No-Boil Stack and Bake Lasagna in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven
An easy, stack-and-bake, no-boil Lasagna Recipe Baked in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven
An easy, stack-and-bake, no-boil Lasagna Recipe Baked in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Easy one-pot dinner meal with Pobalno Chilies, Ground Beef, and Cheese. A no-fail beauty in your 12-inch camp cast iron Dutch oven.
Let me cover some of the details of this recipe. First of all, we are basically creating a rice casserole of sorts and not a soup. There are other options out there than Knoor Spanish Rice including Knorr Mexican Rice. I am using this name brand for simplicity, and I know it works well.
The first thing to consider is how much liquid to put in this dish so it’s not soupy. When I was in the trial-and-error stage of writing this recipe, I would drain many of the canned ingredients and I used more broth. The problems that were presented was a mushy or soupy dish and also the hassle of trying to drain stuff at the fireside. I wanted EASY! And I wanted DELCIOUS! And this is the recipe that works.
I mentioned that you could use other pre-packaged rice mixtures including Knorr’s Mexican Rice. WATCH THE LIQUID REQUIREMENTS!! Note that the Knorr Spanish rice calls for 2 cups of liquid per package where as the Knorr Mexican Rice calls for ONLY 1 ¾ cup of liquid. That’s 14 ounces of liquid (considering we’re using two packages) versus the 16 ounces of liquid for the Spanish Rice version.
Granted, there is no liquid measurements above that calls for 14, 16, 28, or 32 ounces. Much of the liquid that this recipe needs will come from the liquid in the beans, tomatoes, and olives.
Long story short: Watch the liquid requirements of the pre-packaged rice you have purchased and guesstimate how much you will need. Lean on more rather than less…but not too much more.
Also: Pre-Packaged Taco Seasoning vs Beer & Iron’s Homemade Taco Seasoning
There’s salt in the brined chicken, the broth, beans, olives, and tomatoes. There is over 500mg of sodium per serving in the Knorr Spanish Rice. And, this is all okay. I’m also a registered nurse and know that watching the sodium is something we should do. For me, I will use pre-packaged taco seasoning in a pinch but I find the dish comes out a bit too salty. I prefer just to pre-prepare my own homemade taco seasoning AND LEAVE OUT THE SALT. You can find that recipe here:
https://beerandiron.com/homemade-taco-seasoning/
All you must do here (to be awesome) is to mix these ingredients together, store them in a small zipper bag, and dump them in when it’s time.
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
This is the same exact recipe I used in my taco seasoning, but I have omitted the salt.
I do. I don’t like those hard-to-chew chunks of chicken. Most of the time, I tenderize and brine the chicken breast and pack it to camp. Here is the link to how we tenderize and brine chicken:
Webpage: https://beerandiron.com/chicken-breast-tenderize-beer-brine-cook-perfectly-tender/
Video: https://youtu.be/wX_kYQ8nOrM
We will need about 25-30 briquettes for this dish to bake. At the end of the cook, we will be broiling the dish to toast the top of the casserole. By the time we get to the broiling stage, most of the briquettes will be burned down a bit. I usually fill my charcoal chimney full of briquettes to have the extras in the end for the final broil.
This recipe will do very well in a 12-inch regular (shallow) camp cast iron Dutch oven. A 10-inch may work but I’d suggest a deep 10-inch Dutch oven.
2 Packages of Knorr Spanish Rice
12-ounce Beer (lager that is not too hoppy)
12 ounces of Chicken Broth
15oz Can of Black Beans
15-16 Ounces Fire-Roasted Chopped or Diced Tomatoes
2.25oz Can of Sliced Black Olives
1-2 Bunches of Chopped Green Onions (the white parts)
2-3 Large Chicken Breasts
Package of Low-Sodium Taco Seasoning
OR
Beer & Iron’s Homemade Taco Seasoning without Salt
Toppings:
2 Cups of Shredded Cheese
Panko Crumbs
1 Diced Green Bell Pepper
1 Diced Red Bell Pepper
Green Onion Chives (the green parts)
Beer & Iron’s Homemade Taco Seasoning:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 teaspoon salt. I would leave this out of the seasoning to keep the dish from becoming too salty.
