Hungry Campers, new edition: Cooking Outdoors for 1 to 100

By Zac Williams

Whether cooking for just yourself, your immediate family, or a large group of friends, the 80 recipes in this cookbook are a must-have for planning your next camping adventure. Includes menu plans, camp-cooking hints, and equipment needs and tips.

The last couple of years have seen a renewed enthusiasm for camping and enjoying time outdoors. And one of the best things about spending the night under the stars is eating meals around a campfire. This completely redesigned new edition of Zac Williams’ Hungry Campers: Cooking Outdoors for 1 to 100 provides recipes crafted to fill empty stomachs, from the single backpacker, to the rowdy scout troop, and to family reunions held at the lake. Recipes are arranged in chapters beginning with ideas for meals that are easy to prepare and teach basic cooking skills, and progress to more advanced gourmet preparations for those camp chefs who are looking for inspiration. Menus, tips for using cooking equipment, and other camping related hints and ideas are also included to make meals in the great outdoors fun—and filling.

Whether you are preparing your food at the campfire next to your tent, using a camp stove at the RV park, or at the family cabin, give some of these recipes a try: Brown Bag Campfire Breakfast, Classic Tinfoil Dinner, Really Sloppy Joes, Pioneer Pizza, Hiker’s Cereal, or Icebox Ice Cream.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith
• Release date: Mar 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9781423663522

Zac Williams

Zac Williams is a partner at Williams Visual, a creative communications company. He has been the principal photographer of more than 200 books. He enjoys exploring food and culture through writing and photography. He is also the author of Little Monsters Cookbook and Little Aliens Cookbook. Zac lives with his wife and three children in Pleasant View, Utah.

Book preview

Hungry_Campers_Cover.jpgPhoto of title page.

Digital Edition 1.0

Text and photographs © 2013, 2023 Zac Williams

Cover illustration © GoodVector/Shutterstock.com

Endpaper illustration © pashabo/Shutterstock.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

First Gibbs Smith edition published in 2013

Second Gibbs Smith edition published in 2023

Gibbs Smith

P.O. Box 667

Layton, Utah 84041

1.800.835.4993 orders

www.gibbs-smith.com

The Library of Congress has cataloged the first edition as follows:

Williams, Zac.

Hungry campers : cooking outdoors for 1 to 100 / written and photographed by Zac Williams. — First edition.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-4236-3028-9 (first edition)

1. Outdoor cooking. I. Title.

TX823.W523 2013

641.5’78—dc23

2012033196

ISBN 9781423663522 (ebook)

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Savor Simplicity

Campfire Cooking Basics

Stadium Brat

Brown Bag Campfire Breakfast

Sunny-Side Sandwich

Cinnamon Twirlers

Box Turnovers

Zip-Bag Salad

Campfire Nachos

Pizza Pita with Garlic Bread

Classic Tinfoil Dinner

Easy Lemon Butter Trout

Baked Caramel Apple

Banana Boat

Simple S’mores

Large Group Cooking

Giant Omelets

Irish Breakfast

Stovetop Soda Bread

French Toast Casserole

Pumpkin Spiced Pancakes

Müesli

Forest Hot Cereal

Sub Sandwiches

Peanut Butter Sandwich Bar

Really Sloppy Joes

Cheeseburger Stew

Grilled Onion Pepper Dogs

Irish Spaghetti

Tacorittos

Beef Goulash

Cheese ’n’ Mac

Chicken and Dumplings

No-Fridge Fruit Salad

Scones

Easy Slaw

Dutch Oven

Egg Strata

Quick Cinnamon Rolls

Berry Breakfast

Incredible Breakfast Pie

Dutch Oven Potatoes

Cowboy Beans

Curry Chicken

Biscuits and Gravy

Lemon-Lime Turkey Steak

Fireman Enchiladas

Pioneer Pizza

Smoky Brisket

Rocky Mountain Meatballs

Outback Rolls

Pumpkin Cobbler

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Soda Pop Cobbler

Mountain Man Donuts

Camp Gourmet

Sourdough Pancakes

Sourdough Starter

Sausage and Pepper Breakfast Burritos

Tinfoil Bistro

Vanilla Rice Pudding

Trout Florentine

Green Apple and Cranberry Salad

Teriyaki Beef

Manicotti

Shepherd Cheese Bread with Roasted Garlic Spread

Japanese-Style Vegetables

Berry Pie

Ice Cream in a Jar

Backpacking

Hiker’s Cereal

GORP

Breakfast Wraps

Pita Sandwich

Avocado Bacon Wrap

Sweet Mix

Tomato Noodles

Spicy Asian Noodles

Pizza Bagel

Masala Chicken and Rice

Split Pea Soup

Cheesy Bread

Parmesan and Olive Oil Couscous

Caramel Cheesecake Dessert

Photos of flowers and outdoor scenery.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the team at Gibbs Smith for making it possible for me to share my words and photographs throughout the years. Special thanks to Michelle Branson for guiding this new edition of Hungry Campers to publication. Thanks to Ryan Thomann and Renee Bond for the terrific design of the book. Continued thanks to my wife, Aimee, and our children, Ethan, Rya, and Piper, for putting up with their crazy cooking dad and waiting to taste until after the photo is captured.

Photos of leaves and outdoor scenery.

Introduction:

Savor

Simplicity

Camping provides an opportunity to step out of our day-to-day lives and to experience nature more closely. For me, sleeping outdoors tends to simplify what’s most important. Camping takes me back to the basics of comfort. A dry bed, good company, and of course, great food are all that’s needed to enjoy the wild. Delicious food is where this cookbook comes in. By focusing on simple, easy-to-prepare meals, I hope to help campers make the most of their time outdoors.

Recipes are arranged in chapters beginning with ideas for meals that are easy to prepare and teach basic cooking skills, and progressing to more advanced preparations for those camp chefs who are looking for inspiration. Special attention is given to making the job of planning dining operations for scout troops, youth groups, and families easier. Along the way, helpful tips are suggested to make your cooking experience even better. For campers looking for remote adventures, an introduction to backpack cooking with recipes and menus is provided in the last chapter.

Hearty eating should be at the center of any great camping adventure. My childhood memories include watching in anticipation as my dad cooked on our old green double-burner Coleman stove. Now I share my kids’ excitement as they create their own campfire meals. Outdoor cooking properly done is just one of the many joys experienced by those who trade a roof at home for the starry sky overhead.

Photo of cactus.

Campfire Cooking Basics

For those new to camp cooking, a great place to start is with the basics. Cooking over a fire is perfect because