Snacks to cook over an open fire: 12 family campfire treats
· Updated
The best campfire snacks are the simple ones: a marshmallow toasted to a golden crust, popcorn rattling in a foil pouch, a banana stuffed with chocolate and buried in the embers. None of these need a recipe card. They need a fire, a long fork or skewer, and someone willing to share.
Here are 12 real snacks you cook over an open fire or on a camp grill, each with a quick method the whole family can manage. This is the campfire snacking half of our guide to campfire cooking essentials. If you want food you can eat cold on the trail with no flame at all, that is the sibling job, covered below.
It comes from Camping Sites in Britain, where you can find and compare campsites, caravan parks and glamping across the UK, plenty of them with fire pits or grills laid on.
Before you light anything
Cook over fire only where it is allowed. Most campsites permit a raised fire pit or a grill but ban fires straight on the grass, so check the site rules first, and never light an open fire in open countryside without the landowner's say so. The Countryside Code asks visitors not to have fires or barbecues except in designated areas, and in hot, dry spells many areas ban them outright because of wildfire risk.
A few ground rules keep campfire snacking fun rather than frightening:
- Use long metal skewers or toasting forks so hands stay well back from the flames. Green hazel sticks work too, cut long.
- Keep young children an arm's length back, and have one adult on fire duty at all times.
- Cook over glowing embers, not leaping flames. Embers give steady, even heat and far less soot.
- Let foil parcels and hot skewers cool for a minute or two before anyone unwraps or bites. The filling stays scalding long after the outside looks safe.
- Keep a bucket of water or sand within reach, and put the fire out properly before bed.
For the fire itself, our guide on how to build a campfire gets you a clean, controllable burn, and campfire safety and etiquette covers the rest.
The classics: marshmallows and s'mores
Toasted marshmallows, done right
A rushed marshmallow shoved into the flames goes black outside and stays cold in the middle. Do it slowly instead. Skewer one marshmallow on a long fork and hold it a few inches above glowing embers, not in the flames, turning it steadily.
After a minute or two the surface turns an even golden brown and the inside goes molten. Let it cool for a few seconds before eating, because hot sugar sticks and burns. That patience is the whole trick.
S'mores, the UK twist
S'mores are the campfire favourite, and Britain makes them with what is already in the cupboard. Toast a marshmallow until soft and gooey, then sandwich it between two digestive biscuits with a square of milk chocolate pressed against the hot marshmallow. As you slide the fork out, the chocolate melts against the biscuit and you have a warm, messy, brilliant little snack.
Chocolate digestives skip the extra chocolate square entirely. Rich tea biscuits work if you want something lighter, and a chocolate finger tucked in melts fastest of all.
Snacks in foil and in a pan
Campfire popcorn
Popcorn over a fire feels like a magic trick and takes about five minutes. Two ways work well:
- Foil pouch: put a tablespoon of oil and two tablespoons of popcorn kernels on a large square of foil, gather it into a loose baggy parcel with plenty of room for the corn to expand, and leave the top slack. Hold it over the embers on a stick and shake now and then until the popping slows.
- Lidded pan: a saucepan or camping pot with a lid does the same job with less fiddle. Heat the oil, add the kernels, put the lid on, and shake over the heat until the popping stops.
Tip it into a bowl, add a little melted butter and salt or sugar, and mind the steam when you open it.
Foil-baked banana stuffed with chocolate
Leave the banana in its skin. Slit it lengthways without cutting all the way through, push squares of chocolate into the gap, wrap the whole thing in foil, and sit it in the embers for about 10 minutes. The banana goes soft and jammy and the chocolate turns to sauce. Eat it straight from the skin with a spoon, once the foil has cooled enough to open.
Campfire nachos in a foil tray
Layer tortilla chips in a disposable foil tray, scatter over grated cheese and whatever you fancy, jalapenos, beans, spring onion, and cover loosely with foil. Sit the tray on the grill or on embers raked flat for five to eight minutes until the cheese melts. Add a dollop of salsa or soured cream at the table.
From the embers: potatoes, corn and chestnuts
Jacket and hasselback potatoes in the embers
The embers do the work here, so start these early. Prick a potato, wrap it in a double layer of foil, and nestle it into the hot embers at the edge of the fire, turning every 10 minutes or so. A medium potato takes 45 minutes to an hour. For a hasselback, slice most of the way through at regular intervals before wrapping so it fans open and crisps at the edges. Split, add butter and cheese, and you have a proper snack rather than a nibble.
