Dutch Oven Chicken and Dumplings
Canned chicken, soup mix, and biscuit dough baked over coals. A car-camping dinner that needs no cooler.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 74
- protein
- 28 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 50 min
- water
- 700 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
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dry chicken noodle soup mix | 1 box (4.5 oz) | Lipton Soup Secrets or equivalent, both envelopes |
|---|---|---|
| Canned chicken | 1 can (12 oz) | drain most of the liquid |
| Buttermilk biscuit mix | 2 cups | the just-add-water kind |
| Water for the biscuit mix | about 2/3 cup | |
| Canned mixed vegetables | 1 can (15 oz) | optional, drained |
Method
- Build a coal bed and get a 12-inch dutch oven hot over roughly 8 coals underneath.
- Add 700 ml of water, about half what the soup box calls for, plus the soup mix and the drained chicken. Stir and bring to a boil.
- If you are using vegetables, stir them in now and let it come back to a simmer.
- Mix the biscuit mix with water in a bag or bowl until it just holds together. Do not work it smooth.
- Drop the dough in spoonfuls across the surface of the stew. Leave gaps so steam can move.
- Lid on. Move coals to about 8 under and 17 on top for 350 degrees. Bake 30 minutes.
- Check a dumpling with a stick. If the middle is still wet, give it another 10 minutes with fresh coals on the lid.
Everything here comes off a shelf, which is the point. Canned chicken and a soup envelope give you a stew base with no cooler and no knife work, and the biscuit mix turns into dumplings with nothing but water.
The half-water rule matters. Soup mix is written for a thin broth, and dumplings release starch and steam as they cook, so a full pot of water leaves you eating soup with lumps in it. Cut the water and the stew thickens up under the lid. Keep the heat mostly on top once the dumplings go in, or the bottom scorches before their centers set.
Packing
Soup box, biscuit mix, and cans travel in one crate. Measure the biscuit mix into a zip bag at home so you only add water at camp.
Variations
- A can of corn or peas and carrots in place of the mixed vegetables.
- Stir a tablespoon of dried onion and a heavy pinch of black pepper into the broth; soup mix alone runs flat.
- Shelf-stable bacon crumbles on top of the dumplings before the lid goes on.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/chicken_and_dumplings-1308.asp