Pie Iron Campfire Tacos
Ground beef, cheese, and salsa pressed between two tortillas and toasted over coals.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 74
- protein
- 28 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 25 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
- Lunch
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground beef | 1 lb | brown and drain at home, then chill |
|---|---|---|
| Taco seasoning | 1 packet | |
| Sharp cheddar | 6 oz | shred at home |
| Chunky salsa | 1 cup | jarred, drain off the loose liquid |
| Flour tortillas | 12 small or 6 large | |
| Cooking spray or oil | as needed |
Method
- Brown the beef at home with the seasoning packet, drain it well, and pack it cold in the cooler. Reheating in the iron is faster and safer than cooking raw meat over coals.
- Burn the fire down to coals. Flames scorch the tortilla before the filling warms.
- Spray both halves of the pie iron and lay a tortilla into one side, letting the edges hang over.
- Add a few spoonfuls of beef, a handful of cheese, and a spoonful of drained salsa. Do not overfill or it squeezes out and burns onto the iron.
- Cap with a second tortilla, or fold one large tortilla over. Close the iron and tear off any tortilla poking out the seam.
- Set it on the coals. Turn every couple of minutes and check at four. It is done when the tortilla is browned and the cheese has gone.
- Slide it out onto a plate and give it a minute. The filling comes out hotter than it looks.
A pie iron does one thing well: it presses two tortillas into a sealed pocket and browns both faces at once. That is the whole recipe. The seal matters more than the filling, which is why you tear off the overhang and keep the load light.
Browning the beef at home is the change worth making. Raw ground meat over a fire means a skillet, a grease problem, and a temperature you cannot verify. Cooked and chilled, the beef only needs to come back up to hot, which happens in the same few minutes the tortilla needs to toast. Drain the salsa too, or the steam softens the crust you are trying to build.
Packing
Cooked beef and shredded cheese go in separate zip bags in the cooler. Tortillas ride flat in the top of a bin so they do not crack. Salsa in a screw-top jar or a leakproof container.
Variations
- Swap the beef for a drained can of seasoned black beans and it cooks the same.
- A spoonful of instant refried bean powder mixed into the beef soaks up salsa liquid and keeps the tortilla from going soggy.
- Foil packets on the coals work if you have no pie iron, though you lose the pressed crust.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/campfire-tacos