Key Points
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Ensure your camping breakfast has healthy staple foods.
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There are lots of tasty, healthy camping breakfast ideas like overnight oats.
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Several foods are perfect for large groups because they're easy to make.
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A grill opens up a new world for cooking your camping breakfast ideas.
Get yourself a fire. Whip out the fiddle. The sun is coming up. Put some cakes on the griddle. Thank God you're a country boy — or girl. John Denver would be proud. He loved a good camping breakfast so much that he made a song about it. If you're heading to the woods for a few days, conjure up some camping breakfast ideas before heading out.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Coffee and cigarettes don't cut it. This isn't the 1950s. You need a scrumptious, nutrient-dense breakfast, especially when you're burning calories like gasoline when camping. It's an active pastime, requiring lots of movement. Prepare some camping breakfast ideas to ensure you're at your physical and mental peak.
The Healthy Staple Foods
Whether camping or at home, a good breakfast hits all the essential macro and micronutrients a person needs to be healthy. Many categories of food provide the health benefits you need.
Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Even when camping, bring along some form of these two. They're easy to carry and provide massive amounts of energy — precisely what you need when out in the woods.
Whole Grains
Whole grains are grains that contain every part of the grain kernel. Their intactness means they're not refined and still contain fiber and nutrients. Your gut leaps for joy when you feed it whole grains. They help the digestive process run smoothly.
Foods rich in whole grains include brown rice, whole wheat, quinoa, oats, and barley.
Lean Protein
Lean protein is a protein source with low fat and calories. They keep your muscles firing on all cylinders by providing amino acids, the foundation for muscular growth and repair.
Quality lean proteins include turkey breast, legumes, chicken breast, fish, soy, egg whites, and low-fat dairy products.
Healthy Fats
Healthy fats regulate cholesterol and keep your brain functioning correctly. Heavens forbid you blow a neural gasket when camping. Avoid such possibilities by keeping your brain sharp with some healthy fats.
Well-known health food companies like McDonald's, KFC, Five Guys — Psych! Nuts, seeds, avocados, and olive oil provide healthy fats.
Water
Okay, it's not food. Though water is essential for any living organism. How much you need depends on many factors. Always ensure you drink enough.
The Most Popular Camping Foods
It's an insane individual who brings Alaskan king crab camping. Even people born in concrete jungles know this isn't the smartest move. From experience or stories, people know the classic camping foods.
You need your delectables to be easy to store, transport, and prepare. A Chicago deep dish pleases the taste buds but is a pain to carry. Milk gives you the necessary calcium but sours quickly. Baked ziti provides your daily calories but takes a hot minute to prepare.
Forget all those foods.
Most campers bring trail mix, granola, hotdogs, beef jerky, canned soups, dried fruit, granola, and a stove to boil water. They're nutrient-rich foods requiring little prep and are easy to carry. Perfect for camping.
They provide all the nutrients you need, but a lot of these foods are more of a snack.
Not many campers want to tear off jerky strips in the morning. When dawn arises and the morning birds sing their symphonies, you want something akin to a standard breakfast.
Great Camping Breakfast Ideas
Some of these ideas are hot foods, others you make in advance, and a few require no cooking. Every one of them is easy to prepare, nutritious, and scrumdiddlyumptious.
Overnight Oats
Overnight oats are a delicious combo of oats, a milk of your choice, and an assortment of fruit, nuts, chia seeds, and honey you throw in there. Mix it all in a sealed jar and let it sit until you're ready to chow down.
It's great for day trips. Given the milk, store it in a cooler if you're not eating it the first day or so.
Breakfast Burritos
Cook all the ingredients before camping, or bring them and prepare them over a campfire. Fill a whole-grain tortilla with scrambled eggs, peppers, onions, spinach, salsa, avocado, hot sauce, and anything else you want to add to the mix.
Prep a few before camping, wrap them in tin foil, and you've got a good breakfast for a few days.
Sweet Potato Hash
Sweet potatoes are super good for you. Dice them up, add peppers and onions, and throw them in a skillet with a dash of olive oil.
Frittatas
Frittatas are an egg-based Italian dish. They look like egg pie.
Make a frittata ahead of time and bring it along on your trip. They have eggs, vegetables, cheese, and your choice of protein. Slice it up and serve them cold, or reheat them over the fire.
Energy Bars
By no means homemade, energy bars still provide a quick energy source if you're on the go. The Declaration of Independence insisted that all people are created equal; this proclamation doesn't extend to energy bars.
Some are better than others. Read the nutrition label and choose energy bars low in sugar and high in protein. You want 10 grams of sugar or less. Refined sugars spike your glucose levels through the roof, resulting in an energy crash. Avoid the afternoon slump by getting energy bars packed with the vittles your body needs.
That's where protein comes in. Protein keeps you full and satisfied for a while, so you're not constantly eating when camping. It also takes longer to digest than carbs, so you get a sustained source of energy.
Check out KIND, RXBAR, and LÄRABAR for delicious, nutritious energy bars.
Dutch Oven Breakfast
Take a cast-iron skillet and place it over a bed of hot coals. Cook up some bacon, sausage, diced potatoes, or whatever your particular palate wants. Once you cook the mixture, crack a few eggs on top and let them cook until done.
Dried Fruit
Dried fruit lasts until the heat death of the universe.
