16 Best Campfire Cooking Books (2026): Camping Cookbooks, Dutch Oven & Open-Fire Recipes

1. The New Camp Cookbook by Linda Ly

Best for: Car campers, couples, families and road-trippers who want one cookbook that does it all.

Linda Ly treats camp food like it deserves a real plan, and that’s why this book works so well. Before you get to the recipes, she walks you through setting up a camp kitchen, packing a cooler so things stay cold, and choosing the right cooking method for each meal.

Then come the recipes, organized by meal: hearty breakfasts, trail snacks and dinners that feel like a treat, like a foil-packed seafood boil, Mexican street corn salad and a deep-dish pizza baked in a Dutch oven. It covers grilling, foil packets and cast iron, so you’ll use it on every kind of trip.

2. The Campout Cookbook by Marnie Hanel and Jen Stevenson

Best for: Group trips, family weekends and anyone who loves hosting around the fire.

This book gets the social side of camping. Its 75+ recipes are made for sharing: skillet pizzas, big pots of stew, fire-roasted veggies, cast-iron breads, campfire desserts and drinks. The authors also cover gear, packing and how to build and manage a cooking fire.

It’s fun to read, too, full of personality and clever ideas that make dinner feel like an event instead of a chore.

3. Cook Out by Rashad Frazier

Best for: Campers who want fresh, modern flavors and love cooking for friends.

Rashad Frazier, founder of the outdoor cooking company Camp Yoshi, brings a modern and welcoming take on outdoor food in this 2026 book. Its 60+ recipes go well beyond burgers: fish and grits, fire-roasted curry cauliflower and banana bread with espresso butter.

What stands out is his focus on community, using food to bring people together outdoors. There’s also practical advice on setting up a camp kitchen that works.

4. Feast by Firelight by Emma Frisch

Best for: Campers who want “glamping”-level meals.

Emma Frisch’s popular cookbook is full of simple-but-impressive recipes for camping, cabins and backyard fires, with gorgeous photos and menus for different kinds of trips. It’s the cookbook to bring if you want your friends to say, “Wait, you made this at a campsite?”

5. Dirty Gourmet by Aimee Trudeau, Emily Nielson and Mai-Yan Kwan

Best for: Campers who also hike, paddle or backpack.

Written by three friends who run outdoor cooking events, this Mountaineers Books cookbook covers car camping, backpacking and paddling trips, with recipes adapted for each. That flexibility makes it one of the few books that works across very different trips.

6. Campfire Cuisine by Robin Donovan

Best for: Cooks who want grown-up flavors without a lot of gear.

A long-time favorite with car campers, this book offers flavorful, gourmet-style recipes that are still realistic to make at a campsite, plus tips on planning and packing. A great middle ground between “hot dogs again” and a full restaurant kitchen.

7. Cook It Wild by Chris Nuttall-Smith

Best for: Car campers and cabin trips where you want great food with less effort.

The hardest part of camp cooking is usually the prep: chopping, measuring and mixing on a wobbly picnic table with no counter space. Chris Nuttall-Smith solves that by splitting each of his 80 recipes into two parts: what you do at home, and what you finish at camp.

So the herby lemon chicken is marinated in your kitchen, the dan dan noodle sauce is already in a jar, and the sticky bun dough is ready to bake by the fire. You arrive, light the stove and look like a genius.

8. Foil Pack Dinners by Julia Rutland

Best for: Families, beginners and anyone who hates washing dishes.

Foil packets are camping’s easiest trick: chop, wrap, cook, eat, toss. Julia Rutland’s book has 100 foil-packet recipes, from Louisiana-style barbecue shrimp to black bean enchiladas. Kids love building their own packets, too.

One honest note: the recipes are written for grills and ovens, so you’ll need to adapt cooking times for a campfire. Use hot coals, not open flames, and check that meat is cooked through with a thermometer.

9. Hungry Campers by Zac Williams

Best for: Families who want simple, kid-friendly camp meals.

This Gibbs Smith cookbook keeps things easy, with straightforward recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and campfire treats, plus lots of photos. It’s a good pick for parents who want reliable meals without a lot of fuss.

10. The MeatEater Outdoor Cookbook by Steven Rinella

Best for: Serious outdoor cooks, hunters, anglers and grill lovers.

This is the big one: a 432-page hardcover with more than 100 recipes for cooking outdoors. Steven Rinella, host of the MeatEater show and podcast, covers grilling, smoking, cooking directly on coals and more, with recipes like smoked trout, game burgers and grilled seafood.

A smart touch: recipes are labeled for where they work best, whether that’s the backyard, car camping or backpacking. It feels less like a recipe collection and more like a complete outdoor cooking course.

11. Camp Cooking: 20th Anniversary Edition (National Museum of Forest Service History)

Best for: Dutch oven fans and anyone who loves old-school camp food.

This book collects recipes tied to the history of the U.S. Forest Service, the kind of hearty food rangers and fire crews have cooked in the backcountry for generations. Think Dutch oven beer bread, pioneer stew, mashed potatoes and even pumpkin pie.

Historical photos and stories make it a fun read, and the spiral binding lies flat while you cook, which is a small detail you’ll appreciate when your hands are covered in flour.

12. The Campfire Cookbook by Viola Lex and Nico Stanitzok (DK)

Best for: Beginners who want clear, step-by-step recipes.

This colorful DK book has 80+ recipes, from barbecue chicken and corn on the cob to flatbread, gnocchi and even cake. Each recipe tells you which setup it needs, whether that’s an open fire, a grill or a camping stove, so you’re never caught out.

It also includes handy campsite checklists and cooking tips, which makes it a great first camping cookbook.

13. The Scout’s Dutch Oven Cookbook by Tim and Christine Conners

Best for: Scout troops, youth groups and Dutch oven beginners.

Packed with tested Dutch oven recipes from scout leaders around the country, this book is all about feeding a group with cast iron and coals. It also explains the basics of Dutch oven cooking clearly, which makes it a great learning book.

14. Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way by Francis Mallmann

Best for: Experienced cooks who want to master live fire.

Argentine chef Francis Mallmann is famous for cooking over open fire in wild places. Seven Fires explains his methods, from cast-iron griddles to embers, with stunning recipes and photos. It’s more ambitious than a weekend camping book, but it will completely change how you cook with fire.

15. Lipsmackin’ Backpackin’ by Christine and Tim Conners

Best for: Backpackers who want lightweight, real food on the trail.

A long-time backpacker favorite, this book is full of trail recipes you prepare and dry at home, then cook quickly in camp on a small stove. It’s the answer to “How do I eat well without carrying a cooler?” There’s a vegetarian version too.

Need a stove and pot for those trail meals? See our guides to the best ultralight stoves under $30 and the best titanium pots for solo backpacking.

16. The Kids’ Campfire Book by Jane Drake and Ann Love

Best for: Families who want kids involved around the fire.

This classic mixes simple campfire recipes with games, songs, stories and fire safety for kids. It’s a lovely way to make kids part of the cooking and the fun, with an adult always close by.