What’s a better way to enjoy your time outdoors without having to worry about what to eat? And no, we aren’t talking about hot dogs and burgers. Whether you are planning a weekend getaway, or backpacking for an extended period of time, preparing some make-ahead breakfast meals will make the best use of your time.
Similar to the concept of meal prepping, having food prepared and ready to eat is ideal for moments when you will be busy with other tasks. Having prepared meals at your campsite for your friends and family will not only save you a lot of energy, but it will also make for easy preparation and clean up.
Here are our favorite breakfast premade meal ideas for your camping trip. The first meal of the day is very important.
Check out our complete camping food list for even more ideas.
Easy Make-Ahead Breakfast Recipes
Don’t start your morning scurrying like a squirrel looking for your nuts under the ground. Knowing what meals to serve and where to place them is the only part of the job you’ll have to do once you’ve made these breakfast meals ahead of time. Simply prepare these recipes at home, package them into uniform containers, and then load them into your food storage cooler.
Here are some additional easy breakfast recipes for camping for even more ideas.
Parfait in a Mason Jar
An easy way to start your morning on the right foot is to eat a healthy breakfast, and this recipe is as nourishing as it is nutritious. Bearing the sweet semblance of home, we introduce the make-ahead breakfast parfait.
Ingredients:
Makes 6 Servings
- Greek Yogurt: 1 large container
- Pecans: 1 cup
- Oats: 1 cup
- Granola: 1 cup
- Apple: 2, chopped
- Cinnamon: sprinkle to taste
You are going to want to layer these ingredients into the mason jar one at a time to keep the shape and freshness of the food.
Start with the oats at the bottom, add some chopped apple, then granola, and finally yogurt. Do this twice over, and top with remaining apple, pecans, and cinnamon.
Refrigerate your Parfaits the night before to soften the oats and to keep them evenly cool.
You can substitute the yogurt for any flavor and add other fruits like strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries.
When properly refrigerated this batch will last five days.
Banana Bread
Do you have overripened bananas? Don’t toss them, and prepare to whip them into the most delicious loaf of bread ever.
Having banana bread available for a morning at the campsite offers a warm and filling option for breakfast. Pair it with some butter and cheese, and you’re good to go.
You can set your banana bread aside in a bread bag, dry, aerated, and cool until you are ready to head out for your camping trip.
Serving your Banana Bread: place some tin foil on your camp stove grate and let it toast. Here’s what you will need:
Ingredients
- cooking spray
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 3 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F
- Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.
- Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl.
- Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl
- Add the 3 mashed bananas and beat thoroughly
- Beat one eggs into the banana mixture thoroughly, one at a time
- Sprinkle vanilla extract and milk into the mixture.
- Mix everything together: the flour mixture, banana mixture, and chopped walnuts.
- Drop batter into the loaf pan(s). Shake the pan to help any air bubbles escape.
- Bake at 350° for about 1 hour 10 minutes, if toothpick comes out clean it is done.
- Let the banana bread cool down for 20 minutes before removing it from the pan.
- Slice, serve, or store your freshly baked banana bread
Freezer Breakfast Burritos
Breakfast burritos are like an all-you-can-eat buffet on your plate, highly customizable, you can make one for each day and it will definitely be well appreciated.
A breakfast burrito is great because it can have all the elements of a country-style breakfast, without the hassle. Easy to warm up and clean up.
Makes approximately 10 Servings
Ingredients:
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 bell pepper, any color diced
- 1 breakfast sausage, quartered
- 1 lb potatoes, cubed
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- 10 Large eggs
- 4oz cup milk
- 2oz olive oil
- 2 tsp paprika
- Salt and pepper
- 1 pack flour tortillas
Preheat your oven to 375℉.
Fry up your breakfast sausage, add the onion and bell peppers. Cool, strain, and set aside.
Season cubed potatoes with salt, pepper, and paprika and in the oven for 15 minutes until golden brown.
Whip eggs and milk until light and fluffy. Oil your frying pan and scramble eggs until cooked thoroughly. Set aside and cool.
Lay a large flour tortilla down and add the cubed potatoes, scrambled eggs, diced breakfast sausage, and cheese and fill it gently.
To form a burrito grab the left side and fold inwards towards the center, then grab the bottom and fold upwards towards the center, grab the right side and fold inwards towards the center. Lastly, grab the topside and fold inwards towards the center.
Place the burritos seam-side down on parchment paper and layer them in your freezer for an hour.
When you’re ready to head out on your camping trip grab your parchment-wrapped burritos, toss them in a large Ziploc bag, and store them in your cooler for safe travels.
Blueberry & Peach French Toast
Who doesn’t crave comfort food once in a while? Try a fruity French toast, with blueberry and peach. Sweet and savory.
We recommend purchasing whipped eggs in a box so that you can travel with all your cargo and not worry about the supplies crushing your eggs.
