Green Chile Cornbread over Potato Mash
A box of cornbread mix, a can of chiles, and mayonnaise standing in for the egg. Baked in one pot over coals.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 104
- protein
- 9 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 650 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
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Cornbread muffin mix | 1 box (about 8.5 oz) | |
|---|---|---|
| Mayonnaise | 1/4 cup | single-serve packets, no fridge needed |
| Canned diced green chiles | one 4 oz can | do not drain, the liquid is part of the batter |
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 1 1/2 cups | |
| Dried diced green bell pepper | 1/4 cup | |
| Vegetable oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Ground cumin | 1 tsp | |
| Dried oregano | 1 tsp | |
| Rubbed sage | a pinch | |
| Apple cider vinegar | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp |
Method
- Build a fire down to coals well before you want to eat. You need a bed, not flames.
- Boil about 500 ml of water in the dutch oven. Kill the heat, stir in the dried bell pepper, salt, and half the cumin, and let it sit two minutes to soften.
- Stir in the potato flakes until the mash pulls away from the sides. Add the oil. Spread it flat across the bottom of the pot.
- In a bag or bowl, mix the cornbread mix, mayonnaise, the whole can of chiles with its liquid, the vinegar, the rest of the cumin, the oregano, and the sage. Add water a splash at a time, up to 150 ml, until it is a thick batter.
- Pour the batter over the mash and smooth it out. Do not stir the layers together.
- Lid on. Coals underneath, more coals on the lid, roughly twice as many on top as below. Bake 30 to 35 minutes.
- It is done when a stick pushed into the cornbread comes out clean. Scoop straight down so every serving gets both layers.
Two things happen in one pot here. The potato layer cooks off the heat before the pot ever goes on the coals, so all the fire is doing is baking the cornbread sitting on top of it. That layer also insulates the bottom of the batter, which is usually what burns in a dutch oven.
The mayonnaise is the reason this works without a cooler. It is oil and egg already emulsified and shelf-stable in packets, so it does the job the box wants an egg and a splash of milk to do. The chile liquid is deliberate: it is the only wet ingredient with any flavor in it, and draining the can throws that away. Fresh potatoes were the original here. Flakes cut the weight, the peeling, and twenty minutes of boiling.
Packing
Cornbread mix, potato flakes, dried pepper, and the spices each go in their own bag inside one larger bag. Mayo packets, oil, and the vinegar in a small bottle ride with the rest of the condiments. The chile can is the only heavy item.
Variations
- Swap half the water in the mash for powdered milk if you want it richer and are not avoiding dairy.
- A foil pouch of shredded chicken stirred into the mash layer turns it into a full dinner for four instead of a side for six.
https://mealswithmaria.site/best-bbq-side-dishes