Ground Beef Camping Recipes: 13+ Easy Hamburger Meals

These simple ground beef camping recipes are perfect for cooking in the great outdoors. Try these easy meal ideas on your next camping trip.

1. Dutch Oven Chili Mac

You need only 5 minutes of prep time before this easy recipe is cooking over the hot coals of a campfire or over a propane camp stove. I love this easy ground beef pasta recipe because the pasta cooks right in the sauce, no extra pot required for boiling the pasta in water. Check out all of my yummy one pot camping meals.

2. Big Mac Sloppy Joes

Cooking burgers is simple but these sloppy joes are even easier! This loose meat sandwich tastes even better than the fast food version because I have the absolute best copycat secret sauce recipe. This is also a great dinner option when you can’t cook over an open flame because of campfire restrictions. Check out all of my delicious camp stove recipes.

3. Dutch Oven Shepherd’s Pie

This hearty dish is an ultimate comfort food my whole family enjoys. It’s a yummy meat and potatoes meal that I make it with instant mashed potatoes to keep it really simple at the campsite. For a more traditional dish, just boil and mash some potatoes and use the real thing.

4. Camping Tacos

The best part of this dinner is the fast cooking time. I like cooking this meat in a cast iron Dutch oven over a campfire, but, if I’m cooking in our RV I just use a non-stick skillet. I typically use lean ground beef but have also used another ground meat like pork or ground turkey. Sprinkle your favorite toppings on these tacos for serving. Some of mine include adding a dollop of sour cream, fresh cilantro, salsa and diced avocados or guacamole.

5. Dutch Oven Meatloaf

This is one of my husband’s favorite camping dinners, the meat mixture combines ground beef and Italian sausage then the loaf is topped with strips of bacon. Leftovers make an easy lunch when you slice it thin and serve it cold between two slices of bread and a little mayo or mustard. To keep this delicious meal really simple, I serve it with instant mashed potatoes and frozen veggies that have a mixture of peas, carrots, corn and green beans.

6. Hobo Casserole

This casserole is sort of like making a juicy burger in hobo dinner foil packets but instead of making individual servings, you do everything in one big pot that serves 6 people. It combines cream of mushroom soup, sliced potatoes, cheddar cheese and the whole dish is topped with French-fried onions and baked to perfection.

7. Dutch Oven Spaghetti And Meatballs

This family favorite consistently gets a 5 star review because the meatballs are so tender and flavorful. I use a mixture of ground beef, Italian sausage, breadcrumbs, spices and parmesan cheese. I add a splash of red wine to the homemade sauce which adds a nice depth of flavor. For sides I like serving a tossed green salad and garlic bread. If you like pasta dishes, check out all of my camping pasta recipes.

8. Cowboy Soup Recipe

Soups make wonderful one-pot meals during cold weather trips. This is such a hearty soup made with simple ingredients. It’s a relatively healthy recipe that will tantalize your taste buds with Tex-Mex flavors. I like to garnish it with tortilla chips to give it a little extra crunch.

9. Diablo Sandwich

This is my favorite way to make a sandwich that is sort of like sloppy joes because I don’t really like sloppy joes but my husband loves them. The Tex-Mex flavors in this sandwich make both of us happy.

10. Creamy Skillet Taco Recipe

When you’re looking for easy ground beef recipes, don’t skip this one. It is one of my favorite easy camping meals that can be served as a appetizer or as a main dish.

11. Dutch Oven Campfire Chili Recipe

Even picky eaters give this hearty meal a ​5 star rating. The combination of ground beef and ground Italian sausage provide extra flavor.

• If you have leftover chili, store in an airtight container and refrigerate it or freeze it. You can reheat it or reinvent it and use it to make these Campfire Chili Cheese Fries. Just top frozen French fries with chili and cheddar cheese and wrap in aluminum foil. You gotta love hobo packets because of their easy cleanup and are great when you don’t want to carry a lot of camping gear. Check out all of my campfire meals in foil packs.

12. Dutch Oven Chili Secret Family Recipe

This is one Dutch oven recipe that was reserved for private family gatherings until my brother-in-law finally shared his secret delicious recipe! He uses ground beef, Italian sausage and bacon. For recipes that simmer a long time, I like to cook over an open fire so I can just add a little firewood as needed to maintain the perfect cooking temperature. This hearty chili is a great one-pot meal to feed a large crowd, just adjust the number of servings in the recipe card and make sure you use a large Dutch oven that will handle the increased portions

13. Smoked Ground Beef Chili

If you travel with a portable smoker, you can change the cooking process for your chili dinners. You place a 13×9-inch aluminum foil pan in the smoker to cook this chili. A smoky flavor builds in the meat and veggies during the cooking process.

14. Dutch Oven Baked Beans

This is a really significant side dish because it uses hamburger meat, bacon and five different types of canned beans including great northern, butter, pinto beans, lima and kidney beans. It is one of my favorite things to serve with basic hot dogs, hamburgers and grilled chicken breasts that get extra flavor from being cooked on a camp fire grill grate over hot campfire coals from burning mesquite firewood.