Regular fruit spoils quickly, making it burdensome on camping trips. Dried fruit is easy to pack and doesn't need refrigeration.
Popular dried fruits include raisins, apricots, mangoes, apples, and bananas. Eat them separately, or add them to another dish.
Dried fruit is high in sugar, so balance it with other nutrient-dense foods and drink plenty of water.
Breakfast Ideas for Large Groups
If you've got a Brady Bunch family with lots of mouths to feed, or you're camping with 10 or more people, you need to bring out the big guns. Overnight oats don't cut it. You need hearty foods which are easy to prepare en masse.
Pancakes and Waffles
Pancakes and waffles are always crowd-pleasers. They don't use many ingredients, and churning out large quantities is easy. Lather them in syrup and butter. If you want to stay healthy, add a dollop of berries and smear on some peanut butter.
Scrambled Eggs
A simple classic. Scrambled eggs provide the necessary protein and healthy fats. It takes only a few minutes to scramble a dozen eggs. Add a little extra for more flavor: salt, pepper, dill, cumin, and basil. All of these spices add a tasty flare to scrambled eggs.
Fruit Salad
Get a big bowl and add whatever fruit you want to it. Mix the fruit until strawberries mingle with blueberries and pineapples befriend the grapes. Throw in a ladle of some kind to scoop out the salad. Bam, you've got yourself a delicious fruit salad.
Banana Bread
Prepare some banana bread beforehand. A couple of slices is the perfect way to start a morning in the woods. It's protein-rich and goes well with coffee, milk, or tea.
It's cheap to make, so you're not going to drop a lot of cash to prepare it. The recipe is simple and easy to follow.
For an extra dose of fun, start a campfire. Make the banana bread mixture in the woods, and toast it over the open fire. Don't forget to bring a pan to bake it in.
Camping Breakfasts To Cook on a Grill
Your camping breakfast horizons expand if you've got a propane-powered grill. Foods impossible to cook when camping suddenly become a straightforward meal to enjoy in the great outdoors. Keep in mind that grills are for the stationery campers. If you're living out of your backpack, these meals are out of your reach.
Breakfast Skewers
Thread some of your favorite breakfast items onto a skewer: bacon, sausage, ham, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes. Put them in plastic bags and store them in a cooler. When it is time to fire up the grill, pull them out and thoroughly cook each skewer.
French Toast
Dip slices of bread into an egg and cinnamon mixture and add a dash of vanilla for extra flavor. Grill on both sides until browned. Serve with butter and syrup if that suits your fancy.
For extra tastiness, serve them with fresh fruit, whipped cream, or powdered sugar. Experiment with different types of bread, such as sourdough, brioche, or challah, to add variety and texture to the dish
Grilled Prosciutto Egg Panini
It sounds overly fancy schmancy for a camp breakfast, but a grilled prosciutto egg panini is simple to cook and tasty. Bring some eggs, bread, prosciutto, tomato, mustard, cheddar, and butter. It takes half an hour and feeds a family of eight.
Foil-Packet Potatoes and Sausage
To make foil-packet potatoes and sausage, toss some potatoes with sausage, bacon, onion, parsley, salt, and pepper. Put the mixture on some 18- by 12-inch sheets of tin foil. Fold the foil around the mixture and wrap it tightly. Throw these little packets of wonder on the grill at medium heat and wait for the magic to happen.
Grilled Breakfast Burger
It's like a classic cheeseburger but with a breakfast spin. Take some beef patties or veggie burgers. Herbivores are welcome to the party, too.
Add a fried egg or bacon on top of the burger. Use a brioche bun instead of white bread. Add a smearing of jam for a bit of sweetness. Mix Worcestershire sauce into the patties. Experimenting with different things is what makes cooking so fun.
Grocery List for a 72-Hour Camping Trip
If you're camping for three days, you need the sustenance and gear to keep you alive and well. You need energy, nutrients, and gear to provide these two things.
Breakfast
Instant oatmeal, breakfast bars, cereals, premade burritos, and sandwiches wrapped in tin foil make tasty, quick breakfasts.
Lunch
Sandwiches with cured meats, avocado, condiments, cheese, peanut butter, jelly, or hummus. Premade salads with all the necessary vegetables. An assortment of snacks like trail mix and almonds. All these make a great lunch in the woods.
Dinner
Canned soup, beans, or tuna. Pre-cooked rice, veggies, or meat. Tin-foiled wrapped potatoes to cook over the campfire. For dessert, bring all the ingredients to make s'mores — sounds like a pretty great dinner.
Cooking Equipment
You need a portable stove, fuel, cookware, plates, utensils, and other cooking ware to prep your food. Take along a cooler if you have food that needs to stay cold. Cleaning supplies are helpful if you're staying in an RV.
For beverages, drink water. Water is the most important liquid on the planet, and you need a lot of it when camping.
Never Skip Breakfast
As the famous science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein wrote, "One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast."
Breakfast is the catalyst that fires you up for the day. Those calories go towards fueling your life. Starting daily with a good breakfast is the key to a healthy, happy life. It's no different when camping.
A hearty camping breakfast ensures a quality camping trip filled with nourished minds, healthy bodies, and happy hearts.
Check out MyOutdoorGear for even more tasty tips about the great outdoors.
