25 Easy Crock Pot Camping Meals To Make For Your Next Trip
Crock pot camping meals are an excellent way to enjoy delicious and hearty meals while exploring the great outdoors. Whether you’re camping in an RV or caravan, these easy camping crockpot meals are easy to prepare and require minimal effort.
With the right ingredients and a little bit of preparation, you can have a hot and satisfying meal waiting for you at the end of a long day of hiking, fishing, or exploring, so we’ve put together a guide on some of the best easy camping slow cooker meal ideas plus some non-electricity alternatives to the crockpot too!
*This post may contain affiliate links, which means if you click a link and make a purchase, I earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Read my full privacy policy for more info.
Benefits Of Using A Crockpot Or Slow Cooker For Camping & RV Trips
One of the best things about crockpot camping meals is their versatility. You can make everything from stews and soups to casseroles and pasta dishes.
The slow cooking process allows the flavours to meld together, resulting in a rich and savoury meal. Plus, crockpot meals can be customised to suit your taste preferences and dietary needs – changing up ingredients to suit what you have on hand!
The best part though, is the fact that you can prep your meal in the morning, leave it cooking throughout the day and come back in the afternoon to a delicious meal that is ready to eat. They use minimal electricity, and there are even some non-electrical slow cooker alternatives too for those of you who are tent camping, rather than RV or caravan camping.
Essential Crockpot Camping Meals
Camping is one of the best things you can do to enjoy the great outdoors. However, outdoor cooking can feel daunting for some, especially after a long day of hiking or exploring when you just want to eat!
This is where crockpot camping meals come in handy. They are easy to prepare, require less time and effort, and can be enjoyed by a large group. Here are some of the best crockpot camping meals that will satisfy your taste buds.
Hearty Stews and Soups
Stews and soups are a great way to warm up on a cold day, making them perfect for winter camping trips. They are also a versatile dish that can be made with different ingredients.
Here are some easy crockpot stews and soups that you can make during your next camping trip:
- Slow cooker beef stew: Tender beef chuck, carrots, and baby potatoes come together in this hearty Slow Cooker Beef Stew that simmers for hours. A nourishing one-pot meal the whole family will love.
- Slow Cooker Poor Man’s Stew: Made with ground beef, veggies, dried spices and tomato paste with water in the place of broth to make this a thrifty camping dinner.
- Taco Soup: This can be a 30 minute one-pot dinner or a slow cooker set and forget until later meal with plenty of flavour and a perfect alternative for taco Tuesday while camping.
- Chicken & Wild Rice Soup: This easy recipe for your next RV trip uses skinless chicken breasts, wild rice and a mix of broth, vegetables and seasoning for a hearty and easy crockpot meal.
- Slow Cooker Potato Soup: The perfect meal for a cold night, loaded with thick creamy flavours, with bacon, potatoes Greek yogurt or sour cream and a few other simple ingredients.
- Beef Vegetable Noodle Soup: This beef soup recipe with noodles and veggies is a nice easy option that has plenty of flavour to please the whole family.
- Turkey Vegetable Stew: An easy and tasty slow cooker stew with turkey and veggies that is perfect for your RV camper meal rotation.
Slow Cooker Camping Dinner Ideas
Crockpot main dishes are perfect for dinner time. They are easy to make and can be ready by the time you come back from your day trip.
Here are some great dinner ideas to make in your crockpot while camping:
- Slow cooker pulled pork with cola: Couldn’t be much easier to make pulled pork using cola, then add it to some fresh burger buns with some coleslaw for some simple sloppy joes.
- Crockpot Pork Tenderloin Carnitas Tacos: This crockpot pork tenderloin carnitas can be used in tacos, breakfast scrambles, and whatever other camping meals you want to make. It tastes phenomenal and is an easy source of protein to prepare ahead of time!
- Crock pot BBQ ribs: 10 minutes prep then let the slow cooker work it’s magic for fall-off-the-bone tender BBQ ribs.
- Crockpot Chicken Nachos: Enjoy nachos by the campfire with this slow cooker chicken nachos recipe that the whole family will love. Serve with tortilla chips and you’re sorted!
- Slow Cooker Pot Roast: Enjoy a classic pot roast with your family and friends around the campsite with this simple slow cooker roast recipe.
- Slow Cooker Country Potatoes: You can’t get much more of a hearty meal than potatoes and this meal includes bell peppers, onions and butter giving it a creamy flavour.
- Slow Cooker Jalapeno Popper Chicken: If you love jalapeno poppers, this creamy chicken dish is about to be your new camping favourite. Cream cheese, jalapenos, shredded cheese and chicken.
- Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili: Creamy, chunky and full of hearty flavour for a cold camp night.
- Easy Chicken Black Bean Chili: This Chicken Black Bean Chili can be made with fresh chicken in the crock pot and taken out for your first night of camping.
- Crock Pot Italian Meatballs: Easy to make and great for feeding a crowd, served with pasta or rice for a complete meal.
- Beanies and Weenies: You can’t get much more simple than beans and sausages but if it’s easy you want, this is a winner. This is such an easy crockpot meal.
