Skillet Chicken and Sweet Potato Hash
A pouch chicken and dried sweet potato skillet built off a cast iron roast, minus the oven and the whole bird.
- calories
- 540
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 98
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 400 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
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Canned or pouch chicken | 2 pouches, 7 oz total | drain the canned kind before packing out |
|---|---|---|
| Dehydrated sweet potato dices | 1 1/2 cups | store-bought or dried at home at 135F |
| Dried onion, diced | 3 tbsp | |
| Coconut oil | 2 tbsp | solid at camp temps, so it packs in a small jar |
| Garlic powder | 2 tsp | |
| Sea salt | 1 tsp | |
| Dried rosemary, sage, and oregano | 1 tsp each, crumbled | |
| Salt-free pepper blend | 1 tsp |
Method
- Put the sweet potato dices and dried onion in the pot with 400 ml of water. Bring it to a boil, then hold a low simmer for about 12 minutes until the potato gives under a spoon.
- Drain off whatever water is left, or cook it off over the flame. You want the pot nearly dry.
- Add the coconut oil, garlic powder, salt, herbs, and pepper blend. Stir and let it sit over medium heat without stirring for three or four minutes so the bottom layer browns.
- Fold in the chicken. Two more minutes, just long enough to heat it through.
- Scrape the browned bits up off the bottom before serving. That is the part worth eating.
The source was a spatchcocked bird roasted over sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts in a 425F oven. None of that survives a camp kitchen: no oven, no five-pound raw chicken, no cooler space for it. What does survive is the structure, which is fat, salt, garlic, and hard herbs on starchy vegetables with the meat added at the end.
Dehydrated sweet potato does the work here. It rehydrates in about twelve minutes and then browns properly once the pot goes dry, which is the closest you get to roasting without an oven. Coconut oil is the right fat for this because it stays solid in a jar and takes the heat without smoking. Pouch chicken goes in last and only to warm up, since it is already cooked and will shred to nothing if you cook it twice.
Packing
Sweet potato, onion, and all the dry seasoning go in one bag. Oil in a small screw-top jar, chicken pouches loose. Canned chicken works but you are carrying the can back out.
Variations
- Halved brussels sprouts, fresh, hold two days out of a cooler and char well in the same pot.
- A splash of vinegar at the end cuts the fat if the coconut oil reads heavy.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/spatchcock-chicken-with-roasted-vegetables