Spill the Beans Camp Chili
Ground meat, chili powder, and tomatoes cooked down in one pot over a fire. Beans go in at the end.
- calories
- 540
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 49
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 75 min
- total time
- 85 min
- water
- 300 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
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Coarse ground beef chili grind | 2 lb | venison works if you have it; add a little oil, it runs lean |
|---|---|---|
| Cooking oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Onion | 1 large, diced at home | |
| Canned diced tomatoes with green chiles | 2 cans (10 oz each) | Rotel or equivalent |
| Tomato sauce | 2 cans (15 oz each) | |
| Chili powder | 1/4 cup | |
| Paprika | 1 tsp | |
| Cumin | 1 tsp | |
| Oregano | 2 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | stands in for the fresh clove |
| Basil | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Hot sauce | 1 tsp | or cayenne to taste |
| Canned kidney beans | 2 cans (15 oz each) | drained |
| Salt | to taste | |
| Water | about 300 ml |
Method
- Set the pot on a grate over a bed of coals, not open flame. Flame scorches the tomato.
- Brown the meat in the oil, breaking it up as it goes. Pour off the grease.
- Add the onion and cook until it goes soft, about five minutes.
- Stir in both cans of tomato sauce and the Rotel, then the dry spices and hot sauce.
- Add water a splash at a time until it moves when you stir it. Bring it up to a boil.
- Rake the coals to one side and slide the pot to the edge. Hold a low simmer for at least an hour, stirring every few minutes so the bottom does not catch.
- Drain the beans and stir them in for the last thirty minutes.
- Salt at the end, not the beginning. The tomato sauce is already salty.
This is a long simmer over coals, which is why it belongs at a basecamp and not on a summit. Time is doing the work: an hour breaks the coarse grind down and lets the chili powder stop tasting raw. Chili powder in this volume is the backbone, not a garnish, so measure it by the quarter cup and do not flinch.
Two adaptations for camp. Fresh garlic became garlic powder, since a clove is one more thing to mince by headlamp and the powder disappears into a long simmer anyway. The beans go in at the end because canned beans held at a simmer for an hour turn to paste. Salt last, after the tomato sauce has reduced and told you how salty it already is.
Packing
Dice the onion and premix every dry spice into one jar at home. Cans are heavy but they are the whole point of car camping. Beans stay sealed until the last half hour.
Variations
- Ground venison in place of half the beef. It is leaner, so add another tablespoon of oil.
- For backpacking, swap the cans for dehydrated tomato powder, freeze-dried ground beef, and instant refried bean flakes, and cut the simmer to fifteen minutes.
https://www.archerytalk.com/threads/venison-recipes-spill-the-beans.28165