Don’t stress about planning your camping menu! Here is a simplified camping grocery list with the essentials for a weekend camping trip. Simple camping meal and snack ideas included too.

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Tips for Meal Planning for Camping

How to Use this List

The Weekend Camping Grocery List

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Quick and Easy Camping Meal Ideas

When planning a camping trip, the second most popular question—following “Where should we go?”—is probably, “What are we going to eat?” Planning food for a camping trip can sometimes be overwhelming because we don’t always have access to the comforts of our home kitchen, like an oven, stovetop, our different gadgets, and plenty of refrigerator storage. Our camp kitchen may look more like a cooler, a storage bin or two, or maybe just a grocery bag of items we grabbed last minute on our way out. 

In my opinion, the best camping food is food that is simple, easy to make, and obviously delicious. But keeping food simple doesn’t mean it has to be boring. By combining key staples in several different ways, we can be sure to keep meals exciting, delicious, and simple. 

This grocery list is geared towards the weekend camping trip for a small family or group of 4 to 6 people. It’s meant to give you a good starting point on how to plan and what to pack for a 2 to 3-day camping trip. I’ve also included meal ideas in addition to the grocery list, to offer inspiration and guidance on how to combine the ingredients into quick and easy meals!

Tips for Meal Planning for Camping

1. Simple is best. No need to plan extravagant meals with a long list of ingredients (unless, of course, you enjoy that!). You can easily create flavourful and fun camping meals using simple ingredients or utilizing some pre-made/convenience foods like canned soups, instant rice packages, bagged salads, tortellini/ravioli noodles, pre-made spice mixes like taco seasoning, etc.

2. Consider what type of activities you’ll be doing and whether you’ll be at camp for meals or on-the-go. If it’s a more relaxed, sit-around-the-campfire type of trip, planning more involved meals may be something fun to include (like lasagna, pancakes, French toast, etc.). If you know you’ll be busy fishing, hiking, biking, swimming, etc., opt for quick and easier enter skip to bottom*** type of meals. The best food to bring while camping is that which works around your schedule.

3. Plan meals that won’t spoil quickly. Unless you have a refrigerator in your trailer, many of us are relying on a cooler with ice to keep our perishable foods cool. Plan to eat any meals with perishable items, like fresh meat, at the beginning of your camping trip and plan to have meals using non-perishable items, like pasta with canned sauce, near the end.

4. Assess what ingredients may be able to be prepped ahead of time to save on cooking time while you’re out there. Wash and cut vegetables, prep a cold pasta salad, or pre-cook dishes that won’t spoil easily.

5. Don’t forget the snacks! Especially if we know we’re going to be on-the-go or away from camp during the day, snacks are important to keep ourselves energized for all the days adventures.

How to Use This List

1. Before heading to the grocery store, read through the grocery list and meal ideas below and make a quick list of the meals you want to make during your camping trip (and don’t forget the snacks!). 

2. Cross out any ingredients on the list that you won’t need for the meals you have selected, and add any ingredients that you will need. 

3. Cross-reference the ingredients on your list with the ones you already have at home to avoid buying products you don’t need. 

4. Print the list, write it down, or have it on your phone before heading to the grocery store.

The Weekend Camping Grocery List

Fresh Produce:

• Fruit, such as apples, bananas, oranges, nectarines, grapes

• Vegetables for snacking, such as carrots, cucumbers, peas, celery, bell peppers

• Bagged salad mix

• Lettuce or spinach 

• Potatoes 

• Onions

• Corn on the cob or other seasonal vegetables 

Dairy:

• Butter 

• Milk 

• Yogurt

• Cheddar cheese 

Meat:

• Bacon 

• Burger patties (homemade or store-bought)

• Deli meat 

• Ground beef 

• Smokies/hot dogs 

• Canned tuna 

• Eggs 

Pantry:

• Pancake mix 

• Large tortilla wraps 

• Burger/hot dog buns 

• Bread 

• Crackers 

• Oatmeal packets 

• Cereal 

• Granola

• Ramen/instant noodle packages 

• Salt 

• Pepper 

• Taco seasoning 

• Cooking oil 

• Canned beans 

• Canned corn

• Chips

• Popcorn

• Pretzels 

• Chocolate 

• Trail mix 

• Granola bars 

• Muffins 

• Cookies 

• Beef jerky or pepperoni sticks 

• Fruit cups 

• S’mores items (marshmallows, chocolate, graham crackers)

Spreads/Condiments: 

• Ketchup

• Mayonnaise 

• Mustard 

• Hot sauce 

• Syrup 

• Salsa 

Drinks:

• Water

• Coffee 

• Tea

• Hot chocolate 

• Beer/wine

Cooking supplies:

• Aluminum foil

• Bowls, plates, cups

• Silverware

• Can opener

• Biodegradable dish soap

• Paper towels & dish cloths

• Scrubbers/sponge 

• Skewers

• Tablecloth

Other supplies:

• Batteries for flashlights, headlamps 

• Flashlight

• Sunscreen 

• Insect repellent

• First aid supplies

• Matches/lighter 

• Trash bags

NOTE: This is NOT a full gear list, just a grocery list for when purchasing food and simple supplies from the grocery store. You will still need to plan for your camping equipment like camp stove, propane, table, chairs, tent, etc. A full gear list blog post will be coming soon!

Quick and Easy Camping Meal Ideas

Breakfast Ideas 

• Hot oatmeal or cereal and milk 

• Overnight oats (prepped at home)

• Yogurt, granola, and fruit salad  

• Pancakes 

• Scrambled eggs or tofu, bacon, and toast 

• Breakfast tacos (using tortilla wraps, scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, salsa)

• Breakfast skillet scramble (using eggs, leftover potatoes, leftover BBQ meat, cheese, onion, corn) 

Lunch Ideas 

• Quesadillas (using tortilla wraps, cheese, leftover meat)

• Sandwiches (using bread, deli meat, cheese, condiments)

• Grilled cheese sandwiches (using bread, cheese)

• Wraps (using tortilla wraps, deli meat or grilled tofu, cheese, lettuce, condiments)

• Canned tuna, cheese and crackers 

• Instant noodles with boiled egg, spinach, green onion

Dinner Ideas

• Burritos (using tortilla wraps, ground meat, cheese, salsa, lettuce)

• Burgers (using burger buns, hamburger patties, cheese, lettuce, condiments) with bagged salad mix and/or foil packet potatoes 

• Hot dogs/smokies (using smokies, buns, condiments)

• Tin foil packet meal with chopped smokies, potatoes, onion, corn 

• Chili (using ground beef, canned beans, canned vegetables) 

• Tortellini pasta with pre-made pasta sauce

• Chicken or tofu and vegetable skewers

• Pie iron sandwiches or pizzas

• Sloppy joes. Filling could be prepped at home, frozen and stored in cooler, then reheated over camp stove/campfire.

Snacks

• Trail mix 

• Granola bars 

• Muffins/homemade cookies

• Chips/popcorn/pretzels

• Chocolate 

• Beef jerky or pepperoni sticks 

• Fresh fruit or fruit cups 

• Fresh vegetables cut up with hummus or tzatziki dip

Now that you have your grocery list and menu planned, you’re one step closer to a fun and delicious camping trip! Remember to always practice leave no trace principles and dispose of food waste and garbage properly. Happy camping!