Cracker Barrel restaurants, where you’ll find healthy, scratch-made food like grandma used to make, brought back an old favorite, the Campfire Menu, May 6. When we heard these Campfire Skillets were back on the menu, my husband and I hurried to our go-to Cracker Barrel location in Arlington to sample these savory meals in a skillet.
It’s been seven years since Cracker Barrel Old Country Store offered Campfire Meals, but as press info notes, “Some things are just too iconic to be gone forever.” The three Campfire Skillets are Campfire Chicken, Campfire Beef, and the new Campfire Shrimp Skillet. More enticing language from the press release: “Campfire Meals deliver the same distinctive, smoky taste as a meal prepared over a campfire…braised with a signature blend of Campfire Seasoning, wrapped in tin foil and slow cooked to induce a bounty of aroma and flavor for guests to unlock right at the table.”
After that vivid description, it’s no wonder we hurried to get there!
Cracker Barrel Campfire Skillets
The Campfire Shrimp Skillet ($10.99) features grilled shrimp and andouille sausage in seasoned butter broth with corn and potatoes. I should be ashamed to admit this, but I only (grudgingly) offered my companion one shrimp and one sausage disk before devouring the rest of the spicy shrimp skillet. However, he seemed happy to eat almost all the Campfire Chicken Skillet ($14.99). Along with a marinated half-chicken seasoned with campfire spices, that meal-in-a-skillet includes sweet corn on the cob, red skin potatoes, carrots, grape tomatoes, and onions.
We behaved slightly better when sharing the Campfire Beef Skillet ($16.49), maybe because we were starting to get full. (We still managed to eat every bite..except for the corn, which I took home for later.) The Beef Skillet is served with those same perfectly seasoned veggies as the Campfire Chicken. It reminded me of my mom’s famous slow-cooked beef pot roast, which I’ll always remember as one of the most satisfying meals of my childhood. Cracker Barrel has cornered the market on tapping into our collective nostalgia for long remembered favorite dishes—and people—from our youth.
All three skillet entrees are served with Buttermilk Biscuits and cornbread muffins.
Chocoholic Alert!
The Campfire Skillet meals are quite filling, but it’s impossible not to make room for the decadent S’mores Brownie Skillet. The first richly satisfying bite took me back to memories of roasting marshmellows for s’mores over a campfire on scouting trips—both as a Girl Scout and later as a Cub Scout den mother. The second bite threatened to send me into a chocolate coma.
Menu Description: A chocolate brownie topped with a roasted marshmallow and a melting Hershey’s® Chocolate Bar, all served warm over crumbled graham crackers and paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce ($7.99).
For certified Chocoholics, Cracker Barrel also has a S’more Latte on the menu for $4.99.
They also feature a new Cinnamon Roll Skillet with fresh-baked mini cinnamon rolls with a gooey cinnamon filling, with sweet cream cheese icing ($7.99).
Campfire Collection at Cracker Barrel
A line of Campfire-inspired finds is also featured in Cracker Barrel’s Country Store. Find s’mores flavored candies along with their signature Campfire Seasoning—a jar of the special spice blend used to prepare the Campfire Meals in-stores.
If you also have fond memories of family cookouts, often followed by tall tales over a campfire, these soul-satisfying Campfire Skillets promise to take you back. We tried the Campfire Meals at Cracker Barrel on Bowen Street in Arlington, where we always find friendly, southwestern-style hospitality that complements their home-style cooking. Brad Burnham, who’s been the GM there four years, said he was awarded the top spot in the region last week for selling the most Campfire Skillets.
