Tag: #CampgroundMeals

Posted in Skillet Meals

Rustic Beef & Cabbage Skillet

Posted on by simplegoodfood

Cabbage is one of those vegetables that doesn’t get nearly enough credit.

It’s inexpensive, keeps well in the refrigerator, and can turn a small amount of meat into a satisfying meal. The trick is knowing how to cook it without reducing it to a pile of mush.

This Rustic Beef & Cabbage Skillet keeps things simple: browned ground beef, plenty of cabbage, onions, carrots, and a handful of familiar seasonings. Everything cooks together in one skillet until the cabbage is tender but still has enough texture to make the dish interesting.

It’s the kind of meal that feels old-fashioned in the best possible way — hearty, economical, and uncomplicated.

And because we’re talking about Cooking Today, Planning for Tomorrow, you can easily cook an extra portion or two to use later in the week.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • Cabbage does a lot of work for very little money.
  • One skillet keeps cleanup easy.
  • The flavors are mild and familiar, rather than heavily spiced.
  • Ground beef makes it filling and protein-rich.
  • It reheats well, making it a natural make-ahead meal.
  • The vegetables can be adjusted according to what’s already in your refrigerator.
  • It works equally well on a stovetop or in an electric skillet at the campground.

🥬 Kitchen Confidence: How to Cook Cabbage Without Making It Mushy

The secret is simple: don’t drown it.

Cabbage naturally releases quite a bit of water as it cooks. Adding a lot of liquid at the beginning can turn a skillet meal into boiled cabbage.

Instead:

  1. Cut the cabbage into bite-sized pieces. Thin ribbons cook quickly; slightly wider pieces give you more texture.
  2. Cook the cabbage in stages. Give the firmer vegetables a head start.
  3. Let the cabbage have contact with the skillet. A little browning adds wonderful flavor.
  4. Don’t cover the pan for the entire cooking time. Trapped steam makes cabbage soften much faster.
  5. Stop cooking when it’s tender-crisp. It will continue softening slightly from the residual heat.

You want cabbage that’s tender enough to eat easily but still has a little bite.

simplegoodfood's avatarsimplegoodfood

Rustic Beef & Cabbage Skillet

This Rustic Beef & Cabbage Skillet keeps things simple: browned ground beef, plenty of cabbage, onions, carrots, and a handful of familiar seasonings.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Calories: 365
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil if needed
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 2 medium carrots peeled and thinly sliced
  • 4 cups chopped green cabbage about ½ small head
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ cup low-sodium beef broth
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Optional
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley for serving
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice for a brighter finish

Method
 

  1. Brown the Beef
  2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  3. Add the ground beef and cook for 5–7 minutes, breaking it into crumbles as it browns.
  4. When the beef is cooked through and nicely browned, drain excess fat if necessary.
  5. Kitchen Confidence reminder: Let the beef sit against the hot skillet for a minute before stirring. Constant stirring prevents the browning we’re after.
  6. Add the Onion and Carrots
  7. Reduce the heat to medium.
  8. Add the onion and carrots to the skillet with the beef.
  9. Cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften and the carrots are starting to become tender.
  10. Add the Cabbage
  11. Add the chopped cabbage in a couple of handfuls, stirring as it begins to wilt.
  12. Don’t worry if the skillet looks ridiculously full at first. Cabbage has a magical way of collapsing once it heats up. 😉
  13. Cook uncovered for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  14. Season Everything
  15. Add the garlic, parsley, thyme, paprika, salt, and black pepper.
  16. Stir and cook for about 30 seconds.
  17. Finish the Skillet
  18. Whisk together the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and Dijon mustard.
  19. Pour the mixture into the skillet and stir well.
  20. Cook uncovered for another 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender but still has some texture and most of the liquid has cooked away.
  21. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
  22. Brighten It Up
  23. If you’d like a little more brightness, add a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice just before serving.
  24. That small splash of acid helps balance the richness of the beef and brings out the flavor of the cabbage.

