Foil-Packet BBQ Chicken
Shelf-stable chicken and thick barbecue sauce, heated in foil over coals.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 60
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 15 min
- total time
- 20 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
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- Dairy free
- Foil packet
- Grab and go
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Canned or pouched chicken | 2 pouches, 7 oz each | pouches drain better than cans and weigh less |
|---|---|---|
| Barbecue sauce | 1/2 cup | single-serve packets or a squeeze bottle |
| Dried parsley | 1 tsp | |
| Ranch seasoning powder | 1 tbsp | mixed with 2 tbsp water at camp for dipping |
| Heavy-duty foil | 2 sheets, about 18 inches |
Method
- Burn the fire down to coals. Flames scorch the sauce before the chicken warms through.
- Drain the chicken pouches and split the meat between two sheets of foil.
- Spoon barbecue sauce over each pile and fold the foil into a sealed packet, seam up.
- Set the packets on the grate or on coals raked flat. Ten minutes, then flip and give them five more.
- Open a packet carefully and check that the sauce is bubbling at the edges. If not, close it and wait.
- Stir 2 tbsp water into the ranch powder in a cup and use it for dipping.
The original is wings in a slow cooker for three hours, then a broiler pass. Neither exists at camp, so this keeps the parts that survive: cooked chicken and barbecue sauce, heated until the sauce tightens onto the meat. Pouched chicken is already cooked, which means you are only warming and glazing, not worrying about a bone-in cut over uneven coals.
Drain the pouches properly. The packing liquid dilutes the sauce and you end up with a soupy packet that never reduces. Foil keeps it a one-packet job with nothing to scrub. The ranch powder is optional weight, but a cold dip against hot sweet sauce is the reason the pairing existed in the first place.
Packing
Sauce packets, parsley, and ranch powder ride in one small bag. Fold the foil sheets flat against the side of the food bin so they do not tear.
Variations
- Skip the foil and heat everything in a pot on a stove if you are not running a fire.
- A handful of instant potato flakes stirred into the packet turns it into a fuller meal.
- Freeze-dried shredded chicken rehydrated in hot water works if weight matters more than cost.
https://mealswithmaria.site/2-ingredient-slow-cooker-bbq-chicken