Fall Camp Chili
Beef, beans, and two kinds of pepper, built out of cans and cooked in one pot over a fire.
- calories
- 540
- weight
- 16 oz
- cal / oz
- 34
- protein
- 32 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 50 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
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground beef | 1 lb | 80/20; keep it cold until it goes in the pot |
|---|---|---|
| Onion | 1 medium | diced at home in a zip bag |
| Red bell pepper | 1 | diced |
| Green bell pepper | 1 | diced |
| Chili beans | 2 cans, 15 oz each | do not drain, the sauce is half the seasoning |
| Kidney beans | 1 can, 15 oz | drained |
| Stewed tomatoes | 1 can, 14.5 oz | |
| Tomato sauce | 1 can, 15 oz | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Set the pot on a grate over coals, not flames. Flames scorch tomato sauce fast.
- Brown the beef, breaking it apart as it goes. Pour off the grease if there is a puddle; leave a little for flavor.
- Add the onion and both peppers. Cook until the onion goes translucent, about five minutes.
- Dump in the chili beans with their liquid, the drained kidney beans, the stewed tomatoes, and the tomato sauce. Break the tomatoes up with the spoon.
- Salt and pepper, then let it sit at a low bubble for 30 minutes. Stir every few minutes so the bottom does not catch.
- Taste and salt again before serving. Canned beans absorb more than you expect.
This is stovetop chili from a home kitchen, moved to a fire ring with as few changes as possible. Everything except the beef and the vegetables is shelf-stable, and the vegetables are the kind that survive a day in a bin without a cooler. Only the meat actually needs cold.
The chili beans carry their own sauce, so this does not need a spice kit to taste like chili. That is the reason the recipe holds up in camp: fewer small containers to lose. The long simmer is not optional — twenty minutes in it still tastes like a can, and by thirty the tomato and the beef have found each other. Coals over flame, and stir the bottom, or you will be scrubbing scorch by headlamp.
Packing
Dice the onion and peppers at home and bag them; that is the only knife work and it does not need to happen in camp. Cans stack flat in the bottom of the bin. Beef rides in the cooler, frozen if it is a second-night dinner.
Variations
- A dehydrated version: cook it at home, spread it on trays, and rehydrate 1.5 cups of leather per person with boiling water in a freezer bag.
- Swap the beef for a can of drained lentils and it goes vegan, though you lose most of the fat.
- A spoonful of masa or instant potato flakes at the end thickens a batch that came out soupy.
https://homeandkind.com/blogs/food-recipes/easy-fall-chili-recipe