Camping Food List for 3 Days With Meal Plan & Grocery List

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Are you preparing for a 3-day camping trip? If so, you’ll need to pack some food!

Our camping food list for 3 days will give you ideas for what to bring on your trip. It includes both snack and meal ideas and a grocery list so that you can buy everything you need ahead of time.

Plus, use our printable blank camping meal planner below to help you prepare and organize your meals for a stress-free getaway!

Camping Food List & Meal Ideas for 3 Days

For a 3-day camping trip, you’ll want foods for simple, easy-to-make meals and snacks. Canned foods, quick and easy boxed meals, bread for sandwiches, just add water soups, and quick ready-to-eat snacks are all excellent camping food ideas.

Here is a quick and easy camping menu for 3 days, complete with recipes and a shopping list that you can use as-is or modify to your liking. Or scroll down and print off our blank camping meal planner to help you organize and prepare meals for your 3-day getaway.

Tip: You could cook most of these meals over a campfire, but I highly recommend a Coleman camping stove to make preparing meals much quicker and easier!

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Day 1 Meal Ideas

Start day 1 of your camping trip off right with these quick and delicious meals.

Breakfast: Apple Oatmeal

Bring water to a boil over your campfire, add in quick oats, and let cook for about 5 minutes. Then add in cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup, and a diced apple and let simmer for another 5 minutes.

A quick alternative would be Cinnamon apple instant oatmeal packets.

Lunch: BCT Sandwiches

BCT stands for bacon, cabbage, and tomato. I like to use cabbage instead of a head of lettuce because it lasts longer in camping conditions.

Spread mayo (optional) on two slices of bread, sprinkle bacon bits on top of the mayo (so they stick), and add the cabbage and tomato.

Tip: I use bacon bits because they don’t require cooking and are resealable. It makes things a lot easier. But you could pre-cook some bacon and store it in a resealable container before leaving for your camping trip.

Dinner: Chili and Baked Potato

Canned chili is one of our 48 best canned foods for camping, so it’s no wonder it showed up as a meal idea! Cook the canned chili in a pot or over your camping stove, wrap your potatoes in tin foil and cook in the campfire. Once your potato is fully cooked, cut it open and add a little butter.

Tip: You can partially cook the potatoes at home before your trip to cut the cooking time in the campfire in half.

Snacks

• Smores
• Trail mix
• Granola bars
• Popcorn

Day 2 Meal Ideas

Breakfast: French Toast

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then add a little milk, cinnamon, and nutmeg until thoroughly mixed. Heat a little butter in a skillet on your portable camp stove. Dip the bread in the egg and milk mix, then fry it in the skillet until golden on both sides. Repeat with the rest of the slices. Top with maple syrup.

Lunch: Walking Tacos

Crush the chips in sealed mini Dorito bags, open, and fill with pre-cooked ground beef, shredded cheese, salsa, etc.

Dinner: Pizzadillas

Spread tomato sauce on a tortilla shell, sprinkle with cheese and toppings (bacon bits, pre-cooked ground beef, etc.), fold in half and cook in a skillet over your camping stove or campfire.

Snacks

• Smores
• Trail mix
• Granola bars
• Popcorn

Day 3 Meal Ideas

It’s your last day at the campsite, so let’s focus on meals that are easy to prepare with little clean-up. You’ve got enough cleaning up and packing to do today!

Breakfast: Breakfast Burritos

Scramble eggs in a skillet over your camping stove. Add in bacon bits, shredded cheese, salsa, etc. Roll in a tortilla and serve

Tip: Prepare these breakfast burritos ahead of time and warm them up over the campfire by rolling in tin foil and holding them over the campfire for a few minutes.

Lunch: Beefy Mac N’ Cheese

Boil water in a pot over your portable camping stove, and add in the pasta. Let cook for 7-8 minutes or per the directions on the box. Drain water and stir in the cheese packet, a tbsp of butter, and a little milk. Lastly, stir in the pre-cooked ground beef.

Dinner: Canned Soup and Dinner Rolls

Warm a canned soup of your choice in a pot over your camping stove or campfire. While that is warming up, wrap your dinner rolls in tin foil and warm them over the campfire.

Snacks

• Smores
• Trail mix
• Granola bars
• Popcorn

Related: Best Freeze-Dried Meals for Camping (26 Quick Meal Ideas)

Grocery List

Since we re-use many ingredients in our meal plan, we can make all 3-days worth of meals with as few as 30 items!

Free Printable 3-Day Camping Meal Planner

Use this free planner to quickly organize and prepare easy camping meals for the whole family!

Tip: Are you camping for more than 2 to 3 days? Simply print multiple copies of this planner and use it as a 4 days, 5 days, 7 days (you get the idea) camping food list and meal planner!

*Click the image to bring up a downloadable PDF file.

FAQs

How Do You Store Food for a 3-Day Camping Trip?

Store perishable food in a cooler and non-perishable food in sealed containers, if possible, when camping. This will keep food fresh and keep animals away from your food while camping. Be sure to keep food properly sealed in bear-resistant containers in bear country.

Related: 101 Food Ideas to Take Camping Without a Fridge

How Do You Plan Meals for Camping?

Planning meals for camping is more of an art than a science. But, a few things make life easier, like keeping the meals simple and minimalistic (boxed meals, just add water soups, sandwiches, etc.), avoiding messy meals, and preparing some meals ahead of time.

How Do You Pack Condiments for Camping?

The best way to pack condiments for camping is to use smaller bottles or packets instead of large sizes. Grab extras of your favorite condiments next time you’re at a fast-food restaurant. And only pack the basics – ketchup, mustard, mayo, and BBQ sauce, for example.

Check out our Ultimate Family Camping Checklist (+ Printable Camping Checklist PDF) to ensure you don’t forget anything on your next camping trip!