Grilled corn on the cob
Corn is made for the grill. Pull back the husks, remove the silk, fold the husks back over and grill for 15 to 20 minutes, turning often, or wrap a bare cob in buttered foil and do the same. The kernels char and sweeten. Roll it in butter and salt off the heat.
Roasted chestnuts
An autumn treat. Cut a cross in the flat side of each chestnut so they do not burst, then roast them in a dry pan or a perforated tray over the embers for 15 to 20 minutes, shaking now and then, until the shells split and the insides are soft. Peel while still warm.
On a stick and on the grill
Damper bread and dough twists
Damper is the campfire bread that turns baking into a game. Mix self-raising flour, a pinch of salt and enough water to make a soft dough, roll a handful into a long sausage, and wind it in a spiral around a thick green stick. Hold it over the embers, turning slowly, for 10 to 15 minutes until it sounds hollow and slides off the stick. Fill the hole with butter and jam. Children love making these.
Grilled halloumi and cheese
Halloumi is the camping cheese because it holds its shape over heat. Cut it thick, lay it straight on a hot grill or in a dry pan, and cook a couple of minutes each side until golden and squeaky. Skewer cubes with cherry tomatoes for a halloumi kebab. A cheese toastie in a cast-iron toastie press over the fire works on the same principle.
Toasted teacakes and crumpets
Simple, warming and very British. Spear a crumpet or a split teacake on a toasting fork and hold it near the embers until it browns and warms through, turning once. Butter it while hot so it soaks in. A toasted teacake by the fire on a cool evening is hard to beat.
Cook over fire or eat cold: which snack when
| You want | Reach for |
|---|---|
| Pure campfire fun with children | S'mores, toasted marshmallows, dough twists |
| A quick hot snack in minutes | Foil popcorn, grilled halloumi, toasted crumpets |
| Something more filling | Embered jacket potatoes, campfire nachos, corn on the cob |
| A seasonal treat | Roasted chestnuts in autumn, foil banana any time |
| No fire, no fuss, on the move | See the best snacks for hiking and camping |
The no-cook trail snacks are a separate job. If you are heading out for the day rather than settling by the fire, the best snacks for hiking and camping covers what to pack that needs no flame at all.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best snacks to cook over a campfire?
S'mores, toasted marshmallows, foil popcorn, foil-baked bananas stuffed with chocolate, grilled halloumi, embered jacket potatoes, corn on the cob and dough twists on a stick. All are simple, family-friendly and need little more than a fork or foil.
How do you make s'mores in the UK?
Toast a marshmallow until soft, then sandwich it between two digestive biscuits with a square of milk chocolate against the hot marshmallow so it melts. Chocolate digestives skip the separate chocolate. It is the standard British take on the American campfire classic.
Can you make popcorn over an open fire?
Yes. Put oil and kernels in a loose foil pouch with room to expand, or in a lidded pan, and hold or shake it over the embers for about five minutes until the popping slows. Add butter and salt or sugar off the heat.
Is it safe for children to toast marshmallows on a fire?
Yes, with supervision. Use long metal forks so hands stay back, keep children an arm's length from the flames, toast over glowing embers rather than flames, and let the marshmallow cool a few seconds before eating, as hot sugar burns.
Am I allowed to light a campfire at a UK campsite?
Only where the site permits it, usually in a raised fire pit or on a grill rather than on the grass. Always check the campsite rules first, and never light fires in open countryside without the landowner's permission or during a dry-spell fire ban.
What can I cook in campfire embers?
Foil-wrapped jacket or hasselback potatoes, foil bananas stuffed with chocolate, corn on the cob and roasted chestnuts all cook beautifully in hot embers raked to the edge of the fire. Wrap food in a double layer of foil and turn it now and then.
The short version
Cook over fire only where it is allowed, keep children back, use long forks and let hot foil cool. Do that and campfire snacks are the best bit of any trip, from a perfectly golden s'more to a chestnut roasted in the embers.
Get the fire right first with campfire cooking essentials, then find your spot on Camping Sites in Britain and pitch up.
