Bacon and Onion Camp Pie
A crustless bacon-onion egg bake for the dutch oven, built from powdered eggs and shelf-stable milk.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 104
- protein
- 24 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 180 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Bacon | 12 slices | precooked shelf-stable bacon works and cuts the grease handling |
|---|---|---|
| Red onion | 1 small | sliced thin at home, carried in a bag |
| Butter | 1/2 cup | keeps for days out of the fridge if it stays under 70F |
| Italian seasoned bread crumbs | 1/2 cup | |
| Powdered whole eggs | enough for 3 eggs | about 6 tbsp |
| Evaporated milk | 6 oz | one small can, no cooler needed until opened |
| Shredded cheddar | 2/3 cup | a hard block grated in camp lasts longer than pre-shredded |
| Water | 3/4 cup | for the egg powder |
Method
- Build a bed of coals or start about 20 briquettes. You want roughly 8 under the oven and 15 on the lid.
- Melt 5 tbsp of the butter in a 10-inch dutch oven, stir in the bread crumbs, and press the mix flat across the bottom. Pull it off the heat and let it set while you cook everything else.
- Scrape the crumb layer into a bowl if you only have one pot, then fry the bacon in the oven until crisp. Pour off most of the fat and set the bacon aside. Press the crumbs back in.
- Cook the onion in the remaining 3 tbsp butter until it goes soft and brown. Crumble the bacon and spread both over the crumb base.
- Whisk the egg powder into 3/4 cup cold water until no lumps remain, then stir in the evaporated milk. Pour it over the bacon and onion.
- Scatter the cheese on top. Put the lid on, set the oven over 8 coals with 15 on the lid, and bake 25 to 30 minutes until the center stops jiggling.
- Let it sit five minutes before cutting or it will run.
The original was a refrigerator recipe: chilled crumb crust, fresh eggs, a home oven. Camp version drops the chilling step because 30 minutes of refrigeration is not happening, and the crumb base holds together well enough once butter and heat set it. Powdered eggs and canned evaporated milk replace the two things that would otherwise force a cooler run.
Coal placement is the part worth getting right. More heat on the lid than under it sets the custard from above and keeps the crumb base from scorching before the middle cooks. If you smell burning at the 15-minute mark, pull coals from underneath, not from the top.
Packing
Bread crumbs and egg powder go in one bag each. Butter in a screw-top tub, bacon and cheese in the cooler if you have one. The evaporated milk can rides anywhere.
Variations
- No dutch oven: cook it as a skillet scramble over a grill grate and stir the crumbs in at the end instead of pressing a base.
- Swap the cheddar for parmesan, which does not need a cooler at all.
- Dried onion flakes rehydrated in the butter save you the knife work and the weight.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/bacon-onion-pie