The Best Campfire Snacks (Besides S'mores)

As a former camp counselor, I consider myself a campfire connoisseur. A top-notch, grade A, banger of a campfire needs three things and three things only: good vibes, no wind, good foods. Throw in a fun skit, a song about a moose on the loose who drank far too much juice, and nonsensical, escalating ramblings about who is or is not allowed to ride in your little red wagon (which by the way, needs some repairs)*, are all just cherries on top of the oooey-gooey toasted marshmallow sundae that is a campfire. And while s’mores are the go-to in this situation (as, quite honestly, they should be), I am the first to attest that after your seventh campfire of the summer (or fall!), they do start to get old. If you need more options, here are six campfire snacks besides s’mores.

Hebrew National Beef Franks

Hot dogs are one of the best campfire snacks if you’re actually camping because you get all the fun of sticking food in a flame, but you also get at least a little bit of protein. Plus, these hot dogs truly are unmatched. They are all beef (so they have less of that weird hot dog-specific flavor), and they have an amazing blend of spices that make them “dense with wonderful flavor…salt, spice, garlic powder, and paprika combine to create a juicy bite of beef.” Bring these on your next foray into the great outdoors for a savory, filling campfire bite.

Kettle Brand Sea Salt & Vinegar Potato Chips

This is a weird one, I’m aware, but one of the other counselors used to roast these over the fire and then make us all try, and I must say, they were divine. I don’t know if it was because the chips themselves were just nice and warm or if the sugar on them caramelized a little, but introducing salt and vinegar chips to fire makes them taste fresh out of the fryer and if you are a fan of restaurant-made chips you will love this campfire snack. This works best if you bring some aluminum foil to make little packets of chips. As our team put it, these Kettle Brand Sea Salt & Vinegar chips “tangy, salty, sharp, and potato-y,” and I’m here to tell you that whether you roast them or not, these are a good way to break up the monotony of sweet, sweet s’mores.

Rice Krispies Treats

Okay, I just heard that this was a thing literally this week, but apparently you can roast Rice Krispies Treats over a campfire and the marshmallow in it will toast up a bit so you basically get a warm, toasted marshmallow-flavored Rice Krispie Treat. If you aren’t a fan of chocolate or if you are all s’mored out but still want to stick something sweet in the flames, this seems like a reasonable and tasty alternative. I will 10000% be trying this at my next campfire outing, so watch out world, my campfire snacks game is about to reach new heights.

Banana Boat (with Jet-Puffed Marshmallows and Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Caramel Squares)

This is another thing I never got to do around a campfire growing up, but that’s mainly because when you work at a camp with hundreds of campers, s’mores are the way more scalable toasted dessert option. But these look absolutely divine. It’s basically a banana, split down the middle, filled with marshmallows and chocolate, and then wrapped in foil and heated in the fire until it becomes a melty gooey, chocolatey, delicious mess. Plus, with our favorite classic marshmallows from Jet-Puffed and Ghirardelli’s caramel squares, which Sporked senior writer Jordan Myrick called “decadent and luxurious,” I imagine you would get a toasted marshmallowy, chocolatey, bananas foster experience, and I am here for it.

Lamb Weston Grown in Idaho Hand Cut Style Fries (and Toppings)

This was another thing I had no idea people did, but it turns out it’s quite common to make little bundles of frozen french fries packed in foil and place them in the fire. That alone sounds fantastic, but apparently people also top them with shredded cheese, bacon, scallions, and more to make loaded fries. If you’re going to give this a shot, we highly recommend you try it with these Lamb Weston fries. They are “golden and delicious, well seasoned, crispy, and fatty,” the texture is fantastic, and they literally come out like restaurant fries. Now, I haven’t actually tried these after they’ve been cooked in a campfire, but the chance that that ends badly flavor-wise is roughly 0%.

Pederson’s Natural Farms No Sugar Added Hickory Smoked Uncured Bacon

Yes, you can cook bacon over a fire. You just have to thread it onto the roasting stick like you are weaving and then hold it over the flame to get it nice and crispy. Boom! An (almost) instant salty, meaty snack. And if you are having bacon as a standalone campfire snack, why not have the best tasting bacon you can buy? This glorious bacon from Pederson’s has a “rich, unique bacon flavor,” and will wow you with its depth, complexity, and, as the food writers are wont to put it, “yumminess.”

*I’m aware these are deep cuts but for the people for whom these will land, they will LAND.