Bacon Spuds in the Dutch Oven
Sliced potatoes, onion, and bacon baked over coals until a fork goes through. Car camping food, not pack food.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 38
- protein
- 13 g
- serves
- 6
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 55 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dinner
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Potatoes | 6 large | one per person, russets slice cleanest |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow onion | 2 medium | about a third of an onion per person |
| Bacon | 1 lb | 2 to 3 slices per person |
| Salt | to taste | |
| Black pepper | to taste |
Method
- Build a bed of coals and set the 12-inch dutch oven over them to preheat for frying.
- Cut the bacon crosswise into small pieces. Peel the onions, cut into eighths, and separate the layers. Peel the potatoes and slice into quarter-inch rounds.
- Drop the bacon into the hot oven and stir until it is about halfway cooked and has given up its grease.
- Level the bacon across the bottom, lay the onions over it, then the potatoes over the onions. Salt and pepper generously across the top.
- Lid on. Bake at 350°F for about 40 minutes, coals under and on top. Check partway if you want, but every lift costs heat.
- Done when a fork slides through a potato slice with no resistance.
Layering is the whole method. The bacon goes in first and renders into a slick of fat on the bottom of the oven, which is what keeps the potatoes from welding themselves to the cast iron. The onions sit in that fat and go soft and sweet; the potatoes sit on the onions and steam in their own moisture under the lid. No water is added and none is needed.
Six servings is the ceiling in a 12-inch oven. Past that the pile gets deep enough that the top layer is still raw when the bottom is browning. In a 10-inch oven, cut the amounts to about two thirds and leave the heat and the clock alone. This one stays a car-camping recipe — raw potatoes are heavy and bacon needs a cooler — but the variations get you close without either.
Packing
Cut nothing at home unless you have to. Whole potatoes and onions keep for days in a bin; sliced ones go brown and wet. Bacon rides in the cooler and should be cooked the first or second day out.
Variations
- Swap in shelf-stable bacon crumbles or a can of Spam cut into cubes when there is no cooler, and add a tablespoon of oil to make up the missing grease.
- A teaspoon of smoked paprika or a few cloves of garlic in with the onions.
- Crack eggs into divots on top for the last ten minutes if this is breakfast.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/bacon_spuds-1723.asp