If you’ve never cooked with Dutch Oven, then you have miss out. Dutch Ovens are the best and easiest way to cook an amazing meals while camping. You can cook almost anything in a Dutch oven you would cook in your own oven, but you’ll need to learn a few basics before you start looking at Dutch Oven camping recipes.
New Dutch Oven Seasoning
With any new piece cast iron cookware you need to season it. Also if you wash it, or just cook very lean foods you’ll want to re-season it. A Dutch Oven is no different from any other cast iron cookware when it comes to seasoning.
Cast iron is almost non-stick, but only once it’s been well seasoned. If you buy pre-seasoned cast iron, then you will want to get rid of that seasoning. The seasoning is mostly wax based, that you don’t want in your food. The easiest way to get rid of this seasoning is to get your Dutch Oven up to around 500 degrees for about 30 minutes then let it cool off. Some may suggest that you do it in your home oven. Don’t do it. You will smoke out your house and most likely make others in your house pretty mad. So it’s best to do it outside with campfire coals or charcoal, if nothing else use your gas grill. Being careful not to overheat it or try to cool it down fast.
Once the seasoning is burned off, heat your Dutch Oven back up to around 400-450 degrees coat the whole oven with cooking lard or some type of grease or oil. Coconut oil works great for this. Honestly almost any food grease or oil will work. Greases that are solid at room temp work better than oils.
Leave the oil sit on your oven for 20-30 minutes, at cooking temperature. Then let it cool off. Once it’s cooled down wipe off any excess oil or grease. It’s that simple. Repeat the process a few times to make sure the Dutch Oven is well seasoned.
Sources of Heat
Many people like to cook on a campfire, but it’s hard to control the temperature that way. The easiest way to control the temp in a Dutch Oven is to use charcoal. The simple rule for using charcoal is to take the size of you oven then double that number. That will give you the number of coals you need to start with to reach 350 degrees. Usually start with 10 coals on the bottom and place the rest of the top. For every additional coal giving you about 20 degrees of extra heat. When placing the coals on the bottom or top try to keep them spaced around the outside, and work inwards so as not to create hot spots and burn your food.
Dutch Oven Camping Recipes
Anything you can cook in a home oven can be cooked in a Dutch Oven. There are even people who will cook frozen pizza’s in them. The versatility of a Dutch Oven is really up to the chef.
Biscuits and Gravy
- Biscuit in a tube(doesn’t matter what brand I suggest the cheaper the better) You’ll need around a dozen depending on how many you plan of feeding.
- 1 pound of either hamburger or sausage. I usually do a pound of both but I like a lot of meet in my gravy.
- Gravy mix, brown or white doesn’t matter personal choice.
First step is brown the meat in your Dutch Oven. Just leave the lid off can keep turning the meat like you would in a skillet. Once you have the meat done, remove it and put in a pan.
Now you can put the biscuits in the Dutch Oven and cook them according the directions on the tube. Make sure you leave the grease from the meat in your oven not only does it keep the biscuits from sticking it gives a lot more flavor. Once you have the biscuits made, the meat made just finish up with the gravy mix, add the meat to the gravy and you’re done. Simple easy and minimal dishes to do.
Breakfast Casserole
- 1 Pound sausage or hamburger whatever is cheaper
- 2 Packages of frozen southern-style hash browns
- 1 container of sour cream(optional)
- 4-6 eggs beaten with a small amount of water to make fluffy.
- 1 pound shredded cheese
Brown the sausage in the Dutch Oven, then stir in the hash browns and cover. In a bowl combine the eggs, sour cream, and a little water. Pour egg mixture over the hash browns and cook until almost done. Once almost done sprinkle the cheese on top, place the lid back on top until melted.
Pot Roast
- 3-4 pound beef roast
- 1-1/2 cups water
- 2 Beef Bouillon Cubes
- 1/2 pound baby carrots or regular carrots peeled and cut up
- 8-10 cut up potatoes
- Salt, pepper, other spices to taste, also any other veggies you want.
Brown the roast on all sides in the Dutch Oven. Add cup of water and bouillon cubes and any spices. Bake for around 30 minutes check and add water as needed, keep the bottom of oven full of water. Add any veggies you want and cook for another 30 minutes or more. The roast is done when the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
Barbecue Teriyaki Chicken
- 1 bottle barbecue sauce(16-18oz)
- 1 bottle teriyaki sauce(16-18oz)
- 6 to 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 can of 7up or Sprite(12oz) your choice
Pour sauces into the Dutch Oven and add chicken. Pour pop over the top. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. The chicken is done when the internal temp is 170 degrees, or when pierced with a fork the juices run clear.
Lasagna
- 1 package of Lasagna noodles(16oz.)
- 1-1/2 pounds ground beef
- 1 large onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1-1/2 quarts spaghetti sauce
- 1 cartoon small curd cottage cheese(32 oz.)
- 2 Eggs
- 1 package cream cheese(8 oz.)
- 2 pounds shredded mozzarella cheese
Cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions, then drain and set aside. In a bowl, combine browned beef with onion and garlic, mix with spaghetti sauce.
In separate bowl, mix cottage cheese, eggs, and cream cheese.
Layer half the sauce mixture, noodles, and cottage cheese mixture in a well-greased Dutch Oven. Repeat layers then sprinkle cheese over the top. Bake until cheese melts, at 350 degrees.
Easy Cobbler
- 1/2 to 1 stick of butter
- 1 Can of Sprite or other Lemon-Lime Pop
- 2 Cans of Fruit Pie Filling.
- 1 Box of Cake Mix
Melt the butter in the bottom of the Dutch Oven making sure the bottom and most of the sides are covered. Then spread the pie filling you choosing on the bottom. Add the dry cake mix on top of the pie filling and pour the pop eveningly over the top of everything. Do not stir anything. Cook for around 30 minutes checking to see if the cake mix is done. You’ll want to spread your coals around the outside of the bottom with more on bottom than top.
Dutch Oven Camping Recipe Tips
- Dutch Oven Liners– These make clean up extremely fast. Especially with foods that are low in grease and tend to stick
- Charcoal Chimneys- Charcoal chimneys make getting your charcoal ready to cook with simple and quick. Just Place the correct number of pieces in the chimney light and once they are glowing red spread them out for you Dutch Oven
- Lid Lifter Tool– there are lots of Dutch Oven lid lifter tools. It doesn’t matter which one you get. Camp Chef makes a great one, but whatever you get, make sure you have one. All though the back of a cheap claw hammer, or plies will do in a pinch.
- Don’t Be Afraid to try something. Pretty much anything that can be cooked in a oven can be cooked in a Dutch Oven while camping. So get creative.