Notes

🍽️ Serving Suggestions
This is a complete meal on its own, but it can also be served with:
  • cooked brown or white rice
  • boiled or roasted potatoes
  • mashed potatoes
  • a slice of whole-grain bread
For a cook-once, enjoy-more-than-once approach, I especially like this over a small scoop of potatoes or rice. The vegetables and beef make the bulk of the meal while the starch stretches it a little further.

Make It Your Own

Have extra cabbage? Add another cup or two. Just give it enough room in the skillet to cook down.

Have leftover vegetables? Carrots, mushrooms, green beans, zucchini, or even a handful of spinach can find a home here.

Want to change the flavor later? Keep the base seasoning mild. That makes leftovers much easier to transform into another meal.

Using leftover beef from Sunday’s skillet? You can absolutely do that. Skip the beef-browning step, start with the onion and carrots, then add your cooked beef once the vegetables begin to soften.

That’s a perfect example of the week’s theme: tonight’s cooking can make tomorrow’s cooking easier.

Storage & Reheating

Cool leftovers promptly and refrigerate in a covered container.

Use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days.

For longer storage, portion the cooled skillet into freezer-safe containers, label with the date and contents, and freeze.

Reheat gently in a skillet or microwave until heated through. If the mixture seems dry, add a tablespoon or two of water or broth while reheating.

Posted in Skillet Meals

Family-Style Beef & Vegetable Skillet

Posted on by simplegoodfood

There is something wonderfully practical about cooking a little more than you need.

Not a week’s worth of meals. Not an entire Sunday spent chopping, portioning, and labeling containers. Just enough extra to make the next meal easier.

This Family-Style Beef & Vegetable Skillet is built around that idea. Ground beef is browned with onions, carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, and green beans, then finished with a simple savory seasoning that lets the vegetables and beef do most of the work.

Serve it as-is for an easy one-pan dinner, or cook a little extra and set some aside for another meal later in the week. That extra beef and vegetables can become the starting point for a rice bowl, fried rice, or another quick supper when you don’t feel like starting from scratch.

It’s simple cooking with a little bit of tomorrow built in.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

One skillet does most of the work.

It’s packed with vegetables without feeling like a vegetable-only meal.

Ground beef keeps it affordable while adding plenty of protein.

The flavor is flexible, so the leftovers can easily become something completely different.

It’s practical for smaller households. Four servings means dinner tonight plus a couple of portions to use another day.

It fits the campground kitchen, too. An electric skillet works beautifully if you’re cooking away from home.

🥘 Kitchen Confidence: How to Brown Ground Beef Without Steaming It

If you’ve ever ended up with gray, watery ground beef instead of nicely browned meat, the problem probably wasn’t your beef. It was the pan.

For good browning:

Preheat the skillet before adding the beef. A hot cooking surface helps the meat brown instead of immediately releasing moisture into a lukewarm pan.

Don’t crowd the skillet. If you’re doubling the recipe, brown the beef in batches.

Let it sit for a minute or two. Resist the temptation to constantly stir. The meat needs contact with the hot skillet to develop those browned bits.

Break it up as it browns. Once you have some good color, continue breaking the beef into bite-sized crumbles.

Drain excess fat if necessary. With lean ground beef, you may not need much draining at all.

Those browned bits left in the bottom of the skillet are flavor. When the vegetables go in, they’ll help pick up all that goodness.

simplegoodfood's avatarsimplegoodfood

Family-Style Beef & Vegetable Skillet

There is something wonderfully practical about cooking a little more than you need.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Calories: 390
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound lean ground beef preferably 90% lean or leaner
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil divided
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 2 medium carrots peeled and diced
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 1 medium zucchini diced
  • 1 cup green beans cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ cup low-sodium beef broth
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon cold water
Optional Serving Ideas
  • Serve the skillet as-is or spoon it over:
  • cooked brown or white rice
  • mashed potatoes
  • cooked barley
  • egg noodles
  • crusty whole-grain bread

