Stove, Fire or Single Burner? The Best Camping Griddle Pan

A griddle pan is what turns a camp stove into a short-order kitchen. Lay one flat plate across two burners and you can cook chorizo and eggs on one side while tortillas warm on the other, or char fajita peppers and onions next to the steak. Over a campfire, a heavy cast iron plate does the same job on a grate or on coals. It is the one piece of camp cookware that lets a group eat breakfast tacos together instead of in shifts.

This guide is narrower than our main guide to the best cast iron griddle, which covers griddles for the kitchen range. Here we only look at plates made for, or rated by their makers for, camp stoves and open fire. The question that matters most is fit: a griddle that does not sit flat on your stove, or that hangs past the windscreen, is worse than a skillet.

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Quick verdict: which camping griddle to buy

Below, the five we would point most campers to, then all seven in detail.

Five camping griddles at a glance

Our five standout picks, one for each kind of camp setup, with the specifications each maker or listing states.

Product images from Amazon. Specifications as stated by the maker or the Amazon listing; check the listing against your stove before you buy.

Our picks for the best camping griddle pan

Seven griddles, chosen to cover the real camp setups: freestanding two- and three-burner stoves, tabletop propane stoves, a single burner and an open fire. Two of them, the Lodge round griddle and the Camp Chef cast iron griddle, also appear in other Julia’s guides, and we say why they earn a place here.

How to choose a camping griddle pan

A camping griddle is simple, but buying the wrong one is easy. These are the five things a kitchen would check first.

1. Match the plate to your stove

Start with the stove, not the griddle. Camp Chef’s steel plates are made for Camp Chef’s 14- and 16-inch frame stoves and list the models they fit. Tabletop suitcase stoves, the Coleman type, need a smaller plate, around 12 by 20 inches, that sits inside the windscreen. A single-burner stove needs a round or square plate no wider than the stove’s support arms can hold steady. If you have not picked a stove yet, our guide to the best camping gas stove compares two-burner and single-burner models.

2. Steel, cast iron or carbon steel

Heavy rolled steel, like Camp Chef’s plates, heats fast and is the closest thing to a restaurant flat top. Cast iron is slower and much heavier but holds heat when wind or a fading fire steals it. Carbon steel sits between them. All three take a metal spatula and high heat, and all three need seasoning and oil to stay rust-free.

3. Size and how many you feed

A 10.5-inch round feeds one or two. A 12 by 20-inch plate handles breakfast tacos for four. Camp Chef’s 448-square-inch SG60 and 592-square-inch SG100 are for groups. Bigger is not always better: a plate that overhangs the flame has cold edges, which is fine for holding tortillas but useless for cooking.

4. Grease management

At a campsite, grease has nowhere to go. The Camp Chef plates have a trough or drain; flat cast iron and carbon steel do not, so cook fatty chorizo or bacon toward a corner and wipe as you go. Pack out cooled grease in a sealed can rather than pouring it on the ground.

5. Weight and packing

Cast iron plates run from under 5 pounds for the Lodge round to 14.5 pounds for the Stansport, by Lodge’s and a retailer’s figures. For car camping that is fine; for anything you carry, choose steel or a small round. Fold-down handles and a carry bag make a big plate easier to live with.

Gas and fire safety at camp

A griddle that covers two burners traps heat under it, so keep the stove on a stable, level surface and never let the plate rest on the fuel line or regulator. The U.S. Fire Administration’s outdoor fire safety guidance says propane grills are for outdoor use only, because indoor use can cause a fire or carbon monoxide poisoning, and that also applies under a tent awning or inside a camper. Keep a campfire within the fire ring, follow local burn rules, and let a cast iron plate cool fully before you pack it.

How we chose these seven camp griddles

We started from what a restaurant kitchen asks of a flat top: even heat, enough room to cook meat, vegetables and tortillas together, and a surface that takes a metal spatula. We then searched Amazon US for griddles made for, or rated by their makers for, camp stoves and open fire, kept only listings that showed in stock when we checked, and confirmed each specification from the maker or the Amazon listing. Where only a retailer gave a figure, such as a weight, we say so, and we write “Not stated” where nobody gave one.

We left out griddles that our other guides already cover for the same job, including the Lodge reversible double-burner grill/griddle in our cast iron griddle guide and the Lodge XL in our gas grill griddle insert guide. We also left out GSI Outdoors’ carbon steel and Guidecast griddles and Camp Chef’s 16 x 24-inch cast iron griddle, which showed very low stock, and two ceramic-coated aluminum camp griddles whose makers we could not find a lead statement for. We have not cooked on these griddles for this guide.

Camping griddle questions, answered

What is the best griddle for a two-burner camp stove?

For a Camp Chef 14-inch stove, the Camp Chef SG60. For a Coleman-style tabletop stove, a 12 by 20-inch steel plate like the Chef King, which is sized to sit between the windscreens.

Can you put a cast iron griddle directly on a campfire?

Cast iron handles open fire; Lodge and Stansport both rate their griddles for it. Set the plate on a sturdy grate or a bed of coals rather than on burning logs, so it sits level and heats evenly.

Do camping griddles need seasoning?

The Camp Chef, Stansport and Lodge plates come pre-seasoned. The Chef King and Made In plates need seasoning, and all of them need a thin coat of oil after cleaning to stop rust between trips.

How do you clean a griddle at camp?

Scrape it while warm, wipe it with a paper towel, and if you must use water, use a little and dry the plate on the burner before oiling it. Avoid soaking cast iron or steel.

Can I make fajitas and tortillas on a camping griddle?

Yes, it is one of the best uses for one. Cook the meat and vegetables on the hot zone and warm tortillas on the cooler edge for a few seconds a side. Our guide on how to eat fajitas covers building them at the table.

Our final pick for the campsite

Buy the Camp Chef SG60 if you cook on a Camp Chef two-burner stove, the SG100 if you run a three-burner camp kitchen, and the Chef King steel griddle if your stove is a Coleman-style tabletop. For campfire cooking, the Stansport cast iron plate is the one to set on the grate; for a single burner, the Lodge round. To compare cast iron griddles for the home range, see our guide to the best cast iron griddle, and if you also cook in coals, our best camp Dutch oven guide.

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