What to eat while truck camping

Joined
Feb 16, 2015
Messages
1,889
Location
Colorado
If I'm truck camping I eat well but do all the prep/cooking at home so I'm just re-heating stuff.

Pasta w/ meat sauce, chicken and rice or potatoes, pulled pork, sausages, steak or pork chops, burgers, etc. Essentially anything you'd eat at home as leftovers makes for great truck camping food. All those are super easy to cook at home, put into quart ziploc bags, then dump into a pan at camp and heat up. Sometimes I'll bring a bag of the pre-mix salad too. For 6 nights I'd probably bring 2 each of 3 different items or even 3 each of 2 different items. I don't worry to much about variety as long as I'm eating a full meal. Throw a loaf of bread in and it's easy to add toast on the side (throw it in a pan w/ butter after you cook your main course).

I try to minimize raw meat in camp just so I don't have to deal with as much cleaning and surface contamination. Eggs are about the only real raw item I bring. Camping is my once/year use of pre-cooked bacon.
+1 on the home prep and bag salads

Fajitas and taco meat reheat well. There is a southwest style bagged saled thats good to tun into taco salad and you can bring tortillas or chips to eat with it.

Also I really like doing Pre-baked potatoes wrapped in foil. Bake at home so they are pretty much done, then re heat on/in some coals, or have done them on my grill, then just add meat and whatever else you want on top as well (cheese, sour cream, salsa, etc.). Easy one plate meal.
 
Joined
Apr 1, 2013
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2,638
Yup. Dishes and raw meat are both no goes for me. The little bit of stuff we dirty we clean with unscented baby wipes and a quick rinse.

Interesting, it’s truck camping. If a cast iron is seasoned and hot, poor water and it’s pretty much instantly clean.

really only thing to clean would be plate..
 
Last edited:

Fatcamp

WKR
Joined
May 31, 2017
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5,659
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Sodak
Interesting, it’s truck camping. If a cast iron is seasoned and hot, poor water and it’s pretty much instantly clean.

really only thing to clean would be plate..

I spend almost no time at my vehicle. Most of that is gonna be in the dark and I just think the simpler the better. And I really don't want to deal with grease when I'm traveling. My cookstove still looks almost new.

Spent years as a young man living in a vehicle and traveling all over the United States. I have a method I like built on those years of experience.
 

MtnW

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 15, 2020
Messages
206
I am good for up to 3 days hunting (bird or big game) and fishing using my vehicle in remote areas . I enjoy quality food. I will have prepared foods in ziplock bags thar I can boil along with some thinner cuts of beef that don’t take to long to cook. Definitely no dishwashing . A good stove and cooler is vital.
 
OP
shooterrdy
Joined
Oct 14, 2018
Messages
321
Thanks Yall, sounds like you all been living right. Id say underhydration is part of My problem for sure. I think I will do better job packing a cooler going forward.
Re heat some real food and drink more water early.
 

omegafoo

FNG
Joined
Aug 20, 2018
Messages
8
Location
Flatlands
Cook the meals at home, freeze in glad containers and then vacuum seal. Eat whatever you want and it takes 5 minutes.

We take a big pot to put up to three guys meals in. Bring the pot to a boil with the meals in there. Rotate them occasionally to ensure thorough heating and do not leave them too long or the seals will come apart. Learned that the hard way with some really watery chicken and rice. About 5 minutes after it starts boiling and the meal is pipping hot.

turkey chili, lasagna, spaghetti, taco soup or any other similar meal of your liking works great like this.
 

Rob5589

WKR
Joined
Sep 6, 2014
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6,243
Location
N CA
I like instant potatoes that you just add water to. Then I throw a can of tuna or sardines in. Pretty filling not the best flavor.
Man, that sounds, pretty terrible 🤢


Breakfast burritos, burgers, brats, deer and or elk steaks, are go to meals. Wife will whip up a batch of potato or mac salad for a side.
 
Joined
Nov 16, 2017
Messages
8,161
Location
Central Oregon
Costco has pre cooked burger Patty's that are good.
Last year my wife pre cooked fajitas and they were great, definitely gonna do that again.

Canned chicken and bagged rice fried up.

Roast beef deli meat and heat up. French dip sauce.
 

Moserkr

WKR
Joined
Feb 26, 2020
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997
Location
Mountains of CA
Ive done just about all of the above there. But my buddy has one of those dual stoves with the oven underneath - we call it the ez bake oven. So one time i brought an already cooked pizza. Kept the leftovers of it in ziploc bags in the cooler. Then take out a few slices and reheat them in the oven!? You havent lived until you have eaten oven baked pizza in the woods…
 

500000KV

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 20, 2017
Messages
290
Location
OR, CT
The correct answer is tacos.
This right here. Or burritos, super simple to make. For day hunts we pre cook bacon and make pb&jh burritos with bacon in them. About as good as it gets out hunting.
Id guess you’re getting dehydrated, drink more water and electrolyte tablets a few times a day.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
Messages
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Lenexa, KS
I pre-cook carnitas and freeze it and wrap in aluminum foil if it's going to cook on the Seek Outside stove. Same with pulled pork or smoked chicken. Throw in some tortillas and avocados and Cholula. (I need a morale patch that says: No Cholula, No Peace). One time we chopped up tamales and cooked it (re-heated) in a skillet direct with some carnitas and damn that was good. PB&J sammies are good.
 

Titan_Bow

WKR
Joined
Dec 10, 2015
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1,116
Location
Colorado
Depends on what I’m hunting and how hard I’m going. Sometimes by the time you are back at the truck you just want to crash, so simple things like sandwiches, etc. work well. I make my own dehydrated meals so I usually eat those as well


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Joined
Nov 11, 2020
Messages
89
Location
Oregon
Truck camping for under a week, I pretty much just bring leftovers. Make a few bigger pots of tomato sauce with ground venison and veggies over the month before season, or chili, or whatever, put the extra away in the freezer. Heat it up over a camp stove on the tailgate, cook some pasta or bring a cornbread for the chili. Doesn't matter much if it gets stale.

Don't overthink it. Mountain house is rough to live off, just eat as close to regular food as you can. Save the dehydrated stuff for when you're packed in and cutting down on weight.
 
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Messages
2,282
Location
Pennsylvania
My diet definitely suffers when I truck camp which is quite often. I have a single burner propane stove to heat water and a good cooler. Coffee in the morning and an oatmeal cream pie. I usually pack a bagel or sandwich and cliff bar and candy for mid day.Gatorade or water for my drinks.

To be brutally honest when I get to the truck at night I don't feel like cooking. I usually eat leftovers or another sandwich and go to sleep.seldom do I eat anything hot unless it's pasta or Ramen noodles. I know this really takes a toll on you after a few days and as I age I really notice my energy fade. Hydration is key. It's amazing to me how much I drink in a week or 2 truck camping.

Lots of good ideas posted guys.
 
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