5 Easy Camping Recipes and Must-Have Outdoor Cooking Equipment

5 Easy-to-make recipes

Seared Sausages with Apple and Cabbage

Ingredients

1 tsp sunflower or vegetable oil

8 Sausages

2 Apples, cut in half

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 red onion, thinly sliced

½ red cabbage (about 450g), shredded

1 tbsp dark maple syrup or 1 tbsp brown sugar

Method:

Heat 1 tsp oil in a hot skillet, then brown the sausages for 5 minutes, until golden in places. Transfer to a plate.

Add the apples in 1 tsp white wine vinegar, then add to the skillet along with the onion and remaining 1 tsp oil; cook on a medium-high heat for 5 minutes until the onions start to soften and the apples take on a little colour.

Tip in the cabbage and sausages, season, then splash in the maple syrup (or sugar) and 1 tbsp red wine vinegar. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring now and again as the cabbage wilts. Serve and enjoy.

Easy Peasy Camping Nachos

There’s no fancy technique to make nachos, the key is layering.

You’ll need:

400grs tortilla chips

1 tin of tomato sauce or freshly made ‘salsa’

150 grs grated mozzarella cheese

200grs cooked black beans

1 red onion (chopped)

1 green pepper (chopped)

1 red pepper (chopped)

Chopped chillies (optional)

You’ll also need (optional):

Your favourite toppings (guacamole, spicy sauce, coriander to garnish, etc).

Method:

If you have a portable oven, you can use a shallow frying pan or deep baking tray. However, if you have a portable stove/grill, you will need a pan with a lid to allow the cheese at the top to melt.

Start by adding a layer of nacho chips, add a thin layer of tomato sauce, add a thin layer of black beans, followed by some onion, peppers and some cheese. Repeat until you run out of ingredients.

Don’t panic if you don’t have the ‘right’ amount of ingredients, you can always add or swap different elements like sweetcorn, cooked minced beef, cooked chicken, etc., the choice is yours!

Put on a low heat until the cheese has melted. Serve immediately, add your favourite topping (if you want) and enjoy!

Campfire Camembert and Red Onion Relish

Ingredients

For the cheese:

• Whole Camembert cheese in a wooden box
• 1 rosemary or thyme sprig
• 1 tbsp olive oil

For the relish:

• 1 large or 2 small red onions peeled and thinly sliced.
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1tsbp butter
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 ½ tbsp of sugar

Method:

Start by making the caramelised onion on a frying pan: Heat the butter and oil and fry the onions for a few minutes, until these have softened (about 4 minutes on a medium fire). Mix in the balsamic and sugar. Let it simmer for a couple more minutes. Set aside.

Remove the camembert from the wax paper and put it back in its box. Gently score a diamond pattern on the top rind of the cheese. Brush or drizzle the olive oil. Cut the rosemary or thyme into smaller branches and stab them into the cheese.

If you have a camping oven, heat it to 180C and bake the cheese for 12 – 15 minutes.

If you don’t have a portable oven, wrap the box (with the cheese inside) in foil paper and place it over your open fire or barbecue for about 7 - 10 minutes, but it depends on how high the flames are. Don’t worry if you ‘overdo it’, it only means the cheese will be extra gooey, but it will still be tasty. Serve with rustic garlic bread and the onion relish.

Campfire Ramen

Cooking authentic ramen is a true art and is notoriously time consuming to make. So, we’ll give you a super quick one-pot recipe for a campfire ramen instead.

Ingredients:

2 packs of ramen noodles

1 litre of water

1 stock cube

2 tablespoons of oil (vegetable or sesame)

1 small onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tb grated ginger

200 gr mushrooms, sliced

2 pak choy

2 spring onions, chopped

2 boiled eggs, halved (optional)

Miso paste (to taste)

Salt and pepper (to taste)

Method:

Start by heating a pan over your campfire or camping stove. Add the oil to the pot and allow it to heat up. Add the sliced onion, minced garlic, grated ginger and miso paste to the pot and sauté until the onion starts to soften, usually around 4 to 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the pot and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes until they begin to brown. Pour in the water and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, add the ramen. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions or until they reach your desired level of doneness. This usually takes about 2-3 minutes.

Once the noodles are cooked, add the pak choy and cook for another minute. Remove the pan from the heat and season the ramen with soy sauce or additional seasoning to taste. Add salt and pepper if needed. Divide the ramen into bowls and garnish with chopped green onions. If desired, add halved boiled eggs on top of each bowl. Serve the campfire ramen hot and enjoy!

Feel free to add other ingredients such as cooked chicken, prawns, or tofu to the ramen for extra protein and flavour. Additionally, you can adjust the vegetable quantities or use different vegetables based on your preferences and what's available while camping.

Campfire Brownies

The key for this tasty dessert whilst camping is to use a box of brownie mix, you can buy this from any large supermarket. Add the rest of the ingredients to have a super rich mixture of goodness that will make the brownies crispy at the top, but gooey on the inside.

Ingredients

150grs unsalted butter, melted, plus more for skillet

1 box brownie mix

100ml whole milk

1 large egg, beaten

200grs miniature marshmallows (optional)

50grs chopped roasted, salted almonds (optional)

50grs chopped fudge (optional)

Handful of chocolate chips (optional) 

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Method:

Heat a campfire, grill or camping oven to medium or 180C. Butter a 10-inch cast-iron skillet. Stir together butter, brownie mix, milk, egg, marshmallows, almonds, fudge and chocolate chips in a bowl, when everything is fully mixed, transfer to the skillet. If you’re using a campfire or grill, cover the skillet with a lid or another skillet before cooking for about 25 – 30 minutes. If you’re using a portable oven, cook for about 20 – 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve with ice cream.

Here at Van Life Living, we have a great selection of camping or touring cookware, folding tables, stoves/ BBQ's and more. choose according to your available storage space, portability, budget and maintenance time!