Budget Weekend Camping Meal Plan & Recipes: 4-5 People

I love shopping at ALDI because it helps me save money on groceries. I am excited to partner with ALDI to bring you this weekend camping meal plan with recipes. I have been compensated, but all opinions are my own. 

You’re looking for a camping meal plan for your next family camping trip, right? Well that’s what we have for you with recipes, menu, and more.

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3 Day Camping Meal Plan

We have a GREAT, family-friendly camping meal plan for you. It features:

• Simple to make recipes for a 3 day weekend campout
• Feeds 4-5 people
• Uses only a camp fire with an iron grill or barbecue grill to cook with
• Includes a few make ahead recipes to save you time
• Best of all: groceries will ONLY cost you $50!

That’s budget friendly camp food that your family will love. 

Cooking Equipment Needed

There is just something about food that is cooking over an open flame. Plus no campout would be complete without S’mores. They are a family favorite for us. What about you? We have a delicious spin on traditional S’mores that I know you are going to want to try. Trust me when I say it will be your NEW favorite camp dessert.

Most developed campgrounds have a fire pit and/or grill at each camp site. All the recipes included in this plan will be using a campfire with an iron grill (shown below) or with aluminum foil. This makes it simpler because there is no special camping stove, oven, or specialty cookware needed. You can check out some of my top camping gear picks on Amazon. 

Camp Cooking Tip: If you don’t have an iron grill, bring an oven rack from home, like the one shown above. You can set it over the fire and cook on it. When you get back home, wash it and replace it in the oven.

Here is the weekend camping trip menu.

Arrival Day Camping Meal

• Dinner – Grilled Bratwurst, Sweet Coleslaw, Grilled Cheesy Potatoes, Hazelnut Chocolate and Banana S’mores

 2^nd Day Camping Meals

• Breakfast – Camping Breakfast Burritos, fresh fruit
• Lunch – Campsite Sandwiches, chips, fresh fruit
• Dinner – Herbed Chicken and Vegetable Foil Pockets, Veggie Salad, Traditional S’mores

 3^rd Departure Day Meals

• Breakfast – Chocolate Hazelnut French Toast
• Lunch – Family Choice: Tortilla Wrap/Roll-ups or Cheese Quesadillas, fresh fruit

 Budget-Friendly Camping Menu

Just because you are going camping, that doesn’t mean you have to blow my budget.

That’s why I like to do my grocery shopping at ALDI. They help me keep my food budget on track and offer products I can feel good about feeding my family. Plus all of the ALDI brand products contain no artificial flavors, artificial colors, by-products, or MSG.

Take a look at what $50 will buy you at ALDI. This is what you will need for this camping meal plan.

These groceries will be used to make the 6 meals, two desserts, and various snacks to feed 5 people. That averages out to $1.68 per meal per person. Click the green link below and I’ll send you the complete grocery list and the recipes too!

Now let’s get to the good stuff. On to the food!

Camping Meal for Arrival Night

• Dinner – Grilled Bratwursts on buns, coleslaw, and cheesy potatoes or chips.
• Dessert- Chocolate Hazelnut and Banana S’Mores

When you get to your camp site, there is soooo much that needs to get done. Site has to be cleared of rocks and twigs (because they is nothing worse than sleeping with a rock in your back), car unloaded, tent set up, etc….. For the first night, we want something easy to make. Grilled bratwurst sausages are perfect for the 1st night of camping.

To save time on prep & cleanup:

• Buy premade coleslaw (or make it yourself with our copycat Rudy’s Coleslaw recipe)
• Make the potatoes at home ahead of time. So at the campsite, you just have to reheat and add cheese.
• Use marshmallow skewers/sticks to roast the bratwurst sausages.

Groceries needed:

• Parkview Bratwurst Links
• 3 Large Baking Potatoes
• L’Oven Fresh Hot Dog Buns
• Little Salad Bar Homestyle Coleslaw
• Fruit (watermelon not shown)
• Chips (Simply Nature Sweet Potato Chips)
• Sliced cheese (not shown)
• Olive oil and dried herbs (not shown)
• Grilled Bratwursts – You can place the links directly on the grill, grill rack, or skewer them onto sticks/metal skewers ( I like this method BEST, less cleanup) . Roast them until they are crispy and heated throughout. Place on bun and add any condiments you like.

