5 Easy Camping Recipes [5 Ingredients or less]

 When you are out camping, hiking, and backpacking you have a lot on your plate. Sadly, gourmet food is usually not one of them. It can be down right impossible to pack enough food and gear to make delicious and varied meals, right? Wrong! With the right know-how you can make amazing food without a lot of gear or ingredients. Check out these 8 easy camping recipes that use 5 ingredients or less and you'll never cook (or eat) the same way again.

CAMPFIRE SCRAMBLED EGGS

Prep time : 6 mins

Level : Easy

Ingredients

• Eggs
• Water
• Clarified Butter

Everyone makes scrambled eggs, but when you master this recipe, it will be a high reward when you are coming back from a long climb, or after a long hiking day.

Add the ingredients to a low heat frying pan. I like to leave the egg yolks unbroken at first. If one breaks while cracking, that's fine. Start off away from the fire and just stir, getting the egg whites and water to mix. Then put the pot over the fire. Once the eggs start to get warm you can break the yolks and get the eggs all mixed together. At this point the butter should start to melt, too. Once the butter is melting take the pan off the heat and keep stirring. You want to keep taking the eggs off the heat and then back on.

We're looking for a slow warm that barely cooks the eggs and allows the butter to melt, but nothing more. It's usually going to be a routine of 30 seconds over the fire, 15 seconds off. Once the butter is completely melted and mixed together you can leave the eggs on the fire a little bit longer. Keep stirring until your eggs just come together. Your eggs will not seem done, and they aren't. But take it off the heat anyway. The residual heat in the pan will take your eggs to perfection. Oh, by the way, you can cook yours eggs at home like this, too.

LIGHTLY FRIED FISH FILLETS

Prep time : 10 mins

Level : Medium

Ingredients

• 1 Pound Fish Fillets
• 1 Cup Buttermilk Pancake Mix
• 1 Cup Flour
• ¼ Cup Cooking Oil

1. We want the Oil to be nice and hot right when we have finished preparing our Fish Fillets, so we should heat that up now.
2. We need our Fish Fillets to be cleaned and dried. You could buy these Fish Fillets from a store, but hopefully you caught, skinned, cleaned, de-boned, and dried them yourself (because I can't do that). Anyway, take your Fish Fillets and dredge them in the Flour. We want just an even coating of flour all over the fish.
3. Now we want to mix the Pancake mix and about ¾ Cup of water together. Mix it with a fork until it is smooth. Now we want to take our floured Fish Fillets and dip them in the Batter. Again, we want an even coating.
4. Put these Fish Fillets into the oil and cook until the outside is Golden, Brown, and Delicious. Once the outside is done the inside should be nice, moist, and shiny. Only cook two at a time as over crowding the pan when frying is a big No-No.
5. Once they are all done (and you ate the first Lightly Fried Fish Fillet just to make sure it was done) let them drain a little bit on a paper towel. After that you can sprinkle a little dill, pepper, or lemon on them, but that's not really needed. They are pretty perfect just the way they are.

CAMPING QUESADILLAS

Prep time : 15 mins

Level : Easy

Ingredients

• Favorite type of tortilla
• Cheddar or jack cheese
• Black beans
• Fresh jalapeños
• Ground beef or shredded chicken

1. On medium-high heat, preheat a sizable skillet (cast iron works excellent). With a spatula, add a tiny quantity of oil (1/2 teaspoon) and spread it all over the bottom of the pan (you could use butter as well).

   Place a single, large flour tortilla in the pan. 10 seconds should pass between each time the tortilla is turned over. It should start to develop air pockets.

2. Take a handful of grated cheese and sprinkle it on top of the tortilla as air pockets start to form, being careful to avoid getting any cheese on the pan.

   Add some chopped cooked chicken to your quesadilla to make it a chicken version. Including green onions, sliced mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, and other seasonings as desired.

   Because this is a quesadilla and not a quiche, be careful not to put the contents on too thickly.

3. Cover the pan and lower the heat to low. By this time, the skillet ought to be sufficiently hot to retain enough heat to melt the cheese and brown the tortilla. Remove the quesadilla from the heat if it starts to smoke excessively.

   Check to see if the cheese has melted after a minute. If not, put the top back on and wait until the cheese melts, checking every minute.

4. Use a spatula to raise up one side of the quesadilla and turn over the other side, much like you would when creating an omelette, once the cheese has fully melted.

   By now, the tortilla ought to have a light brown colour. If it is not browned, increase the heat to high and turn the quesadilla over approximately every 10 seconds until it is.

5. Slice some iceberg lettuce very thinly to form the lettuce that will go with the quesadilla. Salt and apple cider vinegar should be added.

BEEF, AND BEANS CASSEROLE

Prep time : 15 mins

Level : Easy

Ingredients

• ¾ Pound Ground Beef
• 20 Ounces Canned Baked Beans
• Tomatoes Sauce
• 1 Can of Biscuits

1. This is very easy meal to prepare with all in one pot. Tasty and filling Dinner is just perfect for cold evenings. Cook the Ground beef until it is just done. Add Baked Beans, and Sauce to the skillet. Stir this until it becomes well mixed and comes to a boil.
2. Take it off of direct fire (think low to medium heat) and layer out the biscuits on top of the Meat and Bean mixture. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the biscuits are golden, brown, and delicious.

ASH-ROASTED POTATOES

Prep time : 10 mins

Level : Easy

Ingredients

• Gold potatoes
• 2 tbsp. Olive oil
• Garlic
• 1 c. freshly grated Cheese
• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

1. This is one of my favourite recipes during camping. Prepare a Med-high temperature pile of ashes next to the fire (estimation of 425º).
2. Cut 4 large pieces of foil about 10" long. In a large bowl, toss potatoes with olive oil, chopped garlic, and season with salt and pepper.
3. Divide potatoes between foil pieces, then fold the foil packets crosswise to completely cover the potatoes. Roll the top and bottom edges to seal them closed.
4. Place foil packets under the ashes and cook until just cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. (You can check using a knife, it goes easily inside the potatoe if it is cooked.)
5. Unwrap the foil packets and sprinkle cheese on top of the potatoes. Fold foil back over the potatoes and cook until cheese is melty, about 3 to 5 minutes.
6. goog_690086260Top with parsley and serve warm.