Make Nachos the easy way to spend less time cooking and more time enjoying the great outdoors...

Spend less time cooking and more time enjoying the great outdoors by making this deliciously simple campfire Nachos—without the campfire.

To tell you how easy it is, we asked Teà Voss, nacho extraordinaire and heroine from The Sister Trip. Sorry, there is no “skip to the recipe Pinterest” link. You’ll have to spoil yourself by giving yourself a two-minute break and read this post…

What makes Campfire Nachos—without the campfire?

Hey there, I’m Tea’ Voss, and we can thank a sexy, bike-riding, Scotsman who introduced me to this dish way back when we were cruising on our road bikes through the mountains. It was our first date when the weather took a turn. It rained. A lot.

So we found some shelter under this picnic gazebo. With no dry wood, but famished, with only a teeny tiny camp stove we used for making coffee, the campfire nachos without the campfire were born.

And I never looked back.

Also, you can easily pick up the ingredients no matter where you are in the world.

So, are you ready to let your taste buds dance over dinner?

Tips for winging this dish:

To make this disgustingly delicious dish, that tastes like a summer holiday, the secret is in the chips and cheese. Stringy, melted, gooey cheese.

You can pick any form of tortilla chips that’ll have you inhaling deeper than an addict snorting a line, or that romantic hugging a bouquet from her lover, and that’s just by opening the packet. Or you can use this tortilla recipe, to make your own tortilla chips and earn your own marvellous Chef’s kiss. Mwah.

As you’ll be camping, which means a road trip! This means it’s okay to not go fancy, as you’ll have limited bench space and no kitchen sink. So my biggest time-saving tip for this dish is to cook your nacho sauce before you leave the house. Freeze it and tuck it in beside the beer kept on ice. Or cook on site.

I’ve even included a no-cook version of the sauce, where you don’t use meat and mix the ingredients into one bowl. Mm-hmm.

Hey, you get to be the chef in your camp kitchen, so do what suits you best.

Well then, get your pen/ coffee/ cocktail, and let’s go!

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Ingredients for the sauce:

Meat is optional but it does taste great with beef or turkey mince.
1 x onion brown if cooking the sauce. Go red if you’re doing the no-cook version.
Chillies to taste. If you want to scald a certain someone’s tongue, like pesky little sisters, by all means, go for a healthy dose of fire.
Spices are 2-4 teaspoons of Cumin; 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika; 1 teaspoon of oregano; 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. Store in a container, or cheat and buy the pre-made taco mix sachet.
1 x small capsicum, any colour. But only if you have, need, or want them, and if they’re in season. I guess I should be saying it’s a chef’s choice.
Salt and pepper as per your taste preference.
1 x tin of beans. You can choose either black beans, refried beans, or kidney beans. They all work.
1 x small tin of corn kernels.
1 x tin tomatoes. For the no-cook version of the sauce, just use a jar of tomato salsa, they usually come with capsicum. That’s a bonus!

Ingredients for the toppings:

Lots and lots and lots of graded cheese. (*shares cheesy grin*)
Avocado – because you need your greens.
Coriander – oh, look more greens.
Lime – green again, and great for both beer and dinner. Win-win.

Must have:

Tortilla chips (Duh!)

Aluminium foil. It’s best to buy a fresh roll for this because you wouldn’t want to run out halfway through. And with the leftover foil, you can make cool pointy hats that’ll work like transmitters allowing aliens to communicate with you.

Ummm…

Yeah, so that’s my social awkwardness clearly on display in this kitchen. Moving along.

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The magical method to making your campfire nachos:

To make the sauce:

Open a can of beer (or your favourite beverage) and decide which way you’re going to make the sauce.

You can cook, or reheat the sauce at your campsite.

But it’s still the same process of frying the onions until they’re translucent, then the meat to brown, then add the spices. Give it a whirl of heat until the meat is evenly coated in spices. Add the tinned goods, salt and pepper to taste, and then let it simmer for a bit while you get the rest of the pouches ready.

As for the no-cook, meat-free version, cut and mix all ingredients into one bowl, and sip your beer! Easy as.

Make the foil pouches:

Open that fresh roll of foil to build plate-sized pouches. Hey, did you know cats are scared of the tearing sounds of tin foil? You do now.

Tear off two foil pieces the size of dinner plates.

You’ll need two pieces of foil per person.

You then cross over the layers to create a double layer for the bottom. Like the image below.

(For the record, we tried to take photos at our campsite. But it was too dark, and the foil kept reflecting the flash, and I’m not a professional photographer! And no, we did not make foil hats to talk to aliens. Sheesh, I was just kidding about that, okay!)

Putting it all together:

In the centre of your double layer of foil, this is where you’ll build your campfire nachos tower.

Layering is the key to building a cheesy pyramid of goodness.

Start with the base of:

Chips
Bean sauce
Cheese
Then more chips
More sauce
More cheese
Please refrain from licking this page from hunger. I get it.

Pick up the corners of the foil to come together, folding them over to create a pouch, leaving some space for the heat to rise inside like a hot-air balloon. Easy as.

Be sure to keep hydrated and take a sip of your beer (or your favourite after-working-hours beverage) and admire your fantastic handiwork.

If you don’t want to fiddle with the foil pouches, you can upgrade to build a family-sized feast using one large aluminium disposable tray. Give it a foil lid and cook any which way you want.

To cook your campfire nachos:

There are many ways to cook campfire nachos, which makes them so incredibly versatile when camping, especially when subject to unpredictable weather conditions. You can use any of the following cooking methods:

Try it with the Dutch oven. All you do is place pouches inside, add the lid, then put some coals on top of the lid, and sit it near the campfire.
Using your camp stove, you sit the nacho pouches into the frying pan and cook them there.
Or straight onto the hotplate sitting over the campfire.
On the grill of your barbecue.
Or in the oven at home.

Cooking time:

If you have sealed your foil pouches, it’ll take about ten minutes to cook, depending on the heat. That’s long enough to melt the cheese, and for the chips to get crunchier.

Serve with smashed avo, freshly torn coriander, lime wedges and your favourite beer. Then enjoy your feast of summer, tasting the sunshine and lazy days ahead.

Then after dinner (because there are no dishes) you’ll have more time to cuddle with your loved one and enjoy the great outdoors…

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Or you can make confessions around the campfire. I’ll go first. (clears throat) I’ll admit I’ve never read anything by Jayne Eyre. I didn’t even watch the movies.

But I am available for occasions that require mayhem and sassy back chatter, and I’ll help sneak you into the odd party or two that we’ve never been invited to. And that’s where we’ll make many new friends by effortlessly cooking the campfire nachos—without the campfire.

See how I do it in this outback romantic adventure, THE SISTER TRIP HERE>>

We love it. We love you. That is all. The end. And thanks for reading,