Spicy Smoked Sausage Foil Pan
Sausage, peppers, and two sauces braised under foil over coals, then piled into buns.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 65
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 30 min
- total time
- 45 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
- Foil packet
- Grab and go
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Smoked sausage | 1 package, about 14 oz | kielbasa or andouille; fully cooked, so it only needs heating |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet and sour sauce | 1 bottle, about 10 oz | |
| Hot sauce | 1/4 cup | |
| Green bell pepper | 1 large | |
| Onion | 1 medium | |
| Jalapenos | 3 to 5 | seed them if the group is mixed |
| Hot dog buns | 4 to 8 |
Method
- Get a fire down to steady coals. Flames will scorch the sauce before the onions soften.
- Cut the sausage into two-inch lengths. Chop the pepper, onion, and jalapenos into rough chunks.
- Load everything into a disposable foil cake pan. Pour the sweet and sour sauce and the hot sauce over the top and stir until coated.
- Seal the pan with foil and set it on a grate over the coals for about 30 minutes. Stir once at the halfway mark.
- Pull the foil back for the last five minutes if the sauce is still thin. Spoon into buns.
This is a coals recipe, not a stove recipe. The covered foil pan traps steam, which is what actually cooks the onion and pepper down; the sausage is already cooked and is just soaking up sauce and heat. Uncovered, the sugar in the sweet and sour sauce burns long before the vegetables give up.
The sauce ratio is the whole design. Sweet and sour brings sugar and body, hot sauce brings vinegar and heat, and together they reduce into something that clings instead of pooling in the bottom of the pan. Jalapeno seeds decide how hot it lands, so pull them if you are feeding a group you do not know. Sausage and vegetables need a cooler, which keeps this at the trailhead rather than in a pack.
Packing
Sausage and cut vegetables ride in the cooler. Chop at home into one zip bag and camp prep drops to nothing. The sauce bottles and the foil pan go in the dry box.
Variations
- Skip the buns and serve it over instant rice cooked in a second pot.
- Swap the sweet and sour sauce for barbecue sauce and a spoon of brown sugar.
- No pan? Split it into two heavy-duty foil packets and set them straight on the coals for 20 minutes.
https://camprecipes.com/classic-recipes/spicy-smoked-sausage