Method
 

  1. Brown the Beef
  2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  3. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it into small pieces as it browns, about 5–7 minutes.
  4. Once the beef is browned, transfer it to a plate or bowl. Drain excess fat if needed.
  5. Start the Vegetables
  6. Reduce the heat to medium and add 1 teaspoon of the olive oil to the skillet.
  7. Add the onion and carrots. Cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  8. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes.
  9. Add the Quick-Cooking Vegetables
  10. Add the zucchini and green beans.
  11. Cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are beginning to soften but still have some texture.
  12. Add the garlic, parsley, thyme, paprika, salt, and pepper. Cook for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant.
  13. Bring Everything Together
  14. Return the browned beef to the skillet.
  15. Whisk together the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce and pour into the skillet. Stir well, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom.
  16. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 3–4 minutes.
  17. Thicken the Sauce
  18. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and cold water until smooth.
  19. Pour into the skillet while stirring.
  20. Cook for 1–2 minutes, until the broth becomes a light, savory sauce that coats the beef and vegetables.
  21. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
  22. Serve — and Save Some for Tomorrow
  23. Serve immediately over rice, potatoes, barley, or noodles, or enjoy it on its own.

Notes

If you’re cooking ahead, allow the extra portion to cool before transferring it to a shallow storage container. Label it with the date and refrigerate or freeze according to your meal plan.
Tip: If you’re intentionally making this for future meals, don’t sauce every portion quite as heavily. A slightly less-saucy beef-and-vegetable mixture gives you more flexibility when you turn it into another dish later.

Make It Work for Your Kitchen

Campground kitchen: An electric skillet works perfectly. You can also make this in a large cast-iron skillet.

Smaller household: Divide the finished skillet into four portions. Enjoy one or two for dinner and refrigerate or freeze the rest.

Want more vegetables? Add whatever needs to be used first — bell pepper, cabbage, spinach, or leftover cooked vegetables all work.

No fresh green beans? Frozen green beans are perfectly fine. Add them directly to the skillet.

Planning another meal? Reserve 1–2 portions of the beef and vegetables before serving. Those portions become the foundation for later meals without requiring another round of cooking.

Storage

Refrigerate leftovers in a covered container and use within 3–4 days.

For longer storage, portion the cooled beef and vegetables into freezer-safe containers, label with the date and contents, and freeze.

For best quality, thaw refrigerated portions overnight before reheating.

Posted in Soups & Stews

Kitchen Sink Vegetable Soup

Posted on by simplegoodfood

Introduction

There are soups you make because you planned them, and then there are soups that seem to make themselves.

Kitchen Sink Vegetable Soup belongs in the second category.

It’s the soup you make when the refrigerator has a little of this and a little of that: a carrot or two, some leftover corn, a handful of green beans, part of an onion, perhaps some cabbage or spinach that needs to be used. Add a few pantry staples and some broth, and suddenly those odds and ends become a hearty, nourishing meal.

This kind of cooking has been around forever. In my family, Saturday was often soup day, and whatever vegetables were still hanging around after the week’s meals had a good chance of finding their way into the soup pot.

It’s a lesson worth keeping: you don’t need a refrigerator full of perfect ingredients to make a good meal.

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • A delicious way to use vegetables that need a home
  • Budget-friendly
  • Flexible and forgiving
  • Easy to adapt to what you have
  • Makes several meals from small amounts of ingredients
  • Freezer-friendly
  • Perfect for a chilly campground evening or a simple lunch at home
simplegoodfood's avatarsimplegoodfood

Kitchen Sink Vegetable Soup

KitchenSink Vegetable Soup is the perfect way to use up the last bits of vegetablesand planned-over ingredients in your refrigerator.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Soup
Cuisine: American
Calories: 225
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 medium carrots sliced
  • 2 celery stalks sliced
  • 1 medium potato peeled and diced
  • 1 cup green beans cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 cup corn
  • 1 cup diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup shredded cabbage
  • ½ cup peas
  • 6 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon dried parsley
  • ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Optional additions:
  • 1 cup cooked pulled pork chopped
  • ½ cup cooked rice
  • ½ cup cooked pasta
  • 1 cup cooked beans
  • A handful of fresh spinach or kale

Method
 

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
  2. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften.
  3. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
  4. Add the potatoes, green beans, corn, tomatoes, cabbage, peas, broth, Italian seasoning, parsley, salt, and pepper.
  5. Bring the soup to a gentle boil.
  6. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 20–25 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender.
  7. If you’re adding cooked pulled pork, rice, pasta, or beans, stir them in during the last 5–10 minutes, just long enough to heat everything through.
  8. Add spinach or other tender greens during the final 2–3 minutes of cooking.
  9. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
  10. Ladle into bowls and serve warm.

