The Easiest, Tastiest Steak Marinade for Camping

If you’re doing the cooking on your family’s camping trip, then you’ll understand why all of my recipes have to meet the following criteria:

1. They must be easy
2. They must be filling
3. They must not have too many ingredients

No an exact science, sure, since simplicity is pretty subjective, but in general easier = better, as long as you don’t sacrifice taste.

Steak seems to fit the bill perfectly.  It is easy to transport, cook, and there is literally only one ingredient.  Plus, steak never disappoints the guys, and most of the time as long as you pack all of the utensils needed, the guys will cook it for you.

But a great steak needs to be marinated, and marinade is always the easiest thing to pack in to a campsite.  The best marinades are usually homemade, but the sheer number of spices they include could take too much valuable space away from you.

So I set out to find the simplest marinade – ever – that didn’t need to be refrigerated, and that didn’t have any fancy ingredients, and we found it in the form of two ingredients you would never expect: cheap beer and barbecue sauce.

I know, barbecue sauce on a good steak is a hanging-worth offense in some geographic regions, but her me out: the cheap beer and the tomato in the barbecue sauce tenderize the meat, and somehow bring out it’s natural flavor.  Plus, cheap beer is a staple at all of our campsites.

I don’t know the science, but it works!  And since neither a bottle of barbecue sauce or a can of beer need to be refrigerated, this marinade is about as shelf-stable as it gets.  It’s as simple as putting the steaks in a plastic ziploc bag, dumping in a can of beer and the bottle of barbecue sauce, then shaking to mix everything up.

Let the steaks sit in the marinade for at least 2 hours, and then grill to your desired doneness.

When my husband first approached me about using beer and barbecue sauce as a marinade, I refused, thinking that something so “low brow” wouldn’t taste good, but boy was I wrong!  Who knew that 2 so cheap ingredients would taste so good?

‘Til Next Time,

Gretchen

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Print Recipe

Easy Steak Marinade For Camping

Course

Main Dish

Servings

servings

Ingredients

• 1 bottle Barbecue Sauce
• 1 can Beer
• 4 Steaks

Course Main Dish Servings servings Ingredients 1 bottle Barbecue Sauce 1 can Beer 4 Steaks

Instructions

1. Place the steaks in a gallon ziploc bag. Pour the barbecue sauce over the steaks, then add the beer. Shake up the bag, then let the steaks marinate for at least 2 hours. Grill as desired!