All-Aldi Camping Meals: Dinner, Desserts, and Breakfasts Using Only Aldi Ingredients
Aldi has been a source of many camping supplies for my family over the years. We’ve found tents, hammocks, sleeping mats, sleeping bags, lanterns, and more in the grocer’s middle aisle.
One of the best parts of camping is the food, and of course Aldi sells plenty of that, too. Whether it’s simple hot dogs roasted on sticks over the campfire, burgers fresh off the grill, or ooey gooey s’mores, food just seems to taste better in the great outdoors. My family has camped for years, and we have several favorite camping recipes that are go-tos on any trip.
The following is a quick rundown of foil dinners, entrees, desserts, and breakfast foods you can make using all-Aldi ingredients. Most of these recipes don’t include specific measurements. Camping is already a lot of work, so who wants to mess with measuring out ingredients? If you’re wondering how many shrimp to add to your foil pack dinner, or how much cheese to top your chili cheese dip with, just follow your heart.
Also, when you’re buying ingredients to make these meals, don’t forget to also pick up some simple staples from Aldi such as juice boxes, bread and lunchmeat for sandwiches, and s’mores fixings.
Breakfast:
Breakfast Sandwiches — I pre-make various breakfast sandwiches at home, typically using English muffins, but you can also use biscuits, croissants, or regular bread. Fill your sandwiches with cooked fried or scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage patties, and sliced cheese.
Wrap each sandwich in heavy-duty foil and freeze in Ziploc-style bags (the bags keep your sandwiches dry as ice in the cooler melts). Pack them in your cooler, and at your campsite, heat the foil-wrapped sandwiches on the campfire grate or on a grill.
Breakfast Burritos — Similar to the breakfast sandwiches above, I also pre-make breakfast burritos at home using flour tortillas, scrambled eggs, salsa, shredded cheese, bacon, sausage, bell peppers, onions, and whatever else we might want in our burritos.
Wrap each burrito individually in heavy-duty foil and put in Ziploc-style bags, store them in the freezer until your trip, then pack them in a cooler. When you’re ready to eat them, heat them in the foil over the campfire grate or on a grill.
Aldi Baked Goods — I rarely buy pastries or doughnuts for my family to eat at home, but we do like to eat them when we go camping or on other trips. Aldi cinnamon rolls are some of our favorites, along with raspberry or cheese danishes, and mini chocolate-covered doughnuts.
Foil Pack Dinners:
(Pro tip: While you can assemble these meals at the campsite, I like to do the work ahead and assemble individual foil pack dinners at home. It makes packing easier and makes less mess during our camping trips. I bag the assembled meals in Ziploc-style freezer bags — to keep the food dry in an icy cooler — and freeze them. When I pack our camping cooler, the frozen dinners help keep everything cold, and they’re thawed by the time I’m ready to heat and serve them.)
Shrimp Boil Foil Pack Dinner — Tear off squares of heavy duty aluminum foil that measure approximately 12 inches long, allotting one piece of foil per person. Fill each square of foil with sliced turkey kielbasa, cooked shrimp, canned sliced potatoes, frozen corn kernels, minced garlic or garlic powder, a pat of butter, salt and pepper to taste. Add sauteed sliced zucchini and onions if desired.
Wrap the whole meal up with the foil it’s sitting on, and then wrap with an additional square of foil to help keep everything from leaking out later while cooking. (Sometimes the foil can tear while cooking, so an extra layer is helpful.) Heat foil pack dinners over campfire coals or on a grill until piping hot.
Hobo Foil Pack Dinner — Using one 12-inch piece of heavy duty foil per person, fill each foil square with cooked ground turkey or ground beef, sliced canned potatoes, frozen corn kernels, canned green beans, shredded cheddar, and salt and pepper to taste. (Optional: I like to add Worcestershire sauce, but Aldi does not sell that.) Add sauteed sliced zucchini and onions if desired (I saute these at home to soften them up).
Wrap up the meal with the foil, sealing the edges, and wrap with an additional piece of foil to prevent leaking. Heat foil pack dinners over campfire coals or on a grill until piping hot.
Philly Cheesesteak Foil Pack Dinner — Using one 12-inch piece of heavy duty foil per person, fill each foil square with cooked ground turkey or ground beef, sauteed sliced onions and bell peppers, sliced canned potatoes, sliced provolone or American cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.
Wrap the meal up in foil, then wrap in an additional piece of foil. Heat foil pack dinners over campfire coals or on a grill until piping hot.
Other Entrees:
Campfire Mac and Cheese — I make homemade macaroni and cheese at home ahead of time, using the recipe here, but instead of baking it at home, I package it in a foil tray, with a foil lid or foil cover, that can be heated on a grill or campfire grate. Drop it in your cooler before leaving home, and you’re good to go. You can use any baked macaroni and cheese recipe. Just save the “baking” for the campsite.
Chili Cheese Dip — Pour a can or two of chili into a foil pie pan. Top with cream cheese, and then top it all with shredded cheddar. Heat on a grill or campfire grate until cheese is melted and everything is hot. Serve with tortilla chips. You can make this at home ahead of time and pack it in your cooler, or assemble it at your campsite.
Hot Dogs — My family loves when everyone gets their own hot dog to cook on a roasting stick over the campfire. Pack hot dog buns and condiments so everyone can dress their cooked dogs how they want.
Burgers — Also simple and easy, you can pack Aldi burgers and grill them, then serve them with Aldi hamburger buns and condiments.
Dessert:
Banana Boats — Cut a slit lengthwise in an unpeeled banana, cutting about halfway through so it’s like a hot dog bun. Fill the banana with your choice of mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and/or small peanut butter cups. Wrap the stuffed banana in heavy-duty aluminum foil. Using tongs, place the wrapped banana in campfire coals and cook until it’s hot all the way through, checking every five minutes or so. The banana should be somewhat soft and the marshmallows and chocolate should be melted. Eat directly out of the banana peel using a spoon.
Campfire Apple Crisp — I use this recipe here for apple crisp, but instead of putting it in a casserole dish and baking in the oven, I package individual servings in heavy-duty foil and freeze them, and then I toss them in the cooler right before we leave the house. They’ll thaw in the cooler, and at the campsite, I cook the apple crisp foil packs in campfire coals or on a grill until the apples are tender. As an alternative, you could put the entire apple crisp in a foil pan and bake it over the campfire or on a grill. Don’t forget to pack some whipped topping in your cooler, too.
Campfire Cones — Fill a sugar cone with mini marshmallows, sliced strawberries, and mini chocolate chips. Wrap the cone in heavy-duty foil and heat it in campfire coals.
What are your favorite camping meals or camping recipes using ingredients from Aldi? Share them with us in the comments below.
