camp meals

Sheet Pan Fajitas, Camp Version

Steak and chicken marinated in lime and smoked paprika, cooked over fire in one pan with peppers and onions.

calories
420
weight
9 oz
cal / oz
47
protein
34 g
serves
6, scales
prep
15 min
cook
20 min
total time
35 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
  • Nut free
  • One pot
  • Pre-mix at home
  • Needs a cooler
  • Basic

Ingredients

Flank steak 1 lb sliced into strips at home, against the grain
Chicken breast 1 lb sliced into strips at home
Lime 1 juiced; a squeeze bottle works and keeps better
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Garlic 1 clove minced, or 1/2 tsp granulated
Smoked paprika 1 tsp
Cumin 1 tsp
Dried oregano 1 tsp
Kosher salt 1 tsp
Black pepper 1/2 tsp
Bell peppers 3 sliced at home
Onion 1 large sliced at home
Flour or corn tortillas 12
Salsa or hot sauce 1 jar shelf-stable, no cooler needed

Method

  1. At home, mix the lime juice, oil, garlic, and all four spices in a zip bag. Add both meats, press the air out, and keep it in the cooler. Two hours is enough; overnight is better.
  2. Build a fire and let it burn down to coals. Set a grate over them, or use a cast iron pan on the grate.
  3. Dump the meat and marinade into the hot pan, then pile the peppers and onions on top. Spread it out so it sears instead of steams.
  4. Cook about 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Pull it when the chicken is opaque all the way through and the onions have gone soft.
  5. Warm the tortillas on the grate for ten seconds a side. Fill and top with salsa.

The lime juice is the reason both meats can share a pan. Acid loosens the flank steak enough that it finishes in the same twenty minutes as chicken breast, so you are not juggling two cook times over a fire you only half control.

This one stays a cooler recipe. Raw meat and fresh peppers do not have a shelf-stable version worth eating, so it belongs at a car camp or a basecamp with a cold box, not in a pack. Do all the slicing and marinating at home: at the fire you are opening two bags and stirring. The sour cream and guacamole from the original are gone for the same reason the cooler is doing enough work already. Salsa in a jar covers the same ground.

Packing

Meat and marinade go in one heavy zip bag, doubled. Sliced peppers and onions in another. Spices premixed at home means one jar instead of five. Tortillas and salsa ride outside the cooler.

Variations

  • Skip the steak and use two pounds of chicken. It costs less and cooks more evenly.
  • No pan? Split the mix into two foil packets and set them directly on the coals for 20 minutes.
  • Serve over instant rice instead of tortillas if you want the meal to go further.

https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/oven-baked-steak-and-chicken-fajitas