Skillet Chili for the First Night
Ground beef, three cans of tomato, and beans. Cooked in one pan the night you roll in.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 14 oz
- cal / oz
- 37
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 50 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
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground beef | 2 lb | chuck or sirloin, kept cold until it hits the pan |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow onion | 1 large | chop it at home to skip the cutting board |
| Canned kidney beans | 1 can (15 oz) | drained |
| Canned whole tomatoes | 1 can (28 oz) | |
| Rotel tomatoes with green chiles | 1 can (10 oz) | |
| Tomato sauce | 1 can (15 oz) | |
| Chili seasoning | 1 packet |
Method
- Set a deep skillet or wide pot over medium heat. Brown the beef with the chopped onion, breaking it apart as it goes.
- Tip off the grease. Do not pour it on the ground where you are sleeping; pack it out in a can or bottle.
- Squeeze the whole tomatoes apart in your hand as they go in. Add the Rotel, the tomato sauce, and the drained beans.
- Stir in the seasoning packet. Bring it up to a boil, then pull it back to a low simmer.
- Simmer 30 minutes uncovered, stirring now and then. It should thicken enough that a spoon leaves a track.
This is first-night food. The beef and onion have to be cooked before the cooler warms up, and the whole thing runs on shelf-stable cans you can throw in a bin weeks ahead. Nothing here needs a lid, a thermometer, or attention beyond the occasional stir.
The three tomato products are doing different jobs. Whole tomatoes give you pieces, the sauce gives you body, and the Rotel brings the heat and the acid. Cut any one of them and the pot goes flat or watery. The half hour of simmer is not optional either — that is where the grease, the tomato, and the seasoning stop being three things.
The source cooked this in an electric skillet on shore power. Over a fire or a two-burner it works the same, but heat runs hotter and less even, so keep the flame low once the simmer starts or the bottom scorches.
Packing
Beef and onion ride in the cooler, beef on the bottom near the ice. The four cans and the seasoning packet go in a bin together so the whole dinner is one grab. Bring a can opener that is not on your knife.
Variations
- Swap the beef for two cans of drained chili beans and a bag of soy crumbles if you are feeding vegetarians.
- A second can of beans in place of the third pound of beef stretches it to eight without much loss.
- Leftovers reheat over eggs the next morning if the cooler is still cold.
https://www.mygrandrv.com/threads/chili-via-electric-skillet.27311