Campfire Chili

Way behind on everything, actually... we’ve been having so much fun exploring the great outdoors and discovering new-to-us campgrounds, things kind of got away from me!

Anyway, we love cooking our meals over an open fire when cooking. Hot dogs are obviously a go-to on the days where were out and about, but for those days where we just want to chill at the campsite?

Hanging around by the firepit, cooking a big pot of chili... especially on a waterfront campsite with a view?

Yeah, that’s a - ahem - *recipe* for happy campers, IMHO!

It’s rich, hearty, and filling: the perfect camping meal, right off the fire.

It’s flexible. You can switch out the ingredients based on your own preferences and - importantly - the availability of ingredients.

You can cook this camping chili recipe over a firepit or on a camp stove. All you really need is a big heavy pot - I like to use our cast iron dutch oven.

When you’re done serving your fresh batch of chili, leftovers can be bagged up and frozen for future use. It thaws and reheats beautifully - a fantastic freezer meal for busy days!

As with my Roasted Convention Chili, it’s just a really healthy, utilitarian chili that works perfectly for the situation it was designed for - in this case, camping.

Anyway, enough chat, let’s talk ingredients and substitutions!

Ingredients

This base recipe for campfire chili is highly customizable to your personal preferences, and available ingredients.

Some ingredient notes, and advice on substitutions:

Peppers

Porter is NOT a fan of tomatoes, as I mentioned in my Roasted Convention Chili post.

So - as with that recipe - this campfire chili recipe cuts the tomato sauce with a significant amount of fire roasted peppers. Hey, extra vitamin C - bonus!

As-is, I use Red Bell Peppers, a Green Bell Pepper, Jalapeno Peppers, and a couple Poblano Peppers. This is our go-to mix, usually when we’re buying groceries *before* a camping trip.

When we’re way out in the middle of nowhere, though, we have to ve more flexible. Poblanos tend to be difficult to find in small town grocery stores, after all.

Aiming for about the volume of peppers you’d expect from what I call for, you can substitute whatever peppers you like. Want or need to go all red peppers? Go for it.

Green bell peppers the only thing you can find? It may not end up a super appetizing colour, but it’ll still taste great.

Aside from the peppers in the sauce, you can always add canned peppers to adjust the flavouring if you’d like. If we want a smokier taste, we’ll toss a can of Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce in there.

The most recent time we made a batch of this, we couldn’t get fresh jalapenos, so we added a can of Diced Green Chilis. This isn’t gourmet cooking, just use what you can find!

Ground Meat

Again, this easy chili recipe is super customizable for your own tastes and ingredient availability.

Porter can’t eat red meat, so we usually use ground chicken or ground turkey. Before he lost the ability to handle red meat, we’d use lean ground beef.

The most recent time we made this on a camping trip, the local grocery store didn’t have any kind of ground poultry, so we bought a 2 lb box of veggie burgers, crumbled that up, and it worked really well.

Canned Beans

I’m feeling super repetitive here, sorry. I like Dark Red Kidney Beans, as that’s how I’ve always made chili.

You can use Black Beans or Pinto Beans if you prefer... you can even do this up as a White Bean chili.

Generally speaking, I drain the beans but don’t rinse them. I like the thickening properties of the starchy liquid that sticks to the beans after draining.

That said, if you’d like to reduce the gas-producing compounds - or sodium content - of your chili, you can give them a good rinse before using them.

Tomato Sauce

I will generally use the cheapest, most boring tomato sauce available when making this chili. There’s SO much going on in the pot, you’re not really going to notice any difference with a premium or flavoured tomato sauce.

Again, though - use what you have access to. You can even get a can of tomatoes, drain some of the liquid out (I don’t measure), and puree the rest.

Seasonings

We have a pretty robust bin of seasonings in our RV, but definitely pared back from my wild spice rack in our home kitchen.

I always season this to taste, with whatever we have on hand / are in the mood for. The usual suspects include:

Cayenne Pepper
Chili Powder
Crushed Chilies
Garlic Powder
Ground Cumin
Hatch Chile Powder
Jalapeno Powder
Onion Powder
Smoked Paprika
Smoked Serrano Powder

Want to add a bit more smoky flavour? Add a little bit of Liquid Smoke - SPARINGLY! Too much will ruin a batch of chili - and there’s no real way to fix that.

Broth

Let your choice of meat determine the broth you use.

For ground beef, I use beef broth.

When using ground poultry, I’ll use chicken broth.

Veggie ground? I’ll use either chicken broth or vegetable broth.

Can’t get broth? You can use water - or water with a bit of bouillon. It’s all good!

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Carrots, Onion, Mushrooms, and Celery
Garlic cloves
Vegetable Oil (or Olive Oil)
Salt and Ground Black Pepper

Toppings, Optional

We’re a fan of loading good stuff on top of the chili whenever possible.

Some of our favourite toppings are:

Shredded Cheese
Sour Cream
Sliced Green Onions
Tortilla Chips

If we’re low on room - or feeling lazy - we’ll skip the toppings. The chili definitely stands up on its own!

Also, not really a topping... but this chili recipe goes really well with Campfire Bannock, or my skillet jalapeno cheddar cornbread - I’ll be sharing that recipe soon!

How to Make Campfire Chili

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk-through.

Get a good fire going, set a campfire grate over it.

Working in batches, cook pepper pieces over the hot coals until the peppers are soft and skin is charred.

Once cool enough to handle, chop into smaller pieces. Blend with the beef broth in a food processor or blender, or use an immersion blender to break it down into a chunky sauce.

Set aside.

Add ground meat to the pot. Using a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to break up the meat, cook until browned all over.

Serve hot, and/or cool to room temperature before storing in an airtight container. We’ll usually use a large freezer baggie.

Will keep for 3 days in the fridge, or several months in the freezer.

More One-Pot Camping Recipes

Looking for more easy - but satisfying! - one pot meals to cook over your campfire? Here are some of my favourites!

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Beef & Root Vegetable Stew
Cajun Chicken Sloppy Joes
Campfire Chicken Curry
Dutch Oven Jambalaya
Egg Roll in a Bowl
Hearty Campfire Beef Stew
Sloppy Giuseppes
Traditional Sloppy Joes

... But wait, there's more! See our main Camping Recipes page for ALL of our camping recipes - snacks, desserts, mixes to make ahead of time, and more!