Dutch Oven Campfire Chicken With Biscuits

Submitted by heidiv

"We make this in a canyon near us every two or three years. By the time we make it again, I've forgotten the recipe and can't seem to find it again. I thought I'd save it here so it will be easy to find. Chicken breasts, potatoes, carrots and onions with biscuits baked on top. Cooked in a Dutch oven in the hot coals of a campfire. Serve with a salad or fruit and by the time you get done, the coals are perfect for S'Mores."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 8 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 (10 1/2 ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
• 3 (10 1/2 ounce) cans water
• 1 1⁄2 lbs baby carrots
• 8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 (7 1/2 ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits
• salt and pepper

directions

1. Build a fire in a fire pit or on a metal Dutch oven camp table with wood or charcoal briquettes. Allow fire to burn down to hot coals. This will take about an hour. Using charcoal and a charcoal starter is even faster - like about 30 minutes. A charcoal starter is a metal tube with a handle that makes lighting charcoal easier. You can find them on the internet or at a camping gear store. We REALLY need to invest in one!
2. While you are waiting for the fire to burn down to hot coals, scrub and cube the potatoes into about 1x1" cubes and peel and dice the onion.
3. Spray a 12 quart cast iron Dutch oven with cooking spray. Dump all three cans of cream of chicken soup in the Dutch oven and add three cans of water. Stir soup and water until well mixed.
4. Add potatoes, onions, baby carrots and chicken to Dutch oven and mix with soup. Make sure the chicken and vegetables are covered (or mostly covered) with soup or they will dry out. If you need to, add another can of soup and another can of water. (Today I only used two cans of each and the soup soaked into the chicken and veggies and it was a tad dry.).
5. Flatten out the coals. Put the lid on Dutch oven and put the Dutch oven on top of coals. Put coals on top of lid so the top will cook too. This is most easily performed with a small shovel with a long handle. Especially if the fire pit is deep. It's also nice to have oven mitts on your hands 'cuz that fire gets hot!
6. Cook chicken and vegetables 40 minutes to an hour, until chicken is cooked through and potatoes and carrots are fork tender. (Note to Self: Don't take the coals off the lid if you have a Dutch oven with an outside rim like we do. Those coals aren't going to drop into the food and you'll have to scoop them on top of the Dutch oven again.).
7. Open the two cans of biscuits and put them on top of the hot chicken mixture in one layer. Put biscuits close together so they'll all fit.
8. Return lid to Dutch oven and put on coals. Put coals back on the lid if you had to remove them earlier when you checked the chicken mixture. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until biscuits are golden brown.
9. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. Speaking of fruit, this dish goes well with fresh fruit and/or salad. We had watermelon and grapes today. Once you're done eating, the coals will be perfect or s'mores, banana boats or other tasty campfire treats.