Tips

Iceland is a nation with a strong tradition of family camping. Many of us have fond memories of driving the ring road with our family and sleeping in a tent in all sorts of weather. The camping food was simple back then when refrigeration was limited. This was before internet recipes, campervan kitchens, and well-equipped campsites.

For the whole Icelandic experience, we recommend grabbing some Iceland camping food before your road trip. Here are some of the classic camping foods Icelanders still bring when they go camping:

Classic Icelandic camping food:

Cold chicken. Before going on a camping trip, cooking a bunch of chicken (drumsticks usually) is a tradition. It’s then refrigerated and kept in a cooler to be eaten the same day.

Flatbread and smoked lamb. “Flatkökur og hangikjöt”, in Icelandic. This is delicious and often served at parties and family gatherings. You butter the flatbread and place slices of smoked lamb on top. Then fold the bread into a sort of triangle. Make sure you buy enough because everyone loves it and it vanishes quickly.

Hot dogs. You can’t camp and not eat hot dogs, especially if you have kids. You can either grill or boil the hot dogs. They’re usually eaten with “everything”. That means: in a hot dog bun with fried onions, fresh onion, ketchup, Icelandic hot dog mustard. Don’t forget the yellow remoulade sauce called remúlaði. When in Reykjavík, don’t forget to visit the most famous hot dog place in Iceland – Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur!

two hot dogs and sodas

Kókómjólk (chocolate milk). Well, it is hard to imagine Iceland camping food without this one. Since it doesn’t need refrigeration, the Icelandic chocolate milk, Kókómjólk, is very popular. Especially on camping trips. It goes well with all the food we’ve mentioned. Ok, maybe not the cold chicken, but some Icelanders drink it with everything.

Kleinur (fried sweet dough). Often called the Icelandic doughnut, Kleina, is a fried piece of sweet dough. It has a slight hint of cardamom and is often paired with the Kókómjólk chocolate milk. It’s a great, classic Iceland camping food combo.