Notes

🧺 Kitchen Confidence
This Week’s Skill: Learning to Cook Without Measuring Everything
Soup is one of the best places to practice cooking by instinct.
Once you’ve made a few pots of vegetable soup, you’ll realize you don’t need exactly one cup of carrots or precisely half a cup of peas. You can adjust the amounts according to what you have.
The important thing is understanding the basics:
Start with aromatics. Add vegetables according to how long they need to cook. Add cooked ingredients near the end. Taste before serving.
That’s it.
And if your soup is a little thicker than you expected, add more broth. If it’s too thin, let it simmer uncovered for a few minutes.
There is a lot of room for confidence in a soup pot.

💰 Stretch Every Grocery Dollar

Soup is one of the easiest ways to turn inexpensive ingredients into several satisfying meals.

You can also stretch it further with inexpensive pantry staples like potatoes, rice, pasta, beans, or barley.

And don’t overlook frozen vegetables. They can be less expensive than fresh, require no preparation, and are an excellent way to keep a variety of vegetables available without worrying about using them immediately.

♻️ Waste Not, Want Not

This is the recipe where everything gets a chance.

That half an onion?

In the pot.

The last carrot?

Slice it up.

A little corn from the rice bowls?

Absolutely.

Some cabbage from the Rainbow Coleslaw?

Perfect.

A handful of spinach?

Toss it in near the end.

A small amount of pulled pork?

Now you’ve got a heartier soup.

The only rule is to use ingredients that are still fresh and safe to eat. “Kitchen sink” doesn’t mean “anything that has been hiding in the refrigerator too long.” 😉

🍽️ Cooking for One or Two

Six servings might sound like a lot for a small household, but soup is one of those meals that makes batch cooking worthwhile.

Enjoy a bowl for lunch or dinner, refrigerate a couple of portions for the next few days, and freeze the rest in individual containers.

That turns one pot of soup into several future meals without having to cook again.

🥣 Meal Prep Note

If you’re making this soup specifically to use up refrigerator odds and ends, gather everything together before you start cooking.

Give each vegetable a quick inspection, wash what you’re using, and chop everything into similar-sized pieces.

Then you can decide what goes into the pot first based on cooking time.

It’s a great way to practice the same mise en place concept used by professional cooks—only we’re doing it in a very relaxed, real-life kitchen.

Storage & Freezing

Refrigerator: Store cooled soup in airtight containers for up to 4 days.

Freezer: Freeze in individual or meal-sized containers for up to 3 months.

If you plan to freeze the soup, consider leaving out pasta and adding freshly cooked pasta when you reheat it. Pasta can become soft after freezing and thawing.

Reheating: Reheat gently on the stovetop or in the microwave until steaming hot.

🌾 Saturday Soup Tradition

There’s something comforting about ending the week with a pot of soup.

You start with ingredients that might otherwise have been forgotten, add a little patience, and end up with something warm and nourishing.

That’s more than saving money.

It’s a way of looking at food differently.

Instead of asking:

“What can I make with this recipe?”

you start asking:

“What can I make with what I have?”

And that’s a pretty valuable kitchen skill.

Posted in Rice Bowls

Refrigerator Fried Rice

Posted on by simplegoodfood

Introduction

This is the kind of recipe that doesn’t really need a recipe.

Have some cooked rice? A little pulled pork? A few vegetables that need to be used? Maybe an egg or two? You’re already halfway there.

Refrigerator Fried Rice is all about taking the odds and ends in your refrigerator and turning them into a completely new meal. The ingredients don’t have to match perfectly, and you certainly don’t need to make a special trip to the grocery store. In fact, the whole point is to use what you already have.

