Looking for an easy camping recipe to take with you on your cool-weather camping trips? You’ll want to grab our family’s favorite chili recipe. It’s perfect for camping trips and enjoying around a crackling campfire – but we don’t blame you if you decide to make it at home or year round!
One thing that makes this a particularly easy camping recipe is that you can divide the ingredients into three groups – seasoning, fresh ingredients, and pantry canned goods. Then when you’re ready for chili, just combine all three groups. It really couldn’t be easier!
Group One: Seasoning Packet
I combine the following ahead of time and keep in food storage bag (snack or sandwich size baggies are perfect). You can even make up several packets at a time to have on hand!
- 3 Tbs chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- Dash of cayenne pepper
If you like your chili to be a bit spicier, increase the cumin, chili powder, and/or cayenne pepper to your preference.
Group Two: Fresh Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 medium-large onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
You can handle this group a couple different ways:
- Prep them the day-of
- Chop the veggies and freeze together in a food storage bag (it’s a great way to use up the last bit of celery or half-of-an-onion you may already have on hand)
- Or, prep the veggies with the meat as directed below and freeze in a bag ahead of time.
Group Three: Pantry Staples
- 1 quart tomato juice
- 1 (29-ounce) can tomato purée
- 1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
Directions:
- Brown the ground beef, adding in diced vegetables. Cook and stir, crumbling the beef as you go, and until the beef is browned through and the veggies are tender. Drain off the fat and discard.
- Add in the seasoning packet and all the remaining ingredients (the pantry items). Stir well to mix thoroughly.
- Simmer on low heat for 2 hours.
- This chili is great on its own, but you can also serve it with the toppings of your choice – shredded cheese, sour cream, corn chips, saltine crackers, etc. Enjoy!
Whether you prep your ingredient groups in advance, or cook this chili in the slow cooker, you’ll find it’s easy to take on camping trips because of how simply it comes together, how few dishes it requires, and how good it’ll make your entire new or used RV smell inside!
Contact us today. We’d love to help you pick out the unit that has everything you need for a great camping trip – just add a few good recipes like this one and hit the road!
