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Easy Camping Breakfasts

Wake up happy with one of these easy and hearty meals to start your day.

Elaine Johnson, Amy Machnak, and Stephanie Spencer
1 /17 Victor Protasio

Spiced Oatmeal

To avoid the packaging of instant oatmeal, Lynn Lloyd experimented until she came up with her own mix, a blend of dried fruit, grains, nuts, and mellow spices. She buys 4- or 7-grain hot-cereal flakes in a health food store. You can also use a coarsely ground hot cereal. The uncooked mixture (complete step 1) will keep, stored airtight, up to a month.

2 /17 Victor Protasio

Thai Turkey Sausage

Perfect for campouts, you can cook up a big batch of patties at home and freeze. Heat them in camp for a great breakfast with eggs or hash-browns (“Wilderness Cuisine” author Carole Latimer uses sweet potatoes), tangerine juice, and papaya wedges.

Notes: It’s easiest to mince lemon grass in a food processor or minichopper. For best texture, mince the remaining ingredients with a knife.

3 /17 Victor Protasio

5 Spot Banana Pancakes

Notes: If desired, sprinkle about 1 teaspoon chopped pecans on each pancake after adding banana slices. Serve pancakes with butter and warm maple syrup or a dusting of cinnamon-sugar.

4 /17 Victor Protasio

Smoked Salmon Bagel

Starting with smoked salmon, this bagel sandwich is layered with tasty ingredients—flavored cream cheese, capers, and purple onion. It’s a quick fix for a brown-bag lunch.

5 /17 James Carrier

Scrambled-Egg Tacone

NOTES: At Las Ventanas, they call this substantial breakfast burrito a tacone (big taco). Serve it with hot refried or cooked whole pinto beans. Remove all or some of the seeds from jalapeño chiles for less heat, and wear rubber gloves to protect your hands when working with chiles.

6 /17 Victor Protasio

Classic Cocoa

Layer the ingredients for homemade cocoa in a jar, add a ribbon and a tag, and you have a simple but stylish gift. This mix will fill a 1-quart jar (12 servings), but if your containers are different sizes, just keep the ratio of ingredients constant. On the back of the tag, write: “Mix contents in a large bowl. For each serving, place 1/3 cup cocoa mix in a mug and stir in 1 cup boiling water. Store remaining mix in airtight container.”

7 /17 Thomas J. Story

Pinnacles Scramble

Annie Somerville created this dish years ago on a camping trip to the park with her husband, and it’s been a brunch favorite at Greens Restaurant ever since.

8 /17 Annabelle Breakey

Huevos Rancheros con Bacon

Gilbert Flores, a longtime reader from Visalia, California, shared this recipe. The sauce is easy to make, and in summer, you could double the fresh tomato and skip the canned sauce. No matter what time of year you make it, don’t skip the bacon.

9 /17 Thomas J. Story

Oatmeal with the Works

Add-ons, including zingy pomegranate molasses, elevate the common camp breakfast to a delectable event.

10 /17 Iain Bagwell

Smoked Salmon Breakfast Burrito

The cream cheese and salmon in these wraps make for decadent breakfast burritos. If you’re in the mood for meat, you could easily substitute bacon or sausage for the fish.

CAMP TIP: To warm big tortillas, roll them up, then wrap in foil and heat directly over the stove, turning often.

11 /17 Thomas J. Story

Whole-Grain Lemon-Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberries

“Healthy—and delicious” was the verdict from our Camp Sunset guests. Make the mix for these tender, moist pancakes at home, and they’ll be ready in no time in camp.

12 /17 Thomas J. Story

Breakfast Shakshouka

To scoop up every bit of this spicy egg and tomato dish, popular in North Africa and Israel, we brushed slices of pain au levain with oil, then toasted them on a grill pan set on a camp stove. After breakfast, we cleaned the cast-iron skillet by scrubbing it with hot water and a nylon wash pad (no soap). We set it back on the stove to dry and wipe with a thin film of oil.

13 /17 Thomas J. Story

Dutch Oven Cinnamon Rolls with Orange Almond Icing

At a Sunset trip along the Umpqua River in Oregon, Jen Stevenson wowed the group with these fragrant rolls, which we’ve adapted from a recipe in her book with Marnie Hanel, The Campout Cookbook (Artisan, 2018). Shape and freeze the dough at home, then thaw it in a cooler. For rising, set the dutch oven of rolls near a campfire and rotate often. Or light a chimney of coals at the edge of a cold fire ring, arrange coals inside the perimeter, and set the oven in the center.

14 /17 Thomas J. Story

Eggs in Jail

Outerlands restaurant in San Francisco serves this take-off on the classic eggs-in-a-frame. We borrowed the idea for camp. You’ll need to pack a bread knife and a 1 1/2-in. round cutter or a tricked-out Swiss Army knife.

15 /17 Thomas J. Story

Hearty Whole-Grain Pancakes

Make the mix at home (it keeps 2 weeks) and do the rest in camp. You’ll have homemade pancakes—or cobbler—that are just as fast as instant and a whole lot tastier.

16 /17 Thomas J. Story

Mascarpone French Toast with Warm Blackberry Syrup

Sealegs Kayaking Adventures, based on Vancouver Island, B.C., starts the morning by serving its guests this creation.

17 /17 Victor Protasio

Eggs on Potato Chips

This recipe never fails to enchant anyone who makes it. Have it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Prep and Cook Time: about 30 minutes. Notes: Use best-quality potato chips—medium-thick and not too brown (otherwise the dish will taste burned).