7 Best Camping Grills in 2024

Who says you can’t enjoy a steak or ribs grilled to perfection during your next camping trip? Whether you’re looking for an insanely hot grill that can render meat from raw to ready-to-eat in minutes, or you want a traditional stand-up grill that can handle everything from steaks to potatoes; there’s a range of camping grills to choose from.

Our Top Picks: Best Camping Grills

Short on time? Here’s an overview:

• Best Overall: Weber Q1000. Easy set-up, one-push start, and a built-in thermometer win this camping grill our best overall award.
• Best Runner-Up: Cuisinart Petit. The Cuisinart Petit comes in second place only due to its smaller size — but don’t let that deter you from this amazing appliance!
• Best Eco-Friendly: SUN OVEN. Ditch the propane and exchange it for the all-natural power of the sun with this solar-powered SUN OVEN.
• Best Budget: Blackstone Portable. Camping on a budget doesn’t have to mean a crappy grill, and no one proves it better than this versatile, griddle-top grill.
• Best Grill & Stove Combo: Eureka! Gonzo. It’s a grill, it’s a stove, it’s a griddle — it’s all in one!
• Best Portable: Coleman RoadTrip LXE. Though it’s not the smallest on our list, with its dual all-terrain wheels and a suitcase-style pull handle, there’s no easier grill to cart around.
• Best Infrared: Mr. Steak. If you’ve got the cash to spare, try out this fantastic grill that uses infrared technology to reach temperatures upwards of 1000 degrees in mere minutes.

This tabletop grill means easy setup, and it’s one of the best propane camping grills around. Supplied by one-pound propane cylinders, simply use a push-button ignition to get it fired up and ready for meat and veggies. It offers a 189 square-inch cooking surface and 8500 BTUs. In addition, the built-in thermometer ensures you always know what temperature you’re cooking at. The angled grease tray and catch pan make it an excellent option for cooking foods notorious for dripping grease or juices.

The Cuisinart Petit comes in as our runner up only due to the smaller cooking capacity — but don’t let diminutive size turn you off, because this thing’s a breeze to transport! It weighs a light 13.5 pounds, making it super convenient for travel. The stylish design is a little retro and fun, and it’s ready to go the minute you set it down on a flat surface. Despite the smaller size, it still packs a punch with a respectable 5500 BTUs.

Camping is a great way to appreciate the environment, but camping stoves are generally not great at protecting it. SUN OVEN is here with their All-American, ready to turn cooking in the great outdoors into an eco-friendly practice. Their solar-powered camping oven uses reflective panels to channel sunlight to the solar receptor, which heats the oven inside. Even when it’s cold outside, the sun can still warm this oven up to 400 degrees — high enough to cook pretty much anything. Inside the oven is a self-leveling grate, so you can angle the oven for optimal sun exposure without fear of anything inside tipping over.

This camping grill is unbelievably cheap, compared to even its lowest quality competitors. Yet, it’s one of the absolute best camping grills on the market. It heats up quickly, distributes temperature evenly, and delivers delectable food every time. Clean up is a breeze — or should we say, a paper towel. Just let the grill cool down and then use a paper towel to wipe it clean. The built-in drip tray catches any run-off of juice and grease, and it comes entirely out of the grill, so you can wipe it clean, too.

The entire grill does weigh in around 21 pounds, but that weight is evenly distributed, and is surprisingly easy to carry. With a single burner and 260 square inches of cooking space, there’s nothing this grill can’t handle.

The Gonzo Gill is truly a unique and adaptable grill. About the size of a soup pot with stow-away handles, this baby is easy to store and carry around. Despite the small size, it can still handle up to four full-size meat patties at a time. The Gonzo comes with a cast iron grill plate, a smooth-top griddle plate, a stove-top pot support, and a domed lid, so you can cook pretty much anything your heart desires.

As always, Coleman makes quality camping gear, and the Road Trip LXE proves no different. It features a massive 285 square-inch cooking surface at a reasonable weight. But weight almost doesn’t matter because the grill comes with an integrated stand that collapses down into a suitcase-style carrying apparatus with dual all-terrain wheels!

The 20,000 BTU propane grill means you can cook a massive heap of food, yet the unit still proves surprisingly portable and lightweight. It’s easy to clean and comes with interchangeable cooktops depending on the meal you have in store. The clever design of this camping grill is delightful.

If you’re looking for a grill that proves both highly efficient and fiercely hot, then look no further than the Mr. Steak Infrared Portable Grill. It packs a solid propane punch at 28,000 BTUs, all with intense infrared heat that can reach some 1000 degrees Fahrenheit. The unique ceramic infrared burner means you’ll enjoy steakhouse quality meat every time. What’s more, it takes just a few minutes for tasty perfection.

Heavy-duty construction means this grill will stand the test of time. It has a locking lid and folding legs for portability. Furthermore, the stainless-steel V-grate and removable grease tray allow you to cook juicy, greasy foods without worry.

What to Look for in the Best Camping Grills

What are the makings of the best camping grill? Keep these factors in mind as you search for the perfect cooking machine for your next outing.

Ease of Cleaning. When you’re hanging out in the woods, it’s hard enough keeping your fingernails clean, let alone a grill! Look for a unit that makes cleanup after a meal as painless as possible. You’ll thank us later.

Cooking Surface. How much cooking surface you have will determine how many mouths you can feed and how quickly. The larger the cooking surface, the more food you can grill at one time — but be wary because bigger units take up more room, are much heavier, and harder to stow.

Temperature Gauge. Depending on the complexity of what you choose to cook, you may need a temperature gauge (the thing that lets you know what temperature your grill is at and may even help you control it). For example, you don’t need a gauge for burgers because you can tell when they’re done pretty easily just by looking. But for a steak, where you want the inside to be a specific temp and tenderness, it’s helpful to know what temperature you’re cooking with.

Grill Top/Plate. Some grills come with the standard grill grate, while others have a griddle plate that’s just a flat surface. Both serve their purpose, so consider what kinds of foods you’re looking to cook so you know which you need (or if you need both).

Portability. Camping grills are, by nature, designed to be portable. At the least, you’ll be carting yours from your car to your campsite. But not all camping grills are created equal. Some are much heavier than others, or much larger — the trade-off for cooking more food at once or having lots of fancy features.

Our Process

For this guide on camping grills, our team spent 4 hours researching the most popular options from over 20 brands and manufacturers big and small. We then read about one hundred user reviews (both positive and negative) to discover what shoppers thought about each grill. Additionally, comparing this data, we narrowed our list down to the top 7 camping grills on the market. You can count on this research to guide you to a mindful purchasing decision.

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