Easy No Cleanup Camping Breakfast Recipe The Whole Family Can Make

This is probably the easiest no cleanup camping breakfast I’ve ever had.  As a kid I loved making this because it was something I could help make.  I took this easy campfire recipe with me into boy-scouts where my patrol made no clean-up cooking an art form.  Now, as a father, I help the whole family make their own breakfasts over the campfire.  Whether you are looking for a scout recipe, or a family camping recipe, this camp food is sure to become a favorite of yours too.

Camping Breakfast

When you’re out camping you normally have a lot of activities planned.  Maybe it’s a hike or perhaps it’s a float trip down a meandering stream.  You might not have anything planned and just want to get to the hammock with a great book as quickly as possible.  In any case, breakfast is the most important meal of the day but you don’t want to spend a lot of time cooking it.  That’s why when I’m making breakfast at camp I look for easy meals that I can clean up quickly.  Often, it’s food cooked in my dutch oven, where cleanup is a breeze.  Even better than that is when there is NO CLEANUP AT ALL.

No Clean-up Recipe

What makes this so good is that you don’t have to clean up or do dishes after breakfast.  You accomplish this by cooking in something disposable, in this case a 6 oz individual juice can.  I’ve found these in pineapple and pineapple orange.  Both are great in my opinion.  If you can’t find them at your local store they are available from Amazon prime pantry.  Here’s a direct link.  After drinking the juice, cut open the can with a can opener.  Be sure to leave a small portion attached so you can use the lid as a handle.  Cut it so the opening is towards the top and you can use that to lift it out of the fire with a stick.

Bacon and Eggs

You can prepare this a few ways, but I’m a bacon and eggs kind of guy.  I’ve seen sausage too.  If you’ve done something else please tell me about it in the comments below.  I love hearing new ideas!  Cheese is a nice optional addition too, especially if you are making it a sandwich.

One great thing about this is everybody can make their own.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that kids love to help cook.  I know I enjoyed cooking these at a young age and now I see my kids eyes light up when they make their own breakfast.  Just help them out with the fire and anything sharp.

Start by placing a piece of bacon in each opened juice can.

Campfire Cooking

Most campfire recipes require you to wait for the fire to burn down to coals.  The two main reasons for that are heat control and keeping soot off your cookware.  This cooks fast enough that heat control isn’t a major concern and you’re throwing away the cookware after you are done.  This makes it an extremely versatile campfire dish.  If you have a good bed of coals that’s great.  Place the juice cans directly on some coals and watch the bacon start to cook.  If you still have flames, that’s fine too.  Go ahead and put the can on a smaller part of the fire where it can begin to cook.  Another option is to use the cooking grate like I did in these pictures.  Just be careful as the cans like to tip on the grates.

Using a METAL fork stir and move the bacon around occasionally to keep it from burning and sticking.  You know your kids better than I do, but let them do as much as they safely can.

Once the bacon is looking reasonably done you can remove from the fire and add an egg.  In my experience you can barely fit two pieces of bacon and two eggs so I always do just one and use two cans if I’m hungry.  It’s also best to give it a scramble.  I’ve heard of some people using the scramblers egg products, but I’m a purist and don’t allow that stuff in my cooler.

Return to the fire for a few more minutes and a few more stirs with the fork.  As it cooks you can add cheese at this point if you like.  I also set a couple pieces of bread on the grill to quickly make some toast.  If you don’t have a grate there are a couple of products to make toast on the fire, like this and this.  This can be eaten from the can or poured out onto the bread for a sandwich.  The only thing to wash is the fork.

Printable Recipe

Did you like this recipe?

If you made this please let me know how it went in the comments below.  I’d love to hear about the different ways you tried this and how it worked out.  If you enjoyed it please go ahead and share this on social media with the easy buttons below.