Dutch Oven Meat Pie
Bacon, beef, and pork under a crust, baked in coals at the trailhead.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 7.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 83
- protein
- 28 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 50 min
- total time
- 70 min
- water
- 300 ml cold
- 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
| Bacon | 6 slices | cut into 1-inch pieces before you leave home |
|---|---|---|
| Ground beef | 1/2 lb | |
| Ground pork | 1 lb | |
| Onion | 1/2 medium | chopped at home, bagged |
| Celery | 1 stalk | chopped at home, bagged |
| Minced garlic | 1 tsp | the jarred kind survives the drive |
| Ground sage | 1 tsp | |
| Dried oregano | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/4 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Cornstarch | 2 tbsp | |
| Water | 1 1/4 cups | 1 cup for the simmer, 1/4 cup for the slurry |
| Double pie crust | 1 | refrigerated rolled dough, kept cold in the cooler |
| Pie tin | 1 | disposable foil, 9-inch |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals. You want a bed you can pull from for the next hour.
- Set the 12-inch dutch oven over coals and fry the bacon pieces until crisp. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and leave the fat behind.
- Brown the beef and pork in the bacon fat, breaking it up as it cooks. Pour off the excess grease.
- Return the bacon and add the onion, celery, garlic, sage, oregano, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of water. Bring it to a boil.
- Lid on, pull most of the coals, and simmer 15 minutes. Stir often so the bottom does not catch.
- Sprinkle the cornstarch over the meat, pour in the last 1/4 cup of water, and stir until the liquid turns glossy and thick. Take it off the heat.
- Line the pie tin with the bottom crust, fill it with the meat, lay the top crust over, and crimp the edges. Cut three or four slits in the lid.
- Wipe out the dutch oven, set the tin inside on a few pebbles or a trivet, and bake at 400 F for 30 minutes: coals underneath, but about three quarters of them on the lid.
- Done when the top crust is brown. Lift the tin out and let it sit 10 to 15 minutes before cutting or the filling runs.
This is a Scout dutch oven recipe and it stays one, because a pie needs an oven and coals are the only oven out here. Everything before the crust is one-pot work: bacon fat becomes the cooking medium, the meat browns in it, and the same pot holds the simmer. The prep that would slow you down at camp — chopping onion and celery, measuring four spices — happens at home in bags.
The cornstarch slurry is the part worth respecting. A wet filling turns the bottom crust to paste and floods the tin when you cut it. Thicken until the liquid coats the spoon, then rest the baked pie a full ten minutes so it sets. Heat placement matters too: three quarters of the coals on the lid browns the top instead of scorching the bottom.
Packing
Chop the onion and celery at home and bag them with the garlic. Combine the sage, oregano, salt, and pepper in one small container so camp seasoning is a single pour. Meat and crust go in the bottom of the cooler on ice, crust flat so it does not crack.
Variations
- No pie crust? Drop biscuit dough over the thickened filling and bake it as a cobbler-style top.
- Skip the crust entirely and eat the filling over instant mashed potatoes.
- A 10-inch oven works with about two thirds of everything. Keep the temperature and the timing the same.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/meatymeat_pie-2330.asp