This year is the year for camping and new camping recipes. More people than ever are going camping, and I’m sure hot dogs and chili get old really quickly. Camp cooking should be fun and delicious. It is about food memories and enjoying other’s company. I don’t know about you, but the food is very important to me when I am camping. Good food is essential for camping.
It’s not just about feeding your body, but it’s about enjoying the process and the successes and failures of cooking over a fire. It’s about enjoying a meal along with family and experiences, to create new traditions and new memories. This year, many camping cookbooks were released, making our camping traditions even better. I am normally the camp cook, and I like finding new camping recipes to keep us full on any outdoor adventure.
Because there are so many different ways to cook over a campfire, each cookbook is unique to a different type of camp cooking. Just reading through these camp cookbooks makes my mouth water. I would consider any of these cookbooks a necessary camping essential. All of these have delicious ideas for camping meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and snacks with a variety of techniques. Here is a list of the top five camping cooks for 2020.
Best Camping Cookbooks With Meal Ideas for This Year
1. “The Castiron Camping Cookbook”
“Cast-iron Camping Cookbook” by Pauline Reynolds-Nuttall – There are over 70 recipes in this cookbook to enjoy and experiment with over a campfire. This cookbook took a village and every single recipe is inspired by someone I know. This cookbook includes tips for setting up a camp kitchen, how to start a fire, how to take care of cast-iron, and how to pack a cooler. There are lots of American favorites and also world-inspired meals too. All meals can be made in a cast iron skillet at home or over a fire.
There are so many family-friendly recipes to choose from, that it will take you a while to run out of camping food ideas. Every recipe in this cookbook was tested multiple times by various people, with lots of tweaking. Most of the recipes are fool-proof and extremely easy to make. It is hard to pick just one, but my favorite camping recipe in this book is the lemon-blueberry campcake recipe. So yummy. This cookbook also has a variety of vegan and vegetarian camping meal recipes. There are also a lot of easy camping meals for the family.
2. “MontYBoca Trail Meals Vista”
“MontYBoca Trail Meals Cookbook Vista Edition” by Chef Steve Corso – Chef Corso is on a mission to change how we eat in the great outdoors. Backpacking and camping meals often consist of free-dried and dehydrated food, but Corso strongly believes that good food should be fresh and delicious, as well as absolutely possible when you are in the backcountry. With MontYBoca, he has started an online community and revolution, to create fresh and delicious meals while camping or hiking. The “Trail Meals Vista Edition” is the follow-up cookbook to the “Trail Meals Origin Edition”.
People like you and I can opt-in to be recipe testers so that the camping recipe collection gets larger so others can enjoy it. In his second cookbook, he adds even more delicious recipes to enjoy. Each recipe has no more than ten ingredients, includes the weight of the ingredients, and tips. This recipe book was completely funded on Kickstarter. You can learn more about becoming part of the community and this cookbook at MontYBoca.com. MontYBoca has changed the way I cook while backpacking and camping in a great way. I use more fresh ingredients now than ever before, without hesitating, so it makes our backpacking adventures even better. This is the best backpacking cookbook, easily fits into any pack with its compact size, and would make a great stocking stuffer. I think this be part of anyone’s backpacking or hiking essentials.
3. “The Easy Camp Cookbook”
“The Easy Camp Cookbook” by Amelia Mayer – For those of you outdoor lovers who have kids, you have probably heard of Amelia from Tales Of a Mountain Mama. This new cookbook (now available on Amazon), combines both easy car camping and backpacking meals for the whole family to enjoy. So many yummy recipes, easy to cook, and family-friendly. I am so excited to share this one. There are lots of great camping and cooking tips too, as well as 100 recipes to choose from. It’s also the perfect size to take along camping.
There are a few recipes that we always make, but there are so many new camping recipes that I cannot wait to try when the camping season starts next year. This cookbook also contains very informative camp cooking tips. Any camping family should get this cookbook. I appreciated the many tips and shortcuts that you can take at home, in order to make these recipes and save time when camping. There are some amazing tin foil and Dutch oven recipes in this book, as well as wonderful family backpacking meals.
4. “The Dutch Oven Camping Cookbook”
“Dutch Oven Camping Cookbook” by Roger Murphy – This new cookbook has all of the basic Dutch oven camping recipes and a few exotic ones as well. I felt that this cookbook is a great way for newbies to Dutch oven cooking, to learn all of the basics. I was pleasantly surprised by how comprehensive this cookbook is, with very helpful tips and instructions. It is definitely a cookbook that any camper would love. Dutch oven cooking can be really intimidating and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve burned food in my Dutch oven.
5. “Wilderness Chef”
“Wilderness Chef: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking Outdoors” by Ray Mears – I accidentally came across this camping recipe book when I was looking for alternative ways to cook over a campfire. I was so blown away because there are ideas and techniques in here that I never would have thought of when cooking over a campfire. He does go into detail regarding more traditional methods of camp cooking like castiron skillets and using camp stoves, but I was fascinated by his simpler and minimalistic approach.
I learned so much from his cookbook about survival and bush cooking, and can’t wait to try some of these ideas next year. I also really enjoyed the stories that are included and found them fascinating. This would be a great cookbook for anyone who is interested in minimalistic camping or bushcraft including foraging.
6. “5-Ingredient Camping Cookbook: Easy, Flavorful Recipes for Eating Well in the Great Outdoors”
This is another one of my cookbooks. It was so much fun to put together these very easy recipes for camping and backpacking. Each recipe is 5 ingredients or less.
7. “Easy Campfire Cookbook: Simple Skillet, Skewer, Dutch Oven, and Foil Packet Recipes for Cooking over Flames and Coals”
This is another great cookbook for any style of camping, with so many ideas for you to add to your meal plan. Pick any style of camp cooking and find some great idea in this cookbook.
I hope you find some great camping recipes for your next camping trip. Any of these cookbooks should be a must-have for camping. It’s nice to find good camping recipes for all types of camping. Do you have any questions about what to cook over a campfire or how to menu plan for camping? Be sure to drop them in the comments below. And as always, be outside with no limits.
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