Campfire Skillet Cornbread

This post has been sponsored by the DINTY MOORE® Brand. All thoughts, recipes and opinions are my own.

Is it just me or does all food taste better when prepared and enjoyed in the great outdoors? Our easy recipe for Campfire Skillet Cornbread is no exception. Made from just a few ingredients, this scratch-made skillet cornbread is cooked in a cast iron skillet over campfire coals.

You might be afraid to mess with cooking cornbread while on a camping trip, but there is no need to be. This recipe for Campfire Skillet Cornbread takes only a few pantry basics. Plus, we will show you how to do most of the work at home before you head out on your camping trip.

Instead of packing the individual ingredients (cornmeal, flour, baking powder, soda, etc.), why not combine them ahead of time? We simply added all of the dry cornbread ingredients to a jar, sealed it, and packed it with our dry food items.

This maximizes your camping storage and makes this recipe easy to throw together when you are all set up at your campsite and ready to eat.

You can do the same with the wet ingredients, too. Just pour them into a lidded container and keep chilled until time to make the skillet cornbread. Do not combine the dry and wet until just before baking. Why? As soon as you add the two together, the active ingredients (baking powder, baking soda, etc.) will start bubbling up to make the cornbread rise.

While you are gathering all of your supplies and food items for your camping adventure, be sure to grab a few cans of DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew. You can find it at your favorite grocery store. Click here for more savings with Checkout 51.

In our family, DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew is a camping favorite for nights when we are sitting around the campfire, telling stories and kicking back.

Plus, it is the perfect main course to serve with our Campfire Skillet Cornbread.

DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew is totally portable. Plus, the pop top can makes preparation a breeze. Simply open, heat and eat. My youngest daughter’s favorite saying? “DINTY MOORE®, give me Plenty More!”

Now time for the fun part. The campfire. My husband will quickly tell you how crazy I am about having a campfire. When we go camping, I have to have a fire going 24 hours. I don’t care how hot it is outside, if I don’t have a wood fire, I don’t feel like I’m camping.

My favorite things to do while camping? Sitting by the fire, reading a book, and cooking + eating.

Once your fire is hot and ready, here’s how you make Campfire Skillet Cornbread:

• Carefully create a cooking area at your campfire. Move some hot coals over to one side of the fire pit or arrange flat hot rocks so they will hold a skillet. If you have a grill grate at your campsite, you can use that also.
• In a large bowl or container, stir together your prepared dry cornbread ingredients with the wet ingredients.
• Place a stick of butter in the bottom of a large cast-iron skillet. (10 – 12 inches will do.)
• Carefully melt the butter in the skillet placed over the prepared campfire.
• When the butter is melted and slightly brown, remove the skillet from the fire and carefully pour the cornbread batter in.
• Cover the skillet tightly with foil or a lid.
• Return the skillet to the prepared campfire and cook for about 20 minutes.
• Rotate the skillet 1/4 turn every few minutes to ensure even cooking.
• Remove from the fire when the bottom is crispy and browned and the center is cooked through.
• Serve hot with DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew.

You will start to smell that warm and buttery cornbread very soon. Cooking cornbread over a campfire almost smells like popcorn. That smoky flavor seeps into the skillet and is so good.

If you are cooking over a grill grate instead of over direct coals, be sure to get the grill nice and hot so the heat will transfer evenly to the cast iron skillet. You don’t want the flames high enough to actually touch the skillet. If you do, the bottom will cook too fast before the center has time to bake.

Due to the wide range of heat in cooking fires, the actual cooking time will vary. Our method of low-burning campfire coals next to hot rocks took about 20 minutes. I rotated our skillet cornbread 1/4 turn every 2 minutes.

Always use caution when cooking over an open fire and be sure to pack thick oven mitts with your camping gear.

You can also prepare this Campfire Skillet Cornbread in a Dutch oven. Many people cook bread over a fire this way by placing coals on top of the dutch oven lid. This way you get heat from the top AND the bottom for even baking. However, it isn’t necessary for this recipe.

Since we are cooking it in a larger skillet, it makes a thinner cornbread. It doesn’t take long to cook at all. As long as you keep the top covered with foil or a lid, the heat will stay in the skillet and cook the bread all the way through.

Just don’t forget to rotate the skillet.

We also heated our DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew in a cast iron skillet right over the campfire. Pop open, heat and eat. The kids loved this. (And I got to kick my feet up thanks to the convenience.)

DINTY MOORE® is hearty and made with real meat, potatoes and vegetables.

More food tips to make the most of your next camping adventure:

• Take a well-insulated cooler for cold food storage. Use a solid block of ice in the bottom instead of normal bagged ice. It stays cold longer.
• Freeze water in clean, empty milk jugs to use in the food cooler to keep items dry.
• Stop at road-side stands and farmer’s markets along the way for fresh, seasonal produce to supplement your camping meals.
• Use a mix of homemade and convenience ingredients to minimize your food prep.
• Think outside the hot dog stick. Wrap potatoes in foil and toss on the fire. Season a whole chicken, stuff it with veggies, wrap it in foil and cook in some embers.
• Make a food prep box to keep cooking items handy and protected. Grab a lidded plastic storage container from your local store and stock it with basic spices, matches, lighters, cooking utensils, knives, small jar of oil, foil, can opener, kitchen towel, pot holder, hand sanitizer and a small flashlight.
• Store cracked eggs in a large bottle in the cold cooler or fridge instead of trying to travel with a carton.
• Mix pancake batter ahead of time, store in a squeeze bottle in the cold food storage.
• Invest in a multi-spice container. This way you can have your tasty food without taking dozens of spices from home.
• Take aluminum foil and plastic zip bags. Always.

Our cornbread stuck a little to the top foil, but let me tell you, it tasted wonderful. The smoky, buttery flavor of this moist cornbread was perfect with our DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew. And look at those cripsy, golden-brown edges.

Better look out, or your camping neighbors will be nosing around your campsite to see what you are cooking. (Of course, you can share.)

Hope you love this simple camping recipe. Be sure to tell us about your favorite camping trips in the comments below.

This is the kind of camping recipe I can really dig my spoon into.

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4.86 from 7 votes

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Campfire Skillet Cornbread

An easy and buttery recipe for skillet cornbread, cooked in a cast iron skillet over a campfire. Plus tips on making your camping experience the best.

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 8

Calories 334 kcal

Author Buy This Cook That

Buy This

• 1 1/2 cups cornmeal any
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick salted butter
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 3 eggs

Cook That

1. Prepare campfire and arrange an area of coals or hot, flat rocks. You can also use a fire grill grate if available. 

2. In a large bowl or container, stir together the dry ingredients. (I recommend having this done in a jar prepared before the camping trip.)

3. Stir in the buttermilk and eggs until combined. 

4. Place the stick of butter in the bottom of a 10 or 12 inch cast iron skillet. Melt the butter over the prepared campfire.

5. Remove the skillet from the fire when the butter is browned and the skillet is hot. Carefully pour the batter into the skillet. 

6. Cover tightly with foil or a lid if available. Return the skillet to the prepared coals or grill grate.

7. Cook for about 20 minutes, rotating and shifting the pan every two or three minutes to ensure even cooking. 

8. Remove from the fire and serve with a hot helping of DINTY MOORE® Beef Stew

Recipe Notes

Always supervise children around a campfire. Always.

Be very careful when cooking directly over a campfire. Watch for popping rocks, sparks, etc. A low and slow fire with embers moved to the side for cooking is the best way to cook this recipe.

Due to huge variances in skillet and campfires, your cooking time will vary. Watch the cornbread carefully to prevent burning. (Although a little crispy buttered bottom is the best.)

Nutrition Facts

Campfire Skillet Cornbread

Amount Per Serving (1 g)

Calories 334 Calories from Fat 144

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 16g 25%

Saturated Fat 9g 45%

Cholesterol 98mg 33%

Sodium 616mg 26%

Potassium 292mg 8%

Total Carbohydrates 37g 12%

Dietary Fiber 3g 12%

Sugars 3g

Protein 8g 16%

Vitamin A 10.8%

Calcium 11.8%

Iron 10.9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.