Campfire Chili in a Dutch Oven Recipe

Fulfill your Dutch oven's destiny by making something satisfying over an open fire.

A Dutch oven filled with chili cooking over campfire coals and being stirred with a wooden spoon.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Why This Recipe Works

  • A cast iron Dutch oven is the perfect vessel for cooking over a fire for long periods of time.
  • Any kind of fatty meat with plenty of connective tissue works here.
  • Grinding your own chili powder with dried chiles makes for the most flavorful chili.

Now I'm no expert in outdoor survival, and about 99% of the camping I do is of the set-up-a-tent-near-the-car variety thatmy sisterlikes to make so much fun of (ok fine—100%), but if there's one thing Idoknow how to do, it's to comfortably and tastily stuff large groups of people in a variety of settings. For this task, there are several approaches you can take in an outdoor setting.

Hobo packs are the simplest and least precise. Just wrap your ingredients in a foil pouch, toss'em into the fire, fish'em out a little while later, and hope for the best. It's a tasty, if slightly unpredictable way to get hot food with minimal supplies. (Pro-tip: unshucked ears of corn are nature's hobo packs. No foil necessary!)

The next step up is to bring along a grill to set yourself up over hot coals. Haul along a couple of pots and pans, and you can not only grill, but sauté, simmer, stew, and sear, just like on top of a regular burner.

And if you'rereallyin the mood to lug stuff around (or off-load from your trunk), you can upgrade to full-on Dutch oven cooking. Like its name implies, a good quality Dutch oven is far more than just a three-legged cast iron pot with a lid—indeed, it's one of the most versatile cooking tools around.

What to Cook in a Dutch Oven While Camping

Hardcore campfire chefs will outfit their Dutch oven with a tripod and chain for hanging it oven above the flames, but that setup is largely unnecessary. With careful heating and planning, you can legitimately bake in it, even directly in a fire pit. Biscuits and no-knead bread are my go-to's.No-knead breadis virtuallymadefor camping. Just mix up the dough the night before, heat your Dutch oven with the morning's first fire, and have hot, fresh bread ready in time for brunch.

Flip the lid over and set it on the coals, and you've got yourself a nice, virtually non-stick griddle perfect for eggs and bacon. I like to simmer sausages or hot dogs in beer and sauerkraut in the main pot then transfer them to the overturned lid to give them a nice brown sear just before serving.

But its true purpose, the Dutch oven's real raison d'être, is for slow-cooking. With its heavy lid, thick walls, and ability to be heated from both above and below, it's custom-designed for braising projects like chunky chili and slow-cooked beans.

A Dutch oven in a campfire with hot coals on top of the lid.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Just like cooking at home, the key to great chili (and to you hard-liners, when I say chili, I'm using the much broader meat-and-beans-with-chili-based-aromatics definition of the word) is to build up flavor in layers. This means browning the meat, adding aromatics, blooming spices, and finally simmering everything until they get real comfortable with each other.

How to Build A Fire for Dutch Oven Cooking

The ideal fire for Dutch oven cooking is one that has a large supply of glowing, ash-covered embers. Live logs burn fast and hot, while embers are perfect for maintaining the slower, steady heat you want for Dutch oven cooking.

A campfire with lots of hot coals and a space to set a Dutch oven.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Unless you have a tripod to hang it from, clear out a large section of your fire pit and line it with a layer of hot coals.

Heating a Dutch oven in a campfire.

Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

Preheat the base of your Dutch oven directly on the hot coals until its smoking hot.

Making Dutch Oven Chili

Sear your meat in a single layer, letting it sit for a few moments at a time to encourage good browning and flavor development. You can use whatever meat you'd like for chili, but here I'm using pork shoulder.

After your meat has been seared, remove it and set it aside, then add your flavorings. In this case, I'm flavoring my meat with... more meat. Homemade venison chorizo, to be precise. If you go with only one meat, there's no reason to remove before adding the aromatics.

一切都好和arom之后atic, you can add your soaked dry beans, water, tomatoes, and a bit of salt (remember, the liquid reduces, so go easy on the salt until the end).

Depending on how long I've got before dinner time, I'll vary the amount of coal above and beneath the pot. Ideally, I'll let it cook at a sub-simmer for 6 hours or more until the beans are creamy and the meat is falling apart. Higher heat can get you a hot meal in 3 hours or less. The best way to judge how fast you're cooking is to take a peek.

