Everything tastes better in the great outdoors, whether it’s an easy sandwich devoured on a hike or a fresh fruit cobbler scented cooked over a campfire. All of our AutoCamp suites include compact kitchens and a cast-iron skillet, which you can use to turn out satisfying meals outdoors over your wood fire or camping stove, if you bring your own. Our General Store offers locally-sourced ingredients, and snacks, but we also recommend planning meals in advance and packing a cooler with the necessary ingredients. Below, we’ve rounded up a few of our favorite one-pan meals that work beautifully when cooked over a campfire—so you can enjoy a fantastic breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the great outdoors.
Easy Eggs
Variations of baked eggs in a tomato sauce go by different names around the world—from the spicy Italian eggs in purgatory to Mexico’s huevos ahogados, or eggs drowned in salsa. But the most popular version is shakshuka, a dish that originally hails from Northern African countries like Tunisia and Morocco, but spread to other regions like Israel before becoming a brunch staple around the world.
All you need to make a great shakshuka is some kind of spiced tomato base and fresh eggs to crack into it—and best of all, it only takes a single pan and minimal utensils, and can be cooked right over a fire. Simple recipes like this one call for sweet peppers and a hit of cumin and paprika for spice, or you can mix things up with a green, tomatillo-based shakshuka. Shakshuka is also a great way to use up any leftover veggies from earlier meals before packing up on your final day—and you can even top your shakshuka with cheeses like feta or cheddar. For an extra-hearty meal, pack pitas for scraping up every last bit of spicy tomato sauce and jammy egg yolk.
Crowd-Pleasing Pizza
Pan pizza isn’t just a relic of your childhood—it’s actually a great way to make a hearty, cheesy dinner that’s a guaranteed crowd-pleaser for hungry adults and kids alike. Store-bought dough works fine (you can usually find it in the freezer section of your grocery store or even ask your local pie shop if they’ll sell you a ball), but if you want to go the extra mile, make this simple, highly acclaimed New York Times dough recipe in advance. It comes together in minutes but needs to rest overnight, which makes it a perfect choice for throwing together at home and baking over coals once you get to your tent site or suite at night.
Keep things classic with jarred sauce and creamy mozzarella, or go crazy with your favorite toppings and alternate bases like pesto sauce or whole milk ricotta and bake over a medium fire until cooked through (a lid will help your cheese melt evenly). Bonus: leftover slices make great hiking snacks the next day.
The Sweet Stuff
Cobbler over a campfire? It’s possible! Late summer and fall are the best times to make use of local fruit like raspberries, peaches, plums, and apples in a bubbly, golden cobbler that comes together with just a couple of simple ingredients. In addition to your favorite fruit, you’ll need a fat like butter or coconut oil to grease the pan, a simple sweetener like sugar, agave, honey, or maple syrup, and at least one seasoning (think cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, or a pre-made blend like apple pie spice).
As with pizzas, you can mix up your own batter to dollop on top (this one is designed for campfire cooking) or bring a roll of refrigerated biscuit dough to spread evenly on top. Cook your fruit until it’s soft, stirring to make sure the sugars don’t burn—then cover and wait until your dough is puffed and golden. Eat as-is or serve with a drizzle of cream for a seriously decadent campfire treat.