Dine Deliciously in the Great Outdoors with Our Best Camping Recipes

It is a truth universally acknowledged that food tastes better in the outdoors—preferably after a day of hiking, swimming, fishing, canoeing, and exploring. Still, we can do way better than canned chili, granola bars, and burnt hot dogs. The most important ingredient in good campfire meals is planning. Once your tent is pitched, there's no running back home for the butter or the aluminum foil you forgot, and no app for ordering a pizza to the middle of the woods when you fail to catch enough trout for supper. But we think that the planning is part of the fun, so roll up your sleeves and get ready to make some lists so no skillet is left behind.

When deciding what you're going to cook during a camping trip, think carefully about refrigeration and cook times. The more ingredients that don't need to be kept cold, the better. This includes foods that come in cans and pouches (like beans, lentils, tuna, and tomato sauce), as well as most fruits and vegetables, dry-cured sausages, hard cheeses, breads, crackers, and grains. When it comes to cook times, consider how much fuel—and how much patience—you have. Choose quick-cooking pastas like angel hair, orzo, and couscous, and go for instant versions of grains like oatmeal, grits, and polenta. Take advantage of the hot coals around the edges of your campfire to foil-wrap root vegetables and let them cook slowly and steadily while you prep the rest of dinner.

Check out this collection of camping recipes that are equal parts fun and sophisticated to spark your love of cooking in the great outdoors.