Are you tired of eating hot dogs and hamburgers when camping, and are you longing for new family friendly foods that are simple, yet delicious? What if I told you that camping ‘gourmet’ cooking can be simple, quick and cheap - AND kid-friendly?

In this post I will show you how to practice smart and creative meal planning which is essentially using what you already have in your fridge, freezer and pantry and getting creative with your ingredients.

You also get my take on tacos in four different ways using these methods. Remember, you can be creative and add or substitute anything you like.

Establish your cooking conditions

These conditions decide how flexible your meals can be. Flexible meals have ingredients that overlap, can be substituted and can be cooked in various ways.

It’s important to consider how much time you have to cook each day; will you arrive at dinner time and be busy setting up camp when the kids are getting hangry? Will you be in the same spot or on the go?

It’s also necessary to know your cooking options; how you will be cooking your meals? Are there fire restrictions in place which is often the case for most Southwest National Forest during summer season (preventing campfire cooking) and do you have a stove top?

How many are you cooking for? Do you have room for all the ingredients/meals or should you aim for one-pot, few-ingredient meals for bigger groups?

And what do you already have at home? Can you reuse your ingredients so you don’t have to spend much time and money grocery shopping? And can you cook double portion spaghetti sauce next time you serve that at home and keep it in the freezer for your next trip?

Use what you already have

I let my kitchen inventory decide what our meal plan should look like. Let your frozen meats or your expiring vegetables be the inspiration for your meal plan.

Maybe you have canned chickpeas and tomatoes which can become a one-pot chickpea curry. Or perhaps you have chicken and bell pepper or broccoli which can become kebab skewers.

Ground beef and beans/chickpeas are some of my favorite foods to always keep in the house because they are so flexible in their use. It’s easy to find delicious bean curry recipes that reheat nicely or cool quickly.

Use fast-cooking ingredients (meats or beans) or pre-cook from home

Sometimes you have more time at the campsite than in the planning phase at home. For the spontaneous trips (with nothing pre-made in the freezer), make sure you bring fast cooking ingredients (unless you know you have all days to cook).

As mentioned, beans and chickpeas are great quick cooking options. But if you want a more meaty experience, opt for thin cuts of meat such as chicken and flank steak. I also often buy pork tenderloin on sale. This can be used in so many different ways: skewers, cut into patties (chops) or grilled marinaded and whole.

If you have the time, pre-cook, or at least pre-chop, from home for a very quick meal and for less mess and cleanup time. You can also start the cooking process at home and finish it while camping. Roasted sweet potatoes, for example, can be boiled at home and roasted in foil or on a pan at the campsite.

Make it family friendly by keeping a ‘clean’ food on the side

Our kids, like many others I’m sure, are not always interested in our food no matter how kid-friendly it is. But I make sure to overlap with some of the foods or keep one main ingredient clean (tortillas, carrots, corn, fish sticks), so I don’t have to cook two separately meals for us.

You can definitely bring something else for your kids such as precooked mac’n’cheese and chicken, but I love the idea of introducing our kids to what we eat.

Bring healthy snacks so you know that your little ones eat something substantial whether or not they eat their dinner. They will be fine not sitting down for a proper meal for a couple of days as long as they have something fairly healthy in their bellies.

Tacos 4 ways using smart and creative meal planning

We love making tacos when camping, simply because its easy, delicious and easy to be creative with.

I usually include a salad or a ‘pico de gallo’ as well as a meat. If I have other condiments such as sour cream/yogurt, avocado, cilantro, hot sauce, or cheese, I add those as well. But I won’t run extra errands just for that.

You can skip the vegetables entirely, but I love the freshness and flavor they add to a taco - and it makes me feel a little better about eating 2 s’mores later.

I love making my own version of pico de gallo which traditionally calls for tomatoes, chili and onion. I use whatever vegetables I have in the fridge or freezer, often frozen corn, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage or spinach (be careful, spinach tends to wilt after a day).

I find that it doesn’t matter what vegetables I use for tacos as long as I add olive oil, lime and cilantro (If I have it, fresh or dry).

Taco Filling - Use What You Have

I often have at least one of these great taco ingredients in the house: chicken, ground beef, beans, sweet potatoes, fish sticks, flank steak, and cheese.

