How To
Image by Suzanne Downing
If you enjoy spending time outdoors in chilly weather, you may agree that there’s nothing quite like the magic of fall camping. Whether you’re parked in a camper, rolling in a van, reclining in your car or embracing the tent life, camping in the fall gives you a certain overall aesthetic.
When you’re camping in the fall, you can experience scenes of red, orange, and gold leaves. You also get to bundle up in your favorite hoodie or jacket (depending on where you’re camping) while enjoying cozy campfires with less critters around. And with the summer rush of campers subsiding, fall also offers more quieter and serene camping experiences. Campgrounds are often less crowded, and the peaceful atmosphere adds to the enjoyment.
When you’re camping, soup is a simple and practical choice for lunch or dinner. It’s also a great way to make a delicious one-pot meal that can feed one or many. Soup is also customizable. Unlike baking, when you’re making soup at camp you can start with the basic ingredients and build from those ingredients. You can also measure your ingredients with love rather than using “exact” measurements based on your preferred taste. For example, are you a garlic lover? Add garlic to your hearts content. Are you a spicy food enthusiast? Add more seasoning to get the kick you want.
For the three soup recipes below, you can use your preferred camping method — cook over a campfire, cook using a natural fire or pellet stove contained fire pit, cook over propane, etc.
I’ve adapted these soup recipes to taste (and for my own nutritional journey). I hope you love these camp comfort soup recipes as much as I do.
Image by Suzanne Downing
This simple camp chicken noodle soup is the easiest of the three soups to make. You’ll only need to know three steps to make this hearty and delicious soup and it’s sure to be a memorable soup where you won’t even need a recipe to make it next time.
Ingredients:
1 cooked rotisserie chicken
1 bag of Bear Creek chicken noodle soup mix
6 cups of water
Start by boiling 6 cups of water in a pot.
While your water boils, pull apart the meat from your pre-cooked rotisserie chicken. Tip: You can also pull apart your chicken at home prior to camping and just bring a bag of pre-pulled or chopped chicken along with you in a cooler.) Once you’ve pulled your chicken, you can use it as is or chop the chicken in small chunks, whatever you prefer.
Once your water is boiling, add your Bear Creek chicken noodle mix and let your soup cook for about 7 minutes. Then add your chicken and let your soup cook for another five minutes. Note: The Bear Creek instructions suggest adding 8 cups of water, but 6 cups (for me) gives the soup more flavor and gives you chunkier chicken noodle soup overall.
Image by Suzanne Downing
This soup takes more time to prepare your ingredients and takes more patience to cook than other camp soups, but it’s worth the effort. If you love Italian style soups, this low carb soup is for you.
Ingredients:
1 Onion
3 Cloves Garlic
3 cups of kale
1 Head of Cauliflower (or a full bag of fresh cauliflower)
2 tsp. Olive Oil
1 lbs. Italian Sausage
6 pieces of bacon
32 oz Vegetable Stock
½ cup heavy cream
Salt & Pepper
Start by chopping your bacon pieces. Then add 2 tsp. of olive oil to your camping pot (or measure your olive oil with love). Add the Italian sausage and bacon to your pot and cook until browned. While your meat cooks, chop a full onion and mince your garlic. Once your meat is brown add your onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes.
Image by Suzanne Downing
While your onion and garlic cook, break off your cauliflower florets from the stalk or have your bag of fresh cauliflower florets ready and pull all the tough stems from your kale and set aside.
Next, add the vegetable stock and your fresh cauliflower. Cook until your cauliflower is soft. Once your cauliflower is soft, add the heavy cream, kale pieces and salt and pepper. Let your soup simmer for about 5 minutes.
That’s it! Your campfire soup is served. If you have leftovers, the soup is even more favorable heated the next day when the ingredients sit together overnight.
Image by Suzanne Downing
If you’re a fan of chickpeas and tomatoes, this protein-packed soup is hearty, delicious and easy to make.
Ingredients:
2 cans of chickpeas
2 cans of chopped tomatoes (or 3 fresh tomatoes)
2 cups water
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
Chipotle chili powder
To make this soup at camp, you’ll use your preferred cooking method with a big pot. Start by adding in your water, chickpeas, chopped tomatoes and a few sprinkles of chipotle chili powder.
While that cooks, chop you onion and mince (or chop) your garlic cloves. Add them to the mix and add more chipotle chili powder to taste. Once your soup is heated to your desired temperature it’s ready to eat!
Image by Suzanne Downing
This soup makes a great base for adding your personal favorites. For example, if you’re a fan of elk meat or beef, add some meat. You can add tofu or meat substitute. You can also add carrots, celery, cabbage, etc. Try some different things and see how you like it!
You can also enjoy this the next day for even more flavor.
Suzanne Downing is an outdoor writer and photographer in Montana with an environmental science journalism background. Her work can be found in Outdoors Unlimited, Bugle Magazine, Missoulian, Byline Magazine, Communique, MTPR online, UM Native News, National Wildlife Federation campaigns and more.
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