These Trader Joe’s Hacks Are Ideal For Your Next Camping Trip

Camping for Labor Day weekend? Camping…any other weekend? You’ll need your gear, and you’ll need your food. Camping isn’t all s’mores, much as many of us would like it to be: You’ll need actual sustenance, and you’ll probably want some food that doesn’t feel like a compromise. Your many can be the difference between a successful trip and a washout, and that’s before there’s any rain. 

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But if it all feels a bit much to plan a menu, successfully transport it to the campsite, and cook it to everyone’s satisfaction, what do you do? You go to Trader Joe’s. A recent Reddit thread saw its customers pitching in on their favorite camping hacks, and we’re sharing them here. 

A Tent, A Campfire, And Some TJ’s Essentials

The Reddit thread in question in the Trader Joe’s subreddit asked fellow customers for their hacks for easy TJ’s camping meals, with the original poster specifying they were looking “for minimal effort ideas to bring car camping.” The suggestions that followed have us feeling very hungry. Let’s start with breakfast: If you want something nutritious and easy, mix Trader Joe’s maple instant oatmeal with some of its dehydrated mixed berries and walnuts, with added chia and hemp seeds thrown in for protein and fiber. For something shareable and substantial, one Redditor recommended using its giant beans in tomato sauce as the base for a shakshuka: Pour it into a pan, add eggs, and mop it up with some tortillas.

Then, for lunch or dinner, you have options. You have a lot of options. There are plenty of Trader Joe’s boil-in-a-bag meals, like its Seafood Boil (which we can confirm is good), or you can grab some of its ravioli or tortellini, which will be ready in a few minutes. Another person recommended throwing some of its Simply Risotto in a pan and heating up, saying that it made them feel “super bougie” at the campsite. Glamping!

Maybe my favorite suggestion, though, is this one: “Assuming one has a cooler, camping stove and pan, browning sliced Italian sausage then adding the frozen roasted potatoes and peppers and letting it steam in the same pan (with some turning) is easy,” said one Redditor. Yuuum.

And To Drink? 

It’s gotta be Trader Joe’s boxed wine. Boxed wine gets a bad rep, but when you’re camping, it’s ideal: It’s easily transportable, saves space, there’s enough to go around, and come on, it’s not as bad as everyone makes out to be. Some of its options are also excellent.