CAMPING TIP: Looking for LOW COST travel ideas? Get away for a weekend camping trip close to home. You can find a FREE or low cost campground near you. Arrive on a Friday and stay until Sunday. It will only cost you the cost of food and gas to travel to/from the site.

Cheesy potatoes (prepped ahead of time at home)

Place 1 peeled, sliced potato on 2 stacked pieces of heavy duty foil. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. If desired, add 1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme and oregano. Seal and wrap foil around the potatoes. Roast in the oven at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Allow to cool and refrigerate until you are ready to use them at the campsite.

At campsite, place cooked potatoes on the fire or on the grill. Heat through. Remove from heat and unwrap cooked potatoes, shaping the foil into a bowl around the potatoes. Add a slice of cheese to each potato and return to heat. Allow cheese to melt and serve.

Chocolate Hazelnut and Banana S’mores

Think chocolate covered banana meets Campfire S’mores and you get tonight’s dessert. They are ooey gooey goodness, just like a S’more should be. But they have something a little different to make them out of this world awesome!

Groceries Needed:

• Graham Crackers
• Hazelnut Spread
• Marshmallows
• Sliced bananas

Separate 5 graham crackers into halves. Spread half of them with Hazelnut spread. Set aside. Place marshmallow on a stick or metal skewer and roast over the fire. Once it’s nice and roasted remove it and place on top of the chocolate covered graham cracker. Top with sliced bananas. Enjoy it open faced or top with remaining graham cracker half. Either way, you’ll love them!

Camping Meals Day 2

Breakfast – Camping Breakfast Burritos, fresh fruit

Lunch – Campsite Sandwiches, chips, fresh fruit

Dinner – Herbed Chicken and Vegetable Foil Pockets, Veggie Salad, S’mores

Breakfast – Camping Breakfast Burritos (premade) and Fresh Fruit

Groceries Need:

• 5 Large Flour Tortillas
• 6 eggs, beaten
• Parkview Bratwurst, 2 links chopped
• 2 potatoes, peeled and sliced
• Happy Farms Sliced Cheese, 3 slices
• Simply Nature Thick and Chunky Salsa

Breakfast Burritos – We’re prepping these burritos at home using my recipe for Easy Camping Breakfast Burritos. I’m substituting chopped brats for the chorizo and added skillet fried potatoes. Once assembled and cooled, they’ll be frozen.

When I’m ready for these burritos at the campsite, they should be thawed and ready to be reheated. Place them on the rack over the camp fire or on the grill and heat them for 5-7 minutes or until they are heated through. Serve with salsa.

Lunch – Campsite Sandwiches, Chips, and Fruit

Without a fire or other way to heat up food, lunch will be deli style sandwiches, aka Campsite Sandwiches. You can choose any type of deli meat or salad fixings for these sandwiches. There should also be plenty of Chocolate Hazelnut spread too if the kids would rather have that.

Groceries Needed:

• L’Oven Fresh Whole Grain Bread
• Lunch Mate Turkey Breast sliced deli meat
• Happy Farms Sliced Cheese
• Simply Nature Spring Mix
• Tomatoes
• Condiments of choice (not shown)

Without a fire or other way to heat up food, lunch with be cold sandwiches. I have cold cut sandwiches planned. But there is the Hazelnut spread too if the kids would rather have that.

Dinner – Herb Chicken and Vegetable Foil Dinners, Green Salad, S’mores

Foil Dinners, Hobo Meals, Camp Pockets are all names given to meals cooked in a foil pocket over a fire. Tonight’s dinner is prepped at home, making things really easy at the campsite, and cleanup is a breeze.

Groceries Needed:

• Chicken Breasts, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• Broccoli Crowns cut into florets
• 3 Zucchini squash, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1/3 cup herb vinaigrette (not shown- 3 Tbs olive oil, 3 Tbs white wine vinegar, 2 tsp dried herbs, fresh ground pepper)
• Simply Nature Spring Mix Greens for salad
• 2 Tomatoes, sliced for salad
• Vinaigrette or salad dressing of your choice (not shown)

Make these chicken and vegetable foil packet meals ahead of time at home. Create 5 foil packets using 2 layers of heavy duty foil. Assemble each packet with chicken, zucchini, potatoes, and lemon slices. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of vinaigrette over each packet. Season with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly and refrigerate.

