Camp Chicken and Onions in the Dutch Oven
A whole bird over sliced onions, coals on the lid, and broth left in the bottom.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 14 oz
- cal / oz
- 37
- protein
- 48 g
- serves
- 5
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 90 min
- total time
- 100 min
- water
- 500 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Whole chicken | 4-5 lb | giblets pulled at home, patted dry |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow onion | 1 large | sliced thick, sliced at home |
| Kosher salt | 2 tsp | inside the cavity too |
| Black pepper | 1 tsp | |
| Rosemary | 2 sprigs | dried works, use 1 tsp |
| Water | 2 cups |
Method
- Build the fire early and let it burn down. You want coals, not flame.
- Lay the onion slices across the bottom of a 12-inch Dutch oven. They keep the bird off the metal and off direct heat.
- Season the chicken hard, inside and out, and set it breast up on the onions. Lay the rosemary over the top.
- Pour water down the side of the pot, not over the bird, or you rinse the salt off. Leave the top couple inches of the chicken dry.
- Lid on. Set the oven on a bed of coals and shovel more coals onto the lid. Roughly a third below, two thirds on top.
- Cook 75 to 90 minutes, refreshing coals once. Check the thigh with a thermometer: 165°F at the bone.
- Lift the bird out and let it sit ten minutes before you carve it. Skipping the rest costs you the juice.
- Keep the liquid in the pot. That is stock, and it is the next morning's soup base.
This is a car-camping recipe and it stays one, because a raw whole chicken needs a cooler and a Dutch oven needs a fire pit. Cook it night one, while the ice is still solid. The method is a slow cooker’s, moved onto coals: onions as a rack, a shallow pool of water, and low steady heat from above and below rather than a hot oven blasting one side.
The water is doing two jobs. It keeps the bottom of the pot from scorching over uneven coals, and by the end it is stock. Pour it into a bottle, drop it back in the cooler, and it turns into the base for rice or noodles the next day. Coals on the lid matter more than coals underneath — that is what browns the skin instead of steaming it grey.
Packing
Chicken stays in the cooler on ice, bagged, at the bottom where it is coldest. Slice the onion at home and bag it with the salt, pepper, and rosemary so camp prep is one bag and one bird.
Variations
- Add carrots and potatoes to the onion layer and dinner is the whole plate.
- No thermometer: cut into the thigh joint. Clear juice, no pink at the bone.
- Cook it the first night, then use the meat cold in wraps for two days after.
https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/slow-cooker-whole-chicken