Make this macaroni and cheese up ahead of time and finish it on the campfire. Easy, creamy, and oh so cheesey! Perfect campfire food!
-
Try my Campfire Orange Cinnamon Rolls. Premade Cinnamon rolls cooked up in orange peels on the fire. Easy, fun, and delicious!
Are you a camping person? I’m not. Not really. But if you live in Minnesota and are from the Midwest it’s a bit of a prerequisite to be an outdoorsy kind of person.
Don’t get me wrong, I can do the camp thing as good as the next person. When I camp, however, it’s with my Chemex, and down blanket, and real food. Like this campfire macaroni and cheese. This campfire macaroni and cheese is one of the recipes I make every. single. time we go camping. Every time. It’s a family favorite.
It’s easy to prep this macaroni and cheese recipe ahead of the camping trip and, because it’s cooked on the campfire, it will still have all the great flavor and fun of a true campfire meal. Without having to be a hotdog.
During the summer months, I always keep a stock of the disposable aluminum pans because they are brilliant for campfire cooking! For campfire macaroni and cheese I will sometimes make one big ol’ batch OR sometimes make mini ones that are personalized for each person. It completely depends on my mood and stock of pans.
Smaller pans take a shorter amount of time to cook and can be fun for family members to personalize. Use a Sharpie to write their names on!
Combine your cooled, cooked macaroni with the cheeses, cream, and butter. Top with a whole lot of parmesan cheese love and then…
Butter crackers make macaroni and cheese better! Especially after they get toasty and golden from sitting on the fire.
Kids love using potato chips as the crumble on their macaroni and cheese. Let them use a strange flavor like Dill Pickle or Barbecue for added fun!
Let me tell you about the best part of making campfire macaroni and cheese. Okay, let’s skip the telling and get right to the showing…
Campfire macaroni and cheese can be a pre-made meal perfect for camping meals! You can close that pan up and pop it into the fridge until it’s time – acouple of days is fine. Pack it up, and take it with you. Then put it on your campfire to get melty and delicious. Campfire food is the best. Everything tastes better after being made outside.
Campfire Macaroni and Cheese cooking tips:
- Don’t cook this on a super hot flaming fire or you will have burned macaroni. yuck!
- Put it on the fire when the flames just died down and you have good coals. For about 15 minutes.
- The goal is simply to make it hot and melty. Everything is already cooked.
Score! Campfire recipes that aren’t from a tube or comes in a tube! That’s my kind of campfire meal.
Go ahead and experiment with different kinds of cheeses, pasta, toppings, and fresh herbs. This recipe is wonderfully adaptable to your family’s favorite type of mac & cheese.
Campfire Macaroni and Cheese
| 4 people
Prep Time | 20 minutes mins
Cook Time | 15 minutes mins
Total Time | 35 minutes mins
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
A creamy, cheesy macaroni and cheese that is easily started and home and finished on the campfire. Perfect for easy campfire cooking!
Ingredients
- 7 oz pkg elbow macaroni
- 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup gouda or similar soft cheese
- 1/3 cup cream
- 3 Tablespoons cold butter cubed
- Salt and pepper to taste
Check out our Kitchen Reference Guide for help with unfamiliar terms.
Instructions
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Let cool.
Stir your cream into your pasta.
Add the cheese and butter cubes.
Stir in salt and pepper to taste.
Spray your foil pans with nonstick cooking spray.
Pour your prepared pasta into the pans (or single large pan, if using)
Cover with aluminum foil (sprayed with cooking spray) or another foil pan (also sprayed) and seal well.
Store in the fridge or cooler until ready to cook.
Cook above hot coals (about 3 inches above) for 10-12 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
Video
Notes
I bake these in the oven, sometimes, at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes depending on the size of the pan.
If your macaroni and cheese isn’t a bit on the wet side it won’t store well. Be sure that it has plenty of wetness to help it stay moist and non-clumpy.
NOTE: There have been several questions about mixing the cream, butter, and cheese into the warm noodles and THEN cooling. Go ahead. That should make the time it takes on the fire shorter.
I usually don’t do that because I have found my family likes to mix up their own personalized versions of these. So setting up the pasta, cheese, and cream for them to mix while cold is the easiest way to personalize these.
Nutrition
Calories: 655kcalCarbohydrates: 40gProtein: 31gFat: 41gSaturated Fat: 26gCholesterol: 135mgSodium: 885mgPotassium: 220mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 1220IUCalcium: 714mgIron: 1mg
Save this recipe to your Pinterest board for later…
A few other recipes I use when camping are…
Easy Lemon Poppyseed Scones (make these up ahead and breakfast is done!)
3 Ingredient Cookies (I have the kids whip up a batch of these and throw them in a zip lock)
Grilled Grilled Cheese (I know, it seems too easy!)
2 Ingredient French Toast (This is so easy to whip up and then cook on a cast iron skillet. So good!)
