RECIPES requested for 8" (4 qt.) Dutch Oven cooking

[Lucy R]

So, we downsized from a giant Dutch oven to the 8" (4 qt.) Dutch oven. I am not a very inventive cook to begin with and I need recipes to help me learn the right quantities for ingredients in this smaller cook pot. I've searched the internet and can only find recipes for the larger pots. I'll take anything, but specifically looking for one pot meals for dinner or breakfast. Thanks in advance!

 

[Haminacan]

My wife's favorite is a beef stew. 2 quarts of beef broth, a bag of baby carrots, a few potatoes, onion, peppers and beef chunks. It pretty much fills it to the top and then cook over the fire until it is your preferred thickness. 2 ish hours over some good hot coals (stir every 20 minutes or so) can get a nice thick stew for cold evenings.

 

[Lucy R]

My wife's favorite is a beef stew. 2 quarts of beef broth, a bag of baby carrots, a few potatoes, onion, peppers and beef chunks. It pretty much fills it to the top and then cook over the fire until it is your preferred thickness. 2 ish hours over some good hot coals (stir every 20 minutes or so) can get a nice thick stew for cold evenings.

Thank you. Simple enough for on the trail and filling, too.

 

[grubworm]

i have a 4qt and i use it for a lot of things. for a one pot meal, i'll take a couple packages of the instant mexican rice (or use reg minute rice) and once cooked, add canned black beans, ranch style beans, kernel corn, rotel tomatoes and some seasoning and let it simmer and then eat as is or use for tortillia filling. you can add meat...i'll either brown some hamburger first in the pot or if i have canned chicken or SPAM, i'll just add that with the beans.

i'll also get a couple boxes of the corn bread mix and whip that up, add chunks of ham or cooked hamburger meat, some cheese cubes and a can of rotel drained and oil the dutch oven and pour in the mix and put the lid on it and once done, its pretty much a meal

 

[RAB]

Have you tried making nacho supreme in your dutch oven yet? Its simply tortilla chips, cheese, diced onions and pepper, along with canned chicken (you could use freeze dried ground beef) finally a seasoning packet. put it into layers and heat it up in the coals. If your downsizing your oven, it would be a easy way to start with your portion sizes.

 

[Ragman]

I am curious as to the brand-the Lodge 8 inch do is only 2 qts.

 

[wahoowad]

I did this in a crockpot and have it on my short list of things to try the next time I take my Dutch oven on a camping trip. Basically just adding things, not a lot of chopping or prep work. You can pre-chop the onions at home.

From @chefhoo at thesabre.com. Also great using chicken thighs!

Sear boneless country ribs in a pan, using a rub of salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika and onion powder. Once brown, add chopped onions, peppers, garlic and jalepenos to the pan and sauté until the onions are clear.

Scrape the bottom until all of the brown bits disappear. Add the veggies and meat to the crockpot with a can of drained corn, one can of black beans(drained), one can of diced tomatoes, one can of plain tomato sauce, and one can of red enchilada sauce. Add more cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper as needed.

Put in the crock pot for 4 hours. Let it cool in the crock pot for at least an hour or overnight. This will help the meat absorb the sauce and make it succulent...it's one of the secrets of any braised meat or crockpot dish using big chunks of meat. Meat that is cooked in liquid still dries out the same amount as it does when it's cooked dry! It needs time to cool in the liquid!

Serve over rice with shredded cheese on top. I make this all the time...it's awesome! You can just put everything in the crock pot and skip the pan searing part, but you will lose a lot of flavor.