A camp breakfast has a habit of collapsing into the same thing every morning — bacon, eggs, toast, repeat. Which is fine, right up until day four, when nobody at the table wants to look at it again.
This one breaks the loop without adding any work. It all happens on the one flat hotplate in about ten minutes, the halloumi goes properly golden, and the corn chars sweet over the coals. There is no saucepan to scrub, no oven to heat, and no juggling three pans across two burners while your coffee goes cold.
It also travels well. Halloumi is one of the few cheeses that genuinely improves with a bit of rough handling, and it keeps in the Engel for weeks without sulking.
What You Need
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 450 g halloumi, cut into 1 cm slices
- 300 g corn kernels — off two fresh cobs, or one tin drained well
- 250 g cherry tomatoes
- 150 g baby spinach
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
- Cracked black pepper
- 4 thick slices sourdough or damper, to serve
Gear
- Flat camp hotplate or a large cast-iron skillet
- Tongs and an egg flip
- Small bowl for the oil and paprika
- Knife and a board
- Plate lined with paper towel
How to Make It
- Get the hotplate properly hot before anything goes on. Give it five minutes over a decent coal bed or on high gas. If a drop of water skitters across the surface, you are there.
- Mix the olive oil and smoked paprika in the small bowl. Brush half of it across the hotplate.
- Lay the halloumi slices on in a single layer with a little space between them. Cook 2 minutes per side until deep golden with clear char lines. Do not move them around — let the crust form.
- Move the halloumi to the lined plate. Scatter the corn across the hotplate in a single layer and let it sit still for 2 minutes so it starts to char, then toss it once and give it another 2 minutes. You want popping, blistered kernels with a few dark spots.
- Push the corn to one side. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until the skins split and start to collapse.
- Brush the remaining paprika oil over everything, then drop the spinach in and toss for 30 seconds until just wilted. Any longer and it goes to slop.
- Return the halloumi to the hotplate for 30 seconds to warm back through, then slide the lot onto a serving plate.
- Squeeze over a lemon wedge, add cracked black pepper, and serve on thick toast with the remaining wedges on the side.
Camp Tips
- Prep at home: Slice the halloumi and mix the paprika oil into a small jar before you leave. It cuts the morning down to one bowl and one board.
- Tin versus fresh corn: Fresh cobs char better and taste sweeter, but a tin drained and patted dry works fine and is one less thing to carry on a long run.
- Swap the cheese: Haloumi is the easy one, but thick slices of firm feta in a hot dry pan work too — just handle them gently.
- Leftovers: Any cold halloumi and corn that survives can be chopped into a wrap with a bit of mayo the next day. It holds up in the fridge for two days.
- Windy morning: On a gas hotplate, work in batches rather than piling everything on. Overloading drops the surface temperature and you end up steaming instead of charring.
Why It Earns Its Spot
Breakfast is the meal where camp cooking usually gets lazy, because everyone wants to be packed up and moving. Ten minutes on one hotplate, one plate to wipe, and you are on the road with something that actually tasted like a meal rather than a chore.
If you are running this off a 12V setup and want to keep the fridge and the coffee going at the same time, have a look at our 12V accessories range before your next trip.
