Camping Pizza Log

Hey, everyone! Who wants a delicious and easy meal to prepare the next time you go camping? You do?! Hell yeah you do, read on! Kieran and I camped over Memorial Day weekend and made a Camping Pizza Log. Nothing beats fresh, piping hot pizza after a fun-filled day of playing outdoors!

I usually prepare steak tacos while camping, but wanted to try something more fun. After some research, I found a camping recipe for a pizza log. I was skeptical the recipe would work but the pizza turned out amazing! The recipe was simple too. You roll out the dough, add your sauce, cheese, toppings, then roll it up, freeze it, then cook it at camp. Boom, yummy ass campfire pizza!

I’ve stated on several occasions how much Kieran and I love to camp. We were excited to kick off the camping season this Memorial Day weekend. We brought Homie along which made the trip was extra special since it was her first time. The week before our trip, Kieran and I told Homie over and over again we were taking her camping. Since Homie is a dog and has no association with the word camping, she looked confused. We look forward to the time when Homie knows what the word camping means, I can’t wait to see her freak with excitement!

You’re going to freak with excitement when you taste this Camping Pizza Log.

Forest and Margret are good friends of ours who invited us camping to celebrate Forest’s birthday. Forest and Margret invited a few other couples who were a blast to hang out with as well. We settled at Clinger Campground which is a free, primitive site located on the east side of Mt Hood.

Side note, Homie did absolutely amazing on her first camping trip. She behaved perfectly and even guarded the porta potty whenever we had business to attend to. Hehehehehe, I said business to attend to. Kieran and I were so proud of Homie, we can’t wait for our next camping trip hopefully happening this month.

Forest and Margret are avid rock climbers. They scaled up nearby climbing routes during the day. Kieran and I decided we wanted to hike with Homie instead. The Tamanawas Falls hike was located roughly 10 minutes from the campground. We learned a massive landline intercepted the trail upon arrival. We conferred with other people who were finishing up the hike who told us the landslide was a challenge to get across, but it’s doable, even with a dog.

Kieran and I decided to hike the trail regardless since the landslide was roughly 2 miles from the trailhead. We figured even if we turned around at the rock pile, we would still clock 4 miles of hiking, which was good enough for us. The Tamanawas Fall hike was gorgeous. The majority of the trail follows a raging stream which tumbles over a series of tiny waterfalls. Other points of the trail gave us awe-inspiring views of the canyon. We ambled our way through the winding trail until we reached the landslide.

I’m not going to lie, the landslide was imitating. We saw countless people, some with dogs, climbing over the large rocks so we attempted to cross with Homie. We got about halfway when Homie stopped cold. The poor thing wouldn’t budge and all four of her legs were shaking uncontrollably trying to balance on a large boulder.  Homie looked terrified. We couldn’t in good conscience keep going, we decided to turn around. Kieran had to carry our 60-pound dog over the large rocks on the way back. It was scary. Slow and steady we finally reached the end of the landslide back on the trail. Homie instantly collapsed from exhaustion. We found a nice shaded area to eat our lunch, give Homie food and water, and let her rest.

When Homie got her second wind we took our time hiking back to the car. Even though the landslide prevented us from seeing the main waterfall at the end of the trail, we still enjoyed the hike immensely. We drove to a nearby bar in an area called Government Camp which is home to a popular ski resort on Mt Hood. Kieran and I sipped on rum and cokes while Homie slept under the patio table. It was a refreshing way to cool off for a couple hours before returning to camp.

Once we reached camp it was time to face plant into our pizza log. Holy fuck balls, it was goooooooood.

The Camping Pizza Log was extraordinary comforting after a long hike. Preparing the recipe took minimal effort and the taste was soooo worth the time I put in. Each bite of the ooey gooey cheesy goodness was pure heaven.

To make the Camping Pizza Log you have to prep the ingredients at home. First, melt some butter in a pan. Then roll out the store-bought pizza dough into a rectangle. Next, slather on your pizza sauce leaving approximately a 1/2 inch border around the edges. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top of the sauce. Now add your toppings. Be careful not to overstuff your pizza log, use 1-2 extra toppings at most. Next carefully start rolling the pizza dough into a log, like you’re making cinnamon rolls, and pinch the ends of the dough so it sticks together. Spread melted butter on top of the dough followed by a sprinkle of salt, oregano, and garlic powder. Finally, speckle the dough with fresh parsley.

Once your Camping Pizza Log is finished, wrap it in tin foil and freeze it. The morning you leave to go camping, put the frozen pizza in your cooler. The frozen pizza will help chill whatever products you’re taking to camp with you. Around dinner time, but before you’re starving, start the campfire. You’ll need to burn the wood down a bit before you cook.  You want a bed of glowing embers, ideally about 1″ thick. Once the coals are nice and hot place the pizza log on top of them. Cook the pizza for roughly 25-30 minutes, flipping the log on occasion to ensure both sides brown evenly.

After 25 minutes Kieran yanked the pizza log out of the fire and carefully unwrapped it to ensure it was cooked. The dough was still undercooked on top so he rewrapped the pizza and threw it back onto the coals to cook a little longer. After another 5 minutes, we checked the pizza again. The top was still kinda soft but we were satisfied. We allowed the pizza log to cool for 5 minutes, cut it half, and devoured it. You don’t need utensils for this pizza if you’re splitting it in half. Kieran and I each held our half of the pizza like a hot pocket while we munched on it.

I almost forgot to mention the most important element of this recipe. The smell. OMG, the mouthwatering smell. All the campers caught a whiff of our pizza cooking from time and time and would comment on it. I mean ANY food smells and tastes amazing over a campfire. Shit, water tastes remarkable when you’re camping. Now imagine smelling fresh piping hot pizza cooking on the campfire while you sip (or in my case guzzle) your favorite beer. I’m telling you, nothing beats it!

The next time you’re going camping, don’t grab a packet of hot dogs, have fun and try this Camping Pizza Log instead! It’s guaranteed to be a favorite camping recipe for you and your family and friends!

Thanks for stopping by,

Christina