Full Day’s Camping Menu with Sausage

I love sausage, but I also love getting the most mileage out of the food I pack for camping as I can, so planning a day’s camping menu around a common theme – in this case, sausage, makes a lot of sense. We camp a lot, so even though we like to keep our meals simple, a steady camping meal of pancakes, hamburgers and hotdogs gets old fast. Here is a quiche, a pasta dish and a calzone that will add a little pizzazz to your camping menu.

Breakfast: Impossible Quiche

Camping Menu Quiche

Impossible Quiche (photo by Marylise Doctrinal on Flickr)

4 Eggs
1/2 Cup Chopped Onion
2 Cups Milk
1/2 Cup Bisquick®
2 TSP Butter
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Pepper
1/2 lbs. Italian Sausage (precooked, or brown at campsite)
1 Cup Shredded Swiss Cheese

Whisk Bisquick, milk, butter, salt and pepper together. If preparing ahead of time, blend these ingredients in a blender, then store in a resealable bag. At the campsite, preheat a dutch oven or large skillet. Lightly brush the inside (while hot) with olive oil, then pour in the egg mixture and top with the cheese and sausage. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Lunch: Sausage and Pepper Pasta

Camping Menu Sausage and Pepper Pasta

Sausage and Pepper Pasta (photo by prettywar-stl on Flickr)

1/2 lbs. Italian Sausage
1 Medium Red or Green Pepper, Chopped
3/4 Cup Chopped Onion
1 Clove Garlic
1 Cup Heavy Cream (Whipping Cream)
1/4 Cup Parsley
2 TSP Butter
1/2 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp. Pepper
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
10 oz. Pasta

Prepare pasta per directions on package. In a large skillet, cook sausage and onion for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft. If cooking raw sausage, cook until brown, and then drain grease. Add remaining ingredients, except cheese, and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.

This meal, sans-pasta, can be prepared in the kitchen ahead of time, and then frozen in Reynolds® Slow Cooker Liners. The frozen meal can then be reheated at the campsite in the same pot that you use to cook the pasta (see Make Camping Meals at Home to Save Time and Trash).

Toss with pasta and sprinkle with cheese.

Dinner: Calzone

Camping Menu Foil Calzone

Foil meals on the campfire (photo by dianaschnuth on Flickr)

1/2 Package of Bread Dough (such as Rhodes) or 1 Package of Pizza Dough
1 Jar of Spaghetti Sauce, such as Newman’s Own Organic Herb Sauce
1/2 lbs. Italian Sausage
1 Cup Chopped Mushrooms
1 Cup Chopped Onion
1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese

Flatten dough onto a cold griddle or cutting board. Add ingredients, reserving some of the sauce to pour over the finished calzone, then fold over and pinch the edges together, sealing them tightly. Poke several air holes in the dough with a fork, to allow the steam to vent.

There are a lot of options, when it comes to cooking a calzone over a campfire. You can use a pie iron, a dutch oven, or simply wrap the calzone in heavy foil and place in hot coals. Cook for about 45 minutes. Top with remaining sauce and serve.

There’s more to camping meals than hamburgers and hotdogs, so when you are planning your next camping menu, be creative and put together something that everybody will remember. Much of the preparation for these meals can be done at home, where you have things like measuring cups and blenders. Incorporating common ingredients, like the Italian Sausage used in these meals, saves space in your ice chest and saves time at the grocery store.

What is one of your favorite camping recipes?

See also…

17 thoughts on “Full Day’s Camping Menu with Sausage”

  1. Pingback: 19 Fun Camping Meals For Kids That Will Have Them Begging For More - 50 Campfires

  2. Could you clear something up on the quiche recipe for me? Exactly where are the eggs? Are they mixed with the bisquick? Or is the bisquick mixture of the bottom and then beaten eggs and then cheese and sausage?

    • The bisquivk mix is made into a PowerShell style dough, eggs milk, etc make up the filling

  3. I cook this in my dutch oven for 20 minutes with 13 briquettes on top and 7 on the bottom. I rotate the top and bottom half way through the cooking time. The briquettes will give approximately 350 degrees I a 10 inch dutch oven.

  4. Just found your blog and love these recipes. Besides camping we love to cook over the fire pit we recently built. These are great recipes and tried the calzone last night, Excellent! Had my 4 yr old granddaughter help assemble them and she was so excited to see the finished product. Thanks for sharing

  5. I love cooking outdoors! Nothing taste better than a meal cooked over a charcoal or wood fire on some cast iron cookware. I use cast iron for all my cooking, even inside. Great recipes, they look very good.

    • We are starting to use cast iron more often, Brian. It holds the heat better and cooks things more evenly – great on the campfire and you don’t have to worry so much about blackening the cookware with soot 🙂

  6. You have combined two of my favorite things- camping and sausage. I love these recipes and have bookmarked them for when I go camping next! Thank you!

  7. I’m for easy…ever throw in all your omlete ingredients into a zip lock bag and then stick it in boiling water for a few minutes? You get a perfect omlete!

    • Yeah, VE – that’s actually about the only way I can make one, because I suck at flipping omelettes! 🙂

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  9. Hmm … I’m in charge of breakfast for an upcoming canoe-camping trip, and that quiche sounds perfect! So, I assume the ingredients listed is for a single serving quiche? Since I have to cook for four, should I quadruple the ingredients? I wonder if the whole thing would fit in a large skillet. And do you have to cover the skillet while it’s cooking? (I have a knack for messing things up in the kitchen, indoors or out.)

    • Hey Deb – that will feed 4, with no problems. Just add an extra egg for each additional person and plus-up the other ingredients, a bit. Honestly, we never measure-out onion, cheese, sausage or pepper – just chop up what looks right and throw it in a bag (or skillet). If you can cover the skillet, it helps the top cook faster, but it’s not necessary. Another yummy variation is to toss some of those frozen Orida hash browns into the mix. Just make sure if you’re cooking on cast iron to spray it down with PAM or brush it with oil, so the slices will come out, easier.

  10. This is a great, and easy way to organize a camp meal. The pictures are making me hungry!

    Thanks for the post — I will share it!