Dutch Oven Pork Chops and Potatoes
Chops browned in the pot, then buried under potatoes, onion, and gravy until everything goes soft.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 14 oz
- cal / oz
- 37
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 55 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
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Bone-in pork chops | 6 | about 3/4 inch thick, kept cold in the cooler |
|---|---|---|
| Potatoes | 6 | sliced thin, about 1/8 inch |
| Onion | 1 | sliced |
| Cream of mushroom soup | 2 cans | condensed, undiluted |
| Cooking oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Grated cheese | 1/2 cup | optional, for the last ten minutes |
Method
- Build a bed of coals. Set a 12-inch dutch oven over them with the oil in the bottom and let it get hot.
- Brown the chops in batches, a few minutes a side. Crowding them steams instead of browns.
- Pour off the fat that pooled up, then put all six chops back in a single layer on the bottom.
- Layer the potato slices over the chops, then the onion over the potatoes.
- Spoon both cans of soup across the top. Do not stir. Do not add water.
- Lid on, all the coals underneath, none on top. This is a simmer, not a bake.
- Check at 20 minutes, then every 10. It is done when a knife goes through the potatoes with no resistance, usually 35 to 45 minutes.
- If you want cheese, scatter it on, put the lid back for ten minutes, and pull the oven off the coals.
This one stays as-is instead of getting the trail treatment. It is a car camping and basecamp dinner, and the whole method depends on a heavy lidded pot, real chops, and a cooler. Trying to make it packable would leave you with a different recipe entirely.
The layering is the part to get right. Condensed soup goes on undiluted because the potatoes and onion release plenty of liquid as they cook, and that liquid is what turns the soup into gravy. All the coals go underneath so the bottom simmers and the top steams. Put coals on the lid and the soup scorches before the potatoes give up. Slice the potatoes thin or you will be checking every ten minutes for an hour.
Packing
Chops and cheese ride in the cooler. Slice the potatoes and onion at home into a zip bag with a splash of lemon juice so they do not brown, or slice in camp with a knife and a flat rock. Cans and oil go in the dry box.
Variations
- Cream of potato or cream of celery works the same. Any condensed cream soup will.
- A 10-inch oven takes about two thirds of everything, same coals and same time.
- Half a teaspoon of thyme in the soup layer is worth the space it takes.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/pork_chops_and_potatoes-1731.asp