golden brown. 
  • Add Ortega taco seasoning (to your tasting, we prefer a 1/2 of a pack) and 2 teaspoons of canola oil over low heat. Cook in seasoning.  Let cool, store in a gallon bag.
• Buy a pre-cooked ham. Slice. In a gallon bag add ham, 3 tablespoons of water & 1 cup brown sugar overnight.
• Cut up two packages of strawberries into slices. Store in seal tight container.

Menu and on-location meal prep

Breakfast 1

Breakfast sandwiches and yogurt parfaits. Coffee to drink.

Sandwiches: Using your propane camping stove, scramble the eggs… put cheese on top to melt. Set aside. Warm up bacon. Set aside. Butter each English muffin bread and toast each side. Assemble your sandwich!

Pro tip 1: If you have a helper, have them put the bacon over the fire while you do the eggs
Pro tip 2: Don’t forget to set aside some eggs for tomorrow after cooking them.

Lunch 1

Chicken quesadillas. Water or soda to drink.

Quesadillas: Oil pan, warm up 3/4 of your chicken (save the rest of the chicken for tomorrow’s breakfast)! Set aside. On medium heat, lightly oil pan again. Throw a taco shell on for 5 seconds and flip. Once flipped, quickly put the chicken on half and shredded cheese on full tortilla. Flip the top over making a half-moon shape. Once slightly golden brown flip the moon. Ready to serve!

Dinner 1

Sweet ham & pre-packaged salad. Water or soda to drink.

Sweet ham:  On medium heat, lightly oil pan. Place ham in a single layer on the pan. After 1 min, flip ham. Repeat until hot or edges are golden brown. Serve!
Salad: Prepare packaged salad as told. (Pro tip, don’t forget forks :))

Breakfast 2

Yogurt, strawberries, granola parfaits, chicken and cheese breakfast burritos. Coffee to drink.

Breakfast Burritos: Bring a pan to med heat and lightly oil. Place chicken in the pan to warm up. Set aside. Lightly oil pan again, place taco shell on the pan and after 5 seconds flip. Add chicken, cheese, black beans. Once the cheese is melted, remove and roll up your burrito! Hot sauce and sour cream optional!

Lunch 2

Grilled cheese & tomato soup. Water or soda to drink.

For instructions on how to make grilled cheese sandwiches, check with grandma. 🙂

Pro tip: make sure and butter both sides of the bread before putting it on the pan.

Dinner 2

Hot dogs & brats. Water or soda to drink.

Time to clean up that propane stove. Hot dogs and brats over the fire!

One more tip

Don’t forget your coffee & creamer!  We do the pour-over method and our friends we were camping with did a french press. Each works great, just don’t forget it!

Grocery List

• 3 lbs of chicken
• 2 lbs of pre-cooked ham
• 1 package of hot dogs
• 1 package of brats
• 1 package of bacon
• 2 dozen eggs
• 1 package of string cheese
• 1 large bag of shredded Colby-jack cheese
• 1 tub of sour cream
• 1 bag of pre-prepared salad
• 1 bag of apples
• 2 cartons of strawberries
• 1 pack of English muffins
• 1 pack of bread
• 2 bags of hot dog buns
• 1 can of tomato soup
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 box of Cheese-Its
• 2 boxes of graham crackers
• 1 bag of granola
• Canola oil
• Salt/pepper
• Ketchup
• Hot sauce
• Hershey chocolate bars
• 2 bags of marshmallows
• Butter
• A large tub of vanilla yogurt
• Coffee Creamer
• 1 pound of ground coffee
• Cans of soda
• Water bottles

Supplies Needed

If staying in an Escape campervan, you won’t need any of this!

• 1 cooler
• 1 bin for dry food
• 1 spatula 
• 1 pot
• 1 sauté pan
• 1 (or 2) propane stove
• 1 grill basket flipper
• 2 bowls for mixing/preparing
• 1 box of forks & spoons
• 1 pack of plates
• 1 pack of bowls
• 1 roll of paper towel
• 1 tub of camping cleaning wipes

Way to go! Way to have amazing food while being who knows where!? You’ve seen the expression “eat well,” right? Well, I’d like to add to that: when you book an Escape Campervan, you can “eat well anywhere.” Happy camping!