How to Make Chicken Enchilada Nacho Bowls for Camping

These enchilada bowls are partially made ahead at home and then finished at camp for a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

Combine two of our favorite, craveable Mexican comfort foods (saucy enchiladas and hearty nachos), and you end up with this mouthwatering Latin-flavored hybrid. Here, you get all the robust flavors of easy chicken enchiladas, but you swap out soft corn tortillas for crunchy chips that you can eat with your fingers. We specifically created this recipe to be camp-friendly, which means it’s easy to pack in your bag and a breeze to put together at the campsite. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make this for an easy weeknight dinner—it also doubles as a sharing plate that pleases both adults and kiddos.

The first step to making this savory supper is to start with the homemade nacho sauce. Before heading off to camp, you’re going to begin by drizzling oil in a pan and adding onions to sauté. Once the onions are cooked, add pre-made enchilada sauce, crushed tomatoes, black beans, dried herbs, and spices. We used  dried oregano for fragrance and brown sugar for sweetness. When the base of your sauce is finished, add shredded chicken to the pan. Cook everything together in the pan to blend the flavors of the poultry, sauce, onions, and herbs. Place your finished nacho sauce in a container and store it in a camp cooler for later.

Now that you’re at camp and ready for dinner, take the sauce out of the cooler and reheat it over a flame. Spread out a generous layer of tortilla chips on a plate (or ask children to help out by scooping chips on each plate) before pouring some enchilada nacho sauce on top. Sprinkle on whatever toppings you want—we opted for shredded cheese, lettuce, jalapeños, cilantro, lime, and hot sauce—and enjoy your masterpiece!