Campfire Recipes

Do you really know where the s’more came from? Early memories come from popular films like “The Sandlot” but they had to exist before that right? But you already know about s’mores. Here’s a few favorite campfire recipes that maybe you haven’t heard of. If you have, we want to know about it. Leave a comment, tell us what you’ve tried and liked. If you have your own recipe that we are missing out on, let us know! 

Chocolate Campfire Oranges 

You’re essentially going to bake a cake in an orange peel.  For this recipe, you’ll want to leave the orange peel as intact as possible. You might be talented enough to skin the orange in one piece without breaking the peel in which case, much applause to you. Playing it safe might look like cutting a hole in the skin big enough to fit a spoon in and scooping the flesh out of the orange like you were gutting a pumpkin. No matter how you do it, you want to try and keep the peel as together as possible because you’re going to pour cake batter inside it. Before pouring cake batter in, wrap the hollow orange peel in aluminum foil to help the peel retain its shape and to control the heat needed to bake the batter. Once your foil and peel are sealed, pour in the cake batter into the hollowed out orange. We recommend using chocolate cake batter, but feel free to use whatever flavor you like. Prepare the batter as instructed prior to hollowing out your orange. Cover the top with the orange peel cap and some foil and put it in the fire among some hot coals and embers. You know the spot, the one that’s best for roasting marshmallows. Cook time varies based on how hot the embers are, but aim for about 30 mins. The best way to check is to carefully peel off the aluminum cap and poke with a fork. Enjoy your treat when the cake is cooked to your liking. 

Here’s the steps again for simplicity: 

1. Cut the tops off the oranges and scoop out the pulp. 
2. Fill the oranges three-quarters of the way with the chocolate cake batter (or cake mix) of your choice, then put the orange tops back on and wrap each orange in aluminum foil. 
3. Place directly onto the smoldering coals of the campfire, avoiding any intense flames, and cook for about 30 minutes, turning once or twice. 

Bread Bowl Soup 

You might have thought a bread bowl for soup was strictly dining room material, but you’d be wrong! What better way to avoid packing out your trash than to make your tableware edible? The trickiest part of this one is to find a way to keep your bread bowls from getting squished. If you were going to prepare your soup in a dutch oven (recommended for its natural flavors) your bread bowls will travel well inside the cast iron. Here’s a tortilla soup recipe you might like that will be super easy to prepare around the fire: 

Ingredients: 

• 2 cans (14 oz each) chicken broth 
• 1 can (14.5 oz each)  Diced Tomatoes in Sauce, undrained 
• 1 cup Sweet Kernel Corn 
• 1-1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken 
• 1 teaspoon chipotle-flavored hot pepper sauce 
• 1 cup tortilla chips, broken 
• Shredded Cheddar cheese, sliced green onions, cilantro sprigs and chopped peeled avocado, optional 

Directions:

• Combine broth, undrained tomatoes and corn in medium saucepan. 
• Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; stir in chicken and hot pepper sauce. Simmer 5 minutes or until hot, stirring occasionally. 
• Top with tortilla chips. Garnish with cheese, onions, cilantro and avocado, if desired. 

Campfire Pizza 

One big reason pizza shouldn’t work on a fire is cooking the dough. Now, you could solve this by pre-cooking your dough, OR you could let someone else pre-cook the dough for you. One really slick way to do this is to buy some naan bread. Naan bread is this really cool, pretty flat bread that is strong enough to support a pile of toppings but isn’t tough to chew. Since you’re at the grocery store getting the naan bread, swing by the salad bar to pick yourself up some toppings. If you like meat, a nice cured ham is a great way to go since you don’t have to cook it. The important thing to remember with preparation on campfire pizza is how to wrap the tinfoil. The naan bread will stick to the foil, so be sure to use some olive oil to prevent this. Also, you don’t want to wrap your pizza close to the top. You want to create a dome above the surface of the pizza so there’s room for steam to gather and melt your cheese. 

 
Ingredient Checklist 

• 1 tablespoon olive oil   
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar  
• 1 (8.8 ounce) package naan bread 
• 1 (8 ounce) ball buffalo mozzarella, sliced  
• 1 small heirloom tomatoes, sliced, or to taste  
• ½ (10 ounce) basket baby heirloom tomatoes, quartered  
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt  
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper  
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil 

Directions 

1. Build a campfire and place a grill grate on top. Allow the fire to burn until it has accumulated a bed of coals. Rake the coals into a flat bed on one side of the fire. 
2. Combine oil and vinegar in a small bowl. Brush 3/4 of vinaigrette onto both sides of naan. 
3. Place naan on grill. Cook bubbly side-down, until grill marks appear, about 2 minutes. 
4. Remove naan and brush with the remaining 1/4 of the vinaigrette. Layer mozzarella, tomato slices, and baby tomatoes on top. Sprinkle salt and pepper over pizza. 
5. Grill until bottom is golden brown and cheese is melted, 3 to 5 minutes. Garnish with basil. 

Oatmeal 

There’s really no simpler meal to prepare than oatmeal. It’s perfect for the campfire, but it’s not usually top of the list of foods that make you drool. The key to solving this is in the ingredients. Growing up, a super popular ingredient would have been brown sugar. You know what would go great with brown sugar? Apples. Apple slices with some cinnamon will add some natural sweeteners. Another excellent ingredient to consider which will add a bump of protein will be a mix of flax, chia, and hemp seeds. 

The simplest way to prepare this would be to add boiling water to your oats, flax, chia, and hemp. Then, once the oats absorb the hot water, mix in your other ingredients. Start with the apples so they can warm up, then top it off with brown sugar and cinnamon. 

Ingredients 

• 2 cups water 
• pinch salt 
• 1 cup rolled oats 
• 1 medium apple, diced into 1/2 cubes 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice 
• 2 tablespoons hemp, flax, or chia seeds, (we use a blend of equal parts hemp flax, and chia) 
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup 

 
Instructions 

1. Heat the water and salt into a medium pot until it comes to a boil. 
2. Add the oats, simmer for about ten minutes, or until the oats are tender, stirring occasionally. Halfway through the cooking time, add the apple, spices, and maple syrup. 

What other campfire recipes do you know and love? Share them with us in the comments.