How to Cook Food Over a Campfire

From choosing the right equipment to building the perfect cooking fire, plus outdoor recipes for upping your dining game.

May 31, 2023
Teapot and Cast Iron Over Campfire

skillet-and-blue-kettle-over-campfire

Teapot and Cast Iron Over Campfire

Photo by: AegeanBlue/Getty Images

AegeanBlue/Getty Images

By Alice K. Thompson for Food Network Kitchen

Alice is a contributing writer and editor at Food Network.

Master campfire cooking, and you’ll unlock a whole world of great outdoor experiences: Breakfast and coffee with a wide-open sunrise, hearty trail-side or river-side lunches and relaxed dinners at the campsite or on the beach. Food outside just tastes better, and as a bonus you’ll get added enjoyment from learning an essential survival skill. Here’s everything you need to know to get started.

Foods to Cook Over a Campfire

What’s easiest to cook over a fire? As a general rule of thumb, anything you’re comfortable grilling can probably be cooked on a grate over a campfire. Remember that doing as much prep at home as possible will streamline your cooking, so plan ahead when you can.

Anything that just needs a hot sear and a flip is great. The following can be cooked excellently in a heavy skillet over a campfire:

  • Burgers
  • Fish Fillets
  • Chops
  • Quesadillas

Spread your embers out for gentler heat and you can also cook the following foods in a cast iron skillet:

  • Over-easy eggs
  • Scrambled eggs
  • Omelets
  • Frittatas
  • Pancakes

Foods you can simmer or boil in a Dutch oven:

  • Soups and stews
  • Oatmeal
  • Pasta
  • Grains
The perfect campfire with a ring of stones around it.

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The perfect campfire with a ring of stones around it.

Photo by: Akchamczuk/Getty Images

Akchamczuk/Getty Images

Essential Gear for Campfire Cooking

Here’s some of the most useful, versatile outdoor gear for cooking. These basics will take you easily and safely from breakfast to dessert.

  • Rack with metal legs
  • Kettle or percolator pot for coffee
  • Long-handled utensils
  • Fire-proof mitts
  • Dutch oven
  • Cast-iron skillet
  • Heavy-duty foil
  • Metal skewers for hot dogs and marshmallows
  • Headlamp for night cooking
  • Propane or butane camp stove (for when the weather just won’t cooperate!)
Cooking Chili Con Carne in Dutch Oven over Logfire Outside

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Cooking Chili Con Carne in Dutch Oven over Logfire Outside

Photo by: GMVozd/Getty Images

GMVozd/Getty Images

How to Cook Over a Campfire

Successful campfire cooking requires a base of hot, glowing embers for even heat. You’ll want a fire with enough area to accommodate your food but not so large and hot that you can’t comfortably stand next to it to tend your dishes. Once you have a good base of embers you have a number of cooking choices: You can place a rack over the fire, nestle heavy pots like cast-iron Dutch oven into the embers and even wrap foods like potatoes in foil and tuck them into the coals to bake. And you can always thread foods like hot dogs, sausages and marshmallows onto skewers and cook them directly over the embers. Follow the steps below to cook over a campfire with ease.

Step 1: Make a Cooking Fire

Choose your fire site. Unless you’re using an established fire pit or ring, choose a level location out of direct wind. Make sure it’s free of flammable debris or overhanging branches; 10 feet of clearance above and on all sides is recommended. And know the regulations for campfires in the area, particularly on public lands; fires can be banned because of the danger of forest fires, disturbance to wildlife or other serious risks.

Use good wood. Split, cured hardwoods are ideal, but if you’re collecting wood at your campsite you’ll have to forage and use judgement. Avoid green, fresh wood and wet wood; these are difficult to light and unpleasantly smoky. Look for dry, solid wood without signs of insect damage. Avoid anything with vines clinging to it since poison ivy produces toxic smoke.

Arrange tinder, kindling and logs. Start by making a compact pile of tinder that will be easy to light; this can include dry grass, leaves, twigs and paper. Lay kindling (thin, dry sticks) over the tinder, moving to progressively larger sticks and eventually to your thinnest logs. Two successful campfire shapes are the teepee, with logs leaning into each other in a cone shape, and the log cabin, with logs crisscrossing each other in a loose square. Fires feed on air, so make sure there’s airspace around the wood, but not so much that flame won’t pass from log to log — the sweet spot varies, but 1 to 1 1/2 inches is a good estimate. Remember not to build a fire that’s too large; you’ll need to get close enough to it to tend your food, so don’t make a bonfire.

