Upgrade Your Campsite Mornings With Frozen Breakfast Sandwiches

Half the fun of a camping trip is cooking over a campfire. Many people might like to stick to traditional camping foods such as hot dogs and s'mores, but there's no reason to leave your standard meals at home just because you're living in the wild for a few days. Pre-made, frozen breakfast sandwiches warmed over a campfire are an easy meal that feels gratifying after spending the night in a sleeping bag.

One of the best parts about making breakfast sandwiches at home, freezing them, and heating them at camp is that most of the work is finished before you leave the house. When you're ready to eat, all you have to do is take the now-thawed sandwiches out of the plastic wrap, bag, or container they were stored in, wrap them in aluminum foil, and pop them onto a campfire grill. Or, you can pre-wrap them in tin foil before freezing them to make things even easier. Whichever method you choose, by heating pre-made breakfast sandwiches, you can have a great meal that doesn't require lugging individual ingredients into the wilderness that you have to assemble at your campsite.

Campfire breakfast sandwiches are an opportunity to get creative, starting with the bread. You can make classic English muffin breakfast sandwiches. You could elevate your breakfast sandwich by using French toast or piling ingredients into a buttery biscuit. You could even swap the bread for tortillas or hash browns.

Beyond bread, think about the filling in your sandwich. Eggs, ham, or bacon — all of which freeze well — are popular options for breakfast sandwiches, but you can add other fillings, too. Whichever you choose, cook them ahead of time and add them to your sandwich before you freeze it. That way, the whole thing is put together and ready to cook over your campfire. You can also add vegetables to your sandwich, but note that some freeze better than others. Veggies with a high water content, such as lettuce and tomatoes, are best added fresh and raw. On the other hand, corn, onions, and peppers all freeze fine.

Then, there are condiments to think about. While you can freeze your condiments directly in your breakfast sandwich, it may take away from the flavor. Plus, the texture and consistency might change. So, you may want to add them after heating your sandwich. And, of course, if you don't feel like putting in the work to choose the bread and add-ins yourself, you can always use your favorite store-bought frozen breakfast sandwiches, saving you even more time.

When it's time to gather around your campfire, there are a few things to know about heating your pre-made breakfast sandwiches before chowing down. For starters, make sure to thaw your sandwiches before popping them on the grill. Check that there's no visible ice and that your sandwich is soft to the touch as opposed to hard and frozen. Nobody wants to bite into a sandwich that is burnt on the outside but frozen on the inside.

The sandwiches should be wrapped in aluminum foil before you heat them, and the foil you use matters more than you might think. Heavy-duty is best, as it can stand up better to the heat of a fire. If you have lightweight aluminum foil, wrap your breakfast sandwiches in multiple layers for extra protection against the flames. Otherwise, you might wind up with burnt bread. From there, around five minutes on the grill should be enough to thoroughly reheat your breakfast sandwich.

Also, you can store pre-made breakfast sandwiches in your freezer for up to six months. Label the sandwiches with type and date to make it easier to keep track of what's what and when they expire. With these tips, you're ready to make frozen breakfast sandwiches at the beginning of the season and enjoy them on your camping trips all summer long.