A note on the Green Onions: Use the “bulb” parts (or the white parts) of the onions in the recipe. Use the “tops” or the green chives as a garnish. If you’re wondering about the “middle,” I do to! Just use what you think is green as a garnish and what you think is white as an in-the-dish ingredient. You can’t mess this up; trust me.
A note on the Knorr Brand Spanish Rice. I have worked with this recipe to get the liquid down just right and Knorr Brand Spanish Rice works well with this recipe and the “liquid” ingredients. You can use what ever rice you would like and even just plain, old-fashion rice. But, unless you use Knorr Brand Spanish Rice, you will need to (NEED TO) modify the liquid amount.
This would not be hard to do a all. Once the dish has cooked for 30-minutes and before adding the toppings, all you have to do is a taste test for consistency. If the rice needs more liquid, then add more beer, broth, or even water.
Just…don’t add too much liquid initially if you are unsure. Liquid is like salt…it’s easer to add later rather than to balance after the fact.
When you are ready to cook:
Step 1: Add your 2 Packages of Knoor Spanish Rice to the Dutch oven.
Step 2: Add 12 ounces of beer to the rice.
Step 3: Add 12 ounces of chicken broth or stock. I use the empty beer can/bottle to measure my broth. Just fill the empty 12-ounce can or bottle up and add the liquid to the pot. Don’t over-fill your beer-can / beer-bottle measuring.
Step 4: Add the fire-roasted tomatoes, black beans, and olives to the watery mixture. Don’t drain any of the ingredients. Add the chopped green onions. Add the taco seasoning. Mix well.
Step 5: Add the cut pieces of chicken to the pot.
The tenderized and brined chicken breast should be pat-dry. Cut the chicken up in bite-sized pieces and add to the watery mixture in the Dutch oven.
To make life easy at camp: Tenderize, Brine, and then Cut up your Chicken at home and pack the pre-prepared chicken to camp. All you’ll have to do is add the chicken to the pot. This will alleviate the need to cut up the chicken in camp and all that goes with that process.
If you decide not to pre-prepare your chicken, you could just use chicken straight from the grocery store’s package. I suggest using scissors to cut up the chicken over the pot if you go this route.
Try to get everything evened out as you add the chicken. You want the chicken to be evenly distributed. Make sure none of the ingredients are stuck to the sides of the pot and above the liquid line.
Step 6: Place the lid over the pot and start the bake.
We’re shooting for 350°F / 175°C. Place 7-8 briquettes on the bottom and 15-17 on the top.
Bake for 15 minutes and then turn the pot.
Bake for another 15 minutes and check. Most if not all the liquid should be absorbed. If you want, check the rice for doneness. If you feel it needs more time or liquid, add what you feel it needs and continue.
Chef Tip: During the bake is a good time to shred the cheese and dice the bell peppers.
Step 7: Once the rice is cooked, remove the lid and keep it nearby on a lid stand or another clean surface. Over the top of the entire dish, add the two cups of cheese. Then, top with a generous amount of Panko breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over the diced green and red bell peppers.
Step 8: Return the lid to the pot. Remove the bottom heat and place all the briquettes on the top of the Dutch oven. Really heat that lid up to toast the cheese, panko crumbs, and peppers.
This may take 5 minutes to 15 minutes or more. Keep an eagle eye out and make sure not to burn the recipe.
And, that’s it! It’s really easy. Start at home by tenderizing, brining, and packaging up your chicken. Measure out your homemade taco seasoning. Other than the chicken, there’s nothing that needs to be refrigerated on the way and at camp.
I enjoy this recipe with sour cream and a sliced avocado.
CHEERS!
You all keep on cooking in those cast iron beauties and enjoying those glasses of that fermented barley pop.
We’ll see you next time.
