A dutch oven is all you need for an amazing meal, whether it’s dinner or dessert, cooked in the kitchen or in the great outdoors.
Taking the time to brown the meat and cook the ingredients slowly, in stages, pays off with incredibly deep flavor.
Recipe: Wine-Braised Beef Short Ribs
Though designed for cooking in camp, this one-pot meal works beautifully on a home stove.
Pork shoulder, smoked bacon, and Spanish chorizo, with Jack Daniel’s? Now you’re talking.
Pork and apples were made for each other.
Recipe: Cider-Braised Pork Shoulder
A mild Mexican lager complements but doesn’t overpower the chiles and tequila.
Recipe: Shot-and-a-Beer Pork Stew
If you’re new to dutch oven camp cooking, this easy stew is a great place to start.
Recipe: Sausage and Bean Dutch Oven Stew
This version of the classic Mexican stew called birria includes three kinds of dried chiles and a little tang from lime and vinegar.
Recipe: Easy Lamb Birria
Think of all the flavors you love in paella, in a fraction of a time—and without the need for a special pan.
Recipe: Paella-Style Chicken and Rice
Not every dutch oven dish simmers all afternoon. This one is ready in an hour.
Recipe: White Wine Coq au Vin
Bright flavors of citrus, artichokes, and tangy olives bring in rave reviews every time.
Leftover grilled chicken is all the excuse we need to whip up this chowder with bacon, avocado, and corn.
Recipe: Chicken and Corn Summer Chowder
Five kinds of vegetables, plus mellow cannellini beans, make this soup healthy as well as delicious. For a vegetarian version, go for vegetable broth instead of chicken.
Here’s a lighter take on classic chili, but with plenty of seasonings to make it exciting.
Recipe: Turkey Black Bean Chili
If you shop for pre-cubed squash and precooked wild rice, you can have dinner on the table in only 35 minutes.
We took the flavors we love in a traditional posole, then added a hearty pumpkin seed salsa for this vegetarian version.
A heavy dutch oven is the perfect pot for cooking the classic California seafood stew.
Recipe: Sardine Factory Cioppino
Though hearty, this meatless chili has a lighter profile—and check out the beautiful colors.
Crisp, homemade tortilla “whiskers” dress up bowls of soup, but you can use store-bought chips if you’re in a rush.
Recipe: Tortilla Soup
The promise of chocolate cake in camp is reason enough to pack your dutch oven. Use charcoal briquets instead of wood to more precisely control the fire’s heat.
Recipe: Dutch Oven Double Chocolate Cake
This moist, coconut-scented upside-down cake for camp is made with fresh pineapple.
Any berry or berry combination works in this cake, which has a dry, crumbly topping that combines with the berry juices for a rich, sweet treat. Pack the frozen berries in a cooler and make this on the first night of camping, before they thaw completely.
Recipe: Berry Camping Cake
While a campfire adds a certain rustic charm to the process of cooking a big pot of ripe summer fruit with browned butter and sugar, you can easily make this recipe on a regular stove. It’s a great dessert for a party, as it makes enough for 10 to 12.
Recipe: Campfire-Glazed Peaches and Figs
Mark Klever, the general manager at Belcampo Farms near Mt. Shasta, California, learned to make these biscuits from his grandmother. He renders his own lard from Belcampo's free-range pigs, and he bakes up a batch for his family nearly every week, just like his family used to do. You'll need to pack a 2 1/2-in. biscuit cutter; or use a small glass and cut around it with a knife.
Get a jump-start on these treats at home. If you make the dough and stash it in your freezer, and let it thaw in your cooler, then hen baking it in a dutch oven at camp is a cinch.
Recipe: Dutch Oven Cinnamon Rolls
Whisk together a quick batter, pour it into a hot dutch oven to bake, and scatter berries on top.
Recipes: Campfire Raspberry Double Dutch Baby