Carefully lift up the hot lid and check on the contents. If you're boiling vigorously, you want to remove some coals from underneath. I check mine every few hours to make sure that it's maintaining temperature, and that the water level hasn't dropped so low that the beans and meat are beginning to burn.

The best part about a Dutch oven meal is that it'll stay hot and ready to serve for hours. Just carefully pull the pot out of the firepit to a safe spot and leave it lidded with a couple of hot coals in order to keep everything toasty. You'll have enough to eat now, and a few hours later when you're half a bottle deep into the other great campfire staple: Jack Daniels.

A Quick Note About Cast Iron

Like all cast iron, maintenance is a little higher than with a stainless pot or pan, but significantly easier than most people make it out to be. Yes, you can get it wet (just dry it carefully). Yes, you can use soap. You can even use metal utensils or cook acidic chili in it with little to no ill effect. For more on care and maintenance, check outour guide to cast iron.

June 2011

Recipe Details

Campfire Chili in a Dutch Oven Recipe

Active45 mins
Total96 hrs
Serves8 to 10 servings

Fulfill your Dutch oven's destiny by making something satisfying over an open fire.

华体会应用下载

  • 1poundcannellini beans, soaked in water for at least 4 hours (see note)

  • 2tablespoonsvegetable oil

  • 3poundspork shoulder(see note) cut into 1- to 2-inch chunks

  • 1poundrawhot Italian orchorizo sausage, removed from casing (see note)

  • 1largeonion, finely chopped

  • 1jalapeñochile, finely chopped

  • 3tablespoonshomemadechili powderor store-bought chili powder(see note)

  • 1tablespoonground cumin

  • 2teaspoonsdried oregano

  • 1cupfinely mincedcilantro

  • 1 (28-ounce)can crushed tomatoes

  • Kosher saltand freshly ground black pepper

  • 1/2cup finely slicedscallions

Directions

  1. Rinse and drain soaked beans. Heat oil in Dutch oven over hot coals until smoking. Add half of pork and cook until well-browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with remaining half of pork. Transfer second batch to bowl with the first batch.

    Starting to sear meat in a Dutch oven set over coals.

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

  2. Add sausage to pot and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until no longer raw. Return meat to pot with sausage and add onion, jalapeño, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and half of cilantro. Cook, stirring constantly until aromatic and onions have begun to soften, about 4 minutes.

    Adding sausage to a Dutch oven set over coals in a campfire.

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

  3. Add soaked beans, tomatoes, enough water to cover meat and beans by 2 inches, and a large pinch of salt (it should still taste under-seasoned, as it will reduce). Place lid on Dutch oven and cover with hot coals. Allow to heat for 10 minutes then peek and check temperature. Liquid should be mildly bubbling.

    Using tongs to peek under the lid of a Dutch oven filled with bubbling chili over campfire coals.

    Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

  4. Allow to cook until beans are soft and creamy and meat is completely tender, 3 to 6 hours depending on how hot you cook it (for best results, cook over very low heat for a long period of time). Check on pot as it cooks every hour or so, topping up with water as necessary. After the chili is done, season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in the remaining cilantro and scallions. Serve immediately.

Special Equipment

Dutch oven

Notes

You can use any kind of relatively fatty meat with plenty of connective tissue in it such as beef short rib or chuck, pork shoulder, or lamb shoulder.

The sausage can be any raw sausage you like the flavor of, or can be replaced with more stew meat.

坚持中等小豆子肾脏,在校园里ellini, garbanzo, or navy.

Store-bought chili powder can be used, but for best flavor,grind your own chile powder(ormake a chile puréeby cooking toasted chiles in water or chicken stock and blending).

Nutrition Facts(per serving)
764 Calories
50g Fat
28g Carbs
50g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 10
Amount per serving
Calories 764
% Daily Value*
Total Fat50g 64%
Saturated Fat 18g 88%
Cholesterol162mg 54%
Sodium1215mg 53%
Total Carbohydrate28g 10%
Dietary Fiber 7g 25%
Total Sugars 7g
Protein50g
Vitamin C 12mg 62%
Calcium 143mg 11%
Iron 7mg 37%
Potassium 1306mg 28%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)