Website: https://beerandiron.com/
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Easy one-pot dinner meal with Pobalno Chilies, Ground Beef, and Cheese. A no-fail beauty in your 12-inch camp cast iron Dutch oven.
Easy one-pot breakfast casserole recipe cooked in a camp cast iron Dutch oven.
This is likely one of the easiest recipes you’ll prepare in your camp cast iron Dutch oven. It may be easy, easy, easy…but it’s delicious, delicious, delicious. It’s great in the summer with some vanilla ice cream. And it’s good in the winter too. Hey…you want to know what’s great about this recipe in the winter? If you have snow at camp, make some snow ice cream for this dessert.
This recipe will work great with most any fruit. Blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and even peaches, apples, pears, and the like. I’ve even created this with fine-chopped rhubarb. I’ll present the recipe by using blackberries. But, I am sure you are already thinking of fruit you’ll be trying.
You can use either use fresh fruit or frozen fruit: but…you’ll need to let the frozen fruit thaw before you use it in this recipe. And, that’s okay. I usually buy the frozen fruit and use it in the ice chest or cooler as “ice” to keep other things cool like milk, butter, and the like. Like the ice in the ice chest or cooler, it’ll thaw fine and dandy.
This recipe will do very well in a 12-inch regular (shallow) camp cast iron Dutch oven. A 10-inch may work but I’d suggest a deep 10-inch Dutch oven.
If you pre-prepare this recipe at home, you will only pack a mixing bowl, stirring spatula, and a 1-cup measuring cup with you to camp. All in all, you will need:
I didn’t include the list of in-camp Dutch oven supplies you’ll need for cooking in your camp cast iron Dutch ovens. The tools I listed her are recipe-specific. If you’d like me to list a full list here to include the Dutch oven-specific needs, let me know and I’ll start doing that from now on.
I am going to present this recipe with three ingredients groups:
Though things like milk are considered “wet” and sugar is considered “dry,” keeping certain ingredients separate until ready to cook is important despite their “state of matter” (you Chemistry Geeks will get that).
A note on the beer choice:
First, here’s a link to the beer I used in the video from Bombastic Brewery: https://www.bombasticbrewing.com/
You may not be able to find this specific beer in your area. I’ve included some links to Bombastic’s site to give you an idea of the beer I like to use in this recipe.
Going with a darker, sweeter porter or stout is my preference. A citrusy beer or sour will work A-OK too but you’d need to consider the amount of lemon zest you will add. And, as always, a nice and light lager will work great. As a matter of fact, we will only be using ¼ cup of beer; you could just add the first ¼ cup of whatever beer you will be enjoying as you create this recipe.
A note on the lemon zest:
Zest is the outer colored part of the peel of citrus fruit and is used as flavoring. There’s a lot of lemony lemon in that lemon peel. I add much more than my suggested 1-2 teaspoons. I love the lemon flavor of this recipe when I add that much zest. My suggestion is to start out with only 1-2 teaspoons of lemon zest and see how you like it. Zest is like salt; more is not always better but that depends on the person enjoying the meal. It’s very subjective.
You will not need a microplane or a zester for this recipe. You could use the small side of a cheese grater or just peel the lemon and chop the peel very, very fine. My suggestion is to add a microplane or zester to your kitchen’s utensils. They are quite inexpensive, and you will find that it’s also pretty handy-dandy. Here’s a link:
We’ll start with two one-gallon zipper bags or two separate containers. In one bag, we will add all our dry ingredients. In the other, we will add our wet ingredients.
The Wet Ingredients:
The Dry Ingredients:
The Ingredients You Will Pack to Camp:
My suggestion is to pre-prepare your ingredients and have them ready when it’s time to bake. It’s almost like having a homemade cake-in-a-box that is ready to go for easy baking in camp. The entire recipe can be prepared and created in camp if you like. I am going to present the recipe in two parts:
Step 1: Set out a 1-gallon zipper bag or other container and add all of the wet ingredients; mix thoroughly. Store in the ice chest, cooler, or refrigerator until ready to bake.