Light the fire. Light the tinder area of your fire. With luck, the flames will catch quickly and spread to your sticks and then to your logs. Having trouble? Blow carefully and gently at the base of the fire. If necessary, add more tinder to the center of your fire structure. Still having problems? Try adjusting your larger wood to increase or decrease airspace. If all else fails, dismantle the structure and start again.

Build embers for cooking. Once your fire has caught, wait until your kindling and thinnest logs have good, red embers, then begin adding thicker logs. Cooking requires even heat, so you’ll want a good base of hefty embers before you start cooking; leaping yellow-orange flames deliver heat that’s too intense and too sooty. This can take a while, so be patient and plan on at least 30 to 45 minutes.

Step 2: Set Up a Cooking Station

A metal rack over the fire is excellent for grilling meats and vegetables or holding skillets, a coffee percolator or Dutch ovens. A rack with metal legs is ideal, or you can make a base of stones to hold a flat metal rack.

Alternatively, you can nestle your pots into the embers for cooking. And you can also wrap foods like potatoes, corn-on-the-cob and bananas (with chocolate!) tightly in heavy-duty foil and tuck them into the embers to bake.

Hot dogs, sausages, marshmallows and even bread slices can be threaded onto skewers and cooked or toasted directly over the hot coals.

Step 3: Cook Your Food

Once you have your food prepped, a base of red-hot embers, your cooking station set up and all of your tools close by, you're ready to cook.

Much like grilling over direct and indirect heat, you can mound up some embers to create a hotter cooking area and spread them out to create a cooler zone. Place quick cooking foods and foods you'd like to char over the hotter zone and move larger foods that take longer to cook through over the cooler zone.

Let the food cook without poking the embers and remember to follow food safety guidelines for cooking meat to the correct temperatures.

Recipes for Campfire Cooking

Food Network Kitchen’s Campfire Hobo Pack Breakfast Burritos.

Food Network Kitchen’s Campfire Hobo Pack Breakfast Burritos.

Photo by: Matt Armendariz

Matt Armendariz

Ready to take your outdoor breakfast beyond scrambled eggs? A little advance prep lets you serve these delicious burritos that can cook either on a grate (if you have one) or directly on top of your coals.

Salsa, Diced Tomatoes, Green Hatch Chiles, Beans, Corn, Chili Powder, Corn Muffin Mix, Egg, Milk, Sour Cream, Cilantro, Avocado, Hot Sauce.

Salsa, Diced Tomatoes, Green Hatch Chiles, Beans, Corn, Chili Powder, Corn Muffin Mix, Egg, Milk, Sour Cream, Cilantro, Avocado, Hot Sauce.

Photo by: Matt Armendariz

Matt Armendariz

This ingenious recipe makes use of nonperishable canned and boxed essentials for a hearty vegetarian meal. The cornbread cooks on top of the chili for easy one-pot cooking, serving and cleanup.

Food Network Kitchen’s Creamy Campfire Clam Pasta with Tomatoes.

Food Network Kitchen’s Creamy Campfire Clam Pasta with Tomatoes.

Photo by: Matt Armendariz

Matt Armendariz

Making a flavored butter and toasting breadcrumbs at home streamlines the outdoor part of cooking this tasty recipe. Angel-hair pasta is cooked directly in the sauce for speedy, super-flavorful results.

Ricotta, Italian Seasoning, Egg, Parmesan, Marinara Sauce, Italian Sausage, Mozzarella.

Ricotta, Italian Seasoning, Egg, Parmesan, Marinara Sauce, Italian Sausage, Mozzarella.

Photo by: Matt Armendariz

Matt Armendariz

Could there be anything better for appetites sharpened by fresh air than cheesy lasagna? This one cooks right in a Dutch oven nestled into your coals for unique outdoor flavor.

Photo by: Matt Armendariz

Matt Armendariz

This fun mashup of chocolate-dipped strawberries and s’mores is perfect if you want to up your dessert game. And packing is easy: The only perishable item you’ll need is a quart of strawberries.

Food Network Kitchen’s Camping Toasted Marshmallow Cereal Treats.

Food Network Kitchen’s Camping Toasted Marshmallow Cereal Treats.

Photo by: Matt Armendariz

Matt Armendariz

They’re not just for s’mores! Toasted marshmallows form the base of these colorful treats you can mix up in a reusable silicone bag.

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