Easy Campfire Nachos in the Dutch Oven

Nachos you say? This campground favorite is an easy, no-hassle way to end the day with a big plate of delicious campfire nachos. They’re so good, my kids leave no leftovers!

In this post, we will show you what we use to make a simple, quick, and easy supper that can feed the crew.

Why Nachos?

Nachos are a favorite no matter where or what the occasion is. They’re easy to make and can be used as an appetizer, meal, or a side item to a meal. They’re hard to mess up…after you brown the meat and layer, you are basically just melting your cheese.

You can put pretty much anything you want on your nachos, the possibilities are endless!

What Will You Need?

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 8 oz can of Tomato Sauce
• Taco Seasoning
• Bag of Tortilla Chips
• Shredded Mexican Style Cheese (1-2 cups)
• 1 14.5 oz can of Black Beans
• 1 Avacado
• Small Bag of Shredded Lettuce

Remember, you can add whatever you would like to make these nachos your own!

Getting Ready

We usually start our campfire an hour or so before we are ready to start cooking so that there is time for coals to develop. To get our fire started, we use our favorite DIY Firestarter from this post. You will want your coals to be hot enough to cook your food.

Next, we oil the dutch oven and let the coals warm it up for about 5 to 10 minutes. We prefer this method, but you can also line your dutch oven for faster clean-up and no sticking with parchment paper or foil liners.

How to Make Them

For campfire nachos, the key is in the layers. Before we start our layers, we brown the ground turkey in the hot oil in the dutch oven that we hang over the fire from our tripod.

We use grapeseed oil because of the high smoke point (around 420°F). It is ideal for pan-frying and it’s a healthier oil due to its polyunsaturated fats and vitamin E content. It also has antioxidants and disease-fighting compounds!

When the turkey is browned, we drain and pour the meat onto a paper plate lined with paper towels to help absorb the oil and fat. There isn’t much since we use turkey and it’s leaner.

After the meat is drained, we mix it with the tomato sauce and sprinkle taco seasoning on top.

Next comes the fun part…layering your nachos.

We start with a layer of chips, then put shredded cheese, then black beans, and sprinkle the meat. A few layers are fine. You are welcome to use any toppings you would like. When our kids aren’t eating, we will add olives and sometimes some peppers or onions.

Once you have your layers, place the lid over the dutch oven and hang it back over the fire. We leave ours until the cheese has melted which usually takes 5 to 10 minutes depending on how the fire is acting.

After the cheese is melted, remove the dutch oven from the fire with your fire gloves and top with shredded lettuce, avocado, sour cream, salsa, or whatever cold toppings you desire.

Tips and Tricks

We don’t recommend putting your dutch oven directly on the flame. It can get too hot and burn your precious nachos this way. This is why we prefer the tripod hanging method. You can adjust the height of your dutch oven and make sure it’s hot without getting too hot.

Remember that layering your nachos is the trick to deliciousness! We highly recommend you layer!

What if I Don’t Have a Dutch Oven

If you don’t have a dutch oven, we recommend you stop what you are doing and get one…just kidding. But, we do really love ours!

But seriously, you can make campfire nachos in a cast iron pan, tinfoil packs, aluminum foil pans, or foil pie plates. You can also cook them in the oven or on a grill. If you use foil, be careful because it’s not as heavy-duty as cast iron.

Be sure to cover your nachos no matter which method you choose to make sure your cheese melts before your chips burn.

No matter what, make sure you have fun and enjoy when making these campfire nachos!