For this recipe, make sure to have some pre-sliced bread, and peaches prepared and stored in zip locks.
Makes 2 servings
- 2 slices of bread
- 1/2 cup peaches, chopped
- 1/4 cup blueberries
- 1/2 cup liquid Eggs
- cinnamon
- maple syrup
Instructions
- Spray a medium piece of tin foil with cooking spray.
- Add 1 slice of bread to the center of the tin foil.
- Bring the edges of the tinfoil towards the center, making sure the liquid egg won’t run off.
- Slowly pour 1/2 cup of liquid eggs over bread.
- Sprinkle the chopped peaches and blueberries over top of French toast.
- Cover the tin foil packet with the remaining tin foil
- Place on grill and cook at medium high heat for approx. 5 minutes. Slightly open top of packet to check if mixture has set.
- Remove from the grill and sprinkle with cinnamon. Serve maple syrup on the side.
Notes
Make a packet per person or a packet for a couple of children. Get everyone involved in prep work, by cutting up the fresh peach. Place everyone’s packets on the grill at once.
Overnight Oats
Overnight oats are the definition of an easy make-ahead camping meal!
Probably one of the best options for your first day on the campsite is a mason jar full of scrumptious goodness – that is oats with several flavors of nutritious fruits. This recipe is easy to prepare and distribute first thing in the morning, serve it alongside some tea for a complementary splash of nourishing warmth.
Overnight oats are best stored in glass mason jars and this recipe doesn’t require any cooking.
- Oats: the main ingredient, should be plain old fashioned oats.
- Milk: You can always use water as well, but milk generally works well. You can use cows milk, or buy milk. Almond or cashew milk are the most complimentary.
- Yogurt: This is optional, if you like a certain flavor you can incorporate into your overnight oats.
- Toppings: Any fruits, seeds, nuts and spices will work with overnight oats. We recommend sunflower seeds with strawberries and banana for a scrumptious breakfast.
Note: softer fruits will hold up for less time than hardy fruits. Generally, overnight oats will be good for two days, and up to 4 maximum.
Apple Crumb Coffee Cake
Cake for breakfast? How can anybody resist!
This recipe is a favorite make-ahead breakfast choice for kids and adults alike. Bake it in a foil pan on your campfire grate for 5-10 minutes to warm the juicy apples.
This recipe is perfect if you want to have something with your morning camp coffee, but don’t expect it to last.
This one of our favorite apple crumb cake (missing link) recipe is a perfect choice for any occasion.
Breakfast Casserole
There are very few dishes to clean when you make a breakfast casserole and it is always well received.
We suggest assembling the casserole and either pre-cooking it for easy transport. Or storing it with a tight-fitting lid to cook at the campsite. You can cook or warm the casserole over a campfire grate to get the cheese hot and melting.
You can even incorporate your serving of vegetables in this recipe so that it’s not only good but healthy as well. This is a one-pan meal that has mushrooms, peppers, and greens but works with any of your favorite vegetables and cheeses.
- Oil, to coat pan
- Carton of mushrooms, sliced
- 2 Garlic cloves, minced
- 1 red onion, diced
- 1 bell pepper, any color, diced
- 1 cup of baby spinach, roughly chopped
- Large bag of shredded potatoes, thawed
- A dozen eggs
- salt and pepper
- 1 cup favorite cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees if pre-cooking at home (recommended).
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.
- Add sliced mushrooms and sauté them for 3 minutes or until they start to brown. Add onions and garlic for another 3 minutes, sprinkle salt. set aside.
- Add another bit of oil and cook diced bell peppers for one minute, add in the spinach for another minute, remove from heat then set aside.
- Preparing foil pan with a coating of oil. Arrange the potatoes on the foil pan. Layout the mushrooms and peppers over top of them, and set them aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg and any of your desired seasonings. Pour the egg mixture over the prepared veggie-potato foil pan. Generously sprinkle shredded cheese over the top.
- Bake the casserole for 45-50 minutes, or until it reaches golden brown, and the cheese melts. Let it cool, seal with a tight-fitting lid, and store in the refrigerator for easy transport.
Notes
If you would like to cook this recipe at the campsite, beware that it may take 45min to an hour to thoroughly cook. You will need a meat thermometer to check that the center of the casserole is cooked dry and to a temperature of 160 degrees.
For reheating the casserole, the temperature should read 165 degrees. It is recommended that this casserole be eaten within 3 days and properly cooled.
For this make-ahead breakfast, you can use other vegetables like zucchini, broccoli, and tomatoes. Several kinds of cheese also work well with this recipe if you are looking to switch it up.
Do you Have Favorite Camping Breakfast Meals?
Keep your next camping trip easy and fun by making all your meals ahead of time and serving them on the go.
Don’t stress out about what to prepare for your family. What matters is that you are planning with these make-ahead breakfast recipes.
If you have any suggestions for our readers, feel free to comment below! Thanks for reading.
