It was in the middle of February just a few weeks ago and I’ve already seen my first robin. Spring can’t be too far away. With warm weather approaching, our thoughts turn to outdoor activities.
Family camping is a great activity for parents and children alike. One of the most important parts of preparing for a family camping trip is the meal selection. If you love Italian cooking, there are many recipes that can easily be adapted to cooking on a campfire or a portable grill.
The recipes that I am highlighting are prepared with three different methods of cooking.
1. Tin foil packets
2. Cast iron skillet
3. Dutch oven
Tin Foil Packets
Italian Meatballs in Sauce
Prepare your meatballs just as you would at home. Here is my recipe.
1 lb. of ground beef
1/3 cup dried bread crumbs
salt, garlic powder and onion powder to taste
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Mix it all together and form balls about the size of a ping pong ball.
Place on a square of heavy duty tin foil and add prepared spaghetti sauce.
Make a packet and fold the edges together, sealing tightly.
Cook on your portable grill or right on the coals. After 20 minutes, check to see if meatballs are done.
Italian Sausage Meatballs
Prepare the meatballs with Italian sausage or if you prefer, a meatloaf mix which includes beef, veal and turkey.
1 lb. of sausage or meatloaf mix.
1/2 a cabbage
Onions
Prepared spaghetti sauce
Prepare your meatballs as you would at home: egg, bread crumbs, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano.
Cut the cabbage into wedges.
Slice the onion
Assemble all on a square of heavy duty aluminum foil, and add sauce to each packet. Turn up the sides and seal tightly. Cook on the coals or if you have a portable camping grill, lay the packets on the grill. Cook until meat is no longer pink and vegetables are no longer hard.
Cast Iron Skillet
Italian Peppers and Sausage
There’s no reason you can’t have the ever popular Peppers and Sausage on a camping trip.
1 lb. of Italian sausage
1 large green pepper
1 large onion
Olive oil
Cut the sausage into halves or thirds. Slice the peppers and onions into long slivers. Put a good swoosh of olive oil in the skillet and add the peppers and onion. Cook until soft. Remove from pan and brown the sausage. Return the peppers and onion to the skillet and cover with tin foil and cook until the sausages are done all the way through.
Potatoes and Zucchini
This is one of my favorite meals. It is real comfort food. It can be served at dinner or eaten at breakfast. I usually do both.
5 potatoes
4 zucchini
1 1/2 large onions
Olive oil
Peel and slice the potatoes very thinly. Slice the zucchini thinly too. Slice the onions. Add olive oil to the skillet and cook onions until they are soft. Add potatoes and make sure they are coated with olive oil. After they have cooked awhile, add the zucchini. Continue cooking until all is cooked through. It’s good to leave the zucchini a little crispy. I always make enough to make sure I have leftovers for breakfast.
Dutch Oven
A Dutch oven is a heavy pot with a lid that fits tightly. It’s wonderful for one pot meals which make for easy cleanup, whether you are in an RV or a family sized tent.
Baked Spaghetti
There’s nothing fancy here, but it sure tastes good!
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Spaghetti sauce
Spaghetti
Brown the ground beef in the Dutch oven with the onions and garlic. Pour off excess fat. Add spaghetti sauce and break the spaghetti into small pieces or use a smaller pasta like small shells, mini penne or whatever your family likes. Cook covered for about an hour stirring occasionally. Then add cheese on top and continue baking until cheese melts.
Pasta Primavera
Since primavera is Italian for springtime, this dish makes me think of fresh vegetables. When you are camping, keep your eye out for roadside produce stands. They can provide delicious fresh fruits and vegetables for your meals. This recipe utilizes both the Dutch oven and the skillet.
Thin spaghetti
Tomatoes
Onions
Garlic
Peppers
Zucchini
Basil
Parsley
Olive oil
Cut up the fresh veggies into chunks and chop your herbs. Cook them in the skillet in olive oil. Cook the pasta in the Dutch oven. Drain pasta and return it to the pot. Add the veggies and stir. Yum! This is a healthy vegetarian meal. Since you are using a cooking pot and a skillet to prepare this meal, it’s a help if you have a good grill with room for a pot and a pan, like a Coleman RoadTrip grill.
Now you have six Italian recipes that are easy to prepare at your camp kitchen. You can eat well and eat Italian even while you’re roughing it!
If you enjoyed this post, you’ll also enjoy our post about fun Italian picnic foods!
Author Bio:
Stephanie Trementozzi learned how to cook Italian from her mother-in-law and has never looked back.
These look like great recipes. Thanks for posting!!
I love sausage and peppers. This look like a great recipe!!
Love this collection of easy recipes that are perfect for camping. I always like my sausage and peppers with a little marinara sauce stirred in.
That sounds delicious with the sauce – will have to do that next time!
Very enjoyable and informative post.
Promoting Team spirit among students : One idea is to take students on camping trips this not only will promote team spirit but will also allow students to appreciate and respect nature.
I love all these recipes..I just love italian food…
Wish I cld still cook sometimes but I just gotten myself too busy these days ..
I am sure that baked spaghetti will taste so yummy once I try it! I have to bookmark this right now for my future cooking days…
I love Italian food and they are awesome!!Thanks for the recipe…I have to try this…
When I opened this site I directly got my recipe notebook and jot down all the procedure and ingredients.I will try this tomorrow. Thanks very much for the great menu.
It could have been better if you can share a picture of each of those recipe so that it can help us decide which one we could by looking at it first.. But still, I love these recipes” I’ll try making the pasta primavera first..
Hi Irene –
You are so right – I guess I got a little lazy!
Liz
Great recipes! i bet my kids will really want me to prepare something like this whenever we have camping activities.. thank you so much for posting this one! this is such a great help!
Reading through your recipe made me DROOL!!! How much more if you have pictures of it! Thanks for sharing this! Gotta loooooove! <3 Mmmm!!!
Mmmmm!!! NOTED!!! yes, picture will make us even more drool! but anyway, i’m glad i found this! thanks for sharing!
Oohh! I gotta try this! I so love Italian! and that’s the only food my boyfriend eats! hahahaha
It sounds great. wanna try try this at home for i really love Italian food. Thanks for the tip.
Yes this is it! We do love camping but always have an argument with the food and the meal were going to bring. We always looking forward of something that is easy to prepare and not easily spoil. Thanks for this I also love italian.