It’s one of those meals every cook should have in their back pocket—and it’s a perfect example of Waste Not, Want Not cooking.

❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • A great way to use planned-over ingredients
  • Ready in about 20 minutes
  • Budget-friendly
  • Flexible and easy to customize
  • Perfect for small households
  • Works with pork, chicken, turkey, shrimp, or no meat at all
  • An excellent campground or RV meal

🥣 Build Your Bowl

This isn’t technically a Build-A-Bowl recipe, but it follows the same basic idea: start with a foundation and build from what you have.

  • 🍚 Base: Cooked, chilled rice
  • 🥩 Protein: Precooked pulled pork
  • 🥕 Vegetables: Whatever cooked or raw vegetables need to be used
  • 🥣 Sauce: Low-sodium soy sauce
  • 🥬 Fresh Finish: Sliced green onions
  • ✨ Optional Toppings: Fried egg, sesame seeds, cilantro, sriracha, or a drizzle of sesame oil

💡 Make It Your Own: Don’t have pulled pork? Use cooked chicken, turkey, shrimp, ham, or leave the meat out completely. Carrots, peas, corn, broccoli, cabbage, peppers, mushrooms, and green beans are all fair game.

simplegoodfood's avatarsimplegoodfood

Refrigerator Fried Rice

RefrigeratorFried Rice is all about taking the odds and ends in your refrigerator andturning them into a completely new meal.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine: American
Calories: 400
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups cooked chilled rice
  • 1½ cups precooked pulled pork chopped into small pieces
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup mixed vegetables chopped small
  • ½ cup corn or peas
  • 2 green onions sliced
  • 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil divided
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • ½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger optional
  • Black pepper to taste
Optional:
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
  • Sriracha or other hot sauce
  • Sesame seeds
  • Additional green onions

Method
 

  1. Prepare your ingredients first. Fried rice cooks quickly, so have everything chopped and ready before you turn on the skillet.
  2. Heat a large skillet or electric skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cooking oil.
  3. Add the eggs and scramble gently until just cooked. Transfer them to a plate.
  4. Add the remaining ½ tablespoon sesame oil to the skillet.
  5. Add the garlic, ginger, and vegetables. Stir-fry for 2–3 minutes, until the vegetables are heated through and beginning to soften.
  6. Add the chopped pulled pork and cook for another 2 minutes.
  7. Add the cold cooked rice. Stir and toss everything together, breaking up any clumps of rice.
  8. Pour the soy sauce around the edge of the hot skillet and stir it into the rice mixture.
  9. Return the cooked eggs to the skillet and stir everything together.
  10. Add the green onions and a splash of rice vinegar, if desired.
  11. Taste and adjust the soy sauce or seasonings as needed.
  12. Serve hot.

Notes

🧺 Kitchen Confidence
This Week’s Skill: Learning to Cook Without a Recipe
This might be the most important kitchen skill of the entire week.
A recipe is a guide, not a set of handcuffs.
Once you understand the basic technique, you can look into your refrigerator and make substitutions based on what you actually have. The vegetables don’t have to be the same ones listed here. The protein doesn’t have to be pork. You don’t even need meat.
The trick is to cut everything into similar-sized pieces and add ingredients according to how long they need to cook.
That’s cooking.

💰 Stretch Every Grocery Dollar

Fried rice is one of the best ways to make inexpensive rice stretch into a complete meal.

It’s also a great reason to cook extra rice when you’re already making it. One batch can become a side dish one night and the foundation for fried rice a few days later.

♻️ Waste Not, Want Not

This is where the refrigerator really gets to shine.

That last handful of peas? Toss them in.

Two lonely carrots? Absolutely.

A little corn from Tuesday’s rice bowl? Into the skillet it goes.

Some cabbage left from your Rainbow Coleslaw? Chop it up and use it.

And that little container of pulled pork that isn’t quite enough for another full meal? Perfect.

This is exactly what Waste Not, Want Not is supposed to look like.