When you are ready to cook, place on a medium heat grill or campfire . Cook for 20-30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked thru and potatoes are fork tender. Open up each foil dinner and enjoy! You can eat them right out of the foil for easier clean up.

Green Salad– Combine spring mix, tomatoes, and dressing. Serve in a bowl.

A campout isn’t a campout without S’mores. Plan for a great campout and get more great ideas for your next campout

Classic S’mores

Groceries You’ll Need:

• Graham Crackers
• Hazelnut Spread
• Marshmallows

Separate 5 graham crackers into halves. Spread half of them with Hazelnut spread. Set aside. Place marshmallow on a stick or metal skewer and roast over the fire. Once it’s nice and roasted remove it and place on top of the graham cracker. Top with remaining half and enjoy!

Camping Meal Plan Day 3

Breakfast – Chocolate Hazelnut French Toast

Lunch – Family Choice: Tortilla Wrap/Roll ups or Cheese Quesadillas, fresh fruit

 

Breakfast – Chocolate Hazelnut French Toast

Breakfast is simple today. It uses a skillet or a double layer of heavy duty aluminum foil placed on the campfire iron grill over indirect heat.

CAMP COOKING TIP: Before you leave to go camping, crack your eggs and place them in a large freezer bag. This makes them MUCH easier to transport and you won’t have to worry about eggs breaking during the trip.

Groceries Needed:

• L’Oven Whole Grain Sliced Bread
• GoldHen Large Eggs, 6 beaten
• Hazelnut Spread
• Fresh Fruit
• Maple Syrup if desired (not shown)

To make breakfast, create for chocolate sandwiches by spreading hazelnut spread between 2 slices of bread. Drop sandwich into the freezer bag with eggs and coat completely. Remove and place into the skillet or onto the aluminum foil. Cook as you would at home (brown, turn, remove). Cut into slices and enjoy! You can add syrup, but the chocolate makes it sweet and doesn’t really need anything else.

Serve with sliced fruit if desired.

Lunch – Cold Cut Sandwiches or Tortilla Wraps

This your last meal at camp. We call this our Kitchen Sink meal because we are using up whatever is left in the cooler for this meal. I’ve planned for sandwiches, tortilla wraps or roll ups, and/or cheese quesadillas.

Use What You Have Left:

• Tortillas or Sliced Bread
• Lunch Mate Turkey Breast sliced deli meat
• Happy Farms Sliced Cheese
• Simply Nature Spring Mix
• Tomatoes
• Condiments of choice (not shown)

Tortilla wraps or roll ups – Add ingredients you want onto a tortilla and roll tightly.

Quesadillas- Place cheese onto a tortilla and fold over. Wrap in foil and heat over the fire or remains coals.

Lastly, let’s talk about snacks and one last family camping tip. 

 

Camping Snacks

For every camping, having a variety of snacks is a MUST. Outdoor activities make you hungry. So I like to have a variety of snacks on hand. For this trip I’ll bring:

• Fresh fruit
• Simply Nature Multigrain Tortilla Chips and Thick and Chunky Salsa
• Simply Nature Sweet Potato Chips
• Benton’s Cookies Honey Graham Crackers
• Marshmallows
• Southern Grove Fruit & Nut Trail Mix
• Berryhill Hazelnut Chocolate Spread
• Millville Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Family Camping Tip – Camping is a fun family vacation. Unlike, other vacations, camping requires you to have a do it yourself mentality. From pitching the tent to cooking all the meals, work is involved to have a great camping trip. Delegate jobs/responsibilities to each family member. Everyone, regardless of age, can have a job. When everyone pitches in, everyone will have a great family vacation.

Camping with your family is a great outdoor adventure. Head out soon and enjoy all of nature’s splendor while reconnected with one another. Let us help you with the cooking and planning for your next trip. This meal will definitely help you and your family eat great camping meals and still leave time for plenty of family fun!

If you have an ALDI in your area, do your grocery shopping with them and you will save money, just like we did. For more money saving ideas and tips, visit ALDI on Facebook and Twitter.

For more camping recipes, please check out:

• Over 25 Family-Friendly Camping Recipes
• 4-Day Camping Menu with Classic Family Favorite Recipes
• Easy Tips and Recipes You Need When Meal Planning for Group Camping
• 31 Easy Camping Breakfast Ideas Your Family Will Love