Dutch Oven Camp Chili
A cast iron pot, a bag of dry beans soaked overnight, and coals. Dinner for the whole site.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 69
- protein
- 32 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 75 min
- total time
- 90 min
- water
- 1200 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
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Dry pinto or kidney beans | 2 cups | soaked overnight in a sealed jar, water poured off |
|---|---|---|
| Shelf-stable summer sausage or dried chorizo | 10 oz | cut into coins, no cooler needed |
| Dehydrated onion | 1/2 cup | |
| Tomato powder | 1/2 cup | or one 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes if weight is not a concern |
| Chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika | 3 tbsp total | |
| Dried garlic | 1 tbsp | |
| Instant masa or cornmeal | 3 tbsp | the thickener |
| Oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt | 2 tsp | added at the end, not the start |
Method
- Build a fire early and let it burn down. You want coals, not flames. Roughly 20 coals under and on the lid.
- Set the dutch oven over a bed of coals with the oil in it. Brown the sausage coins until the edges crisp, about 5 minutes.
- Add the drained soaked beans, the dried onion, garlic, spices, and 1200 ml of water. Stir and bring to a boil.
- Cover, move most of the coals to the lid, and let it hold a low simmer for about an hour. Check the water level twice and top up if the beans go dry.
- When the beans crush easily against the side of the pot, stir the tomato powder and masa into a little hot liquid first, then into the pot. Five more minutes to thicken.
- Salt now. Salting earlier keeps the bean skins tough.
Dutch oven cooking runs on coals, not flames, and this recipe is built around that. An hour of steady low heat is what turns dry beans soft, and a cast iron pot buried in coals holds that temperature far better than a stove ever will. Everything else is timed around the beans.
The overnight soak is the one step you cannot skip at camp, so it happens the night before. Salt and tomato both go in at the end for the same reason: acid and salt slow the beans from softening, and adding them early means an hour of cooking that still leaves you chewing. Masa at the finish thickens the pot without adding another pan.
Packing
Soak the beans in a wide-mouth jar the night before and drain in the morning. Spices, onion, garlic, and masa go in one small bag as a premix so camp is two additions, not six.
Variations
- Skip the sausage and add a cup of TVP with the water for a meatless version.
- A square of dark chocolate and a splash of vinegar at the end deepen it.
- Cornbread baked on top of the chili in the same oven if you carry a mix.
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