Skillet Popover Chicken
Herbed batter poured over browned chicken and baked in cast iron until it climbs the sides of the pan.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 56
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 4
- prep
- 25 min
- cook
- 40 min
- total time
- 65 min
- water
- 360 ml cold
- 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
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Chicken parts, bone-in | 2.5-3 lb | packed frozen, thaws in the cooler by day two |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 3 cups total | 1.5 cups for dredging, 1.5 cups for the batter |
| Salt | 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp | |
| Ground black pepper | 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried parsley | 1 tbsp plus 1 tbsp for the batter | |
| Dried thyme | 2 tsp | |
| Dried chives or rosemary | 1 tsp | |
| Baking powder | 1.5 tsp | |
| Powdered whole egg | 8 tbsp | stands in for 4 large eggs; no cracked shells in the cooler |
| Powdered whole milk | 6 tbsp | reconstitutes to 1.5 cups |
| Vegetable oil | 3 tbsp | |
| Butter | 3 tbsp | melted |
Method
- At home, mix the dredge bag: 1.5 cups flour, 1 tbsp salt, the pepper, 1 tbsp parsley, thyme, and chives. Mix the batter bag separately: 1.5 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, baking powder, egg powder, milk powder, and the second tablespoon of parsley.
- In camp, build a bed of coals and set the dutch oven over about half of them. Get it hot.
- Pour in the oil. Dredge the chicken pieces in the dredge bag and brown them in batches, five minutes a side. Set them aside on a plate.
- Whisk the batter bag with 360 ml of cold water and the melted butter until it is smooth and thin, like heavy cream. Lumps will not rise.
- Return the chicken to the oven, skin up, and pour the batter around and over it.
- Lid on. Roughly 10 coals under, 20 on top, and hold it there for 35 to 40 minutes. Do not lift the lid for the first 25 minutes or the batter falls.
- It is done when the batter is puffed, deep brown, and dry in the center. Serve straight from the pot.
Popover batter is mostly water and it climbs by steam alone, which is why the ratios matter more than the technique. Eggs and milk are the problem on a trip, so both come as powder here and get reconstituted with cold water in camp. Powdered egg behaves the same way in a thin batter; it just needs a harder whisk to lose its lumps.
The browning step is not optional. Raw skin sitting in wet batter never renders, and the fond left in the pan is what keeps the underside of the popover from tasting like plain flour. Coal placement does the rest: heat mostly on the lid, so the batter sets and rises from the top down while the chicken finishes underneath. This one needs a cooler and real coals, so it stays a car camping dinner.
Packing
Two labeled zip bags of dry mix, oil and butter in a small screw-top jar, chicken frozen flat at the bottom of the cooler. Nothing needs measuring in camp except the water.
Variations
- Boneless thighs cut the browning and bake time by about ten minutes.
- No dutch oven: a covered cast iron skillet on a grill grate over indirect coals works, but the batter will rise less.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/popover-chicken