🍽️ Cooking for One or Two

You can easily make a smaller batch by cutting the ingredients in half.

Or make the full recipe and portion it into individual containers for quick lunches. Fried rice reheats well, making it an especially useful meal for small households.

🥣 Meal Prep Note

If you’re cooking rice for another meal this week, make extra.

Cool the extra rice promptly and refrigerate it so it’s ready for fried rice later. Having cooked rice waiting in the refrigerator turns this from a recipe into a 20-minute clean-out-the-fridge meal.

Storage & Freezing

Refrigerator: Store cooked fried rice in an airtight container and use within 3–4 days.

Freezer: Portion cooled fried rice into freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

Reheating: Reheat thoroughly in a skillet or microwave. Add a splash of water if the rice seems dry.

Food safety: Cool and refrigerate cooked rice and other leftovers promptly rather than leaving them at room temperature for an extended period.

🌾 A Little Kitchen Wisdom

Don’t wait until your refrigerator is completely empty to make fried rice.

The sweet spot is when you have a little bit of several things.That’s when the magic happens.

Posted in Recipe Roundup

6 Easy Campground Dinners for a Stress-Free Week Outdoors

Posted on by simplegoodfood

Whether you’re camping in a tent, relaxing in a pop-up camper, or enjoying the comforts of an RV, having a week’s worth of easy meal ideas makes campground life even more enjoyable. This week’s menu featured hearty comfort food, simple skillet meals, foil packet favorites, and even a campground pizza night that the whole family can enjoy.

Many of these recipes can be adapted for campfires, electric skillets, air fryers, or RV kitchens, making them perfect for campers of all styles. From cozy Dutch oven cooking to quick flatbread pizzas and flavorful shrimp boil packets, these meals prove that great campground food doesn’t have to be complicated.

If you missed any of this week’s recipes, here’s a look back at all six delicious campground dinners.

This Week’s Campground Menu

Sunday

Dutch Oven Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

A campground comfort food classic featuring tender chicken, mixed vegetables, creamy sauce, and golden biscuits baked in a Dutch oven.

Monday

Loaded Italian Sausage & Peppers Hoagies

Juicy Italian sausage piled high with sautéed peppers and onions on toasted hoagie rolls for an easy and satisfying campsite dinner.

Tuesday

Campfire Chicken Bacon Ranch Foil Packets

Chicken, potatoes, bacon, ranch seasoning, and melted cheddar cheese come together in a convenient foil packet meal with almost no cleanup.

Wednesday

Cheesy Beef & Rice Skillet

A hearty one-pan meal loaded with seasoned ground beef, tender rice, tomatoes, and plenty of melted cheese. Perfect for camp stoves and electric skillets alike.

Thursday

BBQ Pulled Pork Flatbread Pizzas

A fun twist on pizza night featuring smoky pulled pork, barbecue sauce, melted cheese, and crisp flatbread crust.

Friday

Campground Shrimp Boil Foil Packets

Shrimp, smoked sausage, potatoes, and corn seasoned with Old Bay and cooked together in individual foil packets for an easy campground seafood feast.

Final Thoughts

One of the best parts of campground cooking is finding meals that fit your camping style. Whether you’re cooking over a campfire, using an electric skillet during a rainy afternoon, or making dinner in an RV air fryer, these recipes offer flexibility without sacrificing flavor.

As camping continues to evolve, so do the ways we prepare meals outdoors. From traditional tent campers to pop-up campers, travel trailers, and motorhomes, there are more ways than ever to enjoy great food at the campground.

Which meal would you try first? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back next week for another lineup of easy campground dinners and outdoor cooking inspiration.

