Campfire Nachos are a fun vegetarian meal option when cooking outdoors! They’re topped with canned goods like corn and beans, and are easy to customize to what you have on hand.
Are you going camping this Labor Day?
I’m not letting you go back to school, into football season, or sweater shopping without one more outdoor adventure! This time we’re making nachos. Over the campfire!
Vegetarian camping recipes
I see so many people looking for easy camping recipes, especially vegetarian ones. It can be hard when so many of us grew up roasting hot dogs over the fire or throwing chicken on the grill.
Campfire food doesn’t have to be boring food. Remember my easy canned butter beans? Looks boring, tastes great.
This recipe is everything you could want. It’s fun, filling, and surprisingly easy.
Campfire nachos
Nachos are all about layers. I like to heat up the beans, some of the veggies, and cheese on the chips, then top with goodies like shredded lettuce, salsa, sour cream, avocado, and cilantro.
If you’re camping in a place where fresh corn is available, I recommend cutting it off the cob and sautéing for a few minutes in a drizzle of olive oil. If not, canned corn will travel well and offer the same great taste and nutrients.
After testing this recipe a few times I found that it’s best not to add salsa until after you’ve melted the cheese, or the chips get a little soggy. You also want to be careful about the heat distribution because the chips on the bottom may burn before the cheese gets melted if it’s too hot.
I definitely recommend having some sort of grate or grill to hold the skillet over the fire. However, if all you have is an open fire pit I think you can still make this work, just be sure you’re using a heavy duty pan, place it over low flame or embers, and keep an eye on it.
Keep your skillet covered loosely with foil or a lid to keep the heat in the pan and melt your cheese. Freshly shredded cheese always melts best for me, but pre-shredded will work great as well!
You can serve these with a side of rice and refried beans for a full meal, or cook them up in the afternoon to refuel after swimming in the river.
Tips for customizing:
- If not camping, you can bake this covered with aluminum foil in a 400ºF oven or over medium heat on the stovetop for about 5 minutes until the cheese is melted
- Swap any of the veggies out for your favorites such as mushrooms
- Drizzle with sour cream or crema instead of just a dollop in the middle
- If you don’t want to transport a heavy cast iron skillet, you can make them in a foil pan or create a foil packet by using two layers of heavy duty foil each on top and bottom, crimping it around the edges to seal
- This recipe can also be made in a dutch oven if that is what you take camping
If you make this recipe, be sure to rate it, leave a comment, or tag #theliveinkitchen on Instagram!
Recipe
Campfire Nachos
Ingredients
- 1 ear corn on the cob, or 1 cup canned corn drained
- Olive oil
- 11 ounces tortilla chips
- 15 ounces canned black beans, rinsed and drained
- 4 ounces canned mild diced green chiles
- ½ red bell pepper, diced
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar jack cheese
- Salsa, optional
- Cilantro, optional
- Avocado or Guacamole, optional
- Sour Cream, optional
- Lettuce, optional
- Lime, optional
Instructions
- If using corn on the cob, cut the corn off the cob.
- Place a large cast iron skillet over a fire or stove top heated to medium. Add a drizzle of olive oil, then sauté the corn, stirring, until the color brightens and the corn is crisp tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer the corn to a small bowl or plate.
- In the same pan, arrange half the tortilla chips. Top with half the black beans, diced green chiles, bell pepper, corn, and cheese. Add the remaining chips and top with the remaining beans, chiles, pepper, corn, and cheese. Cover loosely with aluminum foil or a lid and allow to heat 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the heat and top with salsa, cilantro, sliced avocado, sour cream, lettuce, and lime juice as desired.
GOrdon Dickinson says
I love this. I use this about 10 times this year. I have replaced some of the ingredients with other leftovers in the fridge. I have no complaints. useing the dutch oven was the talk of the party/
J Enders says
This was such a great camping meal. Some of the chips stuck to the bottom of the pan but it was easy to soak the pan and it was just so yummy and perfect. We bought a Best Foods lime and cilantro sauce in a small bottle to take along and it was a perfect topping. The next day we fried up the leftovers (there were just two of us so we did have some leftovers) and while the chips lost their structure it made a very delicious lunch on day two. 🙂 Would definitely make this again on a camping trip.
Lindsay Moe says
So glad you enjoyed it! A layer of aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray in the bottom of the pan might help alleviate the sticking, but I know not everyone like to cook with that or carry it around.