When you go camping, especially if you plan to go backpacking or sleep in a tent, you will not have access to a fridge or a microwave.
Therefore, you will need to plan your meals so that you can eat for the duration of your stay without planning to store food in a fridge or cook it in a microwave.
Of course, you can bring a cooler with you to keep some things, but depending on the length of your camping trip, you will need to prepare food that is easy to store and eat without the luxuries of your home.
Which Type of Food Won’t Go Bad?
There are plenty of foods that won’t go bad if stored outside of a refrigerator. You can count on fruits and vegetables or food you’d keep in your pantry. Canned food like beans or soup are excellent choices but will be heavy to carry with you if you are hiking or backpacking.
You can bring granola bars or other packaged snacks that last a long time on the shelf. Processed foods from the grocery store are usually safe to bring.
The preservatives used in processed foods will help them to last longer so that you don’t have to worry about them going bad on your trip.
Is There Any Kind of Meat You Can Eat Without a Fridge or Microwave?
The options for meat are limited without a fridge or a microwave. Of course, you can keep some things in a cooler, but if you don’t want to use a cooler or use up space in your cooler, you might have a hard time finding meat to bring.
A popular option for protein while camping is jerky. You don’t need a fridge to store jerky; it doesn’t need to be heated to eat. Jerky is a great option to bring with you on a backpacking trip or long hike and should be a staple of your camping excursion.
Is it Mostly Processed Foods?
Processed foods are most of what makes up the food on the shelves of our grocery stores. Many of the items you eat daily are processed and full of preservatives unless you make an effort to eat strictly organic.
Therefore, most of the food you will bring with you to last a long time without a fridge will be processed foods. In addition, processed foods last longer due to preservatives, so you will find more processed foods than organic to bring with you.
Organic Foods You Can Eat While Camping
You can bring organic food with you while camping. You will be looking at primarily fruits and vegetables because the product doesn’t necessarily need to be refrigerated to last. Things like apples and bananas are great to bring.
They can be easily stored in a bag or container and will last you for the duration of your trip, as long as it’s not longer than a week or so. You will have more difficulty finding organic foods to bring while camping, but you can manage it.
Desserts You Can Bring With You
The most popular camping desert is the famous s’more.
S’mores are the most common treatment to have after dinner around the campfire for a few reasons, one of which being that everything it takes to make a s’more can be stored dry and doesn’t need to be refrigerated.
You can enjoy toasting marshmallows around a campfire with your family, making this delicious sweet treat for dessert on any camping trip.
Another option for desserts would be pre-packaged sweets like Little Debbie’s snacks. There are countless different dessert-like treats to be found pre-packaged at the grocery store.
Final Thoughts on What Can You Eat Without a Fridge or Microwave
It might be difficult to come up with things to bring with you for food on a camping trip. You will not have the luxuries you are used to in your home. You don’t get to use the convenience of your fridge or microwave when spending time with nature.
You will need to prepare to bring foods that will last without a refrigerator and can be cooked or eaten without a microwave. There are plenty of options; you just need to get creative to enjoy the food you bring with you on your next outdoor vacation.