Dutch Oven BBQ Chicken & Potato Bake
This Dutch Oven BBQ Chicken & Potato Bake is the kind of campground dinner that feels hearty and satisfying without requiring a lot of fuss.
Check out this recipe
Loaded Italian Sausage & Peppers Hoagies
When it comes to easy campground meals, it's hard to beat a hearty sausage sandwich loaded with savory peppers and onions.
Check out this recipe
Campfire Chicken Bacon Ranch Foil Packets
Foil packet meals are a campground favorite for good reason—they're easy to prepare, packed with flavor, and require almost no cleanup.
Check out this recipe
Cheesy Beef & Rice Skillet
After a busy day of campground adventures, sometimes the best meals are the simplest ones.
Check out this recipe
BBQ Pulled Pork Flatbread Pizzas
Pizza night at the campground just got a delicious barbecue twist!
Check out this recipe
Campground Shrimp Boil Foil Packets
Enjoy all the flavors of a classic seafood boil with these Campground Shrimp Boil Foil Packets!
Check out this recipe
Posted in Foil Packets

Campground Shrimp Boil Foil Packets

Posted on by simplegoodfood

Bring the flavors of a classic shrimp boil to the campground with these easy Campground Shrimp Boil Foil Packets. Loaded with juicy shrimp, smoky sausage, tender potatoes, and sweet corn, these packets deliver all the flavor of a traditional seafood boil without needing a giant pot of water.

Everything cooks together in a convenient foil packet, making clean up a breeze and allowing you to spend more time enjoying the campground and less time washing dishes. Whether you’re gathered around the campfire or relaxing at your RV site, this fun and flavorful meal is a perfect way to kick off the weekend.

simplegoodfood's avatarsimplegoodfood

Campground Shrimp Boil Foil Packets

Enjoy all the flavors of a classic seafood boil with these Campground Shrimp Boil Foil Packets!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Calories: 385
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1½ pounds large shrimp peeled and deveined
  • 12 ounces smoked sausage sliced
  • 1 pound baby potatoes halved
  • 3 ears corn cut into thirds
  • 3 tablespoons butter melted
  • 1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 lemon sliced for serving
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley optional

Method
 

  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and parboil the potatoes for 8–10 minutes. Drain well.
  2. In a large bowl, combine:
  3. o Shrimp
  4. o Smoked sausage
  5. o Parboiled potatoes
  6. o Corn
  7. o Melted butter
  8. o Old Bay seasoning
  9. o Garlic powder
  10. o Black pepper
  11. o Lemon juice
  12. Toss until everything is evenly coated.
  13. Divide the mixture among 6 large sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
  14. Fold and seal the packets tightly.
  15. Place the packets on a grill grate or over medium campfire coals.
  16. Cook for 20–25 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking.
  17. Carefully open the packets and check that the shrimp are pink and fully cooked and the vegetables are tender.
  18. Garnish with parsley and serve with fresh lemon slices.

Notes

Campground Prep Tip
Parboil the potatoes and cut the corn at home before your trip. Store them in sealed containers in the cooler to make campsite assembly quick and easy.
RV Air Fryer Option
These shrimp boil packets adapt beautifully to an RV air fryer.
  1. Assemble the packets using air fryer-safe foil sized to fit your basket.
  2. Place one packet in the basket at a time.
  3. Cook at 380°F for 12–15 minutes.
  4. Carefully open and check for doneness. The shrimp should be pink and the potatoes fork-tender.
  5. Serve with fresh lemon wedges.
Because shrimp cooks quickly, avoid overcooking by checking the packet at the 12-minute mark.
Rainy Day Electric Skillet Option
No campfire? No problem.
  1. Parboil the potatoes as directed.
  2. Melt the butter in a large electric skillet.
  3. Add the potatoes, sausage, and corn.
  4. Cover and cook for 10–12 minutes.
  5. Add the shrimp and seasonings.
  6. Cook for an additional 4–5 minutes, or until the shrimp are pink and fully cooked.
  7. Finish with lemon juice and parsley before serving.
This method is perfect for RV camping, cabins, or rainy campground evenings.

#CampingRecipes, #CampgroundMeals, #ShrimpBoil, #FoilPacketRecipes, #CampfireCooking, #OutdoorCooking, #RVRecipes, #SeafoodRecipes, #CampingFood, #WeekendCamping, #FamilyCamping, #EasyDinnerIdeas, #AirFryerRecipes, #ElectricSkilletRecipes, #SummerCamping,