Dutch Oven Mountain Dew Chicken
Bacon fat, floured chicken, root vegetables, and a can of soda as the braising liquid.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 14 oz
- cal / oz
- 44
- protein
- 46 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 70 min
- total time
- 85 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
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Bacon | 1/2 lb | chopped into 1-inch pieces |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 1 cup | carried in a gallon zip-top bag, which is also the dredging bag |
| Boneless chicken breasts | 5 | halved lengthwise so they cook through |
| Potatoes | 5 | diced |
| Carrots | 10 | diced |
| Yellow onion | 1 large | diced |
| Mountain Dew | 1 can (12 oz) | |
| Shredded cheddar | 1/2 cup |
Method
- Build a fire down to coals. Set a 12-inch dutch oven on a bed of them to preheat.
- Fry the bacon until crisp. Pull it out with tongs and leave every bit of the grease behind.
- Drop the chicken into the flour bag, seal it, and shake until coated. Brown the pieces in the bacon fat, about 5 minutes, turning a couple of times.
- Dump the vegetables and bacon over the chicken and pour the soda in.
- Lid on. Hold 350F with about three quarters of your coals on the lid and the rest underneath. Cook 45 minutes.
- Lift the chicken so it sits on top of the vegetables, scatter the cheese over it, and cook another 10 to 15 minutes with the lid back on.
- Refresh the coals once during the long stretch. They fade faster than the clock suggests.
The soda is doing two jobs. Its sugar reduces down over 45 minutes into a glaze that coats the vegetables, and its acid keeps the whole braise from tasting flat, which is what happens when you cook chicken and potatoes in plain water. The flour on the chicken is what thickens it: the coating loosens into the liquid as it cooks and pulls the sauce together.
This one stays a car-camping recipe. Fresh chicken and a cooler are the point, and there is no shelf-stable version worth eating. What you can control is the heat. Three quarters of the coals belong on the lid so the top browns and the bottom does not scorch, and coals burn down faster than the recipe implies, so plan on feeding the pile once.
Packing
Measure the flour into the gallon bag at home so dredging is one step in camp. Dice the onion and carrots ahead and bag them; potatoes go in whole and get cut at the fire, or they grey out. Everything but the flour and the soda rides in the cooler.
Variations
- A 10-inch oven takes about two thirds of everything at the same time and temperature.
- Root vegetables swap freely. Parsnips and turnips hold up to the long cook better than potatoes do.
- No soda on hand: a cup of apple juice with a spoonful of sugar behaves the same way.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/mountain_dew_chicken-1979.asp