Camping potluck dishes are meals you can share with your loved ones around a cozy, crackling campfire. Whether you host a family reunion or join fellow campers for a friendly dinner, you can delight everyone’s tastebuds with creative potluck recipes.
Camping Potluck Ideas
You can prepare creative meals while camping with the right equipment. Consider the following ways you can cook at your campsite or prepare food for a camping gathering:
- Grill: Cooking on a camp grill is the most common way to prepare food while camping, and there are tons of meal possibilities.
- Cast-iron pan: A cast-iron frying pan is durable and versatile. You can use your pan to cook over your grill or a campfire. You can also place it in the oven if your RV or cabin has one.
- Dutch oven: A Dutch oven is another versatile camping essential. With this sturdy, cast-iron cooking vessel, you can prepare anything from desserts to stews.
- Slow cooker: If you need to combine some ingredients and let them cook or keep food warm until guests arrive, a slow cooker is convenient to take on your camping trip. You can plug it into an outlet in your RV or cabin for a quick and easy dish. A slow cooker is also a great idea if you want to prepare food at home and bring it with you to a camping potluck.
- Air fryer: Similar to the slow cooker, an air fryer is an excellent choice for cooking food at your campsite or precooking food at home and bringing it with you.
- Pie iron: Pie irons are fun camping tools for making toasted sandwiches. Consider using your pie irons to make unique sandwiches at your next potluck. If you have enough pie irons, you can provide ingredients and invite each guest to prepare and cook their own sandwiches using their favorites.
Camping Potluck Recipes
From tasty appetizers and hearty meals to warm, gooey desserts, you can host or attend a memorable get-together with the following camping potluck meals:
Appetizer Potluck Recipes
Appetizers are potluck essentials, and you can impress your friends and family with the following fantastic starters:
1. Air-Fried Nachos
Air-fired nachos are full of flavorful meat, cheese and beans, and they are easy to make. After browning your meat, layering your ingredients in the air fryer and frying them for 5 minutes, you can serve these nachos with your favorite toppings. This air-fried nachos recipe will surely be a hit at your next camping gathering.
2. Jalapeno Popper Tot Dip
If you are looking for something a little spicier than nachos, consider making a mouthwatering dip. This jalapeno popper tot dip recipe combines frozen tater tots, cheese, seasonings, peppers, bacon, green onion and chopped avocados for a dish bursting with flavor.
3. Grilled Bacon-Wrapped Dates
Delight your loved ones with sweet and savory grilled bacon-wrapped dates. To make this appetizer, you will fill dates with almonds and creamy garlic and herb soft cheese. After wrapping the dates with short bacon slices, you can grill them until the bacon crisps and then drizzle them with balsamic glaze.
Main Dish Potluck Recipes
There is something magical about sharing a meal around the campfire with your favorite people. The following recipes are full of the flavor and comfort you expect from camp food:
1. Pie Iron Reuben Sandwiches
Pie irons are a campfire favorite, and they are versatile enough to make various types of sandwiches and creative combinations. Consider serving tangy sandwiches at your next potluck with a pie iron Reuben sandwich recipe that combines pastrami or turkey pastrami, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing between two slices of rye bread.
2. Burger Tacos
You can prepare savory burger tacos on your camp stove or grill and make a fantastic potluck main dish for friends and family to enjoy. Burger tacos combine classic cheeseburger ingredients, such as American cheese, pickles, onions, lettuce and tangy sauce, on a tortilla. After mixing the sauce and grilling the beef and tortillas, you can fold them into the perfect tacos and let everyone choose their favorite toppings.
3. Hobo Stew
Hobo stew is the perfect potluck dish if you camp during the cooler months. Treat your loved ones to warm, comforting stew while you enjoy the changing leaf colors on a crisp fall afternoon. This hobo stew recipe features hearty ingredients like steak, carrots, potatoes, broccoli, onion and flavorful seasonings.
4. Camp Lasagna Soup
Camp lasagna soup is a unique variation of a classic Italian dish. This camp lasagna soup recipe features Italian sausage, lasagna noodles, tomato paste, chicken broth, pasta sauce, onion and tasty seasonings for a warm, inviting potluck dish.
5. Sheet Pan Breakfast Quesadillas
Breakfast is incredible any time of day, and you can prepare sheet pan breakfast quesadillas for your next camping potluck. You can make this recipe by combining savory breakfast ingredients between two layers of soft tortillas placed between two sheet pans. Make sure the bottom side of the top sheet pan is touching your tortillas.
Place the stacked sheet pans on the grill with a heavy skillet or pan on top, and cook for 15 minutes before flipping the pans. After cooking, you will have delicious quesadillas full of scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese, beans, green chiles and your favorite garnish.
6. Grilled Party Sliders
Consider serving mouthwatering grilled party sliders at your camping potluck. Pick your favorite deli meat and cheese, and place it in sweet Hawaiian dinner rolls topped with a delicious glaze. You can then wrap the sliders in foil and heat them on your camp grill.
Camping Potluck Desserts
A camping potluck is not complete until everyone has a yummy dessert. Consider the following dessert recipes for your next gathering:
1. S’mores
S’mores are a campfire classic, and you can get creative with your s’more creations and ingredient combinations. Kampgrounds of America compiled a list of inventive s’mores recipes, such as s’moreos, peanut butter s’mores, Nutella s’mores, vegetarian s’mores and Elvis s’mores. Whether you pack your graham crackers with Nutella and strawberry slices or bacon, banana slices and chocolate, you can create a delightful dessert over crackling campfire flames.
2. Peanut Butter S’mores Bars
You can also prepare delicious dessert bars using s’mores ingredients. This peanut butter s’mores bars recipe uses marshmallows, miniature marshmallows, peanut butter, graham cereal, crisp rice cereal, peanut butter chips, miniature chocolate bars and butter to create soft and chewy bars. To prepare this dessert, you will need a baking pan and a grill, stovetop or cast iron skillet.
3. Caramel Apple Dump Cake
This caramel apple dump cake is a scrumptious sweet treat you can serve at your next camping potluck. To make this recipe, you will cook chopped Granny Smith apples and butter in a cast-iron skillet and add caramel sauce, cinnamon and sea salt to the pan. After topping it with a spice cake mix, butter and pecans, the cake bakes over indirect heat until it turns golden brown. Top this dessert with vanilla ice cream for an extra sweet delight.
Enjoy Your Next Camping Potluck at KOA
Camping and sharing food with friends and family is a terrific way to connect and catch up. KOA offers more than 500 fun camping destinations across North America, blending relaxing atmospheres with exciting recreational activities.
Whether you enjoy tent, cabin or RV camping, KOA provides various ways to stay in the great outdoors. You can enjoy meals with your loved ones, share stories around a crackling campfire, experience new adventures and sleep under the stars. Reserve a stay at KOA to host your next camping potluck.
About the Author: Kampgrounds of America
Kampgrounds of America is the largest system of open-to-the-public campgrounds in the world, with over 500 locations across the United States and Canada. Founded in Billings, MT in 1962, KOA’s family of campground brands – KOA Journey, KOA Holiday and KOA Resort – today serve more than a million camping families each year. KOA is dedicated to “connecting people to the outdoors and each other” by providing people with a variety of camping experiences and the information they need to make the most of their camping trip. Read more of their camping and travel resources by visiting KOA.com/blog.
