Favorite Winter Camping Recipes

When nights around the campfire are chilly, the situation calls for hearty dishes designed to warm your bones. We’ve gathered up some tasty recipes perfect for cold-weather camping. From delicious stews to flavorful desserts, you’ll want to save these cold weather camping recipes for your next winter camping trip.

Chili and Cornbread Skillet

This is a comforting and flavorful dish made all in one pan. The cornbread is cooked right on top of the chili, which makes for a hearty layer of deliciousness. It’s a great recipe for a cool evening and is so easy because it all cooks in one pan. Then you can take the skillet and bring it right to the table to serve family style.

You’ll need a 12-inch, preferably cast iron skillet, because it distributes the heat more evenly when cooked over an open flame. Of course, you can customize this dish any way you want by using different meats, spices, and toppings. But here is the standard recipe.

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 tsp Kosher salt, to taste
• 2 tsps chili powder, more to taste
• 15 oz can black beans, drained
• 15 oz can chili or pinto beans
• 15 oz can chili seasoned tomatoes, or diced
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 5 oz cornbread mix, plus ingredients on the box
• ½ to 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, plus some for garnish

Preheat oven to 400° F. In a 12” oven-safe skillet, cook ground beef and onions until no longer pink. Drain. Season with salt, pepper, and chili powder. Add black beans, tomatoes, chili beans, corn, and tomato sauce. Stir together and bring to a low boil. Simmer for ten minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper, to taste. For an extra kick of spice, add 1-2 teaspoons of more chili powder.

While the chili is simmering, mix the cornbread. Add ½ to 1 cup of shredded cheddar and gently stir just enough to incorporate. Remove chili from the heat and drop cornbread batter by the spoonful over the chili, gently spreading to the edges. Please the skillet onto a baking sheet (to prevent overflow). Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until the tip is a golden brown. Allow skillet to cool about 5 minutes before serving, then scoop onto plates. Top with sour cream and chives, if desired.

Irish Stout Beef Stew

Ingredients

• 2 cups thickly sliced carrots

• 3 cups cubed potatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 2 lds beef stew meat or chuck, cubed
• 1 large yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bottle stout beer, such as Guinness
• 3 cups beef stock
• 3 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 springs fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme

Place carrots, potatoes and bay leaf in bottom of slow cooker. Pat beef cubes dry with a paper towel and toss in flour mixture. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan. Brown cubed meat on all sides, cooking in batches so the pan is not crowded. Add browned beef to crock pot.

Add remaining 1 Tbsp. oil to the sauté pan along with the onions and garlic. Cook until onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add ½ bottle of stout and scrape bottom of pan to get all flavorful bits. Add onion mixture to crock pot with remaining beer, beef stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce and thyme.

Stir, cover and cook for 8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high, until meat and vegetables are tender.  Adjust salt and pepper and serve.

Gingerbread Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 egg

• 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 3 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp cloves

Garnish

• maple syrup
• pomegranate seeds
• maple whipped cream

Whisk together egg, buttermilk, molasses and canola oil. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir to combine. Don’t overmix. Drop by 1/3 cupfulls onto hot griddle and brown on both sides. Top with maple syrup, pomegranate seeds and maple whipped cream.

To make maple whipped cream, combine 1 cup whipping cream with 1 Tbsp. maple syrup and beat until fluffy.

Skillet Blueberry Cobbler

Why kid ourselves? Dessert is the most important part of the meal. In keeping with that mindset, we proudly present the most delicious of camping cobblers.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups fresh or thawed frozen blueberries, divided
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a nonstick, ovenproof 10-inch skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add 2 cups of the blueberries with 1/4 cup of the sugar, stirring frequently until the mixture has the consistency of jam, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the remaining 2 cups of blueberries, the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, and nutmeg to the cooked berries and stir to combine. Make sure all of the whole berries are evenly coated.

In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Combine the melted butter, milk, and vanilla and add to the dry ingredients. There may still be some lumps. Drop the batter over the fruit in large spoonfuls starting in the middle and working out to the sides, leaving a 1-inch border of exposed fruit around the outside edge.

Prepare the grill for indirect cooking over medium heat (350° to 450°F).

Cook the cobbler over indirect medium heat, with the lid closed, for 20 minutes. For even cooking you may want to carefully rotate the pan 90 degrees after 10 minutes. Continue to bake with the lid closed until a skewer inserted into the center of the crust comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Place the skillet on a wire rack and let stand for 10 minutes. Serve while still warm or at room temperature. Add ice cream on top if desired.