Greek Chicken and Potatoes, Camp Version
Lemon, garlic, and oregano over chicken and potatoes, cooked in a covered pot on coals instead of an oven.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 14 oz
- cal / oz
- 44
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 60 min
- total time
- 75 min
- water
- 250 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
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Chicken, cut into pieces | 3 lb | thighs and drumsticks hold up better than breast over coals |
|---|---|---|
| Olive oil | 1/2 cup | |
| Lemon | 1 | juiced; a squeeze bottle of juice works |
| Garlic | 4 cloves | crushed, or 1 tsp granulated |
| Dried oregano | 2 tsp | |
| Salt | 1 tsp | |
| Potatoes | 4 medium | cut in thirds, skin on |
| Carrot | 1 large | cut into 1-inch chunks |
| Mushrooms | 8 oz | whole or halved |
| Artichoke hearts | 1 small jar | drained |
Method
- Build a fire and let it burn down to coals. You want a bed of embers, not flames.
- Stir the oil, lemon juice, salt, garlic, and oregano together in the bottom of the dutch oven.
- Add the chicken, potatoes, carrot, mushrooms, and artichoke hearts. Turn everything until it is coated.
- Pour in about 250 ml of water, lid the pot, and set it on a shallow bed of coals. Shovel more coals onto the lid so heat comes from both sides.
- Cook about an hour. Rotate the pot a quarter turn every fifteen minutes and rotate the lid the other way so it does not scorch on one side.
- Check at forty-five minutes. If it looks dry, add a splash of hot water. If the potatoes go through easily with a knife, it is done.
- Refresh the coals on the lid once around the halfway mark. They burn out faster on top than underneath.
This started as an oven roast, and an oven is the one thing camp does not have. A dutch oven with coals above and below is the closest substitute: the lid traps steam, the bottom coals brown the potatoes, and the top coals keep the chicken from staying pale. Rotating the pot is not fussiness. Coals burn unevenly and a stationary pot scorches on whichever side is hottest.
The marinade is doing more than flavor. Oil and lemon juice carry the oregano and garlic into everything the chicken touches, and the fat is what keeps the potatoes from drying into chalk under an hour of dry heat. Splash in water only if the pot runs dry — the chicken and mushrooms release plenty on their own, and too much water leaves you with soup.
Packing
Mix the oil, lemon, garlic, oregano, and salt at home in a leakproof bottle. Chicken stays frozen at the bottom of the cooler and thaws on the drive. Potatoes and carrots ride in a mesh bag outside the cooler.
Variations
- No dutch oven: quarter the potatoes small and do the whole thing in foil packets on a grill grate, 35 minutes.
- Swap the fresh potatoes for a can of whole new potatoes, drained, and cut the cook time to 30 minutes.
- Canned chicken and instant potatoes make a stovetop version, but it is a different dinner.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/greek-chicken