Chef’s Tip: Keep the zipper bag of wet ingredients either double-bagged or stored in a second container to reduce the risk of leakage or spillage in the ice chest or cooler.
Step 2: Set out a 1-gallon zipper bag or other container and add all of the dry ingredients; mix thoroughly. Store this until you are ready to bake.
Step 3: Pack the milk and butter in the ice chest or cooler until you are ready to bake.
Chef’s Tip: I just bring an unopened container of milk with me to camp. Two cups of milk is all we will need but having milk in camp is pretty okie-dokie come sun rise or even used as an ingredient to soups or stews.
Step 4: Set 24-30 charcoal briquettes to fire. Let them heat until they are hot and ready.
Step 5: Set a 12-inch camp cast iron Dutch oven over 24-30 hot-and-ready charcoal briquettes.
Step 6: Add the stick of butter to the Dutch oven. We need this to be fry-ready. Careful!! DON’T BURN THE BUTTER.
Chef’s Tip: If you burn the butter…no worries. You brought an extra stick, right? Pull the Dutch oven from the fire and wipe out the burned butter. If you use some paper towels, these butter-soaked paper towels make great fire starter.
Step 7: As soon as you put the butter in the Dutch oven, mix the dry ingredients with 2 cups of milk. Use a mixing bowl to stir them together very well. This is our cobbler batter.
Step 8: Once the butter is hot and fry-ready, pour the batter into the Dutch oven and over the butter. It’ll be bubbling around the edges.
Chef’s Tip: Very hot and melted butter is the key here! That batter will start cooking as soon as it hits the butter. We want the batter to cook on the butter and not on the cast iron (in a manner of speaking). This is how we keep it from sticking.
Step 9: Once the batter is in the Dutch oven, add the wet ingredients to the top of the batter. DO NOT MIX the wet ingredients in with the batter; just evenly add, drop, or spread the berry mixture to the top of the batter.
Step 10: Return the lid to the Dutch oven and remove the Dutch oven from the hot charcoal briquettes. Add 16 hot briquettes to the top of the Dutch oven and set the Dutch oven over 8 hot briquettes. (24 total briquettes: 16 on the lid and 8 under the oven).
Step 11: Let this bake for 10-minutes. Then, turn the Dutch oven: Turn the lid 1/3rd turn in one direction and the whole pot 1/3rd of a turn in the other direction.
Step 12: Let this bake for another 10-minutes (20-minutes) total. Visually check the cobbler. We want our cobbler to be baked and “dry” but not “dry.” Cobblers have fruit; some bubbling is expected. The key here is to make sure the batter is baked. It should be spongy.
Chef’s Tip: This is a forgiving recipe. A little under-done or a little over-done…it’s going to be delicious.
Step 13: If you feel the cobbler needs more time, return the lid to the pot and give the pot another turn. Wait five minutes and check again. Do this every five minutes until the cobbler is done.
And the recipe is now yours!
This is a crowd-pleaser for sure. You’ll likely feed 4-6 people with this one.
Creating this recipe at home in a home Dutch oven is very doable as well. If you do bake this recipe at home and in your home’s oven, leave the lid off the Dutch oven while you bake.
CHEERS!
You all keep on cooking in those cast iron beauties and enjoying those glasses of that fermented barley pop.
We’ll see you next time.
Website: https://beerandiron.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beerandiron
Twitter now called “X”: https://twitter.com/IronRecipes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ironrecipes/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/beerandironrecipes/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3jcMjHBuZ7C0x2TnssetrG
Easiest pack-up-and-go recipes. A deep, dark chicken recipe with prunes, capers, and olives in a nice beer marinade.
And easy 6-Ingredient Bread Recipe that will help learn how bread bakes in a camp cast iron Dutch oven. Easy to bake in the home oven as well.
Some of you may ask that question about some of your cast iron cookware. But, I am guessing that all of you have a piece that is worth more to you than what you’d find that same piece selling for at a garage sale, eBay, or even in a flea market. Some of our cast iron cookware tell us a story each and every time we cook with it.
