What a weekend camping menu needs
A weekend trip (a good fit for car camping basics) is short enough that you rarely need to worry about food spoiling, but it is easy to overpack or end up with a pile of dishes. A good weekend menu has five or six actual cooked meals, plus snacks, and uses ingredients more than once. Aim for meals that need one pan or one pot, and eat out of the way of cooler trouble by cooking raw meat on the first night.
If you are staying a third night, try our 3 day camping menu.
Friday: arrival
Keep Friday dinner simple, since you may be setting up in fading light.
- Dinner: Burgers or hot dogs on a grill grate or skillet, with a bagged salad or pre-cut vegetables. Cook ground meat until it is no longer pink and a thermometer reads 160°F (71°C), as US guidance suggests.
- Dessert: S’mores around the fire.
Saturday: the full day
- Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with cheese in tortillas, or pancakes from pre-mixed batter. Add coffee and fruit.
- Lunch: Wraps, sandwiches, or a cold pasta salad made at home.
- Snack: Trail mix, fruit, or granola bars.
- Dinner: Foil packets of sausage or chicken with potatoes and vegetables. Cook chicken to 165°F (74°C). Cleanup is easy because the foil does most of the work.
- Dessert: Banana boats or something sweet from the fire.
Sunday: pack-up
- Breakfast: Oatmeal (oatmeal and oats for camping has flavor ideas) or breakfast burritos using leftover eggs and cheese, if they stayed cold.
- Lunch: Finish leftovers or snack food for the drive home.
One-pot and few-ingredient ideas
Few-ingredient meals work well for weekends. A few examples:
- Mac and cheese with sausage or canned chicken
- Pasta with jarred sauce and pre-cooked meatballs
- Potato and egg skillet
- Quesadillas in a skillet
- Chili from cans of beans and tomatoes, plus chili seasoning
- Instant ramen with dried vegetables and an egg
These suit a single stove burner, which is helpful if you are traveling light (for example on a motorcycle camping trip or in a small SUV camp). For gear ideas, see car camping cooking.
Keep dishes and cleanup low
- Use foil packets and skillet meals.
- Bring one pot, one pan, a spatula, and a knife, rather than the whole kitchen.
- Use reusable plates and a small dish basin, and carry out trash.
- Wipe pans with a paper towel before washing to reduce greasy water.
- Follow campground rules for dishwater disposal, which are different in different places.
Packing the food
Pack the cooler in reverse order of use (see best ways to pack for camping), with Saturday and Sunday food on the bottom and Friday dinner on top. Keep dry food in a bin, and label the bin by day if that helps. Freeze meat in advance, and keep the cooler in shade. For longer trips, see our camping meals for a week plan.