21 creative camping food and drink hacks

Do you know those trick birthday candles that stay lit? They’re funny once, maybe twice, but after that, don’t throw them out. Put them with your camping gear and break them out when the weather gets windy. They’ll stay lit better than matches, so you’ll have an easier time getting your campfire going.

Air drying cookware and dishes can be a tricky and time-consuming process. Instead, invest in a cheap mesh bag—the kind used to haul groceries, laundry, or sports equipment—and put your freshly washed items in there. Then just hang it up to dry!

One way to cut down on clean-up? Instead of traditional tacos or another messy Mexican dish, opt for campfire walking tacos (like these from This Lil Piglet), which are assembled, served, and enjoyed in miniature bags of chips. When you’re finished, just throw the bag away!

Those silica gel packets that come in shoes, bags, or other items can be used to keep your cookware from rusting or getting moldy. Just throw in a couple when you store your pots and pans, and they’ll absorb any lingering moisture.

Go ahead and treat yourself to a six-pack of beer (or root beer!) bottles. Then keep the cardboard container they came in...and you’ve got a new condiment caddy for camping! You can store your ketchup and mustard in it, as well as salt & pepper shakers, napkins, reusable straws, or anything else you’d like.

Pizza is indeed possible while camping, with our favorite method being a parchment paper-lined Dutch oven because of the easy cleanup. However, you can also use foil or a pie iron. Take the Truck has instructions for all three.

Coolers can help keep food chilled for short amounts of time, but if you want to really prolong your grub, freeze what you won’t be using right away. Camping for several days? Assemble a casserole ahead of time and freeze it completely before putting it in your cooler. Bringing a lot of bread? Consider bringing one fresh loaf and one frozen loaf.

Since we’re talking coolers, allow us to upgrade your ice situation. Instead of wasting money or water on cubes, freeze a bunch of water bottles ahead of time and pack your cooler with them They stay frozen longer than small cubes, and when they melt, you’ll have drinkable water. Plus, there’s no need to periodically pour out water.

Want a good way to cook eggs, toast, and your favorite side dishes in one pan without everything running together? Consider making eggs in a basket (a.k.a. egg in a hole, window eggs, hobo eggs, etc.) Tear a hole in a piece of bread (it doesn’t have to be heart-shaped), butter the bread, place it in your pan and crack an egg in the middle. You can then cook hash browns, bacon, sausage, or whatever else you want in the pan without the egg running into everything.

If mason jars aren’t part of your camping prep, you might want to reconsider. Mason jars keep food fresh, they’ll protect food from moisture in your cooler, and you can fill them with anything from oatmeal and yogurt to pre-made salads and marinating meat. And with proper prep using labeled mason jars, there’s also no confusion, no leaks, and no clean-up.

When it comes to campfire cooking, aluminum foil should be your best friend. Of course, you can wrap a potato in foil and bake it in the fire, but why stop there? You can also make corn, mixed veggies, quesadillas, shrimp, popcorn, garlic bread, and even spinach dip.

Planning to have campfire-cooked scrambled eggs or omelets? Save some prep, mess, and cleanup by cracking your eggs ahead of time and putting them in a plastic bottle. Every time you add two eggs to the bottle, mark a line on the side and write the amount. Then give the whole thing a shake to scramble.

Most of us have ditched disposable plastic straws in favor of reusable ones, but if you have any of the former laying around, you can put them to good use. Seal the end by pinching it with a pair of needle-nose pliers and melting the very end with a lighter. Then you can add spices, seasonings, or anything else you need small quantities of, and seal the other end. You can even use a marker to label the straws. If you don’t care about bringing a little extra with you (and want an easier prep), put your spices in pill packs.

The sticks you use to roast marshmallows and weenies? You can also wrap biscuit dough—or better yet: cinnamon bun dough!—around the stick and cook it over an open flame. Then add some butter or icing, and enjoy. Taste of Home has some tips.

If you don’t like poking around the fire with a sharp stick only to lose your melty marshmallow to the fire gods, consider s’mores banana boats instead. All you need are your normal s’more ingredients (marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers), a banana, and foil. Then again, maybe don’t use the normal s’more ingredients—this is your chance to let your sweet tooth join forces with your imagination. Get the details from Fresh Off the Grid.

Another option for less messy s’mores: using cones! Take an ordinary waffle cone, stuff it with mini marshmallows, chocolate, and any other fillings (even fruit!), wrap the whole thing in foil, and stick it on the grill or in your fire. This recipe from Tasty recommends lining the inside of the cone with peanut butter, too!

Place a single scoop of ground coffee into the center of a small coffee filter, tie it up with thread or floss, and repeat. Now you have a stash of single-serve coffees! Just boil some water and drop the pouch in like a bag of tea. 

Instead of mixing up pancakes while camping, do it ahead of time and pour the mix into an empty squeeze bottle. (If you don’t want to buy one, save the plastic squeeze bottle that ketchup comes in.) This is also a great way to get the perfect-sized pancakes. 

This has nothing to do with showering but instead keeping your food cold and bug-free. You can add some ice to a shower cap, set a bowl in the middle, and wrap the elastic part around the bowl to keep cool. Alternately, you can also wrap a shower cap over the top of any bowls or plates of food—works great for plates of meat waiting for their time on the grill—to keep away bugs.

Need to open a can without a can opener? There are several relatively simple ways of using a knife or a spoon—or if you don’t have either, a rock! WikiHow will show you four different ways.

This is more like a survival hack, or just a fun project. Bring an orange with you on your next camping trip. Not only is it a healthy and tasty snack, but if you cut the skin off in just the right way, you can remove the bottom half of the peel, fill it with cooking oil, and light the stem-like the wick of a candle. This YouTube video from Von Malegowski is the best way to learn this one.