Special Camping & Grilling Recipes

Outdoor meals can be simple picnics for two while camping in the woods, or they can be large barbecues with your friends and relatives. In order to make your outdoor meals as simple and delicious as possible, we've selected a variety of recipes from chefs, cooks and food enthusiasts around the country — and beyond! So, fire up your grill and get ready for some good eating this summer!

And, remember, making any recipe sustainable is quite easy. Simply buy as many ingredients as you can from a local family farmer that uses sustainable/organic farming practices and you'll know you're eating the best food for yourself and your family!

Featured Recipes

Heirloom Tomato Salad with Market Basil, Cucumber, and Grilled Sourdough, Courtesy of Chef Todd Gray, Equinox Restaurant, Washington, D.C.

Grilled Romaine Salad with Crispy Bacon & Chimichurri Sauce, Courtesy of Jennifer Biesty, Top Chef — Season 4

BBQ Baked Gigantes, Courtesy of Laura Pensiero, Gigi Market and Trattoria

Additional Recipes

Recipes marked with a are especially good for camping because they're simple to make and have few ingredients. (All of them are good for grilling!) If you try any of these, please rate them on the and leave a comment right on the recipe in our Sustainable Kitchen section.

Appetizers, Soups and Salads

Soup

• Cold Cucumber Soup in Cucumber Cups - Rosalie Glauser, Slow Down Food Company, Arkville, New York
• Melon & Mango Gazpacho - Randy Pollak, Over the Road Chef

Salad

• Mint Tabbouleh — Meatless Monday
• Chefs Salad — Tim Bates, The Honey Pot Stores Ltda, Santiago, Chile
• Heirloom Tomato Salad "Caprice" — Chef Kurt Michael Friese, Devotay, Iowa City, Iowa
• Mixed Salad Greens with Honey Dijon Dressing, Pickled Vegetables and Cheese
• Raspberry Mania — Laina Lamb, Ohio
• Watermelon-Fennel Salad - Laura Pensiero, Gigi Hudson Valley, Red Hook, New York

Appetizer

• Sunchoke Dip — Meatless Monday
• Cheese on a Grill — Laura Freden, Boston, Massachusetts
• Crispy Date Roll Ups — Dorit Dyke, Los Angeles, California
• Grilled Summer Figs and Pigs — Lisa Nicholson, Seattle, Washington

Breakfast

• Cinnamon & Sugar Quick Doughnuts — Stacey Ornstein, Just Braise, New York, New York
• Peanut Butter French Toast — Stacey Ornstein, Just Braise, New York, New York

Main Dish/Entrée

Meat

• Braised Short Ribs of Beef with Turnips — Chef Keith Snow, Harvest Eating.com
• Chicken Grilled on a Poultry Roaster with Aromatics — Jayni Carey, Jayni's Kitchen, Lawrence, Kansas
• Chicken Vesuvious En Papillote — Randy Pollak, Over the Road Chef
• Chipotle Burgers - Jayni Carey, Jayni's Kitchen, Lawrence, Kansas
• Classic Grilled Steaks — Shannon Hayes, The Grassfed Gourmet, Eating Fresh Publications, 2004
• Curried Chicken Kebabs — Jayni Carey, Jayni's Kitchen, Lawrence, Kansas
• Ginseng Mountain Grilled Lamb — Chef Robert Ramsey, Fox Head Inn, Manakin-Sabot, Virginia
• Grilled Chicken with Mustard, Black Pepper and Shallot Marinade — Jayni Carey, Jayni's Kitchen, Lawrence, Kansas
• Grilled Flank Steak Wraps with Farmstead Cheese, Avocado, and Market Romaine Leaves — Chef Todd Gray, Equinox Restaurant, Washington DC
• Grilled Marinated Flank Steak — Laura Giannatempo
• Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Strawberry BBQ Sauce — Laura Pensiero, Gigi Hudson Valley, Red Hook, New York
• Grilled Rib-Eye of Beef with Balsamic Glazed Onions and Grilled Summer Vegetables — Chef Stu Stein, The Peerless Restaurant, Oregon
• Grilled Ribeye with Portobello & Yukon Golds — Dana Keig, Lindauer Farms
• Honey Mustard Chicken Kabobs — Lobel's of New York
• London Broil — Florence Hatz, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
• MUDPUDDLE — Conner M. Andrew, Montgomery, Alabama
• Orange Soy NY Strip Steaks — Bonnie Preston, Lindauer Farms
• Pozo Mountain Easy Bruschetta Burgers — Juanell Nick Hepburn, Santa Margarita, California
• Seafood Whole Wheat Pasta Salad — Erika Azevedo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Tin Foil Burgers — Stacey Ornstein, Just Braise, New York, NY
• Ultra Juicy Hamburger — Laura Giannatempo

Fish

• Barbecued Trout — Mediterranean/Asian Style — Tim Bates, The Honey Pot Stores Ltda, Santiago, Chile
• Barbecued Salmon or Halibut - JoAnn and Dave Lesh, "A Week of Recipes from Gustavus Inn", Gustavus, Alaska
• Spice Rubbed Grilled Salmon — Chef Stu Stein, The Peerless Restaurant, Oregon

