Dutch Oven Fish Fry
Battered fillets fried in a camp dutch oven. Car camping only, and worth the oil.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 69
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 40 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
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Tilapia fillets | 2 lb | any firm white fish works; keep it cold until it goes in the flour |
|---|---|---|
| Vegetable oil | 2 cups | enough for half an inch of depth |
| All-purpose flour | 1.5 cups | carried in a zip-top bag, which doubles as the dredging bag |
| Dry pancake mix | 2 cups | |
| Club soda | 2 cups | one 16 oz bottle; beer does the same job |
| Onion powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Seasoned salt | 1 tbsp | Lawry's or equivalent |
| Tartar sauce | to serve |
Method
- Cut the fish into chunks about two inches across so they cook through in the same time.
- Pour oil into a 12-inch dutch oven or skillet to a depth of at least half an inch. Bring it to roughly 400°F over coals. A pinch of flour should sizzle immediately.
- Drop the fish into the flour bag a few pieces at a time and shake. Lay the floured pieces on a paper towel and leave them five minutes. The flour needs to go tacky or the batter slides off.
- Stir the pancake mix, club soda, onion powder, and seasoned salt together in a bowl or a second bag. Aim for something thinner than molasses, pourable. Add soda a splash at a time until it gets there.
- Dip a piece in the batter, let the excess run off, and set it into the oil away from you. Do not crowd the pot.
- Fry three minutes, flip, fry three more. The crust should be brown all around. Pull to a paper towel.
- Break open the first piece before you commit to the rest. The center should be opaque white, not translucent. Serve with tartar sauce.
This one does not travel. Two cups of oil and a cooler full of fish is a car-camping dinner, and there is no shelf-stable version worth eating. Cook it the first night out, while the ice is still solid.
The flour-then-rest step is the part people skip and regret. Dry fish sheds batter into the oil and you end up with bare fillets and a pot of scorched crumbs. Five minutes on a paper towel lets the flour pull surface moisture and grip. The club soda does the other half: the bubbles keep the pancake batter loose and open instead of dense, and beer works for the same reason. Keep the oil near 400°F. Cooler than that and the crust drinks oil rather than sealing.
Packing
Premeasure the flour into its own zip-top bag and the pancake mix, onion powder, and seasoned salt into another at home. That leaves two bags, a bottle, and the oil to manage in camp. Fish rides in the cooler on ice, and it should be the first thing cooked on the trip.
Variations
- Beer instead of club soda. The carbonation is what matters, not the flavor.
- Cut the recipe to two-thirds in a 10-inch dutch oven. Temperature and timing stay the same.
- Run a second dutch oven with fries alongside if you have the coals for it.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/fish_fry-2196.asp