- Crockpot Lasagna: If you love lasagna, there’s no reason you can’t have it while you’re on your next camping trip! This is a perfect dish to please a crowd!
- Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken: This chicken recipe can be used to make all types of dishes while camping such as tacos, burrito bowls, salads, quesadillas or just pile it on a sandwich with your favourite fillings and sauce.
- Slow Cooker 4 Cheese Mac & Cheese: Easy prep and 4 cheeses… you can’t really go wrong with this mac and cheese slow cooker recipe.
Breakfast Camping Crockpot Recipes
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day since that’s what you need to give you energy to spend the day adventuring! Prep your breakfast the night with one of these easy slow cooker recipes before and wake up to a hot breakfast that is ready to eat.
Here are some ideas for slow cooker camping breakfast ideas:
- Slow cooker Oatmeal: This slow-cooked oatmeal is made with winter fruit, making it a healthy but hearty hot camping breakfast.
- Crockpot French Toast Casserole: The perfect combination of French toast, with a brown sugar and milk mixture, in a crockpot breakfast casserole form that you can cook overnight for a hot camping breakfast.
- Crockpot Breakfast Casserole: This easy camping recipe for breakfast uses frozen hash brown potatoes, bacon or ham, onion, bell peppers, cheese, eggs, milk and seasoning for a simple start for your first meal of the day.
- Crockpot Blueberry French Toast: For another variation to the slow cooked French toast, this blueberry variation sounds delicious.
What Is A Crock Pot?
A crock pot, also known as a slow cooker, is a kitchen appliance that is used for cooking food at a low temperature for a long period of time.
It consists of a pot made of ceramic or porcelain, which is heated by an electric heating element. The pot is covered with a lid, which traps the heat and moisture, allowing the food to cook slowly and evenly.
Crock pots are popular for their convenience and versatility. They can be used to cook a wide variety of dishes, from soups and stews to roasts and casseroles. They are also great for making large batches of food, which can be stored and reheated later.
Crockpot & Slow Cooker Essentials For camping
Crockpot is one of the more well known brands of slow cookers available, but its certainly not the only option. Below we have listed some of the best slow cookers (including the Crockpot) and some of the best camping accessories to save you time on cooking and clean up too:
Elite Gourmet Electric Slow Cooker Ceramic Pot 1.5 Quart
For solo trips or couples who only need a smaller option, this Elite Gourmet 1.5 quart slow cooker is highly rated and really affordable! It’s a great size for a small RV kitchen where space is limited, around the same size as a standard rice cooker.
Crock-Pot Small 3.5 Quart
This 3.5 Quart slow cooker is the perfect size for most families of 4 to 5 people and the rectangle design might be a better fit for storage for some vans and campers.
Crock-Pot 7 Quart Slow Cooker
This 7 quart Crockpot comes in some pretty colours, but more importantly, it’s great for feeding larger families or a crowd due to the larger size.
Silicone Crock Pots Liners
Cook two dishes at once with these silicone slow cooker liners and make cleanup a breeze after you finish cooking. Silicone, leak proof liners that are perfect for 6-quart slow cookers, as well as sizes for larger 7-8 quart slow cookers.
Drizzle Foldable Electrical Cooker Travel Pot 100V-240V
This silicone hot pot folds down into a tiny compact size when not in use, making it perfect for travel. It has convertible electrical plugs for different countries too. Not a slow cooker but you can still use the same slow cooker recipes if you’re wanting dinner a little quicker!
Presto 06012 Nomad 8-quart Traveling Slow Cooker
This slow cooker is not only a great size for feeding a large family or a crowd, it’s also easily portable too so you can pick it up by the handle and carry it with you to enjoy your meal elsewhere.
No Electricity Crockpot Alternatives
When camping, it’s not always possible to have access to electricity. This can pose a challenge when it comes to using a crockpot. However, there are alternative methods that can be used to cook delicious meals without electricity.
One option is to use a solar oven. These ovens rely on the sun’s energy to cook food. They are lightweight and easy to transport, making them a great option for camping trips. Simply place the ingredients in the solar oven and let it cook throughout the day.
Another alternative is to use a Dutch oven. These ovens are made of cast iron and can be placed directly on hot coals. They are great for cooking stews, soups, and even desserts. Dutch ovens can be a bit heavy, but they are worth the extra weight for the delicious meals they can produce.
Finally, a thermal cooker is an option that can be heated on a camp stove then removed and it maintains the heat to cook food throughout the day.
Conclusion: Crockpot Camping Meal Ideas
These crockpot camping meals are a great way to make your camping meal prep easier by having meals you can prep in the morning and throw in the pot, ready to eat after a day of fun outdoors. And you can make this even quicker by prepping your food ahead of time and adding your ingredients to ziplock bags so you can just dump them into the slow cooker, ready to cook.
More camp food tips & ideas:
- Camp cooking tips
- Healthy camping snacks
- Best canned foods for camping
- Easy camping lunch ideas
- Griddle recipes for camping
