Prep These 3 Things at Home for The Best Camping Caesar Salad
This might be the best camping salad we’ve ever made. It feels like something you’d order at a restaurant, but with three simple things prepped at home, you can throw together an incredible Caesar salad right at camp.
The trick is to do the annoying parts at home. Then, when you’re at camp, all you really need to do is cook your protein, chop a few things, toss it all together, and eat.
I made ours with a cast-iron-seared salmon, but this camping Caesar works with pretty much any protein you have on hand. Chicken, steak, shrimp, sausage, leftover grilled meat... you really can't go wrong.
The secret is prepping these three things before you leave home.
3 Things to Prep at Home For the Best Camping Caesar Salad
1. Hard-Boiled Eggs
I like to add one hard-boiled egg per salad.
It might not be traditional Caesar salad, but camping meals don't have to follow the rules. The egg adds protein, makes the salad more filling, and gives it a little extra texture.
Make your eggs at home, peel them, and pack them in your cooler.
You can make these a few days ahead of your trip, which makes them an easy camping meal-prep staple.
2. Homemade Garlic Sourdough Croutons
This is the part that makes the salad.
Store-bought croutons are fine, but homemade sourdough croutons are so much better, and they're ridiculously easy.
Cut sourdough bread into bite-sized cubes and sauté them in olive oil until they're golden and crispy. Add fresh pressed garlic, salt, and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper.
Let them cool completely, then pack them in an airtight container.
Don't put them in the cooler. You want them to stay crunchy and dry.
And make extra. You'll want to snack on them around the campfire.
3. Homemade Caesar Dressing
Make your favorite homemade Caesar dressing at home and bring it in a sealed jar.
There are approximately a million Caesar dressing recipes on the internet, so use your favorite. (I used this one)
I like a really garlicky, lemony, salty Caesar with plenty of Parmesan.
The easiest method is to throw everything into a blender and blend until creamy.
Making the dressing ahead of time means you don't have to haul out a blender at camp, and the flavors have time to meld together.
Pro tip: Keep your dressing cold in your cooler and give it a good shake before using.
Camping Caesar Salad with Cast-Iron Salmon
Now comes the easy part.
Once you're at camp, you're basically just assembling.
Ingredients
For each salad:
1 hard-boiled egg
1–2 large handfuls chopped romaine
Homemade sourdough croutons (see above)
Homemade Caesar dressing (This Recipe)
Thinly sliced red onion, optional
Parmesan cheese, optional but highly recommended
1 portion salmon or your protein of choice
Olive oil (for cooking the protein)
Salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Lemon, optional
For the Salmon
I made a simple cast-iron-seared salmon.
Heat a cast-iron skillet over your campfire or camp stove and add a little olive oil.
Pat your salmon dry and season generously with salt and pepper.
Place it skin-side down in the hot skillet and let it cook undisturbed until the skin is crispy and the salmon is mostly cooked through. Flip and finish cooking the other side.
You don't need to get fancy with it.
The whole point of this meal is that the Caesar salad is already doing most of the work.
How to Assemble Your Camping Caesar
Once your salmon is cooked, it's time to build the salad.
Add chopped romaine to a bowl.
Then add:
Chopped hard-boiled egg
A handful of homemade croutons
Thinly sliced onion, if you're into it
Parmesan, if you have it
A generous spoonful of Caesar dressing
Toss everything together until the romaine is coated.
Then place that beautiful cast-iron salmon right on top.
Finish with a big grind of fresh black pepper.
And that's it.
You just made a restaurant-worthy dinner at a campsite.
Don't Have Salmon? Try:
Chicken Caesar: Grill or cast-iron sear chicken thighs or breasts and slice them over the salad.
Steak Caesar: A leftover steak from the night before makes an incredible Caesar topping.
Shrimp Caesar: Quickly sauté shrimp in your cast iron with olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.
Sausage Caesar: Slice up your favorite smoked sausage and crisp it in the skillet.
Leftover protein: Honestly, this is one of the best ways to use leftovers from the night before.
A Few Camping Tips
Keep the croutons separate. This is probably the most important one. Don't let them get soggy sitting in the cooler with your lettuce or dressing.
Wash and dry your romaine at home. A salad spinner is your friend. Pack the dry lettuce in a sealed container or bag with a paper towel.
Keep the dressing separate until you're ready to eat. Caesar salad is best when the lettuce is crisp and the croutons are crunchy.
Don't overthink the protein. Salmon was incredible, but the beauty of this recipe is that it works with almost anything.
Make extra croutons. Seriously.
EXTRA: Our Favorite Camp Kitchen Gear:
Cast Iron Cookware 
Camping Stove 
Salmon Box 
Enamelwear 
Spill-Ender 
Electric Cooler
Cast Iron Cookware: This is about all we use for camp cooking! Its easy to use for any type of dish and cleans really easily.
Enamelware: We love using enamel camping dishes, they are cute and sturdy. We also use paper plates and bowls when we know we will have little access to water.
Electric Cooler: This is a pricey upgrade but it has been so worth it for us! No more ice ever again.
Double Burner Stove: The classic Coleman double burner has come everywhere with us for YEARS. It is seemingly indestructable and does the job well!
The Bottom Line
Camping doesn't have to mean sacrificing good food.
With just a little prep at home, you can have a fresh, crunchy, protein-packed Caesar salad that feels completely different from the usual camping dinner.
And if you're already bringing a cooler and a cast-iron skillet, you're basically there.
Prep the eggs. Make the croutons. Blend the dressing.
Then let the campsite do the rest.
Camping Caesar might just be your new favorite camp dinner.
Comments