Vegetarian

• Mixed Bean Chili with Sweet Potato — Meatless Monday
• Garbanzo Bean Burgers — Meatless Monday
• BBQ Tofu — Vegan Yum Yum
• Grilled Pizza — Laura Freden, Boston, Massachusetts
• Porto-grilled Veggie Burger — Vance Edwards-Orr, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
• Wilted Salad Pizza — Fraiche Kitchen

Rubs, Sauces and Gravy

• Carolina Style Mustard BBQ Sauce — Chef Eric Stenberg, Chefs Collaborative
• Chef Todd Gray's Camping Dry Rub — Chef Todd Gray, Equinox Restaurant, Washington DC
• Homemade Barbecue Sauce — Anna Maria de Freitas, Harrison House Suites, San Juan Islands
• Moroccan Barbeque Spice Mix — Rachel Albert-Matesz and Don Matesz, The Garden of Eating, Planetary Press, 2004

Sides

• Cole Slaw — Walter Hatz, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
• Devilled Eggs — Laura Giannatempo
• Early Summer Potato Salad — June Russell, Greenmarket NYC
• Fiesta Salad - Beth Woods
• Fire Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Garlic — Elizabeth Browne
• Gram Brennan's Potato Salad — Karen Hudson, Elmwood, Illinois
• Grilled Asparagus or Broccoli - Tim Bates, The Honey Pot Stores Ltda, Santiago, Chile
• Grilled Asparagus with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette — Chef Annie Somerville, Greens, San Francisco, California
• Grilled Corn on the Cob — Laura Freden, Boston, Massachusetts
• Grilled Eggplant and Tomato Casserole - Jayni Carey, Jayni's Kitchen, Lawrence, Kansas
• Grilled Local Veggies — Fraiche Kitchen
• Grilled Potatoes with Onions — Laura Freden, Boston, Massachusetts
• Grilled Potatoes and Onions - Jayni Carey, Jayni's Kitchen, Lawrence, Kansas
• Grilled Spinach and Red Pepper with Blue Cheese - Jayni Carey, Jayni's Kitchen, Lawrence, Kansas
• Grilled Squash and Mushrooms on a Skewer — Elizabeth Browne
• Grilled Sugar Snap Peas — Victoria Wesseler, Going Local-info.com
• Grilled Summer Vegetables Mediterranean Style — Laura Giannatempo
• Grilled Tossed Vegetables — Randy Pollak, Over the Road Chef
• Grilled Vegetables — Laura Freden, Boston, Massachusetts
• Half-Baked Potatoes Reggiano — Randy Pollak, Over the Road Chef
• Marinated Grilled Oyster Mushrooms — Tye Tilt, Jackson, Wyoming
• Sage Hill Farms Corn Cake — Bea Kunz, Sage Hill Farms, Petersburg, TN
• South-West Party Salad — Sue Oakley, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada
• Tatties in Foil — Tim Bates, The Honey Pot Stores Ltda, Santiago, Chile

Desserts

Some of the desserts here are for pies — many are from our Eat Well Guided Tour of America last year — they can't actually be made on a grill, but they're excellent accompaniments to any picnic, barbecue or cookout!

• Pie Ranch Pie Crust — Pie Ranch, Davenport, California
• Single Crust Pie Shell — Solstice Café, Portland, Oregon

• Apple Honey Pie — Karen Hudson, Elmwood, Illinois
• Dawn's Peach-Blueberry Pie — Dawn Brighid, Brooklyn, New York
• Diana's Apple Cream Pie — Diana Bell
• Fresh Lemon Pie — Karen Hudson, Elmwood, Illinois
• Grilled Fruit — Laura Freden, Boston, Massachusetts
• Grilled Local Fruit — Fraiche Kitchen
• Huckleberry Pie — Chef Eric Stenberg, Chefs Collaborative
• Marinated Market Strawberries with Brown Sugar and Balsamic Vinegar - Chef Todd Gray, Equinox Restaurant, Washington DC
• Michigan Cherry Pie — Elisha Tally, Ypsilanti, Michigan
• Peach Lemonade Pie — Willa Mullen, Laramie, Wyoming
• Pie Ranch Pumpkin Pie — Pie Ranch, Davenport, California
• Solstice Blueberry Pie — Solstice Café, Corvallis, Oregon
• Strawberry and Rhubarb Pie — Laura Giannatempo
• Strawberry Halves Drizzled with Sesame Oil - Tim Bates, The Honey Pot Stores Ltda, Santiago, Chile
• Sweet Green Tomato Pie — Amanda Kimball-Evans, Boalsburg, Pennsylvania
• Very Berry Pie — Marilyn Pearson, Marilyn's Bakery, Hobart, Indiana
• Zucchini Apple Pie from Local Burger — Local Burger, Lawrence, Kansas

Beverages

• Ginger-Mint Limeade — Sustainable Table
• Lavendar Lemonade — Sustainable Table
• Sun Tea — Sustainable Table
• When Life Hands You Lemons.... — Karen Fairbairn, Lazy Crazy Acres, Arkville, New York