Family Campfire Beef and Vegetable Stew
Ground beef and condensed vegetable soup in one pot over the fire. A car-camping standard that feeds four without a second dish.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 13 oz
- cal / oz
- 40
- protein
- 30 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 30 min
- water
- 300 ml boiled
- 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
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground beef | 1 lb | 80/20 browns better than lean |
|---|---|---|
| Condensed beef vegetable soup | 2 cans | do not use ready-to-serve, it is already watered down |
| Water | 1 soup can | about 300 ml |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste | |
| Bread or biscuits | 1 loaf | for serving |
Method
- Set the pot over a bed of coals or on a stove at medium heat. Break the beef up as it goes in.
- Cook until no pink is left, stirring so the bottom does not scorch. Eight to ten minutes.
- Tip the pot and spoon off the fat. Leave a little for flavor, pour off the rest away from the fire.
- Add both cans of soup and one soup can of water. Stir.
- Bring it to a simmer and hold it there ten minutes so the vegetables soften and the beef takes on the broth.
- Taste, salt, and serve with bread torn off the loaf.
This is a car-camping dinner, not a trail meal, and it stays one. Raw ground beef needs a cooler, so the recipe is built for the first night out when the ice is still solid. The condensed soup is doing the work of a stock, a spice cabinet, and a vegetable bag all at once, which is why two cans and a can of water turn a pound of beef into four bowls.
Draining the fat matters. A pound of 80/20 sheds a few tablespoons, and if you leave it in, the soup breaks into a greasy layer that coats the pot and every bowl. Pour it off into the dirt well away from camp, not into the fire, where it flares. The ten-minute simmer at the end is not optional either: straight from the can the vegetables are firm and the broth tastes like a can. Give it the time.
Packing
The beef rides in the cooler on ice and gets cooked the first night out. Cans and bread go in the food bin. No measuring cup needed: the empty soup can is the measure.
Variations
- Stir in a cup of instant rice at the simmer stage and let it sit five minutes off heat for a thicker, heavier pot.
- No cooler? Swap the ground beef for two pouches of shelf-stable roast beef or a can of corned beef and skip the browning step.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/family-campfire-stew