Whether you’re out for a quick weekend camping getaway or on an extended overlanding adventure, having “home-cooked” meals while you’re away from home can make the trip that much better.
There are tons of easy options to cook, too. From burgers to chili, shrimp kabobs to this simple campfire salmon recipe, there’s no lack of great-tasting food you can whip up over the campfire.
Simple Campfire Salmon Recipe
Salmon is one of those dinner options that is purpose-built for cooking over the campfire. And this recipe, in particular, brings out all the wonderful flavors of the dish while adding a robust bouquet of other flavors that elevates the flavor of the salmon even further.
Ingredient List:Â
- 2 Salmon fillets
- 1 lemon
- Oil
- Dijon mustard
- Fresh garlic
- Fresh parsley
- Fresh Dill
- Salt
- Pepper
You’ll see that I didn’t include any amounts for the ingredients. That’s because you can adjust the amounts of the ingredients to your particular liking. For a more pronounced flavor with some zing to it, add more Dijon mustard or garlic (or both).
Obviously, if you want a more subdued campfire salmon flavor profile, go easy on the mustard and garlic, and replace it with added parsley or dill.
The point here is that this is a recipe that is extremely flexible and it allows you to experiment with varying amounts of each ingredient until you get the flavor profile just right.
Whatever the amount of ingredients you use, you’ll want to combine everything but the lemon and oil in a bowl. The mustard helps bind the other ingredients together to make a paste that you can then rub onto the salmon fillets. Rub oil on both sides of the fillets, then add the paste to season the fish.
Cooking Instructions for Campfire Salmon:
Get a good fire going with nice, hot coals and a low flame. Add the salmon to a grill grate, approximately six to eight inches above the fire, such that the tallest flames just touch the grill grate.
Let the salmon cook for about 3-4 minutes, then flip it over and cook on the other side for another 4-8 minutes, with lemon slices on top. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the fillets as well as the temperature of the campfire.
A good way to test if the fish is done is to push on the flesh. If it begins to flake off, the fillets are ready.You also want the fish to be firm to the touch when you press on the middle of the fillet.
And that’s it! Take the fillets off the fire and let them rest for a couple of minutes before enjoying.
To complete the meal, you can make cast-iron skillet vegetables as shown above (any vegetables will do – just add some oil to the skillet, sit on the fire, and cook until tender). Another option is to pair wild rice with the simple campfire salmon.
Campfire Cooking Made Easy
Whether you’re cooking this salmon dish or another dish, having the right cooking tools will make your cooking experience all the better.
Having the right gear for cooking not only ensures that you can cook what you want, how you want, but it also ensures that you get better results with less effort. I mean, I love to cook, but I also don’t want it to be a long, laborious process, particularly when I’m camping or overlanding.
That’s why I bring The Schenk from J.A. Schenk Co. with me on all my camping and overlanding trips.
This ingenious cooking implement is simple in its design and construction, yet offers you all sorts of utility and functionality.
As you can see, The Schenk consists of a vertical steel rod and a cooking ring. It also comes with a foot stabilizer, a food-grade grill grate, and an optional fire pit attachment that allows you to connect The Schenk to a fire pit.
Just add the foot stabilizer or the fire pit attachment, slide the cooking ring down the vertical rod to the desired height, and get cooking!
Adjusting the height of the cooking ring is a simple matter of unlocking the key and moving the ring up or down as desired. This allows you to get low down to the flames for more intense heat or higher up from the fire to cook food more slowly.
I also appreciate how you can grill with The Schenk, cook with a cast-iron skillet or pot, and hang your kettle to brew up your favorite coffee or other hot beverage. You can do these things separately or at the same time, too! It helps you make quick work of getting the meal ready to eat.
The Schenk couldn’t be easier to set up and take down either. Just a few moments is all you need to get it ready, and once it’s cooled down, you only need a few moments to deconstruct it and put it back in the included Wannigan box (which makes transporting The Schenk an easy process as well).
I think you get the point here…
The Schenk is simply a fantastic tool for taking care of one of the most fundamental components of your day – cooking some great meals.