My son just turned 16-years-old. He’s rocking the 10th grade and is excited about his future. Rolling back in time to his 4th grade year, his elementary school sponsored an old west learning day with an outfit called Wagons Ho! I was his school’s school nurse and tagged along on his field trip “just to make sure no one got hurt.” Hey! It’s a legit reason.
I also brought my camera; the principle asked me to take photographs of the Wagons Ho! field day. I do some stock photography as well. And, though I would not be able to sell the images of the children, there would be plenty to photograph that would work for stock.
Along with all the cool activities they had for the kids to participate in, they were cooking a tri-tip pot pie beef stew in a 16-inch cast iron camp Dutch oven that would feed all the teachers and also the children.
The cowboy fella placed that gigantic pot right into that fire. Being a cast iron junkie, the image of that pot sitting in the flames was beautiful. I took that photo of that pot in that fire and continued on with my day as daddy, school nurse, and event photographer. I was a man with many jobs and enjoyed every minute of it.
When I got home, my focus was to post-process the images of the children for the school’s presentation and to let the parents get a copy of their child’s photograph that the school gave each one. The images that I had taken for stock sat on my hard drive for sometime after that. How long? I can’t remember. It’s something I usually neglect.
Taking the photographs is fun; processing the photographs is work.
Anyway, after seeing that big pot, I decided I’d be on the lookout for one to purchase from someone. Sure! I found a few. They were big, black, and beautiful. And the prices ranged from $450-$600 US. Truth be known, my 14” often sat in the carry bag unused for months at a time. I didn’t need a 16” camp cast iron Dutch oven; I wanted one.
Lo and behold a Facebook market listing for a Lodge 16-inch camp cast iron Dutch oven came about. They were asking $100. Lickety-split and boogity boogity, I was over there faster than a knife fight in a phone booth! I’d been looking all over hell’s half acre for one of these and I was bound and determined to get this one.
As you mighta guessed it, it wasn’t perfect. There was a chipped off piece from the rim of the lid for that pot. The lid was intact and the pot was perfect. The chipped off piece would not affect the pot’s cooking none.
“How about $80?”
The lady took my eighty dollars and waved me bye.
I ordered a bag for it, packed it away and clicked “done” on that bit of a to-do.
That Wagons Ho! field day was in the spring of 2017. The summer was full of cooking, adventuring, and photographing (we school nurses enjoy them summers…yes we do [for me that’s a “did enjoy”]). Then, come along the fall, start of school, and eventually the winter.
I find that I do a lot of post processing on my photographs in the winter. The folder with those Wagons Ho! images came up and there was that image of that gigantic cast iron camp Dutch oven sitting in that fire…with a chipped off piece from the rim of the lid.
Now, you go figure that one out. I’ve had that pot since 2017 and it’s one of my favorite pieces of cookware…because it now has a great story. It’s an impressive beast of a Dutch oven and can feed an army…we know that well, it fed two hungry 4th grade classes and all the teachers including yours truly. I am always tickled when I take it out and cook with it; memories of that day…what a good day it was.
It’s also a treat when I see the notification that I have sold an image from one of my stock companies. Every once in a while, that image will pop up as having sold. That chip is such a tell-tale that I am glad it’s there.
I understand that Lodge put the hiatus on those 16-inchers in 2000 and then fired them back up in 2003 for another 10 years before calling it done. I’ve had this one going on 6 years as of 2023 and one day my boy will have it and remember that day with his old daddy there at his school on his field day.
Hey. Thank y’all for being here and letting me share this story. My name is Sulae and I love to share the magic that comes out of my black pots and pans. You all keep on cooking in those black beauties and enjoying those frosted glasses of that fermented barley pop. We’ll see you next time on Beer and Iron.
I am always sharing fresh, flavorful, recipes cooked up in well-seasoned cast iron awesomeness with a bit of my liquid, hop-based, happy-maker as an ingredient.
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