If you have the time and energy, you can look up easy and delicious marinades and seasoning recipes for the perfect tasting taco filling. I rely on cumin, cilantro/coriander, chili, salt and pepper OR my never-ending Costco tub of Taco Seasoning. Taco seasoning works for everything - even as a dip or dressing when mixed with sour cream or plain yogurt - so you can’t go wrong with this.

Taco #1: Fish Sticks

I made this for a spontaneous trip and everyone loved it. You can dress it up and down depending on what you have and what you like. You can also use other frozen fish that you have.

Pico de Gallo (use what vegetables you have):

Finely chop bell pepper, onion, carrots and cilantro. Add lime and olive oil.

I left carrots out for the kids to eat on the side.

Fish sticks, cooked at the campsite.

Wrapped it all up in a tortillas.

The kids had tortillas or pre-made mac’n’cheese on the side.

Taco #2: Flank Steak

This is more inspired by Fajitas, but there are no rules when it comes to being creative with your meals.

Pre-season your flank steak (or other think cut beef) in taco seasoning. Pre-cook from home or cook onsite. This won’t take long.

Use the same Pico de Gallo from taco #1 or add some fried bell pepper and onions.

I love mixing the best of all worlds, so if I have any fresh herbs at hand, I love making an Argentinian Chimichurri, modified to what ingredients I have. (The original calls for Parsley, cilantro, white wine vinegar, garlic, and olive oil. I often use spinach and arugula lettuce and basil.)

Thin cuts are easy and quick to cook while camping, and can be used in various ways. Here with Chimichurri and tortillas, Fajita style.

Taco #3: Sweet Potatoes

I used this recipe for inspiration. If you have all the ingredients that this recipe calls for, please try to make it. It’s very tasty! But I wouldn’t worry if you don’t have black beans or avocado. Substitute what you can and leave out what you don’t have.

Chop 1-2 sweet potatoes into half inch cubes. (1-2 medium sweet potatoes yields about 2 cups which is 4 servings).

Combine with 2 tablespoons neutral cooking oil (canola), 1 tsp. chili powder (adjust if hot and kids are eating it), half tsp. cumin, half tsp. salt.

Roast on baking sheet for 30 mins. in preheated oven at 425 degrees. Flip after 15 mins. You can reheat the potatoes at your campsite or cook them in foil on the fire.

Serve in tortillas with black beans/onions mix as in the recipe or with your own Pico de Gallo or warm roasted veggies. A sprinkle of queso fresco and some avocado is great as well, but not vital.

Taco #4: Ground beef

Probably the most often cooked taco is the Taco seasoned ground beef. It’s just something we have in the freezer most of the time.

I cook a pack of ground beef (1-1.5 lbs) and use half for tacos, the other half for breakfast burritos.

You can also use seasoned Italian sausage the same way.

Fry some chopped onions (if you have them) and add the meat, followed by taco seasoning. Remember to add a little water to mix it well.

Use the same Pico de Gallo as above, or simply add any or all of the following: lettuce/spinach, tomatoes, sour cream/yogurt, cheese, chili.

Your turn to be creative with your camping meals

So there you have it. Four different ways to cook family-friendly tacos for camping as well as the smart planning principles that go into simple and easy camping meal planning.

Camping meal planning can seem overwhelming with all the options and recipes out there. You probably already have your favorite foods which is great. But it also may start to feel trivial after the same menu of hot dogs and hamburgers for the past 10 trips. It’s easy to find inspiration for camping meals on search engines. But it quickly becomes overwhelming if you end up with an endless ingredient list or packing list. Or if you haven’t considered how much or little time you have for cooking in each day.

Remember to keep it simple so you can enjoy your family adventure. But don’t be afraid to experiment.

Your Camping Meal Planning Made Easy

For all my tips on smart meal planning and how to simplify the meal planning and camping cooking process, check out my upcoming e-book, “Confident Meal Planning”.

You will learn all about different cooking methods, responsible camping cooking and setup, as well as get endless lists of my favorite easy meals and foods for the entire family. I also include my best organizing and planning hacks as well as a printable Meal Planner and Prep Planner to ease your planning process. And you of course also get my sample meal plans for a weekend trip away for a family. And if you worry about how to get your kids to eat anything else than chips while camping, I also include my best tips and tricks for that.

Get on the list now to be the first to receive it.

Happy camping, my friend.