Easy Camping Breakfast

We love a good camping breakfast. And, okay, let’s get something out of the way; we love biscuits and gravy. I mean, we really love biscuits and gravy. We honestly probably make it once a month. It’s a Sunday morning staple for us and always will be. So, allow me to be the first to say that this biscuits and gravy casserole recipe immediately became a hit in this house. We tried it out at home, seeing as it’s currently November in Colorado and camping season is over. But, I know this recipe going to be a great addition next season that we’re going to try out immediately. I think this recipe would be so easy to make in a Dutch oven and cook right in the fire. It also would be a piece of cake to assemble in a cast iron or even a disposable casserole dish and bake on the grill. 

How to prep biscuits and gravy casserole for an easy camping breakfast

I love saving time and making cooking at the campsite as easy as possible. For every meal that I plan for, I prep as many of the ingredients as I can ahead of time. For this recipe, there aren’t a ton of ingredients, so it’s going to be pretty simple. 

First, I’m going to brown the sausage at home and store it in an airtight container or reusable storage bag.

Next, I’m going to pre-shred the cheese. To make it easier, you can always just buy a pack of shredded cheese, I just prefer the way freshly shredded cheese tastes and melts.

Then, I’ll stick the eggs in a blender with a little salt and pepper and blend until smooth. I’ll store the eggs in some kind of airtight, pourable container to make things crazy easy at the campsite. 

Lastly, I’m going to pre-make the gravy. Gravy tends to keep pretty well, and if it thickens up too much between now and then, I can always thin it out with a little milk or water.

Now the most important step in my process (because I tend to be a hot mess most of the time), is that I have to bundle everything intended for the same recipe together. When I’m loading the fridge in our rig, I’ll carefully stack everything for the same recipe together in one spot so I won’t forget anything when it’s time to cook. To make it even better, I’ll put a post-it note on the top of the pile that lists each and every ingredient. That way, when I go to pull things out of the fridge for a meal, I won’t forget anything. 

What kind of sausage should I use? 

Any kind will work! I like to use just regular ol’ Jimmy Dean pork breakfast sausage. I usually just go with the regular flavor, but have been known to use the sage flavor. You could also use turkey or even vegetarian! Anything you like will go great in this breakfast casserole. 

How to store leftovers 

If we’re at home, I’ll just cover it when plastic wrap or aluminum foil. If we’re camping, we obviously don’t have room to shove a cooking pan in the small fridge of our rig. But if you’re at the campsite and you end up with anything leftover (unlikely!), I recommend storing leftovers in small reusable storage containers like Tupperware. You can stick it away in your cooler or fridge and reheat it for another morning. It will keep refrigerated well for 3-5 days. 

Can you assemble the casserole ahead of time? 

Absolutely! That is no problem and actually works really well. However, when we’re actually camping, I just don’t have that type of room. We always bring a ton of food on our camping trips (especially the ones when we go with a bunch of our friends) so space is precious. I don’t have enough room in my fridge or coolers to keep an entire preassembled casserole. But, if you do have that kind of space and want to do it that way, it works great. Just pull it out when you’re ready and pop it on the grill or in the portable camping oven. Note: this method won’t work with a Dutch oven obviously. 

How to make this camping breakfast at the campsite

Out of all the breakfasts we’ve made over the years when we’ve gone camping I dare to say that this one might be one of the easiest-if not the easiest. When it comes to camping, breakfasts are kind of a big deal around here. We love waking up with the sun and getting the fire or the griddle heated up while we sip a cup of coffee and get a yummy camping breakfast going. Some of our favorite breakfasts can entail a few steps, but I’m delighted to share that this recipe couldn’t be simpler. 

1. Take whatever cooking vessel (disposable pan, Dutch oven insert, cast iron pan, etc) you are using and grease it. I like easy, so I usually carry avocado cooking spray in the rig.
2. Pop the can of biscuits and use a clean pair of kitchen scissors to cut each biscuit into four pieces and line the bottom of the pan. 
3. Dump cooked, crumbled sausage over the top of the biscuit pieces, spreading evenly. 
4. Pour eggs over the top of biscuits and sausage. 
5. Next, spread the evenly cheese over everything. 
6. Then, pour the gravy over. 
7. Finally, cook! If you doing this in a Dutch oven, place the lid on the oven and set it directly into the coals. Check every so often to make sure it’s not getting too done. If you’re baking it in a grill or portable camping oven, put it uncovered and allow it to cook for 30-45 minutes, again, checking often. When it’s bubbly and browned on top, it’s done! As I’ve said before, cooking while camping can be a bit temperamental, so it’s a good idea to keep a closer eye on things than you normally would at home.  

Yield: 6-8

Biscuits and Gravy Casserole

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Simple and scrumptious breakfast casserole you can make at home or at the campsite. This recipes calls for canned biscuits, breakfast sausage, eggs, milk, cheese, and country gravy. That's it!

Print

Ingredients

• 1 pack of 8-count biscuits
• 1 lb breakfast sausage of choice, crumbled and browned
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1.5 cups sharp cheddar cheese
• 2.75oz country gravy packet
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 casserole dish.
2. Brown breakfast sausage in a skillet until cooked thoroughly, drain.
3. Open pack of biscuits and cut each biscuit into 4 pieces, then distribute across bottom of casserole dish.
4. Spread sausage over biscuit pieces.
5. Whisk eggs and milk together until smooth, then pour over sausage and biscuits.
6. Sprinkle cheese over the mixture.
7. Prepare gravy according instruction, then pour evenly over everything in the dish.
8. Bake uncovered for about 40-45 minutes untl eggs and biscuits are cooked well.