Campfire Taco Chili
Cooking while camping is one of my favorite things to do. Recently we ventured out to a state park in Washington State, and I packed the cooler to make this amazing campfire taco chili. While this is amazing cooked over a fire, it is also perfectly acceptable to make at home on your stove. It will still taste amazing, but will just lack that extra umami flavor you gain from cooking over an open flame. I’ll keep this intro short and leave the recipe below.
Campfire Taco Chili
Servings 6
Ingredients
- Corn 1 – 16 oz. can
- Kidney beans 1 – 16 oz. can
- Fire Roasted tomatoes 1 – 16 oz. can
- ½ lb fully cooked ground beef or turkey, chicken, etc.
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves diced
- 4 tbsp butter salted or unsalted
- Taco seasoning – either homemade recipe below or a store-bought packet
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cheese to top
- Sour cream or Greek yogurt to top
- Tortilla chips
- Optional: 6oz white rice
Instructions
- Prior to heading out on your camping trip, prep all of your ingredients. Chop the onion, dice the garlic, brown the meat, shred the cheese, and prep your taco seasoning. Over coals or medium heat on your stovetop, melt the butter and saute the onion until translucent and fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one minute. To the garlic and onion, add your fully cooked meat and spice mix, and heat thoroughly. Add your canned corn, kidney beans, and fire-roasted tomatoes, all undrained, into your pot and bring to a steady simmer. At this point, if you are adding the rice, add the rice and cook on a steady simmer for an additional 20 minutes. You may need to add 1-2 cups of water depending on the amount of liquid from the cans. If you choose not to add the rice, still allow simmering for 10 minutes. Once the rice is thoroughly cooked, salt and pepper to taste, and serve with freshly shredded cheese, greek yogurt or sour cream, and some tortilla chips. Enjoy!
Notes
Homemade taco seasoning: 1 tbsp cumin, ½ tbsp black pepper, ½ tbsp paprika, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp onion powder, 1 tbsp chili powder (I choose to add salt to taste to the final dish, but if you would prefer to add salt to your seasoning mix I recommend 2 tsp of salt to start and adjust based on your personal preferences).
