How to Eat Keto While Camping

Going keto doesn’t mean the world has to be turned upside down. The trick to maintaining your diet is simply to make a plan and then execute the plan. While it may not be as easy as grabbing junk and driving to your local fast food joint, it can still be easy to go keto – even while doing something like camping.

That said, below are some tips for how to eat keto while camping. These keto camping meals are simple to throw together, and many of them can be prepped ahead of time too.

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Easy Keto Camping Meals – The Basics

First, let’s start off with the basics. Here’s all you really need to make some tasty and easy keto camping meals:

A meat

(or meat substitute)

Beef
Bison
Turkey
Chicken
Tofu
Fish
Pork

Veggies

(non-starchy ones!)

Asparagus
Broccoli
Cabbage
Brussels Sprouts
Mushrooms
Onions
Zucchini
Green beans
Kale
Okra
Pumpkin

Some kind of fat

(though this is technically optional it will help satiate you):

Avocado oil
Avocado
Coconut oil
Butter (Compound butters like garlic or Italian seasoning give you a flavor burst)
Olive oil
Ghee

That’s really all you need for the core of your meal!

Additional things you can add include:

Nuts and Seeds
Heavy cream
Eggs
Almond flour/Coconut flour
Berries
Lemon/lime

Then, to make a meal out of any of these you can mix and match and add spices to your heart’s content.

8 Sample Meal Ideas – Make Ahead Keto Camping Meals

This menu is assuming a three day two night camping trip.

Breakfast Day 1

Hard-boiled egg (salt and pepper to taste)
Cup of blackberries, blueberries, raspberries
1/2 cup of almonds

To make ahead: Boil the eggs and place one or two sliced up in a ziplock bag, put the berry mix in one ziplock bag, and the nuts in another ziplock bag. Bring salt and pepper in a small container if you like for the eggs. Place in your cooler

Lunch Day 1

Mason jar salad

To make ahead: At the bottom of the jar add an oil vinaigrette and then layer in this order to ensure you won’t have a soggy salad come lunch time:

Cucumbers, onion, and peppers
Chopped broccoli
1/4 cup of sliced or roughly chopped mushrooms (or tomatoes – up to you!)
Lettuce

What makes this work is all of the veggies between the dressing and the lettuce will keep your salad from getting soggy. When you’re ready to eat, simply shake the mason jar and eat it right out of the jar or pour it onto a plate or into a bowl.

To give it some pizazz, top it with nuts, avocado, and bacon bits if you like.

Dinner Day 1

Chicken foil packet with your choice of veggies

To make ahead: In a quart size bag, place a chicken breast or chicken thighs with your choice of veggies, seasonings, and 2 tbs of olive oil. Place it in a cooler.

On camping day, pour the bag into a large piece of aluminum foil and wrap it tightly. Then, set it on a camp stove, or onto a grill over a campfire. Cook for about 10 minutes, and then turn over and continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes.

Breakfast Day 2

Keto rolls or bagels with cream cheese
Sliced bell peppers
Sausage patty

To make ahead: After allowing the keto rolls to cool completely, slice them in half and schmear some cream cheese on one side. Slice bell peppers and place on the cream cheese, then top with a pre cooked sausage patty.

Wrap in a foil wrap for a quick breakfast sandwich in the morning. Place in your cooler. The day of, you can place the wrapped sandwich near the campfire for a minute or two and then carefully unwrap and enjoy

Lunch Day 2

Sandwich with my famous keto bread

To make ahead: Bake the bread, and after it cools completely, slice to desired thickness for your sandwiches. Slice your favorite meats or have your local deli do it for you.

Then, in this order to avoid a soggy sandwich make yours like this:

Bread
Meat
Mustard (or your favorite keto-friendly sandwich topping)
Sliced veggies of choice (optional – but don’t use lettuce as it tends to get too soggy by lunchtime)
Meat
Bread

Dinner Day 2

Kabobs and mason jar salads

To make ahead: Cut chicken or steak and veggies into 1 inch pieces and then starting with meat on your kabob stick alternate between meat and veggies until you get to the end of the stick. Place into a container and then into your cooler. And, using a similar recipe to the one above, make your mason jar salads.

On camping day, grill the kabobs to desired level of doneness and serve with your salad.

Breakfast Day 3

By day three, odds are your cooler is done for and you will have to rely on non-refrigerated items. So we’ll keep this simple:

Peanut Butter Pancakes!

To make ahead: You will want to grab some keto pancake mix that you just add water to such as the Birch Benders Keto Original Pancake & Waffle Mix. You can measure out the exact amount you want to bring along, or just bring the whole bag.

Then, on the day of, blend the water and dry mix, and over a campfire or on a cooking stove, make pancakes as you normally would in a pan.

While they are still warm, schmear some peanut butter over the pancake, and voila! Breakfast is served.

Lunch Day 3

Again, by day three, your cooler is probably out of ice so we will keep this one refrigerator free as well with simple tuna salad and crackers.

To make ahead: Make a batch of my Keto Butter C rackers or Everything Bagel Keto Crackers. Then, bring a can of tuna (don’t forget the can opener!), packets of mustard, and a little salt and pepper. You can mix this simple tuna salad up at the campsite and serve it with the crackers. Pair with nuts or some other shelf-stable keto-friendly snacks if you need a little more food.

Tips for Keto Friendly Camping Meals

What you serve may vary, but hopefully, this post has inspired you to plan ahead and come up with something keto-friendly for your next camping trip.

The possibilities are endless once you start thinking outside of the box, and focus on what you can eat rather than what you can’t. Here are some resources that may help you come up with even more ideas for your own easy keto camping meals:

Keto Camping Food List – Pack Like a Pro by Ditch the Carbs
Keto Camping Recipes by Low Carbe Diem
Keto Backpacking and Camping Food Ideas by Mountain House
Keto Campfire Recipes by Bulletproof