Dutch Oven Camp Chili
Beef browned at home, cans opened at camp, one lid and thirty minutes of coals.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 14 oz
- cal / oz
- 37
- protein
- 32 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 45 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.
- Dinner
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground beef | 2 lb | brown and drain at home, chill in a freezer bag |
|---|---|---|
| Tomato paste | 6 oz can | |
| Diced tomatoes | 28 oz can | juice and all |
| Baked beans | 28 oz can | do not drain, the sauce is part of the recipe |
| Navy beans | 15 oz can | drained |
| Condensed tomato soup | 10.75 oz can | |
| Chili seasoning mix | 1 packet | |
| Bay leaf | 1 |
Method
- Build the fire early and let it burn down. You want a bed of coals, not flames.
- Put the cooked beef in a 10-inch Dutch oven and set it over the coals.
- Stir in the tomato soup, tomato paste, and the seasoning packet until the beef is coated and no paste is left in lumps.
- Add the diced tomatoes, both cans of beans, and the bay leaf. Stir once.
- Cover and hold a low simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every ten so the bottom does not scorch. Pull coals away if it starts to catch.
- Fish out the bay leaf and serve straight from the pot.
Browning two pounds of beef over a campfire is a grease-spattered chore that ties up your only pot for twenty minutes. Do it in your kitchen the day before, drain it well, and camp cooking becomes opening cans. The drained fat is also why this keeps a couple of days in a cooler instead of turning.
The condensed tomato soup is doing more than it looks like. It is thickener, sugar, and salt in one can, and it smooths the raw edge off tomato paste without a long reduction. The baked beans bring their own sweet sauce, so the whole thing arrives at chili consistency in thirty minutes rather than the hour a from-scratch pot needs. Cook on coals, not flame: cast iron over open fire scorches the bottom before the middle is hot.
Packing
Browned beef goes in the cooler in a doubled freezer bag, flat so it chills fast. Cans and the seasoning packet ride in a milk crate. Bring a can opener and check that you brought a can opener.
Variations
- Shredded parmesan or cheddar over the top if you have a cooler running cold.
- Swap the navy beans for kidney or pinto, whatever the store had.
- Add a can of corn in the last ten minutes for bulk.
https://campfirefoodie.com/dutch-oven-chili-recipe