I recently came back from an extended camping trip with friends in the north woods of Maine where we took turns making dinner. I made a beef noodle skillet recipe over a campfire the night I had to cook. This article covers that recipe and the cooking process. It fed two hungry adults with plenty of food left over.
I chose this recipe for three reasons: 1) it’s easy, 2) I could cook it over the campfire, and 3) who doesn’t like beef and noodles!?
This recipe does not push the envelope with strange ingredients or obscure flavors. That makes it perfect as an all-purpose crowd pleaser, and great for kids with picky tastes. You won’t win any culinary awards with it, but you can use it to produce a dish that will feed hungry people without complaint. I had multiple servings myself. It does the job.
Why this Dish is so Easy
This beef noodle skillet dish is easy because short of boiling the noodles, it can all be made in a single cast iron skillet. I used a 12″ Dutch oven to cook the noodles over the fire and then used a 12″ skillet (and the lid from the 12″ oven) to finish the recipe. If you don’t have a cast iron lid or a skillet, you can buy them together and then just use any pot you want for boiling the noodles.
- Durable Cast Iron Construction: Made from cast iron for even heat distribution and long-lasting durability.
- Seasoned Skillet: Pre-seasoned skillet for easy cooking right out of the box.
- Induction Compatible: Compatible with induction stovetops for convenient cooking.
- Oven Safe: Can be used in the oven for baking or roasting.
- Multipurpose Use: Can be used for frying, sauteing, baking, roasting, and more.
The few cooking tools needed means clean up is also easy. Really, the only thing you’re cleaning up is the plates/bowls/utensils used and the skillet itself, and cleaning cast iron is easier than many people think. If you use paper plates and plastic silverware, that’s even less to clean.
This dish is also easy because most kids will enjoy it. Parents know all too well the challenges of feeding picky kids. Fortunately, most kids love pasta, and this beef noodle skillet dish has plenty. They can easily pick out the green pepper and onions if you cut them big enough or you can leave them out altogether!
Few Ingredients
There are only eight ingredients to this recipe (not counting pepper and salt to taste). You need ground beef, an onion, pepper, garlic clove, egg noodles, can of tomato soup, can of corn, and some sharp cheese. That’s it!
Packing the ingredients for camping is simple and only one of the items (cheese) requires cold storage temps, leaving more room in your cooler for other foods (like beer).
Single Simple Skillet Cooking
If you cook your egg noodles at home in advance you can make cooking this in the field even easier, but assuming you don’t, you will need a means to boil your noodles. As I mentioned, I did this over the same campfire by using a cast iron tripod to hang my Dutch oven from.
You will also need a cooking grate of some type to set your skillet over the fire. See my article on building your own campfire cooking kit to learn more.
Campfire Beef Noodle Skillet Recipe
The entire recipe is available below. Print it off to take with you. If you have cooked it, or are cooking a similar dish, let me know what you think in the comments section.
Bon appetit!
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1 comment
This sounds more like a stroganoff. Which is also delicious.
Who would have thought a can of tomato soup and corn would replace cream of mushroom beef broth